Devotional - 11/25/02
“An Exercise in Public Worship”
Ephesians 5
18Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery.
Instead, be filled with the Spirit. 19Speak to one another with
psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the
Lord, 20always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
"Now that this is all ending, I want to hear some music once again, 'cause it's the finest thing I have ever found." - Rich Mullins
Well, we've spent the last four weeks at Horizon talking and singing about the Spirit. But have we really "caught" Him during that time? I guess we can only answer that question for ourselves, individually. I think I can safely say that no earth-shattering "revival" took place here, but I've also seen the Spirit working overtime in some people's lives.
For me, I will admit that the last few weeks have been a struggle. For reasons that I won't review in this setting, I've been battling a pretty serious "funk" lately. Maybe you've seen it in my stage presence or personal interactions, and if it has affected your church experience, I apologize. But, like most artists, I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve a little more than the average person, so you're always going to see more of my highs and lows. The good news is that when I emerge from this depression you will likely benefit from my newfound cheeriness. Such is the way of living with a passionate person.
I realized the sorry state I was in last week, in a very unlikely place. It was Aldi. I've been shopping there for a couple months and we've gotten to where we can get about 80% of our groceries there. (And we're still alive!) Some of you Aldi naysayers will probably say that this alone is enough to depress anyone, but it's never really bothered me to grab cardboard boxes along the aisles so you have something to carry your wares out in.
And the clientele there is very interesting. I think I can safely say that it's the only place I frequent that hosts a true cross-section of society. I've seen women peruse the aisles in mink coats, and I've seen the destitute go in to stockpile Ramen noodles. But last week I experienced something unique.
I was surveying their bananas, which are almost always 39 cents a pound. They're usually smaller than Jewel or Meijer bananas, and they quite often will be frozen, burned or bruised, so it usually takes some time to choose an acceptable bunch.
So while surfing the Chiquitas, I began to hear singing. It was a female voice, rough, aged, with an accent. I didn't recognize the tune. Her tone and pitch were questionable at best. But the words were distinctive. "Is there anything too hard for the Lord. . .Is there anything too hard for the Lord" was clearly what she was singing, as an arm reached into the banana bin next to mine. As I found my bunch and she continued to search, her lyric turned to humming. I didn't want to make eye contact, but I did want to see who this was, so as I left the spot I glanced around. She was a middle-aged women, somewhat overweight, probably Slavic in origin, most likely lower-middle class. She had a keychain hung around her neck on a wide band that read, "Jesus loves you" over and over.
Now I've seen people wear "WWJD" paraphernalia, or crosses, or Christian t-shirts. But I don't think I've ever passed a person in a public place that sang worship songs. It put me to shame. Here I am, a professional worship leader, and it's never even crossed my mind to sing some of these songs where a stranger could actually hear it. This lady was living her faith, right there by the banana bin at Aldi.
By the frozen pizza we actually made eye contact and she smiled at me. I smiled back, and she went right on humming a worship song. We checked out in separate aisles so ended up packing our groceries at the same time. She went right on singing, and when she looked up at me I actually said "Hello" and she said "Hi" back, but we had no other conversation. She left having no inkling of who I was or what I did for a living, but I had a really clear idea of who lived in her heart.
I'm not going to sit here and try to tie this experience in with today's scripture. Instead I'm just going to pose a challenge to us all. Take a moment sometime this week to hum or sing a worship song in a public place. I know we're not all good singers, but that doesn't matter. What matters is our heart. What matters is our pride, our self-image, our devotion and our boldness for Jesus. Stretch a little. Exercise your courage to sing and make music in your heart, ALWAYS giving thanks.
- Dale Haas