Come together right now…over Me

Years ago, I sat in my father’s living room, listening to him as he faced the final days of his life.  I remember struggling for words to comfort him as he grieved the loss of his health, two wives, his ministry, his self-reliance, and worst of all—the vitality of his faith. After listening to him for several hours, I chose to read a portion of Psalm 71 to him:

I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign LORD; 

I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone. 

Since my youth, God, you have taught me, 

and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. 

Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God,

 till I declare your power to the next generation, 

your mighty acts to all who are to come. 

Psalm 71:16-18

Note the irony.  Here I was, the “next generation”, declaring to my dad (the previous generation) the mighty acts of God.  And in my mind, turnabout was fair play.  I can’t count the number of times in my life he had instructed me in the faith, encouraged me to trust God, and to trust Him fully with the uncertainty of my future.  It only seemed fitting in his last days for me to remind him of what he had taught me.  It was a “passing of the baton” moment, but it also served to remind me that God’s Word is equally powerful and applicable for all generations.  But in order for each generation to encourage the other along the way, I believe we need to pursue a common life—at least on some level.  In other words, we can’t always separate into generational groups and still hope to learn from one another.  Unfortunately, this is exactly what’s happening in many churches across our land.

The way of the world is to isolate or group according to affinity, interest or demographics.  Add to that our consumer driven culture and “have it your way” mentality, and we find many churches caving to this pattern and allowing Sunday morning to appeal to a very narrow demographic.  Many local bodies of Christ have basically given up trying to do anything intergenerational, especially worship, charting one of two courses instead:  

1) narrow the target to a particular age group or segment of our society or 2) serve up a smorgasbord of worship styles on campus each weekend, allowing attendees to pick and choose based on personal preference.

At Hope, are asking if this is not another example of letting the world squeeze us into its own mold (Rom 12:1, 2).  Let’s be clear.  There is nothing wrong with individuality and organizing around common interests…nothing, that is, until it begins to contradict your basic message of love and unity.  So have your golf tournaments, your youth retreats, your MOPS groups or Empty Nesters community.  It’s all good.  But also remember the power of a love that transcends common interests, ages, or styles.  Jesus told us exactly how the world would know that He had come—that we have (genuine) love for one another.  How does that love happen?  Not without dialogue.  Not without understanding or empathy.  And not, on occasion, without compromise.

It reminds me of the old Beatles song “Come Together.”  All kinds of theories exist out there over the real meaning of that’s song’s message, but the hook line has stayed with me to this day:  Come together, right now, over me.  What if we received that as God’s deep desire for His church related to its corporate worship life.  “Come together (My beloved), right now (don’t put it off), over Me (remember, worship is about Me first).”

In the worship community, we have a unique opportunity to lead the charge on this vision.  Each week we are entrusted with the privilege and chance to help lead God’s people in the most unifying (potentially, at least) event of their week.  We don’t all dress alike, listen to the same music, have the same amount of education or income, attend the same movies or prefer the same political candidates.  But worship is that one experience which is supposed to center us on the One in whose very image each of us has been made and for whose very glory we have been created. 

Think about that: each of us—young and old alike, Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, black and white, sick and well, technical wizards and technical illiterates, has been made to reflect God. Jesus called us the very salt of the earth, the light of the world.  Can you think of a better way to be reminded of that than to engage in a regular activity which celebrates what we share in common, not what distinguishes us? 

Want a big dream? Then imagine Hope church being known as a place where all generations worship together, demonstrate a growing love for each other and an increasing respect for one another’s life view.  It’s part of the vision of Hope’s staff and elders for all of us to begin living out a more common life together as a witness to others.  It’s definitely not the way of the world.  But it is, we truly believe, the way of the Word.  Hope each of you will join us on this adventure.

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