I remember one time, Beaker and I were hiking in the Appalachian trail and he met some friends of his and they all went in… (Rich immediately rewords himself)… they were all talking about school which I didn’t want to talk about because I’ve been in school for so many years it’s not interesting any more… (Rich pauses while audience laughs)… and uh, of course that happened after third grade… (more laughter from audience as Rich continues)… so I walked into town. It was about a five mile walk from the campsite down in… down the trail… down into town… and when I got there, I went in and was having a steak, and this guy started talking to me and we had this great conversation; we were having a good time and he said, “Hey look, it’s dark and it’s five miles up the road to your campground. Why don’t I drive you up there?”
And I said, “Hey, great!”
And uh, so we got in his car and just as we pulled out from under the uh, last light in that town the guy said, “You know what, I should probably tell you that I’m gay.”
And I said, “Oh! I should probably tell you that I am a Christian.”
(audience applauds, but Rich continues…)
“…and Christians and gays are really a lot more alike than most people think.”
And he said, “Well, what do you mean?”
And I said, “Well, I think that gay people are people who desperately need to be loved. And I think Christian people are pretty much the same.”
(audience applauds loudly)
And he said, “Well if you want out of the car…”
I said, “Why?”
And he said, “Well, I’m gay and your Christian.”
I said, “It’s still five miles and it’s still dark.” I’m not crazy.
(laughter from audience)
And he said, “I thought Christians hated gays.”
I said, “That’s funny, I thought Christians were supposed to love. I thought that was our first command.” (audience applauds loudly again)
He said, “Well, I thought God hated gays.”
I said, “That’s really funny, because I thought God was love.”
And He said, “Well uh, do you think uh, God sent AIDS down to punish gay people?”
And I said, “Well, in the same sense that he sends bankruptcy on farmers and presidents on voters.”
(audience laughs at presidential remark and Rich pauses before saying…)
“…that there are consequences for our choices and sometimes we have to bear the consequence of other people’s choices.”
And then he asked me the big one. He said, “Do you think I will go to hell for being a gay?”
Well, I’m a good Hoosier… (audience laughs) …and I puckered up to say, “Yes, of course you’ll go to hell for being gay.” Now folks, I will tell you the truth. I got ready to say, “Yes, of course you’ll go to hell for being gay,” and when I opened up my mouth it came out, “No,… of course you won’t go to hell for being gay.” And I thought, “Oh my god, I’ve only been in New Hampshire for one week and I’ve already turned into a liberal.” …(audience roars out loud in laughter)… What am I going to tell this guy now?
You know there are times when we think we are God’s messengers, when we think we are the mouthpiece of God. And God really needs fewer mouths than he needs ears… (audience cheers approvingly)… And there are times when we think we’ve got it all together. And we meet somebody. And they ask us the right questions. And we get to find out something about God that we learned when we were little because our moms and dads read it to us, and because they took us to Sunday school and we were told over and over the great truths of the scriptures. But we forget them because we get all caught up in how cool we are.
(Getting back to his story, Rich concludes…)
I said, “No, you won’t go to hell for being gay any more than I would go to hell for being a liar. That nobody goes to hell because of what they do. We go to hell because we reject the grace that God so longs to give to us… (audience applauds)… regardless of what we do.”
So many of you people try so hard to be good. And you think someday you’re going to be so good that God is going to look down on you favorably. Well, let me tell you something. God already looks down on you favorably… (audience agrees by applauding)… That’s what grace is… not because you have earned it but, because he is a favorable looking God. Some of you people are so afraid that someday you’re going to cross that line, that you’re going to do that one sin that God will never forgive you of… or, you’re going to do that one sin that you’ve been doing so long… but, you have this feeling that there is a certain number of times you can get away with it and God can look away… but, one time too many and your life is over. Folks, God knew you at your worst before he ever sent Christ to die for you. And the good news of Christianity is not that… Christ came into the world to make good little boys and girls. Christ came into the world to take away those sins that you’ve allowed to come between you and God. It’s sad to me to believe… to look out there and see… when you’re driving down the road and you see people who are afraid, you see people who are angry, and you go, “If only you knew how crazy about you God was… God has already loved you… if only you knew!”
And so today… I’m…
(Rich pauses to tell everyone…)
…I don’t know why I’m nervous as a cat about Beaker’s wife having a baby. He doesn’t seem near as nervous as I am. I’m about to wet myself up here thinking about it.
(Audience laughs and he continues…)
…so I don’ t know if I can make a lot of sense in a lot of ways, but let me tell you this… that God will never give up on you. He will never stop loving you. That love is a reality no matter what you do or don’t do. God does not call us to be angels; he calls us to be His, and to be who we are in Him. And uh, so this is a little prayer song that if you want to pray with us you’re welcome to join in…
[Sometimes By Step] keyboard
(As he usually did, Rich ceases to play the keyboards during the last chorus of this song as the audience joins to sing with Rich acappella, “God, you are my God… and I will ever praise you” over and over. Then Rich deliberately walks off stage to leave the audience singing the remainder of the song on their own in a worshipful moment of praise to God.)
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