I am not, as a rule, a fan of new experiences since new experiences are so often… bad experiences, (and there is nothing especially redeeming about them).
I mean, I recall sitting in the 20th something pew in a large church when I was all of 20 years old, and suddenly Rev. Matheny stepped to the pulpit, and said,
“Bro. McDonald, will you come now and lead us in prayer.”
Well, as you might imagine, I was humbled that he had chosen a novice like me to lead his three hundred something parishioners in prayer. As I stood to my feet, my (former) wife’s right hand touched my left forearm. But I was, by this time, oblivious to anything but the mission which had been appointed me.
Walking down the middle aisle, I reached the front of the church,… as an aged man took the pastor’s place behind the pulpit. I had been so unobservant that I hadn’t noticed the old man, as he made his way from one of the stage chairs to the podium.
Having reached the end of the aisle, Bro. Matheny stepped down from the stage, and asked,
“Yes, do you need prayer?”
Excusing myself, I sheepishly made my way back to the 20th something pew from whence I came,… as the elderly Rev. McDonald entoned his sanctimonious prayer.
And speaking of new experiences which began much better than they ended, my wife and I traveled to Scotland last year. And prior to boarding the tour bus one day, I asked our guide, Deanne, if she would mind me singing an acapella version of, “Danny Boy” to our group.
She acquiesced, and as the bus traveled down the narrow two lane roadway, I mused that I was doing a fairly presentable job of it until… I reached the third line of the second stanza.
“Tis I’ll be here…”
Suffice it to say I failed to hit the high note, and I sounded more like a screech owl than an accomplished baritone.
Too often, new experiences… end in disaster.
Pt. 2
Why, even today I had a new experience.
(Believe me. I did).
I was scheduled to sing a solo in this morning’s worship service in our church. I had chosen, “I’d Rather Have Jesus.”
I should have known things were about to go from bad to worse when the pastor walked to the podium, and introduced me, as “Dr. Joyce,” (as in Dr. Joyce Brothers), but immediately corrected himself, and said, “Uhmmm, sorry, Dr. Royce.”
I smiled, and replied,
“You can call me Dr. Joyce. You can call me Dr. Royce. Just don’t call me late for dinner!” And since it is my habit to introduce my songs with some “background color,” I continued.
“About a hundred years ago, a certain young man’s mother laid a poem on a piano in their living room, knowing that he would soon sit down on the piano bench, see the poem, and (quite possibly) feel inclined to write some music to accompany the words. That young man was George Beverly Shea. And as a matter of fact, he did see the poem lying there, and he did feel inclined to write some music to accompany the poem. Years later, this same young man, slightly older now, joined the Billy Graham Association, was the featured soloist at most of his crusades, and often sang that very song.”
(So far, so good).
Now, I nodded at the pianist and organist, and they provided me the lead in.
“Dum de dum, dum dum dum dum.”
And with this, I began to sing…
“I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold.
I'd rather be His than have riches untold.
I'd rather have Jesus than houses or land.
I'd rather be led by His nail-pierced hand.”
(And now the chorus)
“Than to be the king of a vast domain or…”
Pt. 3
Or what?
Perhaps it was because I wasn’t wearing my reading glasses, but for the life of me there were more words on this line than were there when I printed the lyrics earlier this morning.
“be held in something something something,” and a couple more ‘somethings.’ (I honestly don’t recall the words which I thought I was seeing now).
I found myself singing words which I knew weren’t there, and the combination of words made absolutely no sense at all. I waved the musicians down, and said,
“Sorry everyone. I need to begin again.”
(Which I summarily proceeded to do).
I got through the first verse for the second time, and began the chorus again.
“Than to be the king of a vast domain or…”
Once more, I found myself fumbling the words. I absolutely can’t explain it twelve hours later, but I was singing words that weren’t there… again.
(My wife was home sick, but she told me later that, as a nurse, she would have rushed up on the stage presuming I was experiencing a medical event).
But I was absolutely humiliated, and had to flag the musicians down… again.
At this point, I was SO close to calling it quits, apologizing to my audience, walking out the side door, taking my seat in my 2015 Nissan Altima, and setting a course for home.
Pt. 4
In the past couple of weeks, I came up with an adage that has become one of several of my mission statements.
“It ‘don’t’ have to be fun. It just has to be done.”
I can tell you my two previous attempts to sing this song was anything but fun.
I think by now not only was my listening audience surprised, but, if possible, I was even more so. For you see, I had sung this same song, in this same church, behind this same pulpit, multiplied times over the past decade.
And as Mrs. Fairfax of “Jane Eyre” fame was prone to ask,
“What to do? What to do?”
I made a momentary decision to try one more time.
“Third verse, same as the first.” But this time when I got to the chorus,
“Than to be the king of a vast domain or…”
At this juncture I turned towards the musicians, raised my arms and waved them like a conductor, and allowed them to sing the next line. Vera and Gary complied.
“…be held in sin’s dread sway.”
I turned back to my audience, and finished the chorus…
“I’d rather have Jesus than anything
this world affords today.”
And thus, it went until I finished
singing the three stanzas of the song. However, in spite of the seeming fool I
had been making of myself, the pastor wouldn’t allow me to sit down!
Bro. Kern stepped up beside me, and
said,
“Sing the chorus again!”
And I thought, you have to be kidding
me!”
But I complied, and every time I
thought I was done, the pastor urged me to continue. And suddenly, he called
the congregation forward.
“I want everyone to come to the
front. C’mon now.”
And as the thirty or forty in
attendance made their way forward, he continued to instruct them.
“Everyone join in! Let me hear you!”
And by now, we were all singing the
chorus together. And once, when I walked towards the right side of the stage,
the preacher called me back with,
“You’re not done yet!”
And by the time we were done, I had
sung that chorus a minimum of 15, perhaps 20 times!
Several people told me later that the
singing was anointed, and that they “got a real blessing” from it.
It was a new experience for me, and
perhaps the most “successful failure” I have ever experienced in my 70 years on
this planet!
Speaking of new experiences, you might find it surprising, if I were to tell you that it is also possible for God to have a new experience. The Creator of the universe, the King of kings and Lord of lords, the Supreme Ruler, the “I AM,” the Bright and Morning Star, the Everlasting God once participated in an experience which He’d never before known…
when Christ, the Son of God submitted Himself to the will of His Father, allowed the most dramatic limitation of His Person and power of all time, was in some inexplicable way reduced to the microscopic size of a fertilized human egg, matured as a fetus in a human womb, was born of a virgin named ‘Mary,’ suckled at his mother’s breasts, and lived in obscurity for three decades; prior to His advent and introduction to public ministry.
Jesus Christ, who along with His Father, and the Holy Spirit participated in the very creation of the universe, voluntarily limited Himself, and embraced a new experience, unlike anything He’d ever known in the eons, and ultimately gave Himself over to a sacrificial death on a wooden cross.
The Eternal God, Jesus Christ, the spirit being who, prior to His advent on the earth, possessed the power to manifest Himself anywhere, and everywhere, limited Himself, and dwelt among us, and experienced something unique to Himself; becoming the God-man. As much God as man. As much man as God. And He has seen fit to retain His earthly, nail-pierced body forevermore, (and despite His power) has forevermore limited Himself to occupying one human-sized bit of space at any given time.
Pt. 6
I love the passage of scripture which assures us of Christ’ humanness, and His empathy for His creation.
“We have not a high priest who cannot be touched by the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)
It was because He purposely limited Himself, and experienced something He’d never before taken the opportunity to experience that He has the unique wherewithal to put Himself in our place, and to say, “Stay encouraged. I’ve been there” (and) “I will give you rest.”
If you happen to be walking along the street one day, and someone approaches you with the question, “Is it possible for God to have a new experience?”
Tell them, “Yes. Yes, it is. The God I serve purposely emptied Himself of all His prerogatives, limited Himself, took on human flesh, and dwelt among us.”
And speaking of new experiences which end in failure, our natural enemy had every reason to think that what he meant for evil… would end very much the same way.
However, the rest is, as they say, history.
What Satan meant for evil, God meant for good. And this was one new experience which might well have resulted in abject calamity.
Christ, our Savior, was led by sinful men to the brow of Mt. Calvary, he voluntarily laid His body on the cross, rusty spikes were driven into His hands and feet, and He died a hideous death.
But whereas many new experiences end in failure, our Lord’s new experience was to be the most unlikely success of all time. In rising from the dead, He completed His Father’s plan which resulted in the most gracious offer of all time; a plan which is described in John 3:16.
After I finished my song this morning, and walked in my front door, I received a text from our pastor’s wife.
“Your song was wonderful! Wow!”
To which I responded,
“Well, it didn’t feel very wonderful when it was happening!”
No doubt, our Lord felt very much the same way.
by William McDonald, PhD. Copyright pending
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