Go Home. Go!

Remember the old Smith Barney commercial punch line from spokesman John Housman? “They make money the old fashioned way—they earn it.” Well, that’s how I feel about each of you when it comes to taking a well deserved summer break from formal ministry…you’ve earned it. In spades. Not too many other ministry areas have a volunteer squad which gives up (a minimum of) 5 hours a week, not to mention time for extra seasonal rehearsals, outreach concerts, singing on many major holidays or when others are on holiday breaks, retreats, quarterly team building workshops, etc. Surely you have earned a season of re-creation. (In my mind, I am remembering the closing line of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, when, after the final credits have rolled, Ferris looks out at the camera and says “It’s over. Go home. Go!”)

That being said, I need you to know the next few months will not be the same without you. You will be missed individually and as a band of brothers (and sisters) that I have come to cherish working with. I hope you will take some time to personally reflect on some of the highlights of this past season. When God’s people invoke His presence and blessing on their efforts, it is always the biblical pattern to return thanks to Him when He clearly demonstrates His faithfulness. Need some reminders? New faces joined us, new opportunities to grow in worship and outreach helped solidify our purpose before God as worship leaders and good news bearers. We were used by God to help others experience powerful times of worship, to creatively share the gospel at Christmas and during Holy Week. As a team, we grew in unity and became a safer place for artists to use their God-given gifts. Through prayer and fellowship, we multiplied each other’s joy and divided one another’s grief. As a ministry, we experienced no significant tragedy, although even now we await the release of one of our own, Bob Worth, from his earthly body in exchange for his resurrected one. Anticipating this homecoming reminds me that the truly (and eternally) significant aspect of what God accomplished through us this year will probably not even be revealed to us until we are with Him forever in Heaven.

In addition to looking back to a year gone by, I pray you will also confirm or reaffirm your calling before we re-gather in August to begin anew. I sincerely believe in the concept of high investment, high return, and it certainly applies to the reward, the fulfillment we each receive after earnest preparation. An example of this would be the performance of the finale to our Christmas concert. First, imagine the gratification that came to those audience members who merely heard “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.”

it pales in comparison to the fulfillment that came to each of you after weeks of preparation and anticipation, when you finally joined the orchestra and presented it as a paean of praise worthy of our God. The scriptural principle which applies here is that of death and life. Paul says that we cannot really know resurrected power and life without undergoing a kind of death to ourselves and what might be convenient or comfortable. As you face the fall and the future, I pray you will count the cost and choose to continue to offer the sacrifice of praise.

From the bottom of my heart, I thank you, personally, as part of the Hope leadership team and as part of the gathered community, for staying faithful to your call as worship leaders. I include in that kudos to our department assistant Jenn for her tireless efforts to serve us, keep us organized, and help us to relate as a family; to my wife Debby as the director of our drama ministry, who inspires with her words, her characters, her stories, and her heart; for our entire tech ministry under Todd’s humble servant leadership and especially Benito and Ingrid for their excellence, creativity and hard work; our instrumentalists, each of whom is a true joy to work with; our Worship Advisory Team (Brian, Danny, Leslie, Veronica, Jim and Sharon), and many more too numerous to mention.

Each of you, through your weekly, consistent commitment to the worship ministry, has not only blessed our church and its guests, but you have richly added to my life. I realize that the personal and professional demands for your time and energy can make such a ministry of service challenging at times. You have stepped up, done your work, and continued to put the blessing of others before your own need for a less complicated life. And even on those weeknights and Sunday mornings when you thought you could not give any more, you simply showed up. How delighted God is when His saints stay the course. It is what ultimately qualified Jesus for being raised to the place of highest honor…he endured to the end.

Finally, I leave you with a blessing contained in one little but awesome word from the Old Testament— mizpah. MIZPAH is mentioned for the first time in the Bible (Genesis 31, around 1800 BC) as a powerful watchword, when Jacob and Laban agreed at Gilead to a God-sent peace. They built a memento of stone and named it like their wise covenant MIZPAH, saying: “The Lord watch between me and thee when we are absent one from another.” I am confident that the One who watches over Israel,(Ps. 121) who never slumbers nor sleeps, whose eye is on the sparrow—will have each of us and all of us in His scope throughout our summer separation.

You are loved,
tad