January 12, 2021
Sharing from the congregation – Edward Pierce
9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. 10 And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” - Matthew 9:9-13
I know this will come as a great shock to all of you: a lot of my life has been driven by music. Music of all kinds, too: classical, religious, historical, world music, folk, pop, rock, blues, jazz, Broadway, and everything in between. However, it may surprise you that as a music worship leader, it isn't the beautiful melody or harmony or accompaniment that matter most to me; it is the text. Without good, deep, scripturally sound text, a song may be pretty but doesn't really work for me as a worship song.
For our service on Sunday, January 3, 2021, Sam said a few things that really struck me. During the pastoral prayer, he said, "We recognize that there are many in our world who do not experience the love of a church family, the comfort and joy of a faith community. May our witness to your love increase itself in hospitality towards them and with them. Nudge us on to greater acts of faithfulness as we learn to trust you more and more. Entice us to be those who offer the invitation of your love for all." In his sermon, he mentioned that our scripture of Jesus' response as a twelve-year-old at the temple could be translated, "Did you not know that I must be about my father's business?"
He also introduced me to a song called "I Will Go." I was especially hit by the second verse:
Let me not be blind with privilege; / Give me eyes to see the pain.
Let the blessing You've poured out on me / Not be spent on me in vain.
Let this life be used for change.
This all called to mind another song I ran into when I was the pianist at Salem Baptist Church, a song titled "This Must Be the Place" by Steve Amerson. The song describes situations in life where people run into difficulty, strife, sin, and despair, where they are the outcasts. The end of the verses say,
"They doubt the church could have / The answers necessary, / And fear they'd find rejection
Rather than a sanctuary."
Then the chorus stunned me with this rending text:
"This must be a place / Where the broken heart can mend. / This must be a place
Where the outcast finds a friend. / For we cannot lift the fallen / If our hand still holds a stone,
And their sin that seems so great to us / Is no greater than our own. / There must be a point
Where shame meets grace, / And this must be the place."
It is the New Year, and tradition holds that we make resolutions for ways in which we will improve and live better lives. I've done the "I'll exercise more" and "I'll lose weight this year" resolutions before, and I could certainly use to make another stab at them. However, the words of Sam's prayer and message and these songs place me squarely at an uncomfortable crossroad: do I sit in church all comfortable in my faith, or do I remember that Christ asked me to "be about my Father's business?" Am I the one who needs to work to bring peace and healing to a hurting world? And face it, there is a lot of hurt right now. There is a lot of need. What am I doing about it? Are the blessings that have been poured out on me spent in vain? I need to be the hands and feet of Christ -- not dragging people into the church -- but going and meeting them where they are.
The has to be, there simply MUST be a point --
- where shame meets grace
- where despair meets grace
- where pain meets grace
- where addiction meets grace
- where poverty meets grace
- where hunger meets grace
- where brokenness meets grace
- where anger meets grace
- where defeat meets grace
- where alienation meets grace
- where rejection meets grace
- where hopelessness meets grace ...
and this, THIS must be the place. WE must be the place. I must be the place.
Dear Lord, I resolve this year to be the place where those in need meet grace, and I resolve to make my church, St. Mark, the place where they find and know your grace and love. Amen.
Gracefully Submitted,
Edward Pierce