The Sounds

"14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:14-21 (NIV)

This was the first of many Bible passages to follow that delighted my heart in the early steps of my spiritual journey. It was the 1970s, in a period of political and cultural chaos. God called together five 20somethings to launch out together in a ministry of faith and music that would take us around the US and into a few western European countries. We had no idea what would come of it. We were young and naive, wounded and broken, but excited about our new life in Christ. He had become real for us after years of hearing about Him in dry, stuffy sermons. We were a small part of what would become known as the Jesus Movement.

For a few years the "Sounds of the Spirit" singing group wrote and sang, travelled, listened to great men speak of a great God, wrestled with our demons, and learned a lot about Christian community. And then it was over. Some of us married, all of us scattered to other places.

Last week, in the words of one of our songs, we "spent some time together" again. It took a little transition, you don't jump into a deep emotional sea without first carefully wading into it, but the water and memories were warm.

It was encouraging to see, in the intervening years, God's grace had turned that initial exuberance into a lasting faith, and the brokenness and woundedness into healing and ministry.

I look back on those days with wonder. What raw and flawed material God used, how ignorant we were(how ignorant I still am!). How great the lessons we learned about community, praying for each other, having all things in common, serving each other, trusting Him to provide what we needed. What a wonderful gift of time spent together wholly given to worship and study. What a richness of experience.

I will be forever grateful to those women and one very brave man who comprised our group, for how God used them to teach me about Himself and community. Thank you Pat, Renee, Margo, and Tom for truly being the sound of the Spirit to me.

God did indeed perform immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine. May His power continue to work in us, and may all the glory be now and forever His.