Lessons From Micah

Welcome to each and every one of you who have joined us this fall! I hope you have had a refreshing break and are raring to go. To you veterans, you have been missed! To you rookies, we are glad you are here and hope you still feel the same in a few months!! As we start another choir season, let me turn your attention to one of my favorite passages in God’s Word, from the 6th chapter of Micah. On one level, it satisfies because of its simple Q & A formula. If only all of scripture was as clear and indisputable! But on another level, it provides rich food for thought that could take many seasons to explore and experience.

Q: With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God?
A: He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

As worship leaders, we know from both the OT and NT that worship begins here…with a willingness to offer oneself (see Romans 12:1,2). It’s not the goal, it’s the starting point.

Much of what we do in corporate worship involves words, speech, song lyrics, prayers. But Micah suggests in this passage that offering ourselves to God in worship doesn’t have a whole lot to do with what we say. His three prescribed action steps are just that…actions. In some sense, our corporate gatherings are more about stated intentions than the fleshing out of what we vow to God, what we desire to see become reality in our lives. To put it another way, singing about the awesomeness of God, that He is holy, sufficient, above all gods, is quite different than demonstrating those beliefs with our lives.

To act justly is one thing when hanging out with other Christians on a Sunday morning; quite another thing come Monday morning (or even Sunday afternoon). It’s easy to love mercy when we corporately pray for the needs of the Body. But what does it look like when others hurt us, devalue us, even oppose us? And walking humbly? That wasn’t even easy in heaven, when Lucifer lost his place and was cast out. (Isaiah 14:12ff) The reason: He found it hard to be so gifted, so beautiful, etc., and to walk humbly at the same time.

Gathering around the common task of leading people in worship as a community provides us an excellent lab experience to practice these very principles.

Acting justly in the context of this ministry implies simply doing the right thing: keeping commitments (who was it who said 90% of life is showing up?), being punctual, honing your craft, giving your personal best, etc. As teammates, it is important that we not only worship together regularly but also prepare together regularly. We will not maintain a consistent momentum towards excellence if we allow issues of comfort or convenience to rule us as it relates to the grunt work of our task—practice.

As a community, we love mercy when we foster a grace atmosphere...create a safe place for others to grow and be accepted. It means we treat others as we wish to be treated, assume the best motives, even when the behavior is different than expected or what you yourself would do, and be quick to forgive when behavior or motive falls short. Loving mercy is intensely active and passionate, not passive and wishy-washy.

And finally, we walk humbly with our God when we demonstrate the attitudes Paul writes about in Romans 12 and Philippians 2:

“Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

So, again, welcome to this choir season! Welcome to what I believe will be an exciting year of service, outreach and fun. But also welcome to the grand lab experiment we call Christian community, where we learn how to worship with more than words.

I hope and pray each of you comes to discover your unique and valuable role in this family. It might be your voice. It might be your smile. Maybe it is your ability to listen and care. It could even be your ability to trust God in prayer. Whatever it is, you are God’s treasure and have been placed here by His design. May God be free among us to create the tapestry He chooses..

-tad

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

You've Got Mail...

A very encouraging and thought-provoking email came my way this week as a follow up to our Monday evening workshop. Thought it might lift your spirits as well. It came from a new member, who was happy with anonymity, so I will merely hint at its source. His initials might remind you of your very first rifle. And hers might bring to mind a hot roast beef sandwich. But I digress. Very special people already. Please read on…

“When [the wife] and I first ‘tried’ Hope Church, it was definitely not our comfort zone. While we knew of EV Free churches, we hadn’t experienced one, and it was certainly much, much larger than our previous church homes. But, the power of the music that we heard during our first and then subsequent visits overwhelmed our initial inhibitions and literally permeated us with the message of Christ. And I’m convinced that a large part of its effectiveness is because of the homogenous nature of the large group that doesn’t call undue attention to any one individual week in and week out, and yet delivers a powerful music message that touches emotions but not in a showy, manipulative way. In other words, as is your mission, the hearers hear the message of Christ without otherwise being distracted by the personal performance aspect that often accompanies a small praise group or praise leader.

(Editor’s note: I made a comment at the workshop that the choirs wishing to impact (or even survive) this generation of worshipers will need to reinvent themselves and return to the biblical model of worship leadership. No longer will they be able to see their ministry as artistic “window dressing”, occupying a front and center position of influence, without demonstrating the passionate faith and self-effacing worship that actually helps lead God’s people to His throne. To these observations, our friend offered a very insightful illustration. Please read on :-)

I tend to see things in comparative images or analogies. For me, I can see a comparison between traditional choirs and coffee. Both have been around for centuries, both are intended to sooth and stimulate, and both can be hot, cold, old, mild, bitter, fresh, vibrant, robust, weak, or strong. And there are a ton of varieties out there. And just as coffee for many, many decades became a taken-for-granted beverage in the restaurant business, choirs seemed to follow the same path in the church. The coffee was usually prepared by people who didn’t really pay careful attention to its quality, made it without thought, and served it mindlessly refill after refill without assigning a whole lot of value to it...it was just expected for a restaurant to brew it and serve it.

But we all know what happened over the past 25 years [simply] because a guy took a very different view of coffee. Instead of seeing it as an unimportant side-beverage, he saw it as a primary beverage worthy of careful brewing, provided by attentive servers who were well trained and coached, and he insisted on elevating the quality of the product in order to garner the loyalty of its devotees. He reclaimed, and then enhanced its value, and ultimately escalated its price-per-cup beyond what anyone would have really imagined possible. And he also convinced investors to come along with him and his little start-up company, Starbucks. The guy knew that coffee could be much more than what the culture (and the traditional providers) had allowed it to become.

A choir might be a “product” that others have lost the vision for, but personally, I see Hope’s choir as being a “Starbuck’s” offering with even more potential to penetrate. When done well and with the right passion, there are no other companion ministries that I can think of that have the same ability to inspire, encourage, and move people closer to the Lord than the gospel broadcasted by a three or four dozen vocalists, infused with the Holy Spirit, who are powerfully and harmoniously proclaiming Jesus’ love.

What’d I tell you? Isn’t this inspiring?!? A great example of: The gifts of God for the people of God. The next time you have a cup of coffee, remember this: We are to be the very aroma of Christ to this world (2 Corinthians 2:15), and to help them taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8). And all God’s singers said, AMEN!

-tad

Spring Thanksgiving

What else can I say? Holy Week was Wholly Incredible! For all your amazing, selfless, hard work, your commitment to excellence, your patience and endurance, your prayer, and yes, finally, your superb presentation of such worthy and beautiful gifts to the Lord, THANK YOU, team! I hope the process was as fulfilling as the final product for each of you. Thanks especially to you “newbies” who braved the territory of the unknown, stayed the course, and hit the tape with all the veterans. We couldn’t have done it without you! Nor would we like to in the future. Please come back!!

In summary, allow me to quote the apostle Paul with my feelings…he always was better with words. Though you may be very familiar with this section of scripture, please read it very carefully once again, and let God bless you with new insights. From Philippians 1 (New Living Translation):

Thanks to all of you. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a special place in my heart. I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.

From the bottom of my heart, “thank you for giving to the Lord. I was a life that was changed.” I trust there were many, many others. CU in two weeks, gang!

-tad

Holy Week Remix 2011

If you’re a parent, you’ve probably found yourself saying it. If you ever had a parent, you probably heard it, and maybe more than once. Do what you’re told. Maybe you can even recall the phrase, because your father said so. As those contaminated with a sinful nature, we generally are tempted to react negatively to such edicts. As those created with a free will, it is almost instinctive to resist letting someone else be “the boss of us.” But have you ever thought about how such words, when spoken of/by a benevolent authority figure, can actually bring comfort, security, even expectancy?

The writer to the Hebrews wrote in chapter 12 that Jesus, for the joy set before him, “endured the cross, despising its shame, and [then] sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” What kept him focused through all of that torment? How was he able to persevere in the midst of such grave temptation? No question, Jesus anticipated one phenomenal outcome of his finished work was “bringing many sons to glory.” (Heb. 2:10) So we often conclude it was mainly because of His great love for us. But I would contend that the gospels also strongly suggest another motivation: He lived to please His Father.

Consider just the events that transpired from Palm Sunday to his resurrection. As he made his way through the crowds, even as he listened to their shouts of ‘Hosanna’, he was aware that these accolades came from people with all kind of agendas for him. Maybe you can relate to that part of the journey—the temptation to meet everybody else’s expectations along the way to following Jesus.

But because He lived to please His Father, it was His Father’s agenda that held Jesus’ attention. When pressed by unbelieving Jews as to his true identity, He answered: “I am not of this world…He who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from Him I tell the world. When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be, and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me…I always do what pleases Him.” (John 8: 23-29)

Hundreds of years before that final week, the prophet Isaiah had already hinted at what was to come. “It was the Lord’s [Father’s] will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his (Jesus’) life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord [Father] will prosper in his hand” (Isaiah 53:10)

So what might that final memo have looked like?

To: Jesus
From: Your Heavenly Father
Re: Things to accomplish during this week

1) Ride into town, not on a mighty stallion, but on a lowly donkey.
2) Curse a fig tree for not bearing fruit, and do it within earshot of your friends so they get the point.
3) Clear the temple of the money-changers and call these merchants a bunch of “robbers.”
4) Continue publicly debating the chief priests, the teach ers of the law, and the church elders, while fully aware that they are weighing every word, in order to find some reason to arrest you.
5) Endure the same political posturing with the Pharisees,the Herodians, and the Sadducees.
6) Receive a PDA (public display of affection) from a woman with a “past,” only to have its merits questioned by none other than Judas Iscariot. His PDA will follow.
7) Break bread with your best buds and remind them that the next time you drink wine with them, EVERYTHING will have changed. Oh, and even after three years of in tense ministry with them, sadly behold their clueless expressions.
8) Visit the garden of Gethsemane, pray in agony as your very best buds fall asleep.
9) Get arrested, falsely accused, humiliated, stripped, beaten, convicted and nailed naked to a tree. (And the world will call it “Good” Friday.)

But one more thing, Son.

10) Because You will have chosen to “humble yourself and become obedient to death – even death on a cross”, y journey’s end you will be exalted to the highest place and given “the name that is above every name, so that at your name, [Jesus,] every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth, and every tongue will confess that you, Jesus, are Lord of all, to the glory of God the Father.”

So fellow artists and disciples of Jesus, I ask you: With all the different voices clamoring for your attention, what keeps you motivated? Whose agenda keeps you focused and fulfilled? Might each of us find more and more delight in just doing what pleases our Father simply because He said so. As followers of Christ, it is the only path to victory and true joy. After all, He was just doing what He was told.

-tad

Think About His Love

One of my favorite praise songs from yesteryear was entitled Think about His Love. Written by Walt Harrah, it spoke of the pursuing, relentless love of God. The part that always grabbed me was the final line of the chorus…great is the measure of our Father’s love. At this time of year, we often focus primarily on Jesus’ sacrifice, his suffering and death on behalf of a sinful world, a fallen creation. But at times, I allow myself to reflect on what His Father went through in those final days of Jesus’ earthly life.

We know from the scriptures that God’s spirit can be grieved, so let’s assume our Father God experienced profound pain, grief and loss over the slaughter of His Son at the hands of sinful men. This was, of course, despite the fact that He orchestrated it. Isaiah 53 says; “Yet it was the Lord’s [Father’s] will to crush him [Jesus] and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the [Father] will prosper in his [Jesus’] hand.” Jesus had to be a willing Isaac, but the Father had to be an equally willing Abraham, so to speak.

I once passed a church during the season of Lent which had a crude, wooden cross near the curb with a sign below quoting Lamentations 1:12. It read simply: Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? As I drove by, the words began to impact me immediately. Why have I grown so casual about this symbol of God’s love for me? What kind of sacrificial act was this?

For a moment, my mind flashed back to the days of the Vietnam war. Vivid in my memory were the images from TV reports showing fathers of slain soldiers as they watched protests and flag-burnings. Think about it: even as they were burying their sons and daughters, who had been killed while trying to preserve those very freedoms, their children’s heroic acts were being despised. I was aware that I knew little of this kind of love. Soon after, I heard a story that helped me understand a little better. I can’t prove that it really happened. I only know it helped me get in touch with the measure of my Father’s love.

There once lived a man called “Big John” whose job it was to operate a mechanical drawbridge. Several times a day a train sped across this bridge carrying passengers safely across a deep and potentially deadly river. Big John’s job was crucial, of course, as the slightest delay in lowering the bridge to accommodate the oncoming train could mean certain derailment, hurling the train and its occupants to their death.

On one particular sunny afternoon, Big John decided it would be a delight to bring his young son, Little John, to the jobsite and allow him the thrill of watching him work.

Sure enough, the boy could not contain his excitement witnessing his dad in action, lifting and pushing levers which engaged the mighty gears as they empowered the bridge to open and close at Pop’s command. It was not difficult for Little John to realize that the fate of many lives lay in his father’s hands, and the lad was filled with pride. Someday, perhaps, he could be so important. Someday, he thought, people’s lives could depend on him. How exciting it all was!

About noon that day Big John and the boy sat down to lunch and talked about the possibility of Little John actually trying out the levers later that day. As they talked, time seemed to slip away, and only the loud piercing whistle of the oncoming 1:05 train jarred Big John back to reality. Realizing that the bridge remained in its UP position, he had only a matter of seconds to react to engage the gears, which could lower the tracks in time to greet the speeding train. As he quickly maneuvered the levers, he assured himself that, in fact, there would be enough time to ready the bridge.

Just then he heard Little John scream. The boy had apparently lost his balance on the walkway above the gear mechanism, causing him to plunge headlong into the grinding, steel machine. In a split second, the father torturously considered his alternatives: stop the whole process with a pull of a lever, thereby saving his son, while watching hundreds of passengers plunge to their death--or allow the gears to continue engaging the bridge. Big John knew the latter option would provide safe passage for the train’s occupants while at the same time ending his precious son’s life.

In his heart of hearts, he knew he had only one choice. With tears streaming down his face accompanied by the loud cry of a man gone mad, he held his hand steady, watching as the bridge slowly came into perfect alignment just seconds before the roaring train zoomed by, its passengers casually unaware of the sacrifice just made on their behalf. Some were sleeping, some played cards--others just gazed out the window as if nothing had happened. John could not bring himself to look downward at what had become of his precious boy, but instead stared intently at the blank faces in front of him. Is it nothing to you, all you that pass by?

As painful as an account like this is, it truly pales in comparison to the horror that the Father witnessed as His innocent Son, who knew no sin, became sin for us and absorbed His wrath for us. I hope as you and I prepare for our role in retelling the story of Easter, we will be left with at least one significant takeaway: great is the measure of our Father’s love.

-tad

Trees Talk

As we begin a new sermon series entitled The Tree, I have been reflecting on the marvelous gift that this part of creation is to you and me. Consider with me the connection between the tree and the four seasons: summer, autumn, winter, and spring. Here in this one beautiful symbol of life we have all the stages, the actual rhythm of the human experience. And ultimately, we have the reminder that through the use of a tree, God’s redemptive plan for his fallen creation was accomplished, and we are restored, we are made right with Him.

I am reminded of the lyrics to one of my favorite Nicole Nordeman songs, Every Season.* Read along and see if you don’t agree that God’s creative handiwork has a language all its own.

Every evening sky, an invitation to trace the patterned stars.
And early in July, a celebration for freedom is ours.
And I notice You in children’s games,
in those who watch them from the shade.
Every drop of sun is full of fun and wonder.
You are summer.

I think of the summer of our days as the best of the best. And it’s not necessarily a confined season or stage of our life. It’s just when life is good, when we’re hitting on all cylinders, and all seems right with the world. This experience comes and goes, but when we’re in the middle of it, we don’t want it to end. It’s also a time filled with discovery and awe.

And even when the trees have just surrendered
to the harvest time.
Forfeiting their leaves in late September and sending us inside,
Still I notice You. When change begins
and I am braced for colder winds,
I will offer thanks for what has been and what’s to come.
You are autumn.

Personally, autumn is my favorite season of the year. The colors, the smells, the cooler temperatures, the activities unique to fall: they all remind me that just because something changes does not mean it can’t be beautiful or purposeful. And I have learned the longer I live, that something wondrous happens even in the process of dying—if I look for it.

And ev’rything in time and under heaven fin’lly falls asleep.
Wrapped in blankets white, all creation shivers underneath.
And still I notice You when branches crack
and in my breath on frosted glass.
Even now in death, You open doors for life to enter.
You are winter.

Having just been through one of the nastier winters in my
recent memory, I can honestly say this is probably my least favorite season of the year and of life in general. It is often used to describe that stage which precedes our own death, when we fall asleep and are no more. We hear the phrase the winter of our years. Actually, I usually greet the start of winter with enthusiasm. Certain elements, the snow, the warmth of a fireplace, even the beauty of dead trees and vegetation against a white backdrop intrigues me…initially. But then comes the waiting, the frustration of life slowed down, the lack of freedom, the lack of life, the sameness of it all. At times the bitter winds and uncertain conditions seem actually to oppose me in my journey, blocking my forward momentum. But then, it happens:

And everything that’s new has bravely surfaced,
teaching us to breathe.
And what was frozen through is newly purposed,
turning all things green.
So it is with You and how You make me new
with ev’ry season’s change.
And so it will be as You are recreating me,
summer, autumn, winter...spring.

You and I, along with all of God’s creation, are reborn, given a fresh start, awakened to life as it was always intended. Solomon once wrote: “Lo, the winter is past, the rains are over and gone; flowers appear on the earth, and the time for singing has come.” It reminds us that even the bleakest of periods in our lives have an ending point. God is always at work moving us forward. He has made seasons to illustrate the spectrum of our human experiences. And He has made trees, including the one that was used for His own son’s death, to remind us, that in whatever stage we find ourselves, He is at work for our good. Let the seasons speak to you. Let trees talk to you. And be reminded, God is not finished with you yet.

[Jesus] Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. 1 Peter 2:24 NKJV

-tad

* “Every Season” Nichole Nordeman © 2000 Ariose Music, Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing