Babe Ruth, a legend in baseball history, was once asked about the people who had influenced his life. He responded by saying, “Most of them were not famous. Few people likely ever heard of them.” He then continued, “I knew an old minister once whose hair was white and whose face shone. I have written my name on thousands of baseballs in my life; he wrote his name on other people’s hearts. How I envy him! He was not trying to please himself and win the plaudits of the world. So, fame never came to him. I am listed as a famous home run hitter. Yet, beside that humble minister who was so good and wise, I never got to first base.”
Babe Ruth is in baseball’s Hall of Fame; an elderly minister was in his Hall of Heroes. When I read Babe Ruth’s statement I began to think about the names I would place in my own Hall of Heroes. What names would you nominate to be in your Hall of Heroes? Few of them would probably be recognized by the world as either great or famous. They would likely be individuals whose singular ambition was to honor God by serving others – and you are one of the people whose lives they touched.
In my own Hall of Heroes, first of all, I nominate my maternal grandfather, John W. Lee. He was a grocer and postmaster in a small town in the state of Georgia. He was a dedicated Christian, a deacon in his church, a thoughtful neighbor, and a friend of all who knew him. When his children and grandchildren got together at Christmas for the annual family feast the entire family would gather around an old pump organ following lunch and sing. He often prayed that God would call one of his sons to be a minister. God answered his prayer by calling me, another of his grandsons, and one great-grandson to become Christian ministers.
My second nominee would be my seventh grade teacher, Mrs. Ruth McClelland. Teaching was for her a calling, not just an opportunity to bring home a paycheck. She taught her pupils more than “reading, writing, and arithmetic” – manners, for example. The first fifteen minutes of every school day was devoted to memorizing Bible verses that began with every letter of the alphabet and end with prayer. No Bible verse begins with the letter “x”, so she selected Luke 13:3 – “Except you repent, you will all likewise perish.” Beginning the day in this way was not politically incorrect or illegal in those days. Judges did not interpret the “separation of church and state” to mean “separation of God and state.” Thank God for dedicated teachers.
My third nominee would be an elderly couple, Joe Perry and Susie Dominy, members of my first pastorate when I was attending Mercer University. Every Sunday night after the evening worship service we would drive fifty miles back to Mercer with vegetables, eggs, milk, etc. they had given us. This helped tremendously because my weekly salary in the early 1950’s was the enormous sum of $35 per week.
The fourth nominee for my Hall of Heroes is really at the top of my list – and it is my wife, Jessie. No minister ever had a more faithful or supportive wife. She was as committed to what God called me to do as I have tried to be. The job of being a minister and wife requires a willingness to do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, and in a way that both glorifies God and meets the spiritual need of individuals. She gave her spiritual gifts freely with both skill and dedication as a teacher of God’s Word.
After almost 65 years of service by my side serving six churches as pastor and wife, and then ten more churches as interim pastor and wife, she went home to be with the Lord on April 5, 2016. I have the joy of knowing that our story has not ended. At a time of God’s own choosing it will continue in “the city not made by hands, eternal, in the heavens” the city that John, in the book of Revelation, calls “the New Jerusalem.”
The Paper Pulpit 
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