Develop that week after week.
In a Peanuts cartoon Schroeder is playing great music well and Lucy is content to blandly listen to it. Only Snoopy knows what great music is truly for—it’s to make people rejoice! He’s spinning like a top, dancing like Astaire and smiling like a Cheshire cat and it offends the great artist and the intelligent listener. Great music is to be played and intently listened to—it’s not supposed to make you rejoice or dance! Snoopy doesn’t care what they think, he has the heart for it and dances! Well, until they shame him into embarrassment at his own joy and he crawls off. Shame on them!
It isn’t always possible even for a great musician like Schroeder to rejoice in the great music he plays. Reminds me of preachers who have the preaching buzz and are all serious about their business but know little joy apparent joy in the truth of it—you have to hear it and recognize it for what it is. You have to hear it! You realize it isn’t about you; it’s about Him! It isn’t about us; it’s about Him! BUT because it’s about Him it is most definitely about the Church and the entire human family.
Turn that truth loose in a sustained, rich development and watch the world change, even now, for countless poor souls whose faith will become infectious.
We mustn’t tell the world it needs to repent (which it certainly does) without telling it that repentance is assurance that God hates the Sin that is feeding on the world. Pascal was right:
“It is equally dangerous for man to know God without knowing his own wretchedness as to know his own wretchedness without knowing the Redeemer who can cure him.”
We need to tell the world that it’s God’s kindness that leads it to repentance not just his hatred of Sin; it is God’s gift as well as God command (Romans 2:4; Acts 11:18; 2 Timothy 2:25). By all means let’s tell them about repentance but first let’s tell them about the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ who speaks the word of repentance. Let’s so speak that the sober word to repent is shot through with the music of life!