A worship leader's vision for his servant-led team

My name is Luke.  I am just another guy on this little planet.  I'm going to take a leap and say, like almost everyone, I am proud of many things in my life.  Also, maybe like everyone else, I know I can count more flaws in myself than the things I am proud of.  I'm not trying to be bleak; rather, I'm just trying to be honest.  I am attesting to the truth that I am not perfect and, in contrast to what people may think of me, many times I serve in brokenness.  Yes, I am confident in His saving grace and sanctifying work in me.  I am also equally confident that dying to myself will be a struggle until I take my last breath.  My intention is to preface with:  I am humbled to be used by God and that a team of people are willing to serve under me faithfully and usually with a smile.

I cannot express enough gratefulness for you.  Your service to our local church in worship is one of the main reasons why I continue to serve as the worship leader.  Because you have served so faithfully, it has been my attempt to constantly be transparent with you about my vision, my expectations... my heart.  I am sure several of you have heard this before - some more in-depth and others in a 'Cliff Note' version - but I feel I should take a moment to briefly share again how I feel about what we do in worship.

My Vision
My vision of our worship might be summed up in three points:

1. Ascribe worth to God - to account and give credit to our incredible God and His Son, Jesus Christ, by proclaiming His greatness, His character, and revealing the mystery of the Gospel.
2. Edify the body of Christ - to instruct and improve on our understanding 
3. Prepare hearts for the message.

Most of all, my vision for myself and the team rests deeper within point #2 - Edify the body of Christ.  I believe our purpose in edifying the body goes beyond instructing and improving our understanding of God, but we should be also equipping the body to carry these songs with them, such that we become unnecessary.  As Keith Getty shared with me, I will be a successful worship leader when two things happen: (1) the congregation is able to sing to its utmost ability and (2) I become irrelevant.

I need to become irrelevant and I hope you can see this in me.  How do I accomplish this?  By gracefully and gratefully serving you, purposefully equipping you to become the worship leaders.  Furthermore, as you become the worship leaders, you also become irrelevant by equipping the rest of the body - the congregation - to be their own worship leaders, taking on the ability and confidence to praise our God independently and daily.

So, this leads me to My Expectations.

These are my expectations of ME: to listen to you, to be humble, to be approachable, to encourage your development, and to lead in grace and truth.  

These are my expectations of YOU: to listen to each other, to give feedback, to be honest, to sing with joy, to show joy.  You are the extension of me - as worship leaders yourselves - to lead the congregation and to teach them how to joyfully and truthfully express yourself in worship.  If there is anything I think you should take away from this, it is the phrases "Get them ready!" and "It's not an easy task," something I heard this from another leader.  We are charged to get the congregation ready to receive the message; it's not easy.  Thankfully, this is a team adventure and team goal.  We're in this together.

- - - - - - -

Again, I am humbled that I am able to serve and, I must repeat, that I know my time as your worship leader is only temporary.  It is my hope and prayer that the best of me may be transferred to you and that anything less is ignored and disregarded.  Thank you again for serving and for teaching me how to be a better leader.  I hope you feel valued by me and valued by the team.

Your brother in Christ,
~Luke

Approach as the Humble Student (Psalm 25)

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;

in you I trust, O my God.

Do not let me be put to shame,

nor let my enemies triumph over me.

No one whose hope is in you

will ever be put to shame,

but they will be put to shame

who are treacherous without excuse.

Show me your ways, O Lord,

teach me your paths;

guide me in your truth and teach me,

for you are God my Savior,

and my hope is in you all day long.

Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love,

for they are from of old.

Remember not the sins of my youth

and my rebellious ways;

according to your love remember me,

for you are good, O Lord.

Good and upright is the Lord;

therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.

He guides the humble in what is right

and teaches them his way.

All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful

for those who keep the demands of his covenant.

For the sake of your name, O Lord,

forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

Who, then, is the man that fears the Lord?

He will instruct him in the way chosen for him.

He will spend his days in prosperity,

and his descendants will inherit the land.

The Lord confides in those who fear him;

he makes his covenant known to them.

My eyes are ever on the Lord,

for only he will release my feet from the snare.

Turn to me and be gracious to me,

for I am lonely and afflicted.

The troubles of my heart have multiplied;

free me from my anguish.

Look upon my affliction and my distress

and take away all my sins.

See how my enemies have increased

and how fiercely they hate me!

Guard my life and rescue me;

let me not be put to shame,

for I take refuge in you.

May integrity and uprightness protect me,

because my hope is in you.

Redeem Israel, O God, for all their troubles!

If you know me or are getting to know me, you’ll realize rather quickly that I am not the hunter type.  My hunting was limited to fishing as a kid and even that was rare.  I remember just a few early mornings with my dad, when the sun still hadn't peeked out from its slumber, but we’d be out and find a place to fish together.  While I enjoyed being with my dad, I missed my bed more.  What is wrong with me? I’d think.  Now, years later, I enjoy putting on an apron and getting dirty in the kitchen rather than crawling through the woods looking for game.  Yeah, I've heard from others, “You've lost your man card!”  I would reply with confidence, “I lost it a long time ago.”

Life is a hunt.  It’s an exhilarating pursuit of things we wish to have.  We pursue after wealth, love, position, respect, toys, and more.  But do we pursue after humility, patience, grace?  While we wrestle with our pursuits, we should not and cannot forget that we are also being pursued.  We are being pursued by both God and the enemy.  One desires to draw us close for teaching and instruction; the other desires to entrap, humiliate, and destroy.

I am confident in this.  Maybe you are too.  While in my head and heart I do want to seek God, my selfishness still gets the best of me. I do want to avoid the enemy with all that is within me, but I can’t.  My selfishness wins and I know trouble is around the corner because of it.  I know that a temporary pleasure is not long lasting, but I succumb anyway and let my flesh rule.  Why?  I know His law and it’s in my heart.  Or do I?

David’s call on God to “show me your ways” and “teach me your paths” is wise and humbling.  He knows he doesn't have the wisdom on his own nor the tools or power to succeed.  He also knows God is the GREATEST good of all.  God is the gentlest teacher.  He has caught you chewing gum in class, shooting spit wads at fellow students, started fights on the playground, bullied a kid for his lunch more than once...and, yet, God is ready to forgive and continue teaching.  “Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior”.  David knows God’s character too, that He is mighty in His mercy and love and is able to forgive and forget all the infractions, even back to his youth.  For it is according to His love that He is very, VERY, good!

Still, though, we will struggle.  We will find that the enemy is still pursuing us.  Loneliness, affliction, and distress are never far away; they are always within our reach.  Is it not many times that we find ourselves knocking on sin’s door when we haven’t been seeking the teacher?  I certainly feel that way.  And even though I know the teacher is gracious and good, I've approached with pride and haughtiness.  What teacher wants to teach a student who thinks they have all the answers?  How many times was I in school and I’d try to tell the teacher how it should be and their answer is, “Fine, you think you know the answer?  Then run with it and see how far it gets you.”  And, in my pride and arrogance, I would walk away boasting in my great understanding. 

Isn't God the same way?  Is He going to teach me when I am...unteachable?  No.  “Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.”  He teaches the humble, those who know of their need for Him.  But, did you catch the first half?  While His teaching extends to the humble, it is not preferential to the righteous.  The Lord is good and upright and, because of this, because of His nature and character, He instructs sinners.  He doesn't discard sinners, but loves them.  He loves me, even though a sinner.  But don’t for one second think that He simply loves the sinner and leaves it at that.  He loves the sinner through teaching the sinner His ways.  He wants the sinner to learn God’s character and become like Him, changing, discarding the habits of sin.

Oh, it is my desire to always carry a humble heart before Him and, as a result, before others as well.  I also wish that this shell of a man - while it looks like me and carries all the external features that identify me as ‘me’ - is used to carry the image of Christ.  I do not want any of my personhood to attempt to carry its own glory.  All the perceived goodness that comes out of me or by my hand truly belongs to Christ.  Every product of my effort should be known that His brand, His image, is the reason for any its excellence.  If you find me in the enemy’s snare, yes, that’s the real me, my brand.  I got myself there.  But, out of great humility and thankfulness, may I keep my eyes “ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare.”

His Love Reaches to the Heavens and Justice to the Great Deep (Psalm 36)

An oracle is within my heart

concerning the sinfulness of the wicked:

There is no fear of God before his eyes.

For in his own eyes he flatters himself

too much to detect or hate his sin.

The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful;

he has ceased to be wise and to do good.

Even on his bed he plots evil;

he commits himself to a sinful course

and does not reject what is wrong.

Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens,

your faithfulness to the skies.

Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,

your justice like the great deep.

O Lord, you preserve both man and beast,

How priceless is your unfailing love!

Both high and low among men

find refuge in the shadow of your wings.

They feast on the abundance of your house;

you give them drink from your river of delights.

For with you is the fountain of life;

in your light we see light.

Continue your love to those who know you,

your righteousness to the upright in heart.

May the foot of the proud not come against me,

nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.

See how the evildoers lie fallen - 

thrown down, not able to rise!

Have you ever read something in His Word and hoped you would find meaning the first time and, for some reason, come up with nothing?  And then you try again and find it hits you square in the face?  I'm sure it is only His grace that this happens and hopefully it is His truth and not your own desires you aim to please.

This is me.  At first, reading Psalm 36 seemed obscure, a bit disjointed, and left me feeling How peculiar?  How does David go from the wicked cannot see their own sin through their great boasting and then immediately, like a light switch, move to God's unfailing love?  It feels like I'm on a train heading westward and then, out of the blue, we hit a railroad switch and now we're heading east.  What just happened?

Then, I read it again...and it hits.  I've been there.  I've been that wicked person, desiring only my sin, seeking after praise, loving my boasting.  I've nearly forgotten the times years ago when evil and depravity wanted to take me to the pit, a place where I was comfortable being in mire because my sin was all I wanted.  These people - me - I would despise.  Yes, right now I would despise the man I was years ago.  If the 'me' of today saw the 'me' of years ago [or insert another time frame] right now, I would despise him!  He would make me sick and in my selfishness I would harbor no grace or mercy for him.  But... God would.  And we hit the railroad switch!... and I see that even though I was heading to the destination called Darkness, God intervened, cleansed me, turned me toward His glorious Light, and invited me to take part in His goodness.

Why?  What did I do to deserve His riches?  What did I do to earn His mercy and to enjoy the shadow of his refuge?  What makes me so special that I can drink from His river of delights or feast on the abundance of His house?

Nothing.  I did nothing.  He intervened.  He rescued me.  I did absolutely nothing...but surrender.

And that, to me, is incredible!  I could have continued to love my sin and wallow in my own version of a glorious human pride and it would be my decision to reject Him.  But, He is inviting me not because I have earned it.  He's inviting me because I am His...I am His creation and He longs for me even when I don't know I need it.

This is why His love reaches to the heavens and His justice to the great deep!  He is mighty in both His justice and His love; neither can be separated from His indescribable character.

Safety in Him (Psalm 16)

Keep me safe, O God,

for in you I take refuge.

I said to the Lord, "You are my Lord; 

apart from you I have no good thing."

As for the saints who are in the land,

they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.

The sorrows of those will increase

who run after other gods.

I will not pour out their libations of blood

or take up their names on my lips.

Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;

you have made my lot secure.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

surely I have a delightful inheritance.

I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;

even at night my heart instructs me.

I have set the Lord always before me.

Because he is at my right hand,

I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

my body also will rest secure,

because you will not abandon me to the grave,

nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

You have made known to me the path of life;

you will fill me with joy in your presence,

with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Have you ever felt inadequate that you don't have enough [fill in the blank]?  Not enough courage?  Not enough money?  Not enough peace?  Not enough...safety?  

David knows need.  A man after God's own heart, he experienced need in ways we wouldn't ever want to know.  "Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge."  What is refuge?  Like a refugee, you have no home, no place to rest...only dependent on someone else to provide your safety.  It is a place to flee for protection.  This refuge also provides trust, confidence, and hope.  This trust is the same trust that an eagle trusts in its wings to carry it to the highest heights and without fail.

"You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing."  Do I really believe that, especially when in waiting?  I know at times I get distracted by the 'goodness' I see in others' situations and then, with jealousy, want for myself...and then others who are seeking after other things not of God and, yet, do they really have it together?  But He tells me that those seek after other gods - their own idols that they hope complete them - will only increase their sorrow and any outer pleasures are fading, not lasting.

My God is certainly before me and He knows how much I need...He has assigned my cup and my portion, my lot is secure.  Remember?  I am a refugee in His care.  Shouldn't it not be humbling?  Shouldn't I also take pleasure that He wants us to need Him like this?  Yes, it is scary and frightening, but security is not found in anything on earth.  It is found in Him alone and He promises a delightful inheritance.  But this comes in time, for He promises to counsel me; with counseling requires patience on my part.  I hate patience.  

[Sigh]...in light of this, if I set the Lord before me, rest my heart before Him, He will care for it, instruct me, and be my right hand - signifying strength and power.  I may not have that feeling now, but I know His promises are secure and He will provide.  And I know in this, I will not be shaken.  

I may not have everything I think I need now, but that's okay.  He is providing a way to show His power and might within me.

Delight in Him the Giver of Life (Psalm 1)

Blessed in the one

who does not walk in step with the wicked

or stand in the way that sinners take

or sit in the company of mockers,

but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,

and who meditates on his law day and night.

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither - 

whatever they do prospers.

Not so the wicked!

The are like chaff that the wind blows away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Psalm 1.  The first of hundreds of songs written by David.  It seems so black and white.  You are either on one side or the other.  Those who delight in the Lord will find His redemptive grace.  Those who delight in wickedness will not.  On paper, I have no problem with that.  I have no disagreement.  Those who walk with those who are wise in the Lord - whom have too produced fruits of righteous and know the goodness of our God - will remain encouraged and more steadfast to His ways.  He is like a tree that is constantly being fed by streams of living water that make for a faithful tree, producing fruit when it is expected, in season with His law.  And yet, I am still very much a sinner and feel like a tree far away from His streams. 

What does His law mean?  If you have been raised in the church, you know that to mean His written Old Testament law - the Torah.  If you aren't familiar with this, these are the rules and precepts established for the people of Israel, God's chosen people, to understand His ways.  But these rules weren't mean to dictate and rule over them like an oppressor rules over a conquered people.  He loved His people and considered Israel to be His bride.  Don't believe me?  Read Jeremiah 3:8.  God's been divorced.  He divorces Israel because of her gross and continued unfaithfulness to Him.  Yet, He is still loving and it is evident in His long suffering and saving power each time they fell into a muddy, boggy pit of their selfishness and nearly caused for their complete destruction.  His love allowed them to experience their own choices that led to suffering and He always remained faithful to return.  

So, I know God still loves, because He still sent His son hundreds of years later to redeem not only His lost bride, but also all people - non Jewish - back to Him.

So, what does this 'law' mean today?  In many ways, it is still the same law of the Old Testament; however, this law never meant to dictate.  It truly desires to teach us about His character in the hope that we will desire Him more and more as we get to know our God.  His law also is not limited to words in a Holy book.  His law, His character, His heart is evident all around us.  We experience seasons in real life, in the natural world.  We experience truth in real life.  We experience His love in real life.  While this world is broken immensely by sin, His law never ceases to exist and He is still very evident in the fabric of His creation.

I want to be a tree planted by streams of water that never cease to flow and water my roots.  But I know, in my heart, I carry seeds of wickedness with me...daily.  These seeds long to be watered too by selfish desires and they want to take root.

This image comes to mind:  

Imagine you drive by a home with a lush, green lawn.  You slow down and stop just to admire the beauty of it.  It's not only beautiful because it looks picturesque, but you see future uses of its enjoyment:  picnics, yard games, taking walks around the property barefooted, and more.  The green space offers present and future enjoyment.  It is simply beautiful.  And then you wish that yard was yours.  How do they keep it so green and full? you ask.  Well, you'd have to mingle with the homeowner and find out.  He certainly knows how, where, or who to go to that will make his yard shine.  He may tell you that his lawn has scheduled watering from the underground sprinkling.  His yard receives bi-weekly treatments of fertilizer and weed killer.  The yard is cut to a certain length to maintain good growth and color.

Then you drive a couple houses down from this home and find a lawn that looks like its life has been sapped from it.  Bits of grass are found in random spots across the property; however, one thing you will always find in yards like this is...the presence of weeds.  They don't need water like a healthy lawn does.  They feed off any moisture and have the ability to withstand long periods of mismanagement.  In fact, they thrive in this mismanagement.  I know my life, when not watered and managed well, will allow those seeds wickedness to sprout and take over my life's lawn.

There are countless parallels for walking with the wise and delighting in God's ways to walking in the company of the wicked and desiring their ways.  But, in this example, I know that I need to constantly water myself with His Word, the wise counsel of those whom have gone before me, and to allow God - many times through the wise - to help weed out those things that are not God honoring, to be humble enough, submissive enough, to let God work through them.

In the end, my hope is that my life will be a glorious green space, not for my glory... but for His.  If I die to myself daily and clothe myself in Him, yes, people will see me physically, but it should be the face of my God that they see in me...which removes all the glory and credit from me and brings glory back to the creator, the potter, the shaper of my life.

With great humility, God, I ask that you would teach me how to delight in your ways all the days of my life.  In that, may others see you through me.

Trust & Refuge (Psalm 11)

In the Lord I take refuge,

How then can you say to me:

"Flee like a bird to your mountain.

For look, the wicked bend their bows;

they set their arrows against the strings

to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.

When the foundations are being destroyed,

what can the righteous do?"

The Lord is in his holy temple;

the Lord is on his heavenly throne.

He observes the sons of men;

his eyes examine them.

The Lord examines the righteous,

but the wicked and those who love violence

his soul hates.

On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur;

a scorching wind will be their lot.

For the Lord is righteous,

he loves justice;

upright men will see his face.

When do you approach God?  

Do you approach him when it is comfortable?  

I can only speak for myself when I say I approach Him the LEAST when I am comfortable.  I have the least NEED for Him.  So, that gets me thinking: When and why do I approach Him?  I might argue for three reasons:

   (1) out of LOVE for Him; I would seek Him because of my stirring desires to be near and close like that of your very best friend that you cannot resist, like magnetic fields whose attraction cannot be turned off,

   (2) out of OBLIGATION for Him - like in the assembly of others only because it would be uncomfortable not to seek Him in the presence of others, and

   (3) out of absolute LOSS; there is no one else to turn to, no refuge, no safety...nothing on earth where you may rest your head, your conscience, your vulnerabilities to.

As I read Psalm 11, I am comforted in David's plea to trust in God for refuge.  He has no other place to go.  "In the Lord I take refuge...for [He] is on his heavenly throne and observes the sons of men."  He knows the hearts of men, those who love violence...and hates it.  He will punish those who love wickedness and use fire and scorching wind.  Why such vitriol?  Because He is Love.  He hates wickedness...it is not His nature.  But why the fire?  Scripture is constantly referring to God's refiner's fire, to remove impurities and purify His creation.  

Does He reserves this for the wicked only?  No.  What is so comforting about God's justice, love, mercy (and many more immeasurable qualities) is His character - when understood - is universal and can be expected.  "For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open." (Luke 8:17)  Just because you are saved or not saved does not mean He will prefer to conceal the redeemed person's sin over the other.  That would be unjust and not of His character.  He would certainly be an unloving God...and we know He is not unloving but indeed the definition of Love...the creator of Love. 

Even more so, His refiner's fire is not only to purify us for His sake, but for ours.  Peter suffered "grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." (1 Peter 1:7)  While the context of this passage refers to the Peter's suffering under great persecution, I trust that His refining fire is also reserved for our personal failings and impurities that need to be removed, burned out, of us.

I'm not here to sugar coat anything:  The fire is painful.  The fire is undesirable and unpleasant...but, at times, there is comfort in knowing that Truth - He himself - is controlling the refiner's fire, not the wicked who would wish to torment us for their own gain and pleasure.

Because of this, I find comfort in trusting in God when He is refining me.  I know He loves me because He is Love.

And even if that's hard to believe, rest in this thought:  When I first read Psalm 11, the image that immediately came to mind was of a conversation that could have happened between God the Father and Jesus Christ (along with the Holy Spirit).  They are completely united, as One, and have glorious fellowship beyond our greatest imagination.  And so, before the creation of the world, the Father speaks to His Son and says, "In this plan, I will have you suffer the greatest human pain imaginable, suffering beyond belief, scars, emotional loss, and more...and then, I will even turn my gaze away from you and you will not see me."  Silence ensues for moments.  And then the Father says, "Do you trust me?"

While I know that God through Jesus Christ loves me beyond human love's definition, Christ did not sacrifice himself just because of me.  In fact, I would argue, he didn't do it for me at all.  He gave us His sacrifice because He loves His Father first and will Trust... in... Him.

If Christ can trust the Father to the point of unbearable loneliness and pain, how can I not trust Him with any of my earthly matters?  In him will I trust and take refuge.

Song of Destitution (Psalm 22)

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?  

Why are you so far from saving me, 

so far from the words of my groaning?"

Psalm 22:1

Do you remember the last time you listened to or sang along with a sad song?  I might be able to say that I did at one point in my life, but I can't remember it specifically...the time, the place, or the song itself.  They aren't pleasurable or desirable unless you're the kind of person who seeks misery for company.  If you attend church, when was the last time you sang a sad song, a song of lament, with the congregation?  I certainly cannot remember that.

Fact:  There are more chapters in Psalms of lament than there are of praise, adoration, trust, and other uplifting chapters combined.  Why is that?  I wish I knew the answer, but I can't say that I do.

If you read Psalm 22, you will find it is long, emotional, bearing many images of grief and pain.

"I cry out by day, but you do not answer" vs. 2

"I am a worm and not a man" vs. 6

"All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads" 
and then the mockers shout

"He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him.  
Let him deliver him since he delights in him" vs. 8

What pain and sorrow.  Why would we sing this?  It continues:

"Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me" vs. 13

"I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint.

My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me"  vs. 14

The images of pain have become deeper...not only external wounds - bones out of joint and immense fatigue like water poured out - but heart melted down to nothing, like wax melts away off a candle and is no longer useful... better to be tossed away.

Again...why?

Some of us will never experience this kind of sorrow and defeat.  Others may have and feel like there is no where else to go, no place to turn to...no safety.  Why then would anyone turn to this Book for comfort?  Is not David, a man after God's own heart, not able to receive the joy and comfort from His God?  

We would be wrong though to only focus on the painful words and descriptions of David's pain.  For in verse 9, God is fully aware of David before he enters the womb and God not only knows him but calls him to be His own.  And David knows this.  "Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help" vs 11.  David knows that God is close even though at times He feels far away.  He also knows that God sees his life as precious and that He is a savior and rescuer (vs. 20,21).  He knows those who fear Him and put their trust in Him will be able to celebrate in the goodness of God (vs. 23) and those that seek and praise the Lord will rejoice and be satisfied (vs. 26).  He calls us to press on and see the bigger picture, to persevere and teach our children the precepts of the Lord so that future generations - even those unborn - will not turn from Him (vs. 30,31).

While there is so much pain, indescribable at times, the most beautiful aspect of this lamentation is the accurate foretelling of the Great Misery to come...Jesus Christ torture and death on the cross...and then the glorious Redemption in is His resurrection.  Jesus himself said the very words of verse 1 while on the cross as God the Father turned His gaze away for the first time in history..."My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"  While Christ suffered a grueling and painful death, he also bore the greatest mockery and nakedness in public, clothes removed from his body to display the shame and scars of torture, and his garments divided between those who cast lots for them.

And, yet, it seems to me that this wasn't the greatest grief of all.  Yes, Jesus' pain, torment, misery, agony, shame is unconscionable, but it doesn't compare to this:  His death was unjust.  He did not deserve it.  I deserve it.  I deserve the scorn, ridicule, and shame.  Not him, the pure, spotless, Son of God.  He certainly could have called upon legions of angels to rescue Him and show an incredible and stunning display of His power and glory...but...He didn't.  He willingly suffered...so that my guilt and shame could be transferred to Him...once and for all.

Why?  I am guilty...I am that thief on the cross that doesn't deserve to be saved.  I have stolen that which is not mine and I deserve death and damnation.  But He won't allow it.  Even as I hang next to Him, He wants to save me.  So...I cry in thankfulness to my God because He willingly suffers on my behalf so that we can have communion with each other.  

He has experienced all the pain that you are going through and has known it before you ever imagined it or experienced it, before you sinned, and has always been ready to forgive the moment you would ask.  

The thick curtain has been torn in two...for you.  He is truly an Almighty and Loving God!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If the thief on the cross could sing, these could have been his words.  

The person described as "Love" is Jesus Christ:

"The Thief" by Steven Curtis Chapman (The Story Tour)

My life began like any other man held beneath a mother’s loving gaze
Somewhere between now and then I lost the man I could have been
Took everything that wasn’t mine to take but Love believes that it is not too late
Only one of us deserves this cross, a suffering that should belong to me
Deep within this man I hang beside is the place where shame and grace collide
And it’s beautiful agony that He believes it’s not too late for me

This is how Love wins, every single time
Climbing high upon a tree where someone else should die
This is how Love heals, the deepest part of you
Letting Himself bleed into the middle of your wounds
This is what Love says, standing at the door
You don’t have to be who you’ve been before
Silenced by His voice, death can’t speak again
This is how Love wins

Did you see this moment from the start that we would drink this of cup of suffering?
I wonder, did we ever meet? Childhood games in dusty streets
For all my many sorrows and regrets nothing could compare to just this one
That in the presence of my King I cannot fall upon my knees
I cannot carry You up to Your throne; You instead, will carry me back home.

This is how Love wins, every single time
Climbing high upon a tree where someone else should die
This is how Love heals, the deepest part of you
Letting Himself bleed into the middle of your wounds
This is what Love says, standing at the door
You don’t have to be who you’ve been before
Silenced by His voice, death can’t speak again
This is how Love wins

What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood, nothing but the blood
What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood, Nothing but the blood
Because this is what Love say, standing at the door
You don’t have to be who you’ve been before
And silenced by His voice, death can’t speak again
This is how Love wins.