January 28, 2018 - Fourth Sunday after Epiphany - Living / Playing / Singing the Good News

Today's worship was led by Creator Youth and Creator's special guest, Daniel Onyango from Nairobi, Kenya. The music was the glocal music the youth have sung in the past after learning them at an ELCA event. The Creator Youth also acted as Assisting Minister and read the Lessons,  Psalms and Prayers of the People.

The multicultural music was offered in different languages, with different musical styles, gestures and attitudes. This morning the congregation proclaimed the good news of God in Christ through the music with words that many listeners likely did not understand.

The Gospel reading, John 10:1-10, took on new meaning as a result. What stood out in this service was verse 3, "The gatekeeper opens his gate for him; and the sheep hear his voice".

The sheep follow because they know his voice, not because they necessarily understand the meaning of his words. Pastor Ray emphasized in the sermon that sheep have the inherent intelligence to recognize the face and voice of their shepherd.

Not translating all the lyrics in the worship bulletin caused the congregation to listen attentively. They participated more by the sound of what they heard rather than by what they read in front of them, which was in keeping with today's Gospel. Matt commented that the congregation participated more than in the past glocal worships and that the church's overall comfort with the music was increasing.

One piece the congregation did not know from the past was performed during the Offertory. Wastahili wewe Bwana was played by Daniel Onyango on the musical instrument he brought with him from Kenya, the nyatiti. The music he played was melodic and beautiful. Without understanding the Swahili the piece obviously provided a deeply reverential sharing of heart.

In the first book of the Bible, God establishes a covenant with Abraham, forms the Jewish nation, and declares in Genesis 12:3 that “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” The Old Testament contains multiple stories of people being stretched to include others unlike themselves. And in the last book of the Bible--indeed in a grand vision of the end of history--as recorded in Revelation 5:9, John witnessed twenty-four elders singing a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation”.

This worship brought this multicultural perspective from the Bible into sharp focus and lived out what today's Gospel highlights, namely how to trust in what we might initially find foreign or new. We take comfort in the language we normally use to describe God between and amongst ourselves.

Today when we sang Bwana in Swahili was that praise for "our" God (this is a question someone asked me which I will write more about in a moment)? What about the Spanish word Dios? Allah? Yahweh? El?  Judaism, Christianity and Islam all claim to be Abrahamic faiths and are classified as monotheistic. Should that make a difference from other religious expressions?

Obviously if this question was determined merely by different words for God in native languages there would an effort for all Christians to learn or use Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek or, perhaps, Latin languages and worship in, what for us, in North America anyway, would be a foreign tongue.

Interestingly this was on the person's mind who asked me before our Adult Forum meeting if I had confidence that the music in this service was, indeed, worshipping "our" God.  He wasn't sure because the words weren't in English. Referring him back to today's Gospel reading seemed the best answer. I could not answer for him but Jesus offers three criteria that Jesus trusted would give the confidence the questioner was seeking.

One is that the shepherd, concerned with well-being, does not come in as a thief or bandit but enters through the gate. In this case I would suspect this to mean he comes through the gateway of our heart. Anyone who comes in another gateway; including; but not limited to; our fear, our greed or our narcissism should be resisted. For me this worship music exceedingly passes this "heart test".

Another criteria is closely related, Jesus not only comes in but serves as this "gateway" of our hearts. This service was designed to be invitational and expansive by including others in a vision of God that is expressed throughout all of scripture. I only felt Christian invitation in what the youth allowed us to experience today.

The last is the confidence to know by voice the one who comes that we may have abundant life. I heard that voice throughout worship today.

I would say Creator's worship is not as multicultural as we might dream. On Sundays like this, however, there is a respect and honor of cultural norms and attitudes that is humbling.  Creator can focus on individuals who gather as a community of faith and can also pay attention to what connects them to God. The congregation promotes meaningful, multilevel worship. Sometimes Creator will fall short but always tries to grow in this deeper awareness of the world. When that awareness does grow there is such an expansiveness in our personal and corporate visions of God.

The service ended with an energetic Salaam Alaikum:

May be peace be in your heart.
May be peace be in your home.
May be peace be in your land.
May be peace be in our world

Update: Link to video of Daniel Onyango's performance January 31st Wednesday on Creator's Facebook page.