Unlikely Inspiration

I’ve had a lot of feedback from last Sunday’s message, in which I described a chapter in John Lennon’s spiritual journey that has been heretofore in the shadows—a season in which he came to terms with Jesus. The illustration was part of the Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds installment of the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band preaching series. The story inspired in many a thirst for more—and I’ve been asked for references and recommendations for further reading.

I’ve also been asked questions like “where do you come up with this stuff?”

Well, when preparing a sermon series, I have to first pray. I do that. Routinely. I also, of course, study the Scriptures daily. Galatians captured my attention last spring, for instance, and, voila, God’s Blog: A Study in Galatians Backward was born. I also enjoy National Public Radio (NPR) and am taken, every now and then, by an insightful piece on air. I also subscribe to several periodicals—some mainstream and others not so well known. And, oh yeah, I read the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (a newspaper)on line every day.

In May, I stumbled onto 40th anniversary stories of the Beatles’ iconic Sgt. Pepper’s album. Sgt. Pepper’s defined an era and still tops the charts as one of the world’s all-time best sellers. Four decades and two generations after it first hit the shelves, you can still pick up a Sgt. Pepper’s CD at Target or WalMart. It has few peers. I dusted off my own Sgt. Pepper’s CD and found myself matching it to Scripture. Sgt. Pepper’s is full of questions; the Bible is full of answers. Colossians was a good fit.

Thanks to a tip from a friend, I found an article in Christianity Today (CT)(January, 2007) that captured “John Lennon’s Born Again Phase.” CT, in turn, had excerpted material from a new book titled The Gospel According to the Beatles (written by English journalist Steve Turner and published this year by Westminster John Knox Press).

Some of the most interesting material in the CT piece involved Lennon’s correspondence with televangelist, Oral Roberts. Lennon spent many hours watching Roberts, Pat Robertson, and Billy Graham on television, in the 1970s. In a desperate letter to Roberts, written in 1972, Lennon confessed his dependence on drugs and his fear of facing up “to the problems of life.” He included a gift for Oral Roberts University and then quoted one of his own famous lines, “Money can’t buy me love.” Lennon continued, “It’s true. The point is this, I want happiness. I don’t want to keep on with drugs. ...Explain to me what Christianity can do for me. Is it phoney? Can He love me? I want out of hell.”

Roberts replied with a copy of his book Miracle of Seed Faith and several letters. He wrote: “John, we saw you and the Beatles on television... your talent and music was almost awesome and your popularity touched millions. Your influence became so widespread and powerful that your statement (in 1966)— the Beatles are more popular than Jesus—might have had some truth in it at that moment. But, you know, our Lord said, ‘I am alive for evermore.’ People, the Bible says, are like sheep and are often fickle, following this one day and something else the next. However, there are millions who have received Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and have been filled with the Holy Spirit. They love Him. To them, He is the most wonderful and popular man who ever lived because He is the Son of God and His name endures.”

Roberts continued: “I thank God that you see this, John, and finally regret thinking any man or group could be more popular than Jesus. Jesus is the only reality. It is Jesus who said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.’ So, you see, your statement that because of your hard background you’ve never really wanted to face reality is actually really saying you’ve never wanted to face our loving Lord. What I want to say, as I tried to say in my other letter, is that Jesus, the true reality, is not hard to face. ...You said, John, that you take drugs because reality frightens you. Remember to open your life to Jesus. He will take all the fear away and give you peace. Peace that passes all understanding.”

Lennon eventually professed to his friends that he embraced this truth, accepting Jesus (Colossians 2:6a)—but, then, later fell away (he failed to commit to actually following Jesus)(Galatians 2:6b). Not long after, sadly, his life ended prematurely—gunned down in front of his home at the age of 40, in 1980. A story of tragic proportion.

Jesus used the currency—the vocabulary and conversation—of His time to engage his listeners and communicate truth. Farming. Fishing. Lamp oil. Headlines. Fig trees. Caesar. All became springboards for Gospel teaching that people could remember. A series like Sgt. Pepper’s (or Grey’s Anatomy or, stay tuned, Dreams Work) attempts, albeit clumsily, to do the same. Thanks for listening! Thanks for asking. Thanks for your encouragement.