Music and Hospitality

Just got back in yesterday from two and a half weeks of traveling sharing songs and stories with my great friend and sister Katie Heckel. We had a wonderful time visiting with folks, making new friends, and singing and storytelling.

Katie is a great singer/songwriter and worship leader. I love to write and record with her. We finished a CD called "The Isaiah Project" to raise funds for Rafiki Orphanage which Katie supports. She'll be heading back there July 11th for a month of brainstorming and planning for future ministry. And I am hoping to get over there maybe next Summer to deepen my own participation.

Music has the potential to work best in small settings as a way to create room where participants can enter into the stories together through song and sharing. Something I've been thinking about more this past month as we were traveling is the idea of music as a form of hospitality. I am not terribly interested in 'making it' in the music industry or drawing big crowds. I am interested in connecting to personal stories and together with those people connecting (or re-membering) to God's Story.

Some of my favorite times of music sharing have been with less than ten people in someone's living room. The best large concerts I've been to were the ones that felt small in spite of their size.

If music can become a place where people can be welcomed to share their stories and where God himself meets us and integrates us into His Story, then we may have a real point of contact in the home to honor the dignity and 'common sense' of following Jesus as a thing accessible to everyone, not just the professionals.

One last story. I remember someone telling me about agrarian cultures where a family would spend their precious time, energy, and resources to farm the land, to cultivate nearly every aspect of their livelihood by pouring out their lives to put food on their table. So when the family would invite you to sit at their table they were really saying "Come take my very life into yourself. All this family's energy, time, sweat, and blood." The table was where you entered into the result of their life and joined yourself to them.

When Jesus hosts the last supper with his disciples, he lifts up the bread and cup as his very body and blood and invites them to take his own life down into the very core of themselves. In this way, they are being joined to the new covenant life, this transforming and fulfilling Kingdom life. The culmination of Jesus' labour is this act of invitation, of hospitality and incorporation of their lives into His great life, story, and work.

I pray that any music I make, and any time of music sharing might somehow incarnate again that act of divine hospitality. I pray that my whole life, in fact, would be an ongoing act of hospitality where Jesus' invitation to repentance and acceptance of his mighty acts of salvation would dwell and make a Living Room where the weary can find rest.

I see you but I don't know where you are...

Or "I hear you but I don't know what you mean" or "I'm here but I don't know where I am". It's really frustrating to be in a context and not be aware of that context. Have you ever had someone angry at you and you don't know why? Have you ever felt like their expectations were unfair? Have you ever been in an awkward situation and you simply didn't know how to respond wisely?

"No expectation is valid unless it is communicated and agreed upon by both parties." That's become a favorite quote when it comes to understanding how to function in relationship with people. You can't read people's minds and they can't read yours. We have to orient people toward a context and communicate expectations. Only then can we understand how to function in a given situation/relationship.

I'm a worship leader and I enjoy it. I'm also a singer/songwriter and storyteller. I am passionate about these things. I'm passionate about creating and communicating in order to feed relationship between God and people.

Last October my friend Brian Mulder and I took a month off and traveled all around the Eastern half of the United States sharing songs and stories. Mostly in people's living rooms. We discovered that, if we were to do that in a thoughtful way to serve people, we would have to give some sort of 'orientation' talk at the outset of each concert. People just needed to understand what they were in for. They needed to have the context communicated in order to understand how to function and respond and participate.

Most folks had never experienced a house concert before and simply didn't know what to do with it. Each time we explained what was happening, Brian and I could feel a sense of relief and 'getting it' breeze across the place. The context was clear, the expectations had been communicated and everyone was at ease because they knew how to participate. Fascinating.

We need a context wherein expectations have been made known and the parameters of participation have been defined. This is always the case in relationships. It's actually a huge relief to be here and know where you are, to hear you and know what you mean, to see you and know where you are. It's a way to serve each other, to be considerate. It takes honesty, effort, and humility.

For me at the moment, I'm thinking of how can I create a clear 'orientation' or 'mission' statement for the work that I do. I want people to easily understand my work and be freed to participate.

This may be a strange question, but would you leave a comment about what you 'got out of' a concert or worship time with me? What did you perceive was 'happening' during that time? What did it feel like was the purpose? That may help me see my calling externally and be able to articulate better a kind of missional statement. Thanks!

Any other thoughts?

Reproach, Approach, Reconciliation

When the Israelites finally entered the promised land God said he was 'removing the reproach of Egypt from them'. (Joshua 5:9-12) Here are some definitions of reproach (which is related to reprobate):

reproach (n.)
c.1420, from O.Fr. reproche (12c.), from reprocher "to blame, bring up against," said by some Fr. etymologists to be from V.L. *repropiare, from L. re- "opposite of" + prope "near." But others suggest *reprobicare, from L. reprobus/reprobare (see reprobate). The verb is attested from c.1489.

reprobate (adj.)
1540s, "rejected as worthless," from L.L. reprobatus, pp. of reprobare "disapprove, reject, condemn," from L. re- "opposite of, reversal of previous condition" + probare "prove to be worthy" (see probate). The noun is recorded from 1540s, "one rejected by God." Sense of "abandoned or unprincipled person" is from 1590s. Earliest form of the word in English was a verb, meaning "to disapprove" (early 15c.).

This word has a sense of a lack of relational proximity, of being unwanted, blamed, undesired, worthless. The Israelites were a people who were not wanted or valued. As they enter the promised land God removes that reproach. Have you ever thought about what it would feel like to hear this from God? It's like he's saying to them, "No one wanted you and everyone thought Egypt was so fantastic, right? I am the real God, think about it, who am I with? You or Egypt? I love you Israel."

Then in the New Testament 2 Cor 5:16-21 we are told we have been reconciled to God through Christ and are now given the message of reconciliation.

Reconciliation is a neat word. Check this out. Reconcile comes from conciliate which comes from council. Check out the etymology of council:

council
early 12c., from Anglo-Norm. cuncile, from O.N.Fr. concilie, from L. concilium "group of people, meeting," from com- "together" + calare "to call". Tendency to confuse it in form and meaning with counsel has been consistent since 16c.

So reconcile has in it a sense of having been 'called' out of separation and into attachment. There's an element of proclamation. The people of God were an unloved, unwanted, people of reproach in Egypt. But there has been a proclamation of reconciliation. God wants relational proximity, loving nearness. Watch this: instead of reproach we have approach. God removes reproach with his own approach and call of reconciliation. You are loved, wanted. Didn't he prove his love? When did he die for us? While we were sinners, slaves, unwanted, unloved, under reproach. That is when he approached us and called us together in attachment to himself.

Now we call out on his behalf to those who live under reproach. Now we approach them. We call them to gather with us with the true God who does want them to be near him through Jesus' loving work- his own death for reprobates.

ps. Want to know what the cooooooolest site ever is? www.etymonline.com
pps. Yes, I'm a word-dork.