One of the reasons why I love my church is that every Sunday is special-- it's Easter at GCF each week! I led worship with a simple line up of songs: Sing to the King, Hosanna (Praise is Rising), Lord, Be Glorified, Shout to the Lord, How Great is our God. Throughout the worship set, the prayer time, the giving and preaching- the entire service had a strong palpable presence of the Spirit evidenced in the joy, praise and participation of the people of God.
Worship at GCF today was jampacked with amazing stuff! (That says it all, I could go to bed now) Somehow, I have to write about things that amazed me. Surprisingly, my amazement began earlier than the first worship service!
This morning at 4:30, I woke up with an overwhelming sense of burden and responsibility to lead well! I say that not with the thought of pleasing people. People-pleasing is so not in my personality. But the burden was more towards the thought that as a worship pastor/leader, I am a lead worshipper-- to direct people's attention to the One-member audience and how we may altogether please and honor Him! But my body was weak, I felt like I needed to sleep longer. I wanted to tuck myself back in bed. I began to ask why our church has to have a 7AM service which requires me (and everyone elese in the team) to be up three hours earlier than my (our) normal waking time! I looked out my window with my Bible in hand and saw nothing but darkness-- you know what people say, the night is darkest just before the dawn.
I sat and opened my Bible to 1 Samuel 1 where Hannah was in worship praying through her tears. Her lips were moving but no sound was heard. The Day of Atonement has become an important space in her spiritual journey because it was in this space that she has become transparent before people. It was in this space that she unveiled her shortcomings, fears, and needs. It was this space that she felt exposed, compelled to pour out her soul, her deepest desires and hopes. She utters her lament until, finally, she hears the words of the priest: "Go in peace and may the God of Israel grant your petition." [1]
I don’t know why that day was different from so many other days. Year after year, Hannah had been asking God for a male child. But something happened that day.
She is not pregnant yet, but her whole being has changed. Her entire "aura" has shifted. We are told that when Hannah came up out of the sanctuary, her countenance was no longer sad and she sat down to eat. And, early the next morning, she and her husband returned to their home and, after sometime she conceived and bore a son. She named him Samuel, meaning "God hears." And Samuel would grow up and become the future prophet and last judge of the nation. And Hannah bore other sons and other daughters![2]
So what is it to us? Well, I think it is simply this: Hannah’s story of barrenness is a metaphor for the human experience that refers to a state of hopelessness. God has spoken, "And the Lord remembered her…." Not that He has forgotten, but it was the word of hope and grace. It reminds us that though life is fraught with change and loss, God has already intervened and God is actively at work.[3]
The same is true with us. we all experience some form of barrenness- a state of hopelessness. Yet we witness God speaking to our barrenness, our hopelessness and takes us to a new level of faith in and response to Him.
In the next chapter (2:1) we read Hannah’s song of praise for the things that God has done, "My heart rejoices in the Lord..." For God has done marvelous things, including the impossible, and the response demands a song.
To sing in the face of barrenness is an act of worship. It is a sign of confident anticipation that leads to courage, assurance, and hope. The song is a sign that there is a new reality that rises out of God’s vision for us in this world: where the lowly are lifted up, the unloved are embraced, the hungry are fed, the blind see, and the barren becomes the mother of many. Hannah’s joy cannot be contained. Her song is echoed down through the years and we hear it again in Mary’s Magnificat, "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior..." [4]
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[1] Cathy Gilliard, Finding Joy in Worship, Nov. 19, 2006, CCNYC [2] ibid [3] ibid [4] Luke 1:47 NIV
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