Called to be in the Choir

"You're tone deaf." Those are the words I heard, just minutes into an audition for a small musical ensemble at the college I once attended.  Those words landed like a brick on my ego. The irony was that I had actually been a member of this same ensemble the previous year. However, the number of those auditioning had been smaller that year and the acceptance threshold had been set much lower.  This year, with a large new crop of talented Freshman clamoring to audition, the director could afford to be more selective.  I didn't make the cut.  As I picked my pride up off the floor to leave, he threw me a word of encouragement.  "Maybe if you join the college chorale you can improve and try again next year."

I never did join the college chorale.  I was too deflated. It was like being in the major leagues and being sent down to the minors. I didn't see the point. If I could no longer perform with the best, I didn't want to perform at all. So, I decided that my days of singing in front of people were over.

That was twenty-six years ago. I'd all but forgotten about that day until I sat in church, a couple weeks ago, watching the choir take the stage to sing. Now, I know mixed among them are surely some wonderful voices. But, though I can't speak for the members of this choir, I've stood in front of enough choir members while singing hymns over the years to suspect that not all of them are great singers. Some of their voices are probably a little flat, others possibly possess a little too much vibrato or tend to be just a tad out of key. Some of them, like me, are probably somewhat tone deaf.  But together, in large numbers, relying on other basses, tenors, sopranos and altos around them, what they lack individually is compensated for collectively. The sound they create together is beautiful.  They are in perfect harmony.

In Ephesians 2:4 - 22 we read, "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ...Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit."

When I read this passage a few key phrases jump off the page:  "...made us together...", "...fellow citizens...", "...fitted together...", "...built together..."

In a sense, you could say that our God is the Director of the choir to which we have been called to be members.  I think it's safe to say, spiritually speaking, that none of us are rock stars. And, you know, that's okay. He hasn't called us to be rock stars. God has called the weak of the world. We all have areas of our life that are out of tune, where we fall a little flat. All of us have areas of spiritual tone deafness. At those times in our walk when we "blow the audition," when spiritually we fail to "make the cut", it's tempting to become discouraged, to walk away, to let our pride get the best of us and isolate ourselves from our brethren.  It's those times that it's important to remember the reason God has put us in His choir. He put us here, fitted together as a holy temple, to support one another, to encourage one another in our weaknesses, to lift each other up so that we, together, can grow in perfect spiritual harmony.

I wish I had swallowed my pride and taken the advice of that ensemble director to join the choir.  Maybe with the support of others I could have overcome my tone deafness and not relegated myself to just singing in the shower all these years. Alas, that train has left the station.

I am thankful, though, for my membership in this spiritual choir to which I have been called. I'm thankful for the support and encouragement of my brothers and sisters in Christ. Individually, though we struggle to stay on key, together, with the help of our Director, we make beautiful music. 

Day of Atonement - It's Not About Us

The Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. An incredibly joyous occasion.

There is so much to celebrate that will occur on this day, yet future. The Saints will have risen to meet their returning Lord in the air and will descend with Him on the mount of Olives. All who come to make war with the returning King will have been vanquished. Satan, that old serpent, the devil, who enslaves the whole world will himself be bound and cast into darkness, no longer able to lie and deceive mankind. All who have lived will, at last, have opportunity to enter into At-One-Ment with the Father through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The events this day pictures are wondrous.

I have to admit, though, that in all the years I've observed this day, there is one aspect of it that has caused me confusion.

If it's such a joyous occasion, why are we afflicting our souls? For me, it just doesn't seem to follow.

I understand the explanation that says we fast as a means of humbling ourselves so that we might recognize our dependence on Him, our need for His atoning sacrifice. On one level, I get this line of thinking. Fasting is a powerful reminder that we are human, that we need a Saviour. But on another level, something about the idea of fasting on this day to remind me of my need for His sacrifice just didn't seem to fit.

Why?

Well, this day falls within the Fall holy day season. Those of us who observe both the Spring and Fall holy days recognize that the two seasons are pointed toward two distinct groups of people whom God is calling; They point to two distinct phases of His plan for salvation.

The Spring holy days are directed toward those who are called during this present age. They are the Firstfruits, part of the early harvest. It is toward those who are called now, placed in His body, the Church, that the typology of the Spring holy days is directed.

The Fall holy days, in contrast, represent the great harvest to take place after Christs return, when the vast majority of those who have lived will be resurrected and have their minds opened to understand the gospel. They will be given the opportunity, as you and I already have, to know and enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ as their Saviour. It will be an awesome time.

So, if this Day of Atonement pictures salvation being offered to those who have not yet been called, why then would we, as Christians already called, already in this relationship, fast as means of being reminded of our dependence on Him? Haven't we pictured that lesson already during the Spring holy days?

In Isaiah 58:6 - 9 we read “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ "

Fasting is about the breaking of bonds. It's about recognizing the helplessness of man apart from God and beseeching Him for deliverance from oppression and heavy burdens. It's a yearning plea to our God for healing, for deliverance and for renewal. Sometimes we fast on our own behalf. But often, as is the case here in Isaiah, we fast on behalf of others who are in bondage, that they might be free and made whole.

So, in the context of these Fall Holy Days, for whom then are we fasting? For us? For our own deliverance? Or, are we fasting for those who are still in bondage to the god of this world? Isn't that the true reason why we are fasting on this Day? Aren't we fasting, beseeching our God for that day to come, when His Son will return, Satan will be bound and the vast majority of mankind will finally have their chains removed? Isn't this fast about them and not about us?

You and I have already experienced our freedom from bondage haven't we? Every year we commemorate that freedom we have been given during the Spring holy days, at Passover. This day, the Day of Atonement, looks forward to the time that Passover sacrifice will be made available for all of those who have not yet had opportunity.

So, to those of my brethren who are fasting on this day, I encourage you to focus your prayers, focus your heart, not on yourself, but on a world still waiting to taste the freedom you now enjoy. Pray for those who do not yet have the awesome relationship you have with your God and Savior. Pray for your co-workers, your neighbors, your family and friends. Pray that He would send His Son quickly to a world that is in suffering, in desperate need of deliverance. Fast and pray to break the bands of wickedness, that all who are oppressed might go free.

Cure for the "ism's"

I love my teenage son.  He's a joy to have around and I couldn't be a prouder father. But like most teenage sons, from time to time he is afflicted with that dreaded malady, teenage know-it-all-ism. Thankfully, I've found a wonderful defense in the battle against this dreaded disease: Google©.

My last opportunity to deploy this powerful weapon came just last week when I found my son standing before the open door of our kitchen refrigerator, hacking and coughing, broadcasting germs like an oscillating lawn sprinkler.

Dad: "Jordan! What do you think you are doing? You're going to get us all sick! Get out of the kitchen!"

Jordan (sounding authoritative and professorial):  "Dad,....sniffle, cough...don't you know that once symptoms of a cold start displaying themselves you are no longer contagious.  Coughing and sneezing are simply the body's way of clearing out the effects of a cold that has already run it's course. You can't get sick from it...wheez...sputter."

Dad (beginning to feel a little unsure of himself, starting his retreat):  "Well...Hmmm...that can't be right can it? But it kind of makes sense...I guess..."

Jordan (continuing his rummaging through the fridge): "So, dad....cough, sputter....there's nothing to...hack...worry about."

Dad (feeling suddenly empowered): "Wait a minute!  C'mon that can't be true. Let me check this out. I'm googling this one."

"Hmmm... Jordan,.it says here on WebMd that a cold is contagious from three days before the onset of symptoms and up to five to seven days after the onset of symptoms. What do you say to them beans!"

 Jordan (slinking out of the kitchen, acknowledging defeat): "Uhh...Oh...Hmmm...I guess I was wrong."

Slowly, cooly, like a gunslinger re-holstering his smoking colt 45, I close the lid to my laptop.  I could almost hear the background music to one of those old Clint Eastwood flicks. You know, the one we all try to whistle but can never get quite right.. Google© saved the west again. Or, at least my kitchen.

I can't be too hard on my son though.  Even as adults, we struggle with not only know-it-all-ism, but all kind of other "ism's" from time to time. Our human nature is often prone to believing it has all the answers, that it knows what is best.  Thankfully, we have a loving Father who has provided an even more powerful weapon than Google©.

In Hebrews 4:12 - 13 we read, "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."

The cure for know-it-all-ism and all of the other "isms" of our human nature against which we battle?  God's Word. Immersing ourselves in it daily allows it to work in our hearts in concert with His Spirit that is in us, convicting us of what is true, and laying bare those areas of our lives that are diseased and in need of healing.

Proverbs 3:5-8 tells us to "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; 

fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones."

It's up in the air whether my son will grow to be a better man because his dad was adept at using a search engine. I have to admit I sure enjoy bursting his bubble from time to time though. 

There is no doubt, however, that submitting ourselves fearfully before the One who does indeed know it all, looking to Him, following His ways rather than our own, will bring us healing from all the "isms" to which our human natures are prone.