Yesterday, I hung out with one of the teens at the St Louis Arch for the fourth of July celebration. He said he was bringing his guitar. I automatically pictured it shattering into a million pieces in the crush of the crowded MetroLink, which led me to recommend he not bring it. Sometimes I am glad teens don't always listen.
The first place we sat to play music a man from the streets joined us and shared with us some of his blues influence. He talked about playing music from the heart as if no one was there to listen. That really spoke to me.
We were later stopped by another man sitting on the railing of the steps that lead down to the waters edge. He plays a 12 string guitar and introduced us to a song that he wrote about God's Spirit moving through us. He talked with us about being excited to be a part of The Church, outside of the church building, where our lives are truly lived in the presence of this fallen world.
As the night started drawing closer we had several others join us. They were not your average "churchy" crowd. Each one had been drinking alcohol to the point of being unable to balance their cups, clothing cut short to bear the heat of the day, tattoos, piercings, and a vocabulary colorful enough that would not only make Webster shiver in his grave but also put the Urban Dictionary to shame.
What thrilled me was the Love of God that drew them all in. One woman asked if we could play a song where she could be an echo because she loves to sing, a couple of guys went from requesting songs from mainstream acid rock to asking us for more of this Christian type music we play, and another girl came forward from her quietness and said she felt like she wanted what we were singing about! As it turns out, she once had accepted Christ but gave up on things when the world deceived her into thinking God had turned His back. We had the opportunity to talk to her about giving the relationship with Christ another shot, and William, the teen that brought his guitar, got to tell her a little about how hard it has been for him at times when he has felt like life wasn't worth fighting for, yet when he put his faith and trust in God, received the hope to get through and has started finding complete joy through his darkest hours. She agreed to give it another go, and God's kingdom grew by one more soul returning to the Family last night!
Through all of this, I am reminded of a song from The Fray that caused a lot of controversy a while back. The beginning says, "I found God at the corner of First and Amistad where the West was all but won. All alone, smoking His last cigarette, I said 'Where've You been?', He said, 'Ask anything.'" Have you ever thought about who God is speaking through to try and reach you? Is He limited to inly using those of us that look and act a certain way? Is it possible that God can even show us His way by speaking to us through a sinner? And how is a Christian suppose to look? How tattered and worn do our clothes, messy our hair, and smelly our bodies have to be to keep us from a relationship with Christ?
In the end, God Loves each of us, including those we may never meet unless God walks them into our life
I complimented the man on the street's shades. He took them off his face and gave them to me, saying everything we own is rubbish and temporary, if we allow anything to tie us down we will decay right along with it. Our treasure is in Heaven! I was surprised and thanked him. Later that night, when trying them on I realized the lenses were a little blurred - as it turned out, these shades were his prescription lenses...and he gave them to me! How humbling of an encounter that turned out to be! Our vision is important to us; most of us find it annoying not being able to see. This man reached out and handed me his sight!
When you pray, be ready for how God will creatively answer. Yesterday, I encountered God through His people. When I started to say lets move on, God showed up in someone else. He will get through, and He will get you through, but we must stay focused to tune in.
We ended the day sitting by the ricer getting ready for the fireworks. A couple of people around us asked us to sing and play the guitar because no one could hear the live music down where we were. As we were ending Light Up the Sky, the first set of fireworks went off. What a great way to end a day filled with encountering God through His Church!
No comments:
Post a Comment