Meditation
on Mark 1:4-11
John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, ‘The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’ In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’
***
Part of our confirmation program at our
church is the sharing of faith stories. I share my story with the students, the
mentors share theirs, and we have other guest speakers, too, such as the Rev.
Rick Carus who came in December and Father Denny Labat who visited in November.
Sometime before Christmas, the students watched a video segment featuring
gospel musician and composer Andrae Crouch sharing his faith and music.
Andrae’s dad, Ben Crouch, was a businessman
who went to Bible school, but didn’t want to be a preacher. Then one
day, Ben got a call that a little country church in California was in need of a
pastor. The church was teeny tiny. There was no indoor plumbing. Yep. There was
an outhouse. And there was no music. The church had an old piano, but no one
knew how to play.
Ben thought about and prayed about this church that had no
music, which was so important to him. He accepted the call to be a preacher,
but asked the Lord to give his 11-year-old son the gift of music so that Andrae
could play the piano during worship. Andrae
had never played piano—or any other instrument before.
At Ben’s first church service, after driving the 50 or 60 miles or so to
the little church in a dairy farming community, Ben preached his heart out—he
was on fire with the Holy Spirit. Though only 5 people attended church that
day, he preached “like a wild man,” Andrae said, “as if the church was packed.”
Then Ben called his son to come forward. “Andrae,” Ben said. “If God would give
you the gift of music, would you use it for His glory?”
Now not only did Andrae not have music lessons, he was also shy and had
a “stammer.” For Andrae, the idea of becoming a musician was incredible. But he
had given his life to Jesus just 2 years earlier—when he was 9. So he looked up
at his father, while the congregation waited. “Yeah, Daddy,” he said.
And his father laid hands on him and prayed. If
God wanted him to be a preacher, his father prayed, then the Lord would also give
Andrae the gift of music.
It was a pivotal moment in Andrae’s life. While Ben prayed, the power of
God went out, just as it had at his baptism! Andrae received the power with his
faith and the obedience of a child. After the prayer, nothing seemed different.
But the next Sunday, during the service at the little country church, Ben called
his son without warning to the piano and asked him to play. Andrae sat down and
picked out a hymn by ear. The congregation sang, “What a Friend We Have in
Jesus.”
“I was so grateful because I knew God was going to use me,” Andrae says.
He wrote his first gospel song at 14 and went
on to write dozens of others, including “Soon and Very Soon” and “The Blood
Will Never Lose its Power.”
He traveled to more than 40 countries with
Billy Graham and his crusades. He wrote and performed the music on 18 solo
albums. Other musicians he has arranged
music for include Elvis Presley, Diana Ross, Ringo Starr, Michael Jackson, and
Paul Simon. He arranged the music for the 1985 film, “The Color Purple,” and
Disney’s “Lion King” in 1994. He is one of just a few gospel singers to have a
star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
“God started giving me songs,” Andrae said. “And he has never ever
stopped.”
Andrae was not only a musician, singer
and songwriter. He followed in his father’s footsteps and became a pastor, serving
alongside his sister at New Christ Memorial Church in a suburb of Los Angeles. His
father had founded the church in his garage in 1951. Andrae had overcome many
difficulties to become what the Lord intended him to be, including dyslexia.
Andrae struggled to read and write. “I memorized everything through sight, the
shape of the word,” he told The Associated Press in 2011. “Some things that I
write, you’ll see a page with cartoon pictures or a drawing of a car — like a
Ford — or a flag. I still do it on an occasion when a word is strange to me. So when I finish a song, I thank God for bringing me through,” he continued.
“You have to press on and know your calling. That’s what I’ve been doing for
all my life.”
***
In our gospel reading today in Mark, John baptizes the crowds coming
from all over Judea seeking God in the wilderness, most with repentant hearts.
And God meets them there. John tells them that there would be One greater than
he who would come after him. This One would baptize not with water but with the
Holy Spirit.
And then comes the scene of
Christ’s own baptism. Don’t be fooled by the “like a dove” language. This is
God breaking into this world—“tearing apart the heavens” and claiming Jesus as His
Own. God boldly declares, “This is My
Beloved.” With Him, God is pleased.
So what can we glean from this powerful beginning of Christ’s ministry?
Number 1, that we are God’s own. At our baptism, God claims us, just as he claimed
his Only Son, Jesus Christ, who died for our sakes! God continues to claim us
throughout our lives. As God’s own, our
lives do not belong to us. That should lead us to trust in Him with a peace
that surpasses all human understanding. We should be willing to take risks and
to persevere through all the challenges set before us. Because we belong to
God! We are His! The gifts He has given us are to be used for Him and not our
own glory. We have no reason for pride because these are God’s gifts. We have
reason only for gratitude!
And number 2: like Christ, we are God’s Beloved. We aren’t the beloved
because we are particularly loveable. We are loved because of God’s grace and
mercy for us. His love is a gift! We can’t earn his love and we can’t lose his
love. His love is unconditional and perfect—complete. But as the beloved, we must seek the One who
loves us—and love Him in return. Spend time with our loving Creator in prayer,
meditating on His Word—just thinking about Him and all the amazing things He is
doing in our lives and in the lives of others around us. When you love someone,
you think about that person a lot. Just imagine how much our God must think
about us—since He loves so much more than we ever could.
And number 3: God is pleased with us—and the goal of our lives is to be
pleasing to Him by being obedient to His Word. We can do this because we have
the power of God—the Holy Spirit--within us, the same power that tore apart the
heavens and broke into this world when Christ was baptized. And brothers and
sisters, when our lives on earth end, we will still belong to God. Nothing can
separate us from his love or remove us from His presence. He will bless and
keep us in this world and in the world to come, when we finally see him face to
face. And God in his mercy and grace will say, “Well done, good and faithful
servants. Well done!”
***
Friends, I was greatly saddened to learn that Andrae Crouch died this
week of a heart attack at the age of 72. How sad for the world to lose such a man
of faith, with amazing talents that he was willing to share with all of us. But
I am sure he is with Jesus now, seeing His Savior face to face. And Jesus is
looking on Him with love as he has throughout Andrae’s life. I am sure that God is telling Him that He is
pleased with His servant. “Well done,” our Lord must be saying. “Well done.”
You might not realize it, but
some of Andrae’s songs are in our red hymnal. We sang, “My Tribute,” (to God be
the Glory), in December. And Andrae wrote the song, “Through it All,” after he recovered
from a serious illness in which doctors expected that he would die. That was in
1972. He sang the song for the first time at a Billy Graham Crusade in Albuquerque, New Mexico in
1975. It begins like this: “I’ve had many
tears and sorrows. I’ve had questions for tomorrow. There’s been times I didn’t
know right from wrong. But in every situation, God gave me blessed consolation
that my trials come to only make me strong. Through it all. Through it all. Oh,
I’ve learned to trust in Jesus. I’ve learned to trust in God. Through it all.
Through it all. I’ve learned to depend upon His Word. Oh, I’ve learned to
depend upon His word.”
Let us pray.
Lord God, thank you for claiming us in
our baptisms, just like you did your One and Only Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Thank you that we belong to you—that we are your own! Help us to believe in
your power that tore apart the heavens when Jesus was baptized and remains with
us today, transforming us into Christ’s image, more and more. Lord, help us to
be brave and use all the gifts you have given us for your glory. Reassure your
adopted children of your unconditional love that will never end. Lead us to
show that love to others and encourage one another to walk in your ways. Let us
hear your voice, as we seek to follow your will for our lives. Please speak so
that we may hear, “With you, I am well pleased.” Gratefully, we pray in the
name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment