Monday, September 24, 2018

It Matters

I sometimes wonder, is it worth it?

No matter the extent of my planning, it seems I can never do enough to cover all the details. Is it worth it?

I line up vocalists and instrumentalists weeks ahead, and conflicts knock them out a day or two before. Worth it?

The tech team stays late and arrives early, and the sound check still can't seem to start on time. Worth it?

I pour my heart into new servant-leaders, but then their job takes them across the county or the country. Worth it?

Sometimes I just don’t know if it matters.

You?

But then, something like this happens...

Brandon was just 20. His car lost control and the tree won. The author of death and destruction—our enemy—stuck his gnarly finger out and wreaked havoc.

But he—the enemy—couldn’t see the rest of the story.

You see, Brandon hadn’t been coming to church much lately.  His mom politely invited him at breakfast last Sunday. He agreed.

Not much of a singer in worship, Brandon listened intently to the pastor preach from Psalm 66. “You were born to sing,” the preacher proclaimed. “God commands you to sing, whether you feel like it or not, like the song or not, sing pretty or not. So sing.” And he wrapped up by declaring, “Your worship life can’t be complete without singing.”

Beforehand, the pastor and I prayed and pondered. Which songs go before and after a sermon like that. As we prepared to hear the Word of the Lord we sang, “It’s Your breath in our lungs, so we pour out our praise to You only.”

And then after, we prayerfully chose “Shout to the Lord all the earth, let us sing.”

And Brandon sang. Not mumbled. Not mouthed the words. Sang. Full-throated, heart-felt, soul-expressed singing, tears streamed down his cheek.

His mom and dad were moved to tears. Their best friends, seated nearby, noticed too.

It was the last time his momma heard him sing, this side of eternity.

It matters, brothers and sisters. The song choices matter. The prayer undergirding your crafting of worship gatherings matters. The way you pastor people between Sundays matters. The way you fight for a great relationship with your pastor matters. The way you battle in the heavenly places on behalf of your people matters.

If you have grown weary in doing good, please let this truth land in the depths of your soul: what you do matters.

Press on. Keep the faith. Fight for your team. Don’t give up.

It matters.