Deliver us from Sameness

As we attended and participated in worship yesterday I had one of my "moments," a sort of spiritual flashback to another time another place, long ago. In typical Pentecostal fashion, several members exhorted us to allow God to freely work within each worshiper. Words like "breakthrough" and "deliverance" were employed, words that have been part of my vocabulary for decades.

While worshiping the Holy Spirit lifted the words of one of the very first songs I remember singing in church. I am able to establish the date at 1949 or 1950. Our family was sitting in the balcony of our church near the corner of Nevada and Van Dyke Streets on Detroit’s East Side. It was a Sunday evening and an aunt from Northern Michigan attended and sang with us.

’Tis the grandest theme through the ages rung;
’Tis the grandest theme for a mortal tongue;
’Tis the grandest theme that the world e’er sung,
"Our God is able to deliver thee."

Refrain:
He is able to deliver thee,
He is able to deliver thee;
Though by sin oppressed, go to Him for rest;
"Our God is able to deliver thee."

’Tis the grandest theme in the earth or main;
’Tis the grandest theme for a mortal strain;
’Tis the grandest theme, tell the world again,
"Our God is able to deliver thee." ’

Tis the grandest theme, let the tidings roll,
To the guilty heart, to the sinful soul;
Look to God in faith, He will make thee whole,
"Our God is able to deliver thee.

As the exhortations and appropriate responses continued through the extended season of worship the words I first remember singing 65 years ago rolled through my spirit with refreshing faith-building assurance. Even though I was the preacher, the Holy Spirit knew that I needed a renewed confidence that the Eternal God was present and powerful, not only in church, but throughout the coming week.

I have observed that crisis "deliverance," or authentic momentary "breakthrough" is the beginning of an extended work of the Spirit. While I am comfortable with the freedom of Spirit-led expression woven into the fabric of Pentecostalism, I also convinced that new habits must follow brief in-church encounters if there will be any long-lasting redemptive result. Often the thing from which we must be delivered is deeply entrenched, habitual, often-repeated behavior. People return home and to their marketplaces, venues where real life happens, are the places where "deliverance" is proven and "breakthrough" is exhibited in a changed life.

Our worship experience yesterday served my spirit well. I crave a deliverance from "stale sameness" that is often part of church worship. As we worshiped a thunderous truth that was originally secured within the spirit of a kindergarten-age boy was lifted by the power of the Holy Spirit and made dynamic and assuring. Smooth musical segues, orchestrated worship plans, and relevant sermon series have a place, but will never deliver people from the "stale sameness" of lives beaten into awkward shapes by destructive behavior. The "Deliverer" must appear and interrupt the sameness of tedious and troubled living.

As a boy I had help: parents, teachers, siblings and friends, who shaped healthy habits, those frequent reinforcements leading to stable behavior and health. The church gathered for worship and led by the Spirit initiated "deliverance" and created "breakthrough" moments, the beginnings of new disciplines and dynamic living. My prayer is, "God, please Lord, cause the words of a song, the truth of your Word grip me in a new way! Deliver us from sameness!"