Everyone's Beautiful

Tomorrow night, Lori and Don Chaffer will be in town and, as always when an opportunity to hear Waterdeep presents itself, I am very excited. This morning, as I was rushing to get ready for work, I had one of my favorite tunes, He Will Come, running through my head. (Let’s pause here and agree to a willful suspension of the need to acknowledge the unintentional innuendo rampant in this song, just for the sake of this post.)

Waterdeep is one of those bands that holds deep significance in my life. They appeared while I was in college and traveled with me into adulthood. Two shows in particular, Everyone’s Festival (Memphis, 2001) and The Last Eyewitness (Good Friday, 2006, Pine Bluff, AR) also introduced me to Chris Seay, who would be my gateway drug into the emerging church.

But I was singing He Will Come, and I was struck by what a statement it was on the body of Christ, the ekklesia, that this is the hope we so often hold out:

Soon it will be hammered into what she calls her silly head
That she really isn’t silly but she’s beautiful instead
But every time she gets a hold of something pretty it slips away
So she keeps hoping that someday soon He will come

The Word became flesh and walked among us. God couldn’t seem to get the message across in 140 characters, so face-to-face contact became necessary. Jesus was the light of the world. Patiently, he grew up and lived among the people, he taught them and demonstrated his way and told stories and shared meals. Jesus looked people in the eye and said: YOU are the light of the world. YOU are the ones to tell people they aren’t silly and worthless. YOU are the ones that have to love each other and help each other understand how beautiful you are. Right here. Right now.

She spilled her coffee in her Chevy on the way to work at 8:05
She always thought that she was clumsy and she hated it and wondered why
She can handle any tragedy that happens but not little things like this
So she keeps hoping that someday soon He will come

Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Are we so busy rushing past each other to get where we’re going that we fail to see our sister, our brother, our neighbor, our enemy breaking down on the side of the road, crying out for someone to help carry their load? Are we so tightly holding on to control in our own lives that we are unwilling to be vulnerable, to release our own burdens to others who will help lift them?

In the world of a girl the words she hears can mean an awful lot
And the music in her mind when she gets older has the lyrics she was taught
But when she gets to Heaven all the right things will be said
And He will look on her with favor

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.

No one should have to wait for someday, sometime to hear healing words spoken into their life, to hear the words: You Are Loved. To see the words put into practice. To see the words put on flesh and walk among them.

He will come, He will come
He will comfort all that’s hardened
Make the deserts into gardens
And we all will see His face
He will come, He will come
He will soften all the starkness
Break the chambers of our darkness
And we’ll all be overwhelmed

When Jesus ascended into heaven, his disciples were left staring at the sky, confused as to why his kingdom hadn’t been restored on earth. The angels appeared (likely shaking their heads and rolling their eyes) and asked why they were standing there looking at the sky. The implied question being (in my imagination), did you not hear what he just said to you?!

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes to you…

(But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.)

And you will be my witnesses among your own people, among your neighbors you like, among your neighbors you detest, and to the ends of the earth.

(A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.)

He will come, He will come
He’ll remove his flaming garment
Place it on the lowest harlot
And we’ll all be overwhelmed

Let us go and do likewise.