Josh Kezer's journey of faith continues

Seventy-five years ago this weekend, the United States discharged an atomic bomb over Nagasaki, Japan, on Aug. 9, 1945. Within a few days, World War II was over.

Twenty-six years ago this past Monday, a metaphorical bomb dropped on the life of Josh Kezer, as he was sent to the Missouri Department of Corrections on Aug. 3, 1994, after being sentenced a day earlier to 60 years in prison. Kezer's life as a free man was effectively over, or so it seemed.

Kezer, 19 years old at the time, was convicted of the slaying of Angela Mischelle Lawless of Benton, Missouri.

The data points of the Lawless case are familiar to many.

Suffice it to say Kezer served nearly 16 years in prison before being exonerated and freed.

I heard Josh being interviewed on KZIM Radio by Faune Riggin not long after his release.

He talked about his faith, and I was impressed.

Taking the biggest chance of my ministry to date, I sent an email inviting Josh to speak at a church I was serving at the time in Cape Girardeau.

I didn't hear from him for some time until one day a voicemail was received on a Wednesday afternoon.

Keep in mind by midweek, the church bulletin is finished, although not yet printed.

The music is selected, and my sermon is ready to preach.

"This is Josh Kezer. I got your message and can be there Sunday to do your deal."

This was my introduction to Josh, a plain-spoken, intense man whose face is etched with experience and who is easily moved to tears.

Josh stepped into the pulpit, and I held my breath. Literally.

Seated in the congregation were a federal judge, a federal prosecutor and the Cape Girardeau county prosecutor.

Keep in mind Josh was a wronged man and three men were present in the pews who represented the justice system.

Uh-oh.

I recall Josh's words to my then-parishioners as if they were spoken yesterday:

"I've earned the right to be bitter, but I'm not, so my question to you is, 'What are you holding onto?'"

Wow.

I invited Josh back over a year later to a real-time conversation with me in worship.

This newspaper sent a reporter to Josh's second appearance.

"Whenever I begin to feel pity for myself," Kezer said that day, "I think about what our Lord went through for us.

"When you're at your lowest point," he added, "when you look up, you see love, grace, acceptance, the face of the Lord."

Freedom was still pretty new to Josh then.

A decade has passed.

In the intervening years, Josh received a wrongful imprisonment settlement which stabilized his finances.

He's used those funds to become versatile in martial arts and for travel to Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.

He's given a substantial sum of money to assist in the investigation of Lawless's death.

He has talked to dozens of groups about his experience and was most recently outspoken, including remarks printed in the Southeast Missourian, about the treatment of another wrongfully imprisoned man, David Robinson of Sikeston, Missouri.

Has his faith changed in the intervening decade?

"Yes, it has," admitted Kezer, informing this writer of a near-death experience in June of this year at the Lake of the Ozarks.

"It's as if a light bulb went off," he said. "I woke up in an ICU, and it seems my tension and anxiety fell away. I'm enjoying life."

Is he still a church person?

"I'm an advocate for being involved in a faith community," the now 45-year old Kezer said, whose formerly dark hair has now turned silver and white.

But he is critical of houses of worship during this pandemic time.

"We are ignoring the power of God to heal," said Kezer, "(and) our 24/7 social media culture has infected and diluted the church."

"People need to grow past their (own) wounds," he added.

The anger of losing years of his life, Kezer admits, has not gone away.

"I have a right to feel furious about what was done to me," he said. "(But) it's a daily decision to walk away from anger."

Kezer is a great believer in mentorship.

Josh said he met a Black man in prison in the mid '90s, not an inmate but a volunteer, who he said remains a close friend.

"James is greatly responsible for who I've become today," he added.

"I prayed all those years ago that (James) would become my mentor," said Kezer, "and we continue to have an extraordinary relationship."