Singing with God

Walking on Water at Torsey Pond

             "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega,
                    the beginning and the end.
             To the thirsty I will give water as a gift
​                   from the spring of the water of life.
                                                        -Revelation 21: 6
 

​The small and mighty choir loved singing heartfelt gospel songs, especially ones they’d known for years. Their new director did too but wanted to stretch their musical horizon.  So, he set them to work on “Alpha and Omega” by the Gaithers, with its tempo changes and challenging harmonies.  (In the interest of full transparency, the director was my husband and the choir at Readfield UMC, my first appointment as a United Methodist Church pastor.) 
 
For weeks (seemed like years) we made mistakes and moaned.  He helped us conquer that piece phrase by phrase until it entered our very selves and we could toss it around with skill and delight. Sometimes discipleship, progress into God’s vision, is like that. 
 
I have heard that wonderful little band of brothers and sisters singing in my memory over the past few months and here, this week, comes the passage, Revelation 21: 1-6:
 
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "See, the home of God is among mortals. 
He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away."

And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." Also, he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true."Then he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. 
 
I still can’t listen to “Alpha and Omega,” the song, without parts of my body starting to move.  From the very first piano notes the hairs on my head stand up and take notice. And I can’t read “Alpha and Omega,” the scripture, without the song erupting in full voice in my mind. (Very distracting when you’re trying to write an article….)
 
I think that our best ministry moments as disciples of Christ (laity, certified, licensed, ordained) resonate like that. We yearn and practice to be more like Jesus, to step to the odd rhythms of faith-filled-living and then, when we least expect it, it all comes together and our souls soar.  Everything aligns with a harmony only God could create. 
 
And then we find ourselves faced with a new “piece” to learn, even while the one we’ve come to know and love feels like a place we’d like to stay a little longer. (Remember Peter’s test offer to Jesus on the mountain?). And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." What does flourishing ministry look like, act like, in the new and changing reality we where we find ourselves?  What does flourishing as a disciple of Jesus Christ feel like as we practice toward the new reality God promises?  
 
We live in a time when the multiple realities of  past, present, future, and realm of God seem to be in incredible tension. Last fall I attended an event that brought together pastors serving in cross cultural contexts. Louisiana Area Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey said, “This room is what I think heaven must look like — and I didn’t have to die to see it.”
 
But in that space, around conference tables, frustrations were shared. A Korean pastor was criticized by a member of the congregation for “mispronouncing” words with his accent. A black female pastor dealt with white churchgoers touching her long, dreadlocked hair without invitation. An African-American pastor was met with hostility by his wealthy, suburban church after speaking out against the wave of police shootings involving black men because “that doesn’t happen here, so it’s not our problem.” One Latina pastor serving cross culturally becameknown as “the angry pastor” when she tried to defend herself and push the church into deeper understanding of difference. But sheacknowledged that the cultural divide works both ways. “I underestimated the power of my own biases. I didn’t love that church as they were, unconditionally,” she said. “…… Micro aggressions require us to respond with macro grace.”
               And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "See, the home of God is among
              mortals.  He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples,
              and God   himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
              Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
              for the first things have passed away."
 
Sometimes we try to protect the little piece of “heaven on earth,” what we’ve known so fiercely that God’s still developing melody has trouble being heard. "See, I am making all things new."  I love that little song I learned so laboriously back in the day. But even more than the song, I love the way it taught me to persist toward the vision, especially when it got uncomfortable and I wanted to walk away.

​That was when laughter erupted in our choir practice and washed us with the joy of being human together.  The kingdom of God is like sheer delight, like walking on water. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
 
In God’s Grace, Karen

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