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.

Enough

2 Corinthians 6:2-10

"We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. 4Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; 5in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; 6in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; 7in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; 8through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; 9known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; 10sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything."  NIV

I enjoy the privilege of having friends who have taught me through the way they live that the above words are more than faded ink on a musty page. I have watched them over the last 17 years, both up close, and from a distance, and the message retains its clarity and dynamism.

They are people of vision, integrity, intention, in short, of God. And for them, in the midst of a broken and aching heart or shattered dreams, He is enough.

It is a severe mercy, yet God cannot give us what is best until we are willing to let go of what is most precious to us. Like Abraham, sooner or later in life we find ourselves with knife poised and ready to descend upon that thing we have loved more than Life, that thing that is our "child of promise."

This summer I found myself at that altar again.  For now my mind has surrendered.  It takes my heart a little longer.

In the meantime, I find solace in this blessing from the pen of Brennan Manning:

May all your expectations be frustrated.
May all your plans be thwarted.
May all your desires be withered into nothingness.
That you may experience the powerlessness and the poverty of a
child and sing and dance in the love of God the Father, the Son
and the Spirit. Amen

He is enough.