t was getting late that Friday night as we walked down the steps of the London Underground. Although a stranger to the big city, I had two wonderful young hosts—Cathy Anthony and Pastor Stefan Burton-Schnull.

They had called for me some five hours earlier and escorted me by car, train, the Underground, and foot to the Balham church. It took more than two hours to get there, but it was fun all the way because Cathy and Stefan were such good company. At the church I was amazed to see the crowd—maybe 600 people, with some standing along the sides. And on a cold Friday evening!

These people, mainly Afro-Caribbean, love to worship. The meeting ran long; it was 10:00 or later before we could break away and head back to the Underground. Even then we kept getting stopped on the street for another hug or handshake.

The passengers barely turned their heads as we boarded the train. They sat silent, bundled up, staring straight ahead.  With lively conversation and laughter we three—the two young ones and the old guy—must have stood out.

A pleasant-faced young man, maybe 20 or so, observed us closely. After a while he took out a roll of peppermints and popped one in his mouth. Then—a highly unusual act on the London Underground—he offered one to each of us.

“How did you all become friends?” he asked.

“As a matter of fact, I met Cathy here and Stefan only yesterday.”

“Are you scientists? Have you been to a science conference?”

“No, we’re coming from a church meeting.”

“Yes, I see you are carrying the Holy Bible,” he said to me. And then: “I have often thought I would like to go to a meeting where they have singing and a lot of young people.”

“Well, we had a lot of young people and plenty of singing at the meeting tonight,” we told him. “Everybody had a great time.”

And before long Cathy was asking him where he lived, giving directions to the nearest Adventist church, and inviting him to the Sabbath service.

“I can’t make it tomorrow, but I’d really like to come next week,” he said; and then it was his station and he was gone.

I had come to Britain to gather material for an Adventist Review report (see “Changing Times in Britain,” slated for our February 8 issue). The sights and sounds of the secular society hammered in my head: empty, decaying Anglican churches; blatant attacks on the nuclear family; overt homosexuality; the hubris of a society that feels it has outgrown Christianity.

And then—the encounter on the Underground.

I think of John the Beloved’s poignant portrayal of the rejection of Jesus, the light of the world: “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him” (John 1:10, 11, NIV). And Studdert-Kennedy’s haunting lines:

“When Jesus came to Birmingham, they simply passed Him by, They never hurt a hair of Him, they only let Him die.”¹

But John goes on: “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (verse 12, NIV). Thank God for that yet! For there are always some who don’t turn their backs on Jesus.

Ellen White wrote of them: “All over the world men and women are looking wistfully to heaven. Prayers and tears and inquiries go up from souls longing for light, for grace, for the Holy Spirit. Many are on the verge of the kingdom, waiting only to be gathered in.”²

I believe God has these precious ones everywhere. Even where Islam holds sway. Even where greed and gluttony, partying and pleasure, rule people’s lives. Even on the Underground.

Our part? Simply to be channels of God’s grace, ever open to the leading of the Spirit and ever open to the stranger who comes into our day.

So, my friends, as you and I take the train of the new year, let’s make two items priority: To know Jesus better every day, and to tell someone about Him.

_________________________
¹ G. A. Studdert-Kennedy, “Indifference,” in Al Bryant, ed., Sourcebook of Poetry, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House).
² The Acts of the Apostles, p. 109.

_________________________
William G. Johnsson is Adventist Review editor.