Dancing in the sanctuary on Christmas Eve

"Joy to the world! the Savior reigns,
Let men their songs employ,
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy."

If  I recall the story correctly, Isaac Watts got into hymn-writing because he complained to his father one day that the antiphonal singing that made up the standard worship set in the 18th Century evangelical church was so dry. "Well young man," said his dear old dad. "If you think you can write better stuff, go ahead and do it" (or words to that effect). Unknowingly, the senior Mr. Watts unloosed the muse of his son who, in time, would come to be known as the "Father of English hymnody". He was, if you will, the Chris Tomlin of his day (and if you don't know who that is it reveals what generation you're from!)

Put a wig on him and remove the smile
and he could pass for Watts

I serve a fellowship in the Pentecostal tradition. You know, we're folk who during the “singing-part” of the service raise our hands and tend to sing the same song more than a time or two. Having said that, however, as these kind of churches go we're pretty tame. We don't get too wild or woolly. I'm telling you this because it matters to the story I'm about to tell you.

A few weeks ago, as I closed our Christmas Eve service with Watts'
"Joy to the World", suddenly and unexpectedly the front row made up of a young couple and their pre-teen girls gathered up their aunt and her kids (their cousins) who were sitting with her and began a dance of celebration around the sanctuary (and while doing so picked up a few teen-age sisters who were sitting with their family in the back row). Mind you, it was just me beating out the tune on my guitar with neither drum nor box-drum for accompaniment. And yet still they danced - for joy! (I learned afterward that a fourth grader was the inspiration for the spontaneous dance). 

I think if it were possible for Watts to see from heaven this display of holy frivolity he would have approved. And why not given the content of the lyrics he penned so many centuries ago:

No more let sins and sorrows grow
Nor thorns infest the ground
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found. Far as the curse is found.

Far as, far as the curse is found.

One day the curse will be gone for good
but until then his blessings flow far as the curse is found

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness
And wonders of His love, and wonders of His love,
And wonders, and wonders of His love!

Sure looks like fun

These are far more than theological hopes or declarations to ponder.
This is good news – and yes, even news to dance around to. Midwesterners are a funny bunch, aren't we? We think its great fun to watch a stadium full of Wisconsin Badger fans “jump around” to House of Pain's song by the same name at the conclusion of the third quarter. We also would find it very odd to be in attendance at Lambeau Field during a game in December and not spot big beefy
guys shouting like kingdom come without their shirts on, But get a little crazy about the Lord of the all the earth removing our sins from us entirely and ruling his world with truth and grace that's just odd, isn't it?

I'm told that beer helps to do this sort of thing.

In over 31 years of pastoral ministry I've seen many a wonder: on one day I saw two brides at two different weddings jump for joy as I pronounced them "husband and wife"; I've seen a man away from God and his family jump up in the middle of a message and make a bee line to the altar to get right with God (and did!); and I've seen a long, lost-but-in-reality-stolen dog make his way home on account of the prayers of our oldest daughter. But this was a first - a spontaneous, conga-line dance to a wonderful, prophetic song - for the joy the Lord had brought them. 

If I could do more than one thing at a time I would have got my phone out and began recording it to watch again (and again) later. But I can't and if I had stopped playing to do that the dance would have suddenly come to an abrupt end. So it will remain a wonderful little memory that I will think on and recount as I have opportunity to do so in times to come. 

Joy to the world, the Lord is come,

Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing, And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and heaven and nature sing!

And dance too, should the joy catch you unawares and join the great celebration of the ages which thankfully does not conclude after we've put our Christmas decorations away for another year. 

 

Change your mind and get in step: A meditation on Mark 1:1-8

 “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God,...”
Mark 1:1, 1984 NIV

Some people are waders and some are plungers. Some folk slowly wade into the pool in an attempt to acclimatize to the water while others just dive in. As gospels go, Mark cannonballs in. No back-story of the birth of Jesus (Luke), no lengthy genealogies (Matthew and Luke), no prologue with profound theological import (John). Nope. He just gets to it and announces in no uncertain terms: “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Any questions?

There's a reason Peter refers to him as "Creepy John"

If you've watched Seasons 1 and 2 of Angel Studios The Chosen, Peter's favorite moniker of John the Baptist is “Creepy John.” And for good reason. He lives apart dressed in clothes that in our day would be fished out of a school's “lost and found” bin and eats little more than bugs and honey. While no one really knows what he looked like, actor David Amito's portrayal of the prophet certainly fits the part: scraggly hair and beard, gaunt from his subsistence diet and passionate about the task he has been given to do. Namely, to get his generation – and by extension all of us – ready to receive the One who is coming who is “more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie” (v. 7).

As all the Gospel writers concur, he is the fulfillment of the prophetic words spoken by Malachi and Isaiah centuries before which speak of a messenger who will go ahead and prepare the way, making the path straight for Messiah. Very self-consciously he dedicates himself to this task. While John portrays his more contrary and ornery side, Mark simply states that his message was clear: “Messiah is coming. Get yourself ready for his appearance.” I personally appreciate The Message's translation of verses 2-3:

A work of Bruegel!

Watch closely: I’m sending my preacher ahead of you;
He’ll make the road smooth for you.
Thunder in the desert!
Prepare for God’s arrival!
Make the road smooth and straight!

It seems all of Jerusalem and the surrounding countryside come down to the river to hear this wide-eyed preacher speak forth his timely message. And they respond by the hundreds to his clarion call to repent. 

As a volunteer chaplain at the Barron County Jail for eighteen years I can say unequivocally that crocodile tears are real. Guys come out of court with the sentence they didn't anticipate nor bargain for and shed real tears but not of remorse or sorrow for their sins. They feel bad and they feel sorry but it doesn't necessarily lead to determination to live differently. Rather, they want me to feel sorry for them even though they chose to break the laws that put them in the hard place they find themselves.

Pentecostal that I am I like to link repentance with crying tears
at the altar at the close of a message. But this act in itself may not necessarily lead to a changed life. When Mark tells us that John preaches a “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin” (v. 4) the word for repentance he uses is metanoia which means to “change your mind” which implies it is as much an act of the will as it is of anything else.

What's most important is whose side are we on

For me, I think of the moment captured in Joshua 5. Joshua is on a recon of the city of Jericho when he encounters an imposing stranger
with a drawn sword. Instinctively he cries out (in so many words) “Friend or foe? Are you for us or for our enemies?” to wit the stranger replies directly and with authority: “Neither. I am the commander of the Lord's army. Whose side are you on?” (5:13-15). Joshua is no fool. Immediately he takes a knee in an act of humility and reverence and says, “What orders does my Master have for your servant?” (v. 14, Msg). It's in the same abrupt tone of voice that John addresses us: “Get with the program. Submit yourself to the Lord's leadership. Now.” By implication, ignore this counsel at your peril.

At the onset of the new year, I think this is a good passage to ponder. It's common custom to set new goals and resolutions for the year ahead – weight we want to lose, a state of fitness we want to achieve, a debt we want to retire and so forth. All of these can be good and timely things. But John the Baptist would have us ask ourselves first, am I ready for the Lord's appearance? Am I surrendered to his cause and his work? And if not am I ready to fall in line behind the priorities of his kingdom?

For my money, the best definition I've ever heard of “repentance” is how Eugene H. Petersen defined it in his seminal work A Long Obedience in the Same Direction (1980, Intervarsity Press)

A book I return to every
so often

Repentance is not an emotion. It is not feeling sorry for your sins. It is a decision. It is deciding that you have been wrong in supposing that you could manage your own life and be your own god; it is deciding that you were wrong in thinking that you had, or could get, the strength, education and training to make it on your own; it is deciding that you have told a pack of lies about yourself and your neighbors and your world. And it is deciding that God in Jesus Christ is telling you the truth. Repentance is a realization that what God wants from you and what you want from God are not going to be achieved by doing the same old things, thinking the same old thoughts. Repentance is a decision to follow Jesus Christ and become his pilgrim in the path of peace.

Like everyone else, I want to experience salvation in my life and in the relationship circles I travel in the year ahead. I want to know first-hand (again!) his lovingkindness and be reminded that it is truly better than life. But I also have to ask myself to which drum beat am I marching to – his or mine? And if not his it's best I take a knee as Joshua once did outside Jericho and submit myself fully to his way and his call to follow him through the year ahead.