The normal sound of worship in my home church growing up was that of 60 people singing. My first worship experience at Bible School was 1200 students singing. It blew my socks off! Wow! My ears had never encountered anything like that! It was an otherworldly sound, ethereal! Next week (at the Annual Vineyard Conference) will present a similar experience. The volume of 1000 or so worshipers expressing their love and adoration to Jesus always transports me to the throne room with a great yearning, an eagerness, more fully than I am able, to pour out my heart. And yes, tears come, choking my voice in that favorite of all environments. It’s exhaustingly fantastic! ‘Even when we’re inundated with a deluge of his glory, it leaves us wanting more. [there are] always deeper wells within us waiting to be filled.’ (Gretchen Rodriguez, The Vision: 365 days of life-giving words from the prophet Isaiah.)
The Apostle Paul makes an attempt at describing the love that has re-made us, in that well-known passage in 1 Corinthians 13. He talks of having grown up and having gained a fuller command of language, but admits: “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.” Each time I find myself in a large worship event, that’s what I think about. Even with all the beauty and power and eloquence available around me, it’s still only a small taste of the glories to be revealed. In other words, in the Now and Not Yet, the Now acts to ‘prime the pump,’ whetting our appetite, stirring our desire for the yet fuller fullness our hearts ache for, the on-its-way perfection of fullness that has been confirmed in our spirits by the Spirit.
We’re like little children who have no idea of the richness of life experiences ahead, who couldn’t understand them if we sat them down and outlined them. We’ve been bequeathed a divine destiny, that represents, the whole way along our journey to the Father’s heart, in our flesh and bone bodies, in our weaknesses and our foolishnesses, and with increasing clarity – are you ready for this? – JESUS. Yep. God’s Plan ‘A’ finds its conclusion in us, those redeemed by the blood of His Son. We are where God’s Plan was going all along. He makes us fit for the task by His LOVE. I think He’s happy for us to enjoy the journey, too. Looking forward to seeing all you bequeathed ones (heirs) tomorrow, 10 AM, 3 PM UK, 4 PM FR, ES. PD
