Be Careful What You Ask For (or sing)

This Sunday we sang:

Single Minded, whole hearted One thing I ask…

When I sang this, I thought about the songwriter. I assume this was a prayer of his (Charlie Hall). Was he asking to be made single-minded and wholehearted? I wonder how many of us sang this as a prayer for ourselves. Would being single-mined and wholehearted be a good thing? If you are living a life like most of us do, it would mean a remarkable, noticeable change. You would act and talk differently. This kind of change is not always welcome.

That’s what’s happening in our UC time. The ministry of compassion is beginning to consume us. Some things we have previously done, we have less interest in doing. Our way of being with people is changing. There is a sort of seriousness now, where previously, things were more light-hearted. Sitting around playing darts and talking about trivia doesn’t have the appeal it use to. This is being replaced with a growing desire to do community with others who want to take this journey together. There is a growing desire to practice even more compassion. People don’t understand. It is hard to talk about with them. We feel pressure to bring the old us back. We question whether we want the old us back. Is this a case of a song being sung, and a prayer being answered?

Kingdom living is dangerous. It will mess things up. It is hard to sustain without a community of like-minded, whole hearted people intent on actually following Jesus. Where is he going? He is going to the other part of town to meet with some desperate families and show them some exceptional love and mercy. We’re going with him. We are praying that a few others would join us. We need them. There is work to be done. I get discouraged. I need to learn from them. I want to rejoice with them.

God, help us connect with your followers who are doing or desiring to do kingdom work.