Hallowed Moment in Church Today...

I sing with the choir at my church and today we sang an especially beautiful, meaningful and hopeful song. This was one of those days when I had a difficult time keeping my emotions from overtaking my focus on singing. I had to suppress the effect of the words on my heart so that God's message through our music could be communicated clearly to the congregation. We sang the Steve Green song, Calvary's Love and here are some of the lyrics of that song.

Calvary's love can heal the Spirit
Life has crushed and cast aside
And redeem til Heaven's promise
Fills with joy once empty eyes
So desire to tell His story
Of a love that loved enough to die
Burns away all other passions
And fed by Calvary's love becomes a fire

Calvary's love has never faltered
All its wonders still remain
Souls still take eternal passage
Sins atoned and heaven gained
Sins forgiven and heaven gained

Calvary's love, Calvary's love
Priceless gift Christ makes us worthy of
The deepest sin can't rise above
Calvary's love

The specific words which had the greatest impact on me this morning were the words, Calvary's love - Priceless gift Christ makes us worthy of. As I sang these words, I found myself once again overwhelmed by the enormity of the love which Jesus expressed by his obedience in dying on a cross in order to atone for my sin. It was Calvary's love - love that paid the penalty for my sin - which is a priceless gift I am only worthy of because of his sacrifice. How can anyone truly fathom such amazing love!!! Loving humanity enough to suffer and die for them is incomprehensible. So when I sang those words this morning, I marveled again with deep joy and gratitude that I can be a recipient of that gift which I am so unworthy of. I am also grateful that I had parents, extended family and a church who told me about Jesus and the gift he has made available for anyone who wants to receive it. It was a gift I received at age 6 when I prayed beside my mother one evening at our church and asked Jesus to come into my heart and forgive me for my sin. I had a child's faith but that has deepened as I have matured.

Another reason I was so moved by the words of this song this morning was that there was the Dedication of a 2 year old little boy whose adoption had recently become final. I knew something of the story of that little boy's birth family and of his adoptive family. As I thought about his birth family, this part of the song had great meaning:

Calvary's love can heal the Spirit
Life has crushed and cast aside
And redeem til Heaven's promise
Fills with joy once empty eyes

This child's birth family has experienced pain but today I saw joy in the once empty eyes of the Grandmother who herself had been adopted over 4 decades ago. And I saw joy filled eyes as the adoptive parents treasured the hallowed moment they had been longing to experience for many years and which they had waited for through lonely months of infertility. What joy they and their family experienced as they dedicated themselves to the Lord and willingly promised to raise him so that he will one day chose to become a member of God's family.

I am filled with deep gratitude as I share these thoughts. I am also grateful for the song I sang this morning which got me thinking about the meaning behind the lyrics. And I'm grateful that God is in the Redemption Business and that his gift of grace is available to anyone who asks for it.