KEEPIN' THE BEAT

Once again I was jabbering with someone about the current state of their offspring. As you well know, my job puts me in constant communication with humans and particularly their spawn.

It seems that yet another of our flock has gone astray. Well, maybe I’m going too easy on’em. More than likely, they made a prodigal decision and willingly walked into the jaws of sin for a spell. Now, they’re covered in fang marks with Satan saliva dripping all over their reputation.

STOP!!!!

.....trying to figure out who I’m writing about. It could be you! This type of thing is practically an everyday occurrence for full time shepherds. I’ve got a bite mark or two on my own hide. Hmmm. Actually, it’s a wonder I’ve got any hide left after all my toying with sin. But that’s not the point.

The point is: we all fall out of sync with God’s will. Whether we get offended and stomp away in a huff or we slide down the slippery slope of temptation and into the pit of regret; we all lose step.

Galatians 5:25 says:
Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

So how do we put the rhythm back into a song that seems to have lost the beat? How do we get synchronized with God again?

How about this picture:

She walked in the door with guilt on her breath.

The slander she’d spoken had left gaping wounds in the pastor’s reputation. She was angry. She had every right to be. He had betrayed her trust. No one would have known about the indiscretion had the so-called “man of God “ kept his mouth shut. But apparently, jackasses still speak.

The piper began his weekly charade: three choruses and a hymn, always the same, so predictable. “Why do I even keep coming back to this place,” she wondered, still stinging from the perceived duplicity. She knew it was wrong to have said all the things she said to all the people she’d said it to. But the pastor should have known better.

She stood there stiff for a while; but, by the time the second song made its crescendo into the chorus she felt obliged to put on some kind of show: so, she raised her hands half mast and began to lip the lyrics, “Lord, I give you my heart, I give you my soul.....”

Suddenly, she began to feel the weight of the dagger in her hand and taste of saltwater on her palate. Her hands lifted slightly higher and her eyes closed as the words became a whisper, “Every breath that I take, every moment I’m awake, Lord have your way in me....” Fresh water began to flow.

She felt her heart loosen it’s grip on the offense.

The dagger fell powerlessly to the floor.

Her ears were hearing the words before she even spoke them, “Forgive me.”

The trickle became a rushing river.

“This is my desire, to honor you,” she sang tearfully in full voice, hands stretched heavenward.

It felt like a cloak, wrapping her from left to right, holding her, tending to her wounds, convincing her that she’d been forgiven. “Could this be righteousness?,” she thought. But wait, I don’t deserve this. I’ve been anything but right! I deserve a garment of guilt, shame and condemnation.”

It seemed so real. “Could Jesus be speaking to me?” she wondered.

“Worship me my child. There is much power in surrender. No one has been betrayed as I have been betrayed, Yet, I surrendered and now the hills melt like wax in my presence. How is it any wonder that your sin and pain would do the same when you surrender?”

Okay, I know you’re looking for closure--- like: What was her name? How did things turn out for the pastor? Did anybody find the knife on the floor? Again, that’s not the point.

The point is that worship invites surrender; surrender trumps anger, guilt and shame.

Moral of the story:
When you fail or falter—get your butt into a high powered worship service and give God a chance to melt your heart! Keep the beat!