September 2008

Standing on our tiptoes, striving for the halo

My brother recently died after a four-month battle with complications from out-patient surgery. Had complications from the surgery not occurred, however, it’s doubtful he would have survived much longer because his body was riddled with cancer that had gone undetected. This brother—Percy Hill—wasn’t my brother by birth. He was what many in the African-American community affectionately refer to as “a brother by another mother.” Percy was the pastor of Cochran Avenue Baptist Church in Los Angeles for some 23 years.

Percy’s mom and my mom went to college together in the 1940s at Langston University in Oklahoma. When they migrated to Los Angeles and started families, we ended up in the same church—Tabernacle of Faith in south central L.A. Percy and I were boy preachers: I was licensed to preach at the age of 9, while Percy began preaching in his teens. Percy and I preached on the second Sunday of every month at Tabernacle of Faith. One of us would preach at the 11 a.m. service and the other at the evening service. Sometimes, we both would deliver “sermonettes” during the morning service. Pastor Ferrell provided us these golden opportunities so we could learn and perfect our craft.

We took turns preaching first. What I remember most is that whoever went first, if he did particularly well, he would whisper in the other’s ear, “The pressure is on!” before triumphantly taking his seat. We intentionally put pressure on each other to be better in many ways. Ultimately, Percy wasn’t really pressing me to be better than him, nor was I attempting to push him to be better than me. It was really about encouraging each other to live out the fullest expression of the call that God had given us. In honor of my brother, I’m putting pressure on myself to bring greater honor to Christ and his kingdom.    

We understood that God is always calling all of us to stand on tiptoe to live into the halo that God places just above our heads. “The pressure is on!”  That is what I hear my brother, the Rev. Percy R. Hill, saying not just to me, but to today’s church. We must do better today than we did in times past. Our charge to proclaim the Gospel and make disciples is as urgent today as ever. There is a halo hovering above the church of Jesus Christ. May we stand on tiptoe to be worthy of its honor.

Executive Director, National Ministries