Word has it that people seemed to appreciate the worship song selections even more so this past Sunday: from “Here I Am, Lord” and “Shine, Jesus, Shine” at 9am, to “Oceans” and “Graves into Gardens” at 11am. And perhaps there was deeper appreciation because of worldly happenings that were weighing on people’s hearts and minds and to the depths of the soul.
It was rather interesting timing, then, that leaders of our youth mission trip from this past summer, took hold of what was the usual sermon spot in both worships. It may not have been the same kind of Gospel proclamation, and yet, it very much was a Gospel proclamation. At one point, it was brought up about our youth being placed in groups with younger members of non-denominational churches. And not only did they engage in hands-on service projects to impact the people surrounding the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, where relief efforts continue nearly a year after Hurricane Helene devastated even the western regions of that state; but they also engaged in conversations about God, including our human role not just in this life, but what must be done to reel in eternal life benefits, so to speak.
Granted, not all us Lutherans are on the same page with that theological…complexity, but safe to say not all the youth there were on the same concluding page either. And yet, disagreement was had and done so with respect. And worship happened…together. And service was brought to life…together. And with a backdrop of disagreements not only happening but ferociously boiling over and the aftermath of such disagreements leading to only further inner-devastation, the message heard on Sunday morning about the words and actions of several of our youth was indeed a Gospel proclamation.
It also so happens that part of that proclamation was a reminder that we don’t need the youth however many years down the line to fill in pew spots or to fill committee seats. We need them now. We need their relentless hope. We need their baffling ability to openly converse without tearing “the other” apart. We need their insistence on working together with “the other” in order to make a greater impact on the world that God still so loves…for some unbelievable holy reason. We need their fervent passion of putting their faith into action. We need their being wonderfully different from the current worldly procedure operation. We don’t need them years down the line. We need them…desperately…now.
One song that has stubbornly grabbed my spiritual attention recently has been “Be Thou My Vision,” especially because of a rendition you can view below. The singers seem to be overcome with the song, with the Holy Spirit, with a belief that there is still hope not just for “heaven’s joys” or “heaven’s sun,” but that the very joys of heaven have already been brought to us in Jesus Christ. Although worldly happenings may make children of God wonder if there are any joys to be found in the earthly realm, but maybe the music and the youngest of life will never allow us to lose that very hope brought to life in Jesus Christ. That they will not allow us to give up in worshiping together, in serving together, in somehow combining to care for all the devastated forms of life, because God has just of a holy dwelling in those sacred places, too. May that holiest vision, that “best thought both by day and by night” be our ultimate guide now and forevermore. Amen (so let it be)!
In Christ,
Pastor Brad