When the Heavens Fall (37 page)

Most of the churches that Eden had grown up in were large and imposing. She had attended services at a large cathedral in Spain, and after coming to England, her parents had taken her to a very large church in Dover. She had been aware of the small churches, of course, but she had never attended one, so when she entered the church in Eastbourne where Reverend Winslow preached, she was slightly shocked by the stark simplicity of the interior. Accustomed as she was to ornate statues and fine windows and all the trappings that went with the high church style, she was stunned by the simplicity of the church. The people matched the church; they ranged from the very poor to the middle class. She saw few signs of wealth among them. Most of them were working people, and although she had selected a simple, inexpensive gown, still her attire and her appearance drew the eyes of many and made her slightly embarrassed. She took a seat in the middle of the church, where she could more or less hide herself from the eyes of the preacher.

She had sat there for only a brief time when a man came to stand in the pulpit; she knew instantly that this was Brandon's uncle. He had the Winslow look about him: auburn hair, a wedge-shaped face, wide mouth, and light-blue eyes that were very piercing. Just a glimpse of him brought back her memories of Brandon, the bittersweet memory of the love that she had felt for him, and then, of course, the painful memory of how she had been deceived.

The service continued. It was unlike Catholic services. Everything in this church was in English, not Latin

When the singing was over, Quentin Winslow stood before the congregation. He had a pleasant look on his face. His voice was clear and carried well in the small building. He welcomed the congregation and then said, “My sermon this morning, if I had a title for it, would be something along the lines of ‘Three Women Who Met Jesus.' Nowhere in the world are women honored as in Christian countries. If you were to go to most foreign countries where paganism rules, you would find women treated worse than animals. So it is in Africa and in most parts of the world. When Jesus came, he did more than any other man to lift women from a lowly status to a place of honor. And this morning I want you to think about three women who had their lives changed by Jesus Christ. First we will read the story of the woman described in Luke 8:43.” He began to read, and Eden, who had never read the Bible and knew only the remarks on scripture made by the priest, to which she often paid little attention, suddenly began to unfold like a drama as Winslow began to read.

“And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, came behind him and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched. And Jesus said, ‘Who touched me?' When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, ‘Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee and sayest thou, Who touched me?' And Jesus said, ‘Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.' And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately. And he said unto her, ‘Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.'”

“Isn't that a wonderful story!” Quentin Winslow exclaimed. “This poor woman who was unclean, for according to Jewish law, any woman with an issue of blood was as unclean as a dead person. No one could touch her without becoming himself unclean. And for years she had sought to be healed and spent all her money on physicians but was no better.”

He went on to describe the woman so well that Eden seemed to see with her eyes, and she was so caught up in the drama that her heart beat faster.

“This poor woman, who had been failed by man on every hand, thought,
If I could just touch the hem of the garment of Jesus of Nazareth, I will be healed.
Ah now, there is faith, my friends, there is faith! And you have heard how she did touch just the hem of the garment of the Lord Jesus, and instantly she was healed. Bless the Lord, oh my soul! That's what happens when people come to Jesus. They are healed.

“Now let's move on to the second woman that I would speak of. In John's Gospel, chapter four, there is a marvelous story. I will not read it all. It is rather lengthy. The Bible says that on one of his journeys Jesus grew weary, and he came to a city of Samaria and he sat down on the side of a well. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith unto her, ‘Give me to drink,' for his disciples were gone away into the city to buy meat. Then saith the woman of Samaria to him, ‘How is it that thou, being a Jew, asketh drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.' Jesus answered and said unto her, ‘If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.'”

Looking up from his Bible, Winslow said, “Let me pause here and inform you that there was great bitterness between the Jews and the Samaritans. There were two different races completely, it seems, and they despised one another, much as we
have had altercations with other nations such as the French and the Spanish and have hated them and have fought wars with them. So this woman was shocked that a Jew would even speak to her, first of all because she was a woman, second because she was a hated Samaritan. So Jesus said he would give her something to drink called living water.

“The woman saith unto him, ‘Sir, thou has nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?' And then Jesus had a conversation with her. And he said this: ‘Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.'

“And then, bless the Lord, the woman's heart was touched! ‘Give me this water,' she said, ‘that I thirst not.' Jesus said, ‘Go, call thy husband.' She said, ‘I have no husband,' and Jesus answered, ‘Thou hast well said for thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband.'”

Quentin continued the story. “And finally Jesus said, ‘The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.' And the woman said, ‘I know Messiah is coming.'

“And Jesus said in verse twenty-six, ‘I that speak unto thee am he.'

“That's the story. The woman ran back to her village and told everyone, ‘Come, see a man who told me all the things that ever I did,' and she brought others to him.

“So this second woman that we are looking at had nothing to recommend her to God but she found the love of God in Jesus. Isn't that a wonderful story? Now, let's move on quickly to number three. You'll find this also in John's Gospel, the eighth chapter.”

Quentin looked out over his audience, and his eyes met
those of Eden. She squirmed, for he seemed to be looking deep down into her soul, and for that one moment she knew that this was a man of honor and truth.

“In the eighth chapter of the Gospel of John we find this third woman. The scribes and the Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and they had said to him, ‘Master, this woman was taken into adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned. But what sayest thou?'

“The law, indeed, was clear that adulterers should be stoned. But Jesus did a very strange thing. He ‘stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground as though he heard them not.' And finally he looked up, and he said words that I have treasured and have very carefully kept. Jesus said, ‘He that is without sin among you let him cast a stone at her.' The Bible says that they were convicted by their own conscience and went out one by one, beginning at the eldest even unto the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

“The Bible doesn't say this, but I like to think this dear woman who was a sinner but yet a loved sinner came to Jesus and bowed down and held to his feet. We do know what Jesus said. He said, ‘Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?' And she said, ‘No man, Lord.' And Jesus said unto her, ‘Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.'

“Three women. This morning I would like us to think of ourselves in relation to what happened. All three women needed God desperately, and all three found him by making a desperate attempt to reach out to Jesus Christ.”

The sermon went on for some time, and Eden listened intently. She found that her heart was beating hard, and then suddenly for no reason that she could understand she found herself weeping. She had never heard the Gospel in English, and Jesus to her was a distant statue on an altar, but this was a living
Christ that Quentin Winslow spoke of! She sat there, unable to control her tears. She knew that the service was over, but she found herself too weak to rise. Finally the place grew quiet as the crowd left, and then a voice said, “Are you troubled, my lady?”

Eden looked up swiftly and saw Quentin Winslow standing beside her. She did not know what to say, but finally she whispered, “I don't know what's wrong with me, sir, but I never heard of anyone speak of Jesus as you did in your sermon.”

“Come and take a walk with me. It's a fine day.”

It was not something that Eden would usually have done, but she found herself unable to refuse. She rose, and the two left the church.

Quentin led her along a paved walk behind the church to a cemetery with ancient, moss-covered stones, and then paused under the shade of a spreading oak tree. “If you could tell me your problem, I would be glad to pray with you.”

Suddenly Eden burst out, “I am Eden Fairfax. I am the woman your nephew delivered from Spain and brought home to my family.”

Winslow's eyes opened in surprise. His voice was warm as he said, “I've heard the story, but we've never met. I'm so happy that you have been restored to your parents. I hear good things about how they've made a home for you. How is it, lady, with you and God? You seemed troubled in church.”

“I don't know God.” The words burst forth from Eden. “I don't know how to find him. Those stories you read, I've never heard them before. I've never read the Bible. We weren't permitted to read it in Spain.”

“Miss Fairfax, the one fact that you must understand is that Jesus loves you just as he did those three women. He's alive, and his desire is to live in your heart.”

“But how can that be?”

“It's a miracle of God's grace.”

“I would like that,” Eden whispered, “but I don't know how.”

“You are just three steps away from God, as we all are.”

“Three steps? What are they?”

“Repentance is the first step. That means you must confess any sin you've done and you must not hate anyone.”

Eden knew that Quentin had seen her face suddenly tighten. He said quietly, “I see that you do have harsh feelings.”

“Yes, Reverend Winslow, I do.” She told him how she felt when she learned that Brandon had deceived her. Finally, her voice unsteady, she said, “I—I don't know how to stop hating him.”

“You spend time in the company of Jesus. After all, he forgave those who were nailing him to a cross. That's the first step, and you must make it, and no one can make it for you. And you must forgive Brandon. He's in Dover now, and he needs Jesus just as you do.”

“I—I don't know if I can forgive him.”

“You must.”

“What is the second step?”

“Faith, my lady. Simple faith that Jesus is the Christ. And the third step is very simple. After you've repented and you've come to a position of faith in Jesus, you simply call on him, and ask God in the name of Jesus to forgive your sins.” He smiled. “You can do that right now, my lady.”

“No, I can't! I cannot.”

“Well, then, what you are feeling will stay with you. I feel that God is on your trail, so to speak. I have a copy of the Bible in English that I want to give you. As you read the Word of God, you will hear God speaking to you. And at some point you must call on him and ask him for forgiveness. You can do this in your bed. You can do it while you are out walking. The time and the place are not important. Repentance, faith, and calling on God—that's all it takes to be in God's family.”

“Thank you, sir. I will think about it. But I must ask you, do
you know the danger you are in? You could be beheaded for your preaching.”

“Oh, yes, I'm well aware of that. But”—there was a joy in his eyes—“Jesus loved me enough to die for me, and if he wants me to die for him, I must do it.”

Eden felt she must get away. She said, “Thank you for talking with me.”

“Farewell, lady. Know that I'll be praying for you. But come and let me give you the Bible I spoke of.”

Weak and almost unable to walk, her mind in a turmoil, Eden returned to the front of the church, where she waited until Winslow emerged and placed a book in her hands, saying, “Let me pray for you now—and be certain that I'll be praying for you and Brandon every day.”

He bowed his head, and Eden felt for the first time in her life that God was real and very near. She knew suddenly that she must seek God. There was no other way.