Wow. The music Sunday morning was . . . terrible.Several people on our worship team were late for practice; we started 20 minutes late.
When service time came, we started off fairly well with "On Christ The Solid Rock I Stand", which, as it turned out, was the only leg we had to stand on!
In the second song, I attempted to sing a part in a higher octave and barely screeched my way through it. At the end of that same song, as I turned to nod to the drummer signalling the finish, I grabbed an E-flat chord instead of a D. Wonky.
The piano player was having trouble with the transpose key on our digital grand and stumbled awkwardly through the first few songs in the wrong key.
The monitors were, ummm, confused. The vocalists had too much of certain folks and not enough of others, making harmony and even melody difficult.
As a team, we clunked our way through the song list, giving it everything we had, which wasn't much this past Sunday. Funnily enough, before service as we met for prayer I had finished with the words: "Father, we just want to give you our best this morning." We all chuckled after the amen, feeling the humor in that . . .
So, the music was terrible, but the worship was great.
Early on in the set I offered my meager self to my Savior and sang and played my heart out for Him. When it was all sang and done, I was a little ashamed of how we had played, but I knew we truly had given our all. And that's all the Lord requires, really. I discovered later that others in the Body that morning had been touched by the Lord's presence during that time of worship through music.
Reflecting later, the thought occurred to me that nothing we do for the Lord as an act of service is perfect.
When we give, there's often a bit of pride involved. When we help others, we secretly hope for something in return. When we serve at church we feel self-satisfied. I don't know if my motives are ever truly pure, but I do know that the Lord simply wants . . . all of me. So, even if I play my guitar like an orangutan sometimes and occasionally sing like a strangling goat, it can still be a fragrant offering.
3 comments:
Blaine,
We also sang the Solid Rock last Sunday, what a wonderful song. I appreciate your worship leading stories, and I can usually relate to them. It helps that everyone on our team has a good attitude and a sense of humor. I recently started a song using the alternate tune, then stopped to correct it. The only problem was I didn't change from the alternate tune's 6/8 rhythm back to 4/4. It was a disaster, but our team carried it through and the church just kept on singing - even though the timing was impossible to figure out! Our mandolin player, who stands right next to me, didn't realize I had started in the wrong tempo, and she was keeping us in perfect time with a 6/8 strum that would make any bluegrass band jealous. Later, one of the singers said, "Derek, you prayed for God to humble us, and God answered your prayer." That's just the way it goes sometimes. He loves us enough to let us be humbled. A good difficult experience!
Blessings,
Derek
This is real and I truly am encouraged by it.
If you could know my brother Mike, I'm sure you could both commiserate. He is a good friend, brother, elder, worship director... and from the past a wicked bass player that can really rock. But that past glory in self has been set aside and I see him working, striving, laboring... to lead the body of Christ into worship each week. Praise to God!
Here's a link you might appreciate.. I do.
http://mikeruel.wordpress.com/2010/07/05/undying-love/
Derek - You've brought me much comfort! :) Thanks for sharing that story; the similarities are wonderful.
Tim - I'll check that link, thanks!
You guys will both appreciate the feeling of responsibility when sharing God's Word as a teacher/preacher. The weight of leading God's people in worship runs a close second, I think!
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