Sing to the Lord a New Song by Richard Hickam

Psalm 149:1

Praise the Lord.

Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of his faithful people.

Growing up in an academic setting for most of my life, there were always excellent bands, orchestras, and choirs. I felt the joy of the Spirit in the Rutter choral anthems, the lively sacred Holsinger wind symphony works, and the majestic Handel, Beethoven, and Saint-Saens orchestral masterpieces. We were always chasing a nearly perfect performance, with every accidental and minute phrasal ending individually practiced and then group rehearsed. We finished every service with a rousing exclamation point to enthusiastic applause, even from the smallest, most conservative churches. Somehow, everything was OK, as long as it was classical.

But one day someone rang an alarm in my head that I have not yet been able to shake. I was serving in a worship meeting with Pastor John Nixon, and speaking to a dozen music professionals in the room, he said, “I could never finish a sermon to applause and take a bow for the work I had done on behalf of my master.”  That saying continues to challenge me every time I step up on the platform.

Now, please don’t misunderstand me.  I love a good rousing postlude and sending the people out on an upbeat note after services. However, it is in the way that I accept applause or let it pass through me to its rightful place that makes the difference. It also sets a tone to the ensemble I am leading.

In recent years I have been more thoughtful of the “why” questions in worship. For most of my early career it was largely about the “how.” When I reflect on singing a “new” song to the Lord in worship, I use this application. Of course, on the surface level, creating, finding, and singing new songs will forever re-energize the body as we discover new facets of our King and Redeemer and new musical means to do it. However, as with so much of scripture, one of the double meanings is singing (playing) the song with a new heart. This is what the Master wants - my complete and total surrender and acknowledgement of him. This is what worship is about; I can no longer take the applause.

I hope today that you might sing a “new” song and reflect on who really deserves the credit!

Richard Hickam

In a Place Where Joy and Sorrow Meet by Tami Cinquemani

My first grandchild (a girl) will arrive any day.  Knowing how anxious I am about this impending miracle, my daughter now texts me before she calls me:  “Going to call you.  I’m not in labor.”  She knows me well.  She understands that seeing her name on my cell phone will instantly send my heart racing, and she wants to avoid any unnecessary craziness from her mother.

I have a dear friend whose mother recently reached the end of her battle with breast cancer that had painfully metastasized to her bones.  For weeks I had been waiting for that phone call.  Each text or call steeled my heart to the impending grief.

What a strange place to be . . . waiting in a place firmly planted between anticipated joy and anticipated sorrow.  Wanting to be by the side of my daughter as well as my friend – sharing what is before them.

In Romans 12:15 Paul says, ^“Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep.” 

Then it goes on:  “Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!” (NLT)

I’m not sure if it’s what Paul originally meant, but this advice makes perfect sense to me.  “And don’t think you know it all.”  Isn’t this essential if we are to deserve the privilege of joining others in their most raw and intimate moments?

If I approach her side with answers, counsel, advice, and sometimes even “the perfect scripture,” what I offer my friend after she has lost one of the most important people in her life can quickly morph from comfort to increased pain. 

If I don’t honor my daughter’s and son-in-law’s natural gifts of parenthood and feel pressed to share MY experience, MY wisdom, and MY ideas without an opinion being invited, I could easily dampen the insane joy of new parents and wear out my welcome before I even arrive.

How wonderfully relevant are Paul's words as we share life’s unpredictable journey.  Whether it is in joy or in sorrow, when the call comes, I simply check my pride at the door and be the person they’re glad they called.

Tami Cinquemani

Purpose and Reason by Bill Crofton

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

One of my favorite movies is “A River Runs Through It,” based upon a novel by the same title.  The movie tells the story of the Maclean family, who lived in Montana early in the twentieth century.  The father of the family was a Presbyterian minister—stern but loving.  His wife was supportive and nurturing.  They had two sons:  the oldest, first-born Norman, who tells the story, and a younger son, Paul.  These are the characters in the novel, but the real protagonist in the story is the river that runs through their part of Montana.  That river becomes the focal point of their family and the catalyst for everything significant that takes place in their individual lives. The Maclean family knew failure and success and laughter and fighting and change and disappointment, but always the river was there.  It was the defining force and the spiritual center of that family.  I thought a lot about that movie last week-end.

Sometimes when bad things happen, we say things like, “Well, God has his reasons,” or “There’s a reason for everything,” or “Everything works out for the best.”  We mean well when we say things like that.  We’re doing the best to make sense out of what has happened, to justify it so that we can live with it all.  But a reason for everything?  I’m not so sure about that.  A reason implies a simple cause-and-effect relationship, an underlying motive that makes logical sense out of everything that happens.  Reason looks to justify every event as good and worthwhile and meaningful and significant.  “Things don’t just happen,” we say.  “They’re done for a reason.”  Really?

Tell me, who is responsible for cancer, for an insidious disease that destroys our bodies and snatches away loved ones before their time?  Who’s responsible for that?  Satan, the destroyer?  Is he the one?  Or is it we, who have polluted our own environment and failed to care for our own bodies and souls?  Or is it God because he is sovereign over everything?  Who’s responsible?  It’s not so easy.  What is the logical explanation for a stray bullet that finds its way into the chest of a toddler sitting in a stroller or a car that jumps a curb, or a disgruntled employee who shoots up an office?  What’s the justifiable motive for mass starvation, or for child abuse, or for annihilation of a people over racial hatred?

A REASON for everything?  Again, I’m not so sure.

I’m afraid it’s not as simple as every effect being traced to its logical cause.  There are too many forces loose in this universe, too many factors colliding with calamitous results.

First of all, there is Satan on the loose.  The hymn writer says, “His craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal.”  He and his minions are out to steal, and kill, and destroy.  Short of that, they will deceive, and discourage, and divide.  Satan is at work.

Then there is this fallen world in which we live, a spoiled universe where forces of nature sometimes run amuck.  Rivers overflow their banks, and the earth quakes and shakes.  The heavens dry up, and the earth produces no food.  Cars crash, and planes fall from the sky.

And this world is inhabited by sinful people, people like you and me, whose hearts are prone to greed, to hate, and to vengeance and violence.

A fallen world inhabited by sinful people with a maligned power at work.

And of course, God is there too, and He knows and sees all things.  But with such a complex interplay of forces and factors, who is to say who is responsible for what, or what the justifiable reason is for some particular event?  It’s just not that simple.  A reason for everything?  I’m not so sure.

But this I know and believe.  A PURPOSE runs through it—the eternal purpose of God to restore this universe to its intended splendor and to enable men and women to become the eternal beautiful beings we were created to be.  When bad things happen that just don’t make sense, I prefer to talk about purpose rather than reason.

Reason looks at the isolated event; purpose looks to the big picture.  Reason is fixated on the present; purpose looks down the road to future outcomes.  Reason insists on an explanation; purpose says let’s get on with it.  Reason hangs onto the event; purpose hangs onto God, who is at work in it all.

Remember, Romans 8:28 is about purpose, not reasons.  Romans 8:28 does not say everything that happens is good.  It doesn’t even say that all things work together for good.  No, it says that God works in all things, good and bad, to accomplish His purpose.  He works.  As the Montana river was for the Macleans, God is the defining force and the spiritual center of the human family.  Hold onto that.

Bill Crofton

Baby, It's Cold Outside! by Chad Hess

It's cold outside!  At least it feels that way to me.  Even though I grew up in Michigan and remember weekends in which the temperature was never above zero, 50 degrees still feels cold to me.

I read an article recently about the way we perceive cold.  Our perception of cold is based on our expectations and our comparison to recent temperatures.  Fifty degrees feels cold to me because it was 80 degrees two days ago.  But if I were coming from anywhere else in the country that has been dealing with ice and snow and literally freezing temperatures, 50 degrees would seem quite warm.  The actual temperature is the same; it's our perception of it that changes.

The same is true when the "cold winds of life" blow our way.  If life has been going well, we can be thrown when trouble comes.  If we subconsciously expect life to go smoothly, that makes the hard times more difficult.  We can sometimes feel betrayed by God—not because he promised smooth sailing (He didn't), but because we weren't expecting things to get rough.  I'm not saying we should pessimistically walk around expecting problems.  Rather, we can know that the winds will blow and the temperature will fluctuate, but we can always be confident of God's presence and praise him for being with us, regardless of the weather.

Chad Hess