Monday Morning Music Ministry

3-14-22

A friend woke up one morning this week more annoyed than usual with a nagging cough and heavy breathing. In quick succession: a visit to the doctor; diagnosis of a “massive blood clot” in her lung; and its dissolution that afternoon.

A new friend told me of a similar story, but in her case a persistent uncomfortable feeling. After diagnosis and almost immediate surgery to remove a “gangrenous gall bladder,” she was also told that a day’s delay might have meant death.

Another friend sustained a double-whammy when she suffered a stroke and was diagnosed with cancer of the spine.

This is not a pity-party, because into all lives rain will fall – not “might,” but “will.” And the Bible reminds us that the rain falls on the just and the unjust. Life’s quality is regulated by how we respond to such things.

How do we respond?

There is not one way, no 12-step emotional program nor spiritual one-size-fits-all guide. The Heavenly Healer prescribes prayer, and trust, and faith, however. I have come to accept the ironic strength of an essential humility when we boldly approach God. He is sovereign; and I cannot think of sending my own list of demands to Him when I have seen Him work in mysterious ways His wonders to perform.

But I have seen miracles in answer to prayer – doctors saying they simply cannot explain a healing or the disappearance of a cancer. And then there are results that we could never anticipate but are blessings nonetheless. My friend learned that we can live, albeit with annoying adjustments, without a gall bladder… but in her case a new diet of healthy, fresh, and wholesome foods has been a remarkable blessing overall.

Another prescription is an attitude adjustment, and I learned about that in a roundabout way.

When my late wife was listed for transplants for her failing heart and kidney, she began a Bible fellowship for patients like her, waiting (and waiting and waiting) at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. Well, not every patient was like her, because in her life Nancy also endured diabetes, strokes, cancer, and celiac disease, among other ailments. The fellowship became a family ministry, with weekly services.

It emerged that through the years (because we continued the ministry after her transplants) of the many hymns and songs, one found special favor of the patients. The people were, of course, from all backgrounds, but the Gospel song “Leave It There” was frequently requested, and often evoked tears.

If your body suffers pain and your health you can’t regain, And your soul is almost sinking in despair,
Jesus knows the pain you feel, He can save and He can heal; Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.

Leave it there, leave it there, Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.
If you trust and never doubt, He will surely bring you out. Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.

A sermon in song, surely. After a while I discovered an amazing “coincidence” that none of us had known. That song, maybe a hundred years old, had been written only a few blocks from Temple University Hospital!

C A Tindley, the son of a slave, educated himself, moved north to Philadelphia, secured a job as janitor of a church… and eventually became its pastor. His large mixed-race flock of 10,000 enjoyed his powerful preaching and his moving hymns for years. (One of his hymns, “I’ll Overcome Some Day,” was transformed with different words and tempo into the Civil Rights anthem “We Shall Overcome.”) Tindley Temple United Methodist Church was his “home,” and today there is a C A Tindley Boulevard in Philadelphia.

And there we were, in his back yard, so to speak, being blessed – and in some ways, to souls and spirits as well as bodies.

Now we can fast-forward to other saints among us with physical challenges. Many people know of the husband and wife singers Joey and Rory. The Feeks seemed to come from nowhere and find great success in country and Gospel music. Simple country folks who shunned Nashville’s neon lights, lived off the land on their farm, and won the hearts of a growing number of fans.

Those fans rejoiced when Joey announced she was pregnant, and we briefly grieved when it was discovered that the daughter she carried had Down’s Syndrome. Unlike 90 per cent (these days) of mothers learning this news, Joey determined to keep, and love, her daughter named Indie (for Indiana). Then, soon after giving birth… Joey was diagnosed with inoperable cancer. Rory kept a video diary of her struggles, her faith, and ultimately her death.

One of Joey and Rory’s best friends and performance partners was the amazing singer Bradley Walker. His deep, expressive voice emanates from a thin, still body in a wheelchair: Bradley has muscular dystrophy. This week’s video is of him singing Brother Tindley’s song “Leave It There” at Joey Feek’s humble gravesite.

How does a man with his lifelong challenges sing to the Lord, at the grave of a woman whose life took such unexpected turns? How did my late wife, how do the friends I have told you about, praise God in the midst of troubles?

How does a beautiful little flower sprout and grow between cracks in heavy rocks? How do “fragile” flowers thrive in harsh places? How do colorful flowers sprout and bloom in dark and ugly places?

If you trust and never doubt, He will surely bring you out.

Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.

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Click: Bradley Walker – Leave It There

9-26-16

Leave it there, leave it there,
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there;
If you trust and never doubt, He will surely bring you out—
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.

One of the many remarkable things about the Lord – the God of the Bible we worship, and the faiths that are built on His word – is that He instituted the gift of prayer.

Other religions have gods, some of them have myriad gods. Gods who might be worshiped, or demand sacrifices, or exist as dead prophets or wise men, or statues. The God of the Bible we know, who revealed Himself by inspiration, intervening in history, causing laws to be written, performing miracles, and ultimately revealing Himself through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, also bestowed the gift of Prayer on His children.

We take this for granted, but other “gods” did not do this. They cannot have conversations with their followers. Those religions are one-way streets. We should daily be awestruck that God wants to hear from us. He wants to know us. He wants to whisper truth and love to us, answering our prayers.

We can take our burdens to the Lord. And what’s more, in the words of the old hymn, we can with confidence “leave them there.”

If the world from you withhold of its silver and its gold,
And you have to get along with meager fare,
Just remember, in His Word, how He feeds the little bird—
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.

I have a personal connection with that old gospel song. The story behind its writing is a wonderful story.

After the heart and kidney transplants of my wife Nancy at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, she and I and our three children conducted a hospital ministry to heart-failure and transplant patients. For six years until moving to California we conducted services and visited patients’ rooms once or twice every week.

In our services, Leave It There became a favorite hymn, often requested by patients, some of whom heard it for the first time in those services, and by patients who came and went through the years.

If your body suffers pain and your health you can’t regain,
And your soul is almost sinking in despair,
Jesus knows the pain you feel, He can save and He can heal—
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.

After a time I learned the amazing coincidence (?) that the gospel song had been written only a few blocks from where we met for those services. Charles Albert Tindley, born in 1851, was the son of a slave. By age five he was orphaned, but at 17, after the Civil War, he had taught himself to read and write. He moved from Maryland to Philadelphia, working for no pay as a church custodian but, aspiring to the ministry, he learned Greek and Hebrew. The African Methodist Episcopal Church accredited him on the basis of outstanding test scores and preaching skills. For several years he was placed in different churches in different cities, impressing his congregations and winning converts.

Eventually Tindley received a call to a congregation in Philadelphia, and this servant of God became pastor of the church where he once worked as an unpaid janitor. When he preached his first sermon there, 130 members sat in the pews. Eventually under him the church had more than 10,000 worshipers. He preached, he championed civic causes, and he wrote astonishing hymns and gospel songs. One of his hymns, I’ll Overcome Someday, was transformed with different words and tempo into the Civil Rights anthem We Shall Overcome. Tindley Temple United Methodist Church was his “home,” and today there is a C A Tindley Boulevard in Philadelphia.

Another song was Take Your Burden To the Lord, and Leave It There.

When your enemies assail and your heart begins to fail,
Don’t forget that God in Heaven answers prayer;
He will make a way for you and will lead you safely through—
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.

Today I write to recall those great truths, that we can communicate with God; to remember those days of ministry and sharing Jesus with people who were wracked with pain and, sometimes, doubt; and that we don’t have to bear our burdens alone.

But I also want to remind us that there are many prayers and petitions and requests and burdens at the foot of the cross, left by God’s children… but, I wonder, are there the proper number of thanksgivings, praises, prayers of gratitude?

It is our human nature to turn to God when things are bad. He welcomes these prayers, never turning away a hurting heart that contains sincere anguish or pain or confusion or repentance. Never. But it is human nature also to turn to God less often when we have joy.

Do you find this happening? When there are problems, we seek God. Even insurance companies call disasters “acts of God” (boo, by the way). But when things go “right,” how often do we ascribe it to good luck, or the result of patience, or brag about our talent or hard work…?

No, bring Gratitude to the Lord, and “leave it there.” There is room at the cross for that, too.

I humbly would add to this great hymn, about the glory side! One of my verses would be:

When the answers start to come, and your days no longer glum,
And God’s blessings have so sweetly cleared the air,
The joy is not your own; Father sent them from the Throne!
Take your praises to the Lord and leave them there!

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Leave It There became a signature song of the husband-and-wife duo Joey + Rory. Their bittersweet story has “gone viral.” Rising stars of gospel-bluegrass-country music, their fans were happy when sweet Joey became pregnant; and shaken but prayerfully supportive when their baby Indiana was born with Down Syndrome. Soon thereafter, Joey was diagnosed with cervical cancer.

Her illness, prayers, surgeries, and “life at home” was shared with fans and prayer partners… right to the end. Joey died on March 14, 2016. This video shows singer Bradley Walker – who has Muscular Dystrophy – with Val Storey and the legendary Carl Jackson. They sing Leave It There where Joey Feek is buried, a wooden cross marking her gravesite.

Click: Leave It There