As the earth spun quietly, moving from night to day, in it's normal order, just as the Lord created it to do...Bay and I gathered with a group of believers in a little brown church, in rural America, to celebrate a historic moment celebrating 90 years as a church body...
(Bay's Uncle John, Grandpa Fred's oldest son, in front of the Burton Church)
The day Bay's Grandpa Fred had passed away, unbeknownst to him (because he was away at a church camp), Bay had surrendered his life to ministry.
(All of Fred's children, still living, along with spouses, were in attendance!)
When his mama picked him up from camp, and told him the news of his grandpa's passing from earth to heaven, Bay had said (he doesn't remember, but his mom tells us regularly), "Well, I guess I'll just have to take over for Grandpa!"
The baton had been passed from Fred Barnes to Fred Bayard.
This weekend, Bay stood behind the same pulpit.
It felt like a big deal...
The "moon," in a sense, passed in front of the "sun" for a moment in time on Sunday morning...
And, the celebration in worship was nothing short of MOVING!!!!
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On Monday, the moon, in reality, did pass in front of the sun.
The last time this happened was June 8, 1918.
So, this was a BIG DEAL!
We were traveling, and while we saw the earth grow hazy, and glanced up to see the moon moving in front of the sun, we were not in its direct path.
However, thanks to NASA, I watched the movie.
I saw the pictures.
The world began to show little crescent moon shadows on the ground.
It appeared the sun was setting...and then, boom, in the middle of the day it turned to darkness.
Friends, who stood poised for the moment, posted later, even the birds seemed confused, and everything went totally quiet.
I was spellbound by a video...I'm sure everyone and everything on the ground in its path had to have been, as well.
As I watched, my mind traveled to a passage in Mark. I've copied the words from Mark 15:33-39...
And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw these things, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
Truly, this man was the Son of God!
Sunday was a grand day of worship.
Monday should have been, as well.
That morning (the 21st), I had read Psalm 81. Asaph, one of King David's choir directors, had penned these words:
Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob! Raise a song; sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp. Blow the trumpet at the new moon...at the full moon...
Asaph goes on to remember God's works on the behalf of the people, basically instructing that when the moon makes its grand showing, all should celebrate with awe, wonder, and loud worship, what the Lord has done for His children.
What grander moment in history to remember God's works on our behalf?
What a perfect time to remember that this man, Jesus, truly was the Son of God!
Throngs traveled miles to see this phenomenon eclipse (#solareclipse2017).
And, I wonder...how many of us celebrated the Lord in worship that was nothing short of MOVING?
What an opportunity-missed!
...and I was one.
Oh, that we never miss opportunities to point to the Son, who moved Himself in the path of the Sun, on a hill so far away, to lay down His life on our behalf...EVER AGAIN!
That is a phenomenon worthy of the kind of celebration Asaph talked of...
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