BEHIND THE MUSIC, ETERNAL TRUTH THAT MUST BE OUR REALITY
As many of you know from my announcement in worship on August 25, and from subsequent conversations we have had with so many individually and in group settings since, tomorrow (Friday) Erin is going to have the first of two surgeries that she will undergo before the end of the year. She will have a subtalar implant placed in her ankle, and an incision in the facia of her calf muscle to help correct some ongoing issues and to, we hope, help delay some of the inevitable damage that will occur as her Rheumatoid Arthritis progresses.
I thought about this today as I was preparing the bulletin, looking over the set list for this week. Shannon gets very wide latitude from me when it comes to music planning, due to her talent and theological education - she is excellent at choosing music that goes along with the theme or idea for a particular week's worship service.
This week, I am VERY excited about the third song we will be singing, which is one of the finest hymns written in the 21st century (yes, ladies and gentlemen, hymns - quite good ones in fact - are still written these days,) "In Christ Alone."
The first time I heard this hymn was at St. Simon's Island, GA, where I was attending a training event as a guest of the World Methodist Evangelism group, and I was immediately struck by the music and the lyrics. (Full disclosure - I'm one of those who has always looked at more contemporary music with a bit of a hesitancy, because I know what I like.) Even now, every time I hear or sing this song, I am deeply moved, for it states truth that we often like to say we believe, even if our actions stay otherwise.
I find it slightly interesting that we are singing this beautiful modern hymn two days after Erin's surgery because when people hear our story, we get asked a lot about how we deal with it, for many find it simply not right that someone so young should be afflicted in such a deeply physically disabling way.
It goes back, frankly, to the words we will be singing:
Verse 1:
In Christ alone my hope is found.
He is my light, my strength, my song.This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease.
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
Verse 4:
No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me.
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand.
'Til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.
In Christ alone, hope is found. Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.
Christ, alone, my friends. Not good health. Not big homes. Not the right subdivision. Not in the eyes of the neighbors. Not in the checkbook. Not in the prestige of an office or a title.
In Christ alone. To chase peace, hope, joy, love, satisfaction, justification, or self-worth anywhere else is, well...you know...and this hope is what we bank on as we journey through life, for if we base the measurement of our life on any of the other things that the world (and so many of us, admittedly) so invest ourselves in, we're doomed.
In Christ alone. May it be so for all of us, not in word, but in reality. Not for a Sunday morning or a Bible study, but for every fiber of our being, every moment of every day.
In Christ alone.
See You Sunday!
Lamar