I went to see him at the hospital where he was recuperating from a scary illness. While I visited with him, his wife made arrangements to check him out of the hospital. It took much longer than both of us had expected, so he and I had an unanticipated, but very important, conversation. He worships every Sunday. He never misses Sunday school. He reads my sermons, and those of other ministers, that are mailed to his house. For a lay person, he is theologically well informed. In fact, from time to time, he asks me to give him some titles of books that he can read about Christian theology and Christian ethics. He is a man who seeks to understand the faith and who lives by its implications in this life.

During our visit he made an observation and raised a question. He said, "Pastor, I hear peo…