"He drew me closer to his side. I sought his will to know."

Hymn: “Wherever He Leads, I’ll Go” – Words and Music: B. B. McKinney (1886-1952)

Tune: FALLS CREEK

Remember how you were sitting on the couch, and a parent or grandparent sat down beside you, reached over and pulled you snuggly next to them in a seated bear-hug? When you were small, you giggled and hugged back. Perhaps you were told how much you were loved, kissed on the forehead… even given a noogie. As you sat there embraced by someone who truly cared about you, an intimate conversation sometime ensued as you asked, “What was it like when you were growing up? Did you have a dog? Did you really walk a mile-and-a-half to school in knee-deep snow?” Important stuff like that. It’s how we got to know our parents and grandparents.

That’s the picture that comes to mind when I sing this hymn-line: Jesus reaching over and pulling me toward himself, wrapping his arms around my frame, rubbing me on the head and whispering, “I love you, you know.” After I bask in that kind of compassionate expression, I begin to ask him questions – not about dogs and snow, but about what he has in mind for my life.

The image of Jesus drawing me over close to him – that’s the one I delight in when I sing this hymn.

Returning to that sofa analogy where I started out: at some point when you were pulled more closely, you may have stiffened and reluctantly returned the affection. It’s a shame how we do that. Then some of us became the parent/grandparent pulling a child over closer to us… and cherished those moments – until they began to outgrow their enjoyment thereof. (With fast-maturing grandsons, I can identify with that!)

Over the years, your sofa-time with Jesus may have become less intimate; you may have stiffened and become reluctant to accept his caresses. Remember Jesus said that unless we come to him like a child, we will miss out on the joys of the kingdom.

I know that this next statement of Jesus comes on the heels of some chastisement for the leaders of Jerusalem, but I’ve always loved how he said, “How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.” What a pleasant, wonderful thought. However, it is followed by “but you were not willing!” (Luke 13:34)

Don't be a reluctant child of God. Scoot on down the sofa within reach of those strong arms of Jesus. Let him whisper sweet and low. Let him ‘love on you’ a little today… or a lot! Then ask him what his will is for you – what you should do next for him and the kingdom. It’ll warm the cockles* of your heart… and his!

Hear Alan Jackson SingThis Hymn

and Sing Along!

 

* - Something that warms the cockles of one’s heart induces a glow of pleasure, sympathy, affection, or some such similar emotion. What gets warmed is the innermost part of one’s being. (from World Wide Words)

 

“I sing because I’m happy! I sing because I’m free!”

Hymn: “His Eye Is on the Sparrow” – Civilla D. Martin (1860-1948)

Tune: SPARROW

Most of us think this is an African American spiritual because it has been so often sung by some of our favorite black singers and was made popular by Ethel Waters’ singing of it at the Billy Graham crusades in the 1950’s and 60’s. But the text writer was a Canadian white lady, and the man who wrote the music provided us with many other familiar hymns and gospel songs like “Since Jesus Came into My Heart,” “Just When I Need Him Most,” and “I Stand Amazed in the Presence.” That’s enough hymnology for today, class.

Ever wonder WHY you sing hymns, gospel songs, anthems, choruses? Why you spend several minutes in a service of worship placing great words on top of musical pitches? If it’s just for the musical experience, you are missing the point.

According to this song, after a week of discouragement, life in the shadows, loneliness, homesickness, temptation and care-filled existence, we stand together and ask ourselves the question that opens this hymn: “Why should I be discouraged” when Jesus is my constant friend?

Sing because you are happy, you are free… redeemed, included, loved, graced, privileged – and the list goes on.

No other religion relies as heavily on singing their beliefs as Christians do. No other group gives voice to their tenets and testimonies in song like we do. It is a privilege and an honor to sing together. So do! And do it with all joy and enthusiasm – whether the song is loud or quiet, exuberant or meditative.

In worship this week, fold not thine arms and listen; open up thy mouth and sing. Thou hast good reason.

Whitney Houston Sings This Hymn

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=eRdYSDSYTVY

Ethel Waters at Hawaii Billy Graham Crusade

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=C0Jmu0zG9rE

"Christ will gird himself and serve us." II

Hymn: “Brethren, We Have Met to Worship” – George Atkins

Tune: HOLY MANNA

This is not exactly déjà vu, but I AM picking up with the same idea we dealt with yesterday – partly because I thought of another angle on the concept, and I’ve reflected on it several times today when dealing with those in the service industry…even at the drive-through at Taco Casa!

That ‘picture this’ of Jesus scurrying about between the tables when you’d think he should be in the place of honor… or at least sitting down with the rest of us to enjoy the meal… brought me back to a choir tour memory from several years ago with ‘my kids’ when I was minister of music at First Baptist here in Waxahachie. The ‘powers that were’  at the time always made us travel on an old Blue Bird school bus, no matter how far we were going. I’d beg for a ‘real’ bus, and one of the men-in-position would insist that the Blue Bird had been overhauled, and we should expect no trouble.

Immediately after high school graduation, we loaded 40+ teenagers and chaperones onto the Blue Bird and left the church parking lot; fortunately, we loaded the luggage onto the church van which (in theory) would follow us from central Texas to central Florida – you guessed it: DisneyWorld.

Somewhere in Mississippi on our first night out, the Blue Bird fizzled out on us for the first time, and we were stranded along the highway in the dark of night, miles from the nearest rest stop/bathroom. In our weary frustration, we unloaded the luggage from the van and began shuttling the kids several miles into the next town to the first and only restaurant open for breakfast. We dropped off a couple of adults and four or five teenagers and repeated the process about ten times.

Inside the restaurant, there was one – count ‘em – ONE waitress. Picture Flo from the 70’s sit-com. There were a couple of people in the kitchen, but I think one was only there to mop and clean up after customers. They were not delighted to know that over fifty people were on their way for breakfast.

The point of this story is that our adult chaperones jumped in and helped with everything that had to be done to get these kids fed. They were taking orders, pouring milk and orange juice, helping out in the kitchen – I definitely had a git-er-done group of chaperones that year.

Here’s the part that relates to the hymn-line: When we dropped off the last group from the bus, I walked into the restaurant and found OUR people serving while Flo took a smoke break over in a corner booth!!!

As I recalled this event, I had a continued understanding of what it meant for Christ to jump in and serve whenever the need arises… not just at the planned banquet, but in the emergency meal. The phrase “see a need and fill it” is not from Scripture, but it certainly describes what the Servant-Savior does – and what his followers should do, even in greasy spoon restaurants in Mississippi.

Listen to a Bluegrass Setting 

PS – The Blue Bird faltered on us several more times on this trip. We were late to a couple of concerts, and we missed one altogether. But it was probably the most memorable of all my choir tours. Thankfully, the bus is no longer with us… and no one mourned her final home-towing.

"Christ will gird himself and serve us."

Hymn: “Brethren, We Have Met to Worship” – George Atkins

Tune: HOLY MANNA

Then he’ll call us home to heaven. At his table we’ll sit down.

Christ will gird himself and serve us with sweet manna all around.

We’re back to one of those ‘picture this’ hymn-lines, so go into your Hollywood director mode and visualize the Lord of all the universe in his waiter’s uniform.. maybe an apron.. racing from table to table being sure everyone is served.

I learned many good lessons from my parents, but one was to always be especially nice to the people who work in what we have dubbed the service industry. The most common of these are waiters and waitresses.

Nowadays, most of us frequent many restaurants during the course of a month, but my family seldom went out to eat when I was a child. It was so rare that I remember the first time we went to a sit-down restaurant – it was called the Hwy. 441 Restaurant in the heart of Pigeon Forge. It’s hard to believe that in the early fifties, it was one of only a handful of restaurants on the Branson-like strip which is now home to outlet malls and the entrance to Dollywood! George and Helen Worsham (friends of ours from church) owned and ran the restaurant; they lived upstairs above it. It was such a special event that I remember I wore a short-sleeved white shirt and a clip-on tie!

From Hedy and Raymond I learned a very good lesson about being extra nice to wait-staff in any establishment, especially restaurants. After all, kindness costs nothing… and takes a lot less energy than complaining!

Back to our Hollywood visualization: Here we sit as special invited guests at the table of our Lord; and instead of sitting at the head of table, he is carrying trays of sumptuous food… albeit manna… keeping our tea glasses filled, and being sure we are enjoying the event.

If I truly want to be Christ-like, I need to play this film-clip over and over in my head. I need to stop thinking of myself as entitled to sit and be served… and help serve everybody else. Perhaps churches need to develop a servant industry!... and not just at Wednesday night fellowship dinners!

The next time you are seated in your local restaurant, thank the host/hostess – and don’t always ask if they could seat you at another table. Be really nice to the person who brings the chips and salsa to the table. Be especially nice to the waiter/waitress. Speak a kind word of thanks to everybody in the place who serves you… even the cashier! We all know it is not easy work, but we also realize it is often a thankless job. We can change that by our realization that they may truly be those angels unawares that are mentioned in Hebrews 13:2. And it won’t hurt to add to the soundtrack of this clip Jesus’ whispering in the background, “If you do it to the least of these, you do it to me.”

 The Hymn Sung by a Men’s Group

Garrett Martin at the Organ

"Yielded and still, seeking thy will."

Hymn: “Speak to My Heart” – B. B. McKinney (1886-1952)

Tune: HOLCOMB

This hymn-line opens with a word of submission. To some that will sound negative, but I hope you’ll stay with me for a minute here. In its list of definitions, yield can mean to relinquish control, to surrender, to give up in an argument, or to cease resisting – among many others. It can also go toward bringing forth fruit, but I don’t think that one would apply here.

The second important word here is “still.” For my east Tennessee friends, when I first Googled for a definition, it brought up a description of moonshine still, but I somehow don’t think that’s the direction B. B. McKinney was headed in this case. He more likely had in mind subdued, quiet, calm, motionless. It could also be a poetic device where the second word restates the first: in other words, it would be like when a child has fought like crazy and suddenly just gives up – gets immediately still – he/she yields.

 

The place I’m most familiar with “yield” is in traffic. At an intersection or a merge-point, for my own safety and the safety of others, I’m instructed to allow the other vehicle(s) to move ahead of me – to surrender or submit. Unless I’m the bullying type, it’s the better choice in heavy traffic.

As I sing these words in worship, they sort of startle me, sort of like “I Surrender All,” and for a fleeting moment I wonder if I am singing truth or mimicking some spiritual platitude. Am I willing to give up the fight and in great stillness relinquish control of my life to the One who is being addressed in this prayer song? I also realize that in order to truly seek God’s will, I have to quieten myself and submit to a deeper level than I might usually opt for.

I’m big on proper punctuation. Parenthetically, why is it that the projected songs in worship are never punctuated correctly? But I digress yet again! In this hymn-line, if the comma were moved back two words, the truth of the phrase still holds up: “Yielded, and still seeking thy will.” In this case, still becomes an adverb meaning that I continue to seek God’s will. Just an observation: I’m not trying to rewrite the hymn – this time!

In my experience, “Finding God’s Will for Your Life” or similar phrases have been the title of countless books and sermon-series. They constitute some of the best-sellers at the Christian bookstores and draw some of the best audiences to workshops and preaching events – second only to topics centered on the book of Revelation I would guess.

In a mere six words, McKinney has saved us a lot of time. We don’t have to purchase yet another book or be herded into an arena for a talking head to over-explain a simple truth: acquiesce to God, calm down and wait – then you will more likely find his will clarified.

I hope we will always be found still doing this.

Listen to This Hymn
(Not a great example,
but I know this hymn is
 not common in
some worship traditions)