I have always marvelled at the huge crowds that attend sporting events in Melbourne – particularly at the MCG. AFL, cricket, soccer and even rugby have attracted close to a 100,000 people or more to a significant sporting event at the ‘G’. Do you have a story to tell that starts off with ‘I was at the G when…’? I do. I remember being present at the Collingwood – Melbourne game on the Queen’s birthday weekend in 1958 that set a home and away record attendance of 99,346. That record still stands to this day. However, I missed attending the largest AFL grand final crowd of 121,696 (yep – a mate’s wedding). Kind of glad though cause my team lost. Then, who wouldn’t want to be there when Jezza took that specky of the century. Although I missed that game, I was part of the two million or more people who claim to have witnessed Trevor Chappell bowl that infamous underarm delivery that drew wide criticism, and prompted the NZ prime minister to say that the Aussie bowler bowled ‘in his appropriately yellow-coloured gear’.
I’m getting lost in sporting memories which is not the point of this article. My drifting into nostalgia was meant to highlight that the single-day, record attendance at the MCG was not a sporting event. In fact, the record for the biggest crowd is reserved for a man called Billy Graham when over 130,000 people came to hear him speak. He was called an evangelist – meaning one who speaks good news and, could he speak! His delivery was as fiery as a desperate coach seeking to inspire his players to turn defeat into victory. Indeed he was at the ‘G’ to kick goals not in the football sense, but to amass points in how many would commit their lives to Jesus Christ. Of that crowd of over 130,000 many did commit their lives to Christ. In fact, over the four months that Billy Graham was speaking throughout Australia, thousands of so called Christians and non-Christians responded to the word of Christ that he spoke and they became followers of Jesus Christ.
Many still ponder about those few months in the summer of 1959. What created such a phenomenon? How could Aussies be so public in committing their lives to God? Were people caught up in an emotional moment that caused them to make hasty decisions that would not last? At that time, we Aussies prided ourselves in keeping visible responses of faith to ourselves. The adage of the day was never talk about religion, politics or sex.
I think the message Billy Graham spoke came in its season. What I mean by this is that we were at a time in our history where the normal was not doing it for us. We were seeking after something, yet unsure of what that was. His message was the word of God breaking into our world of uncertainty, and opening our hearts to hear something that the heart of God had for us. For some, it was a moment in time. For others, it was a new beginning. Down through the years since that visit, I have met many believers from various denominations who found Christ through the preaching of Billy Graham. These same believers have maintained a determination to serve the Lord over many years. It was more than an emotional experience. It was life-changing.
In 1959, Australia was considered a Christian nation and indeed many attended church but without a personal commitment to God. Billy Graham spoke about Christ being a personal saviour. He also exhorted individuals to be born again. At that time, many with church backgrounds felt compelled to respond to his altar calls even though they considered themselves to be a Christian. It became apparent that a nominal Christian and a practising Christian were not the same. To bring home how crucial a commitment to Christ was, Billy Graham asked people to leave their seats and come and stand in the front of the stage where he spoke. He put it to them that this public response on their part was indication that they wanted to commit their lives to Jesus Christ. It was as if he was inviting the lost to find a home or to come home. He spoke of repenting from our evil deeds and finding forgiveness for sin. I found it also significant that those who came to the front were met by counsellors who spoke with them and invited them to join a fellowship of believers.
As we look back over the past 50 years since Graham first preached in Melbourne, it is clear that we have made significant advances in health and science and many like me will have observed the growing trend toward racial tolerance and the tearing down of walls (curtains) that have suppressed basic human dignity. Nevertheless, there remains the ongoing challenges of natural, economic and social pressure, the shifting of populations and the capitulation to amoral standards, all leading to a growing undercurrent of uncertainty and confusion – we might suggest that today is very different to the world when Billy Graham filled the MCG; but is it?
I think it is timely that we revisit the high points of Graham’s message as I believe that there is an enduring truth and reality in his proclamation that can reach every generation. So, the heart of the articles that follow are written on this basis and we deliver them to you as a message of hope.
Ray Jackson
