Weekly Devotional for July 20, 2015

Scripture texts: Psalm 100, 2 Samuel 5:1-12, Luke 15:1-7 (appointed for July 22, 2015)

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness. Come into his presence with singing.

 I know I say this too much, but Psalm 100 is one of my favorite passages in all of Scripture. Unlike many of the other texts I say that about, it has been so for a very long time; since I was a child. There is just something about the full experience of God that compels us to express ourselves in song. As the old hymn goes, "how can I keep from singing?"

I did not post a devotional last week because I was away for the ELCA National Youth Gathering in Detroit, MI. Over 30,000 people came together in the Motor City for fellowship, for service, for fun, and for worship. I can tell you it is an impressive sight to see tens of thousands of people act out the Psalmist's words, making such a massive melodic cacophony as to shake the very ground.

Detroit is, as many know, a city in severe decline. In the last 40 years, it has lost over half its population. Neighborhood after neighborhood is empty or nearly so of residents. I lost count of the number of abandoned factories, warehouses, and storefronts I saw just driving to and from the hotel to downtown. Not exactly a garden spot into which to bring 30,000 screaming teenagers.

And yet, it is an ideal place for mission for that very reason. God sent us there not because it was luxurious or pleasant, but because it was broken and difficult. That was the point. In many ways, reading the historical narrative of David's conquest of Jerusalem in 2 Samuel reminded me of what we set out to do in Detroit. Take a broken place and make it glorious again. That is God's goal for the whole Earth. We did our part for one tiny piece of it.

Jesus' parable of the Lost Sheep drives this point home. God's purposes in the world are not to rescue those already rescued, but to go after those in need of rescue. The broken and the lost who are out there, outside the four walls of our churches, are the ones he came to save. He calls us to join him in this crusade, to seek the lost and the broken and to restore them to life.

The combined youth of the ELCA, 30k strong, gave powerful witness to this in Detroit last week, a moment the city will not soon forget. But what about us? In each of our neighborhoods and cities, there is blight and brokenness. It's not always as obvious as a run-down city like Detroit, but it is there. There is pain. There is hurt. There are people who are lost. God calls us to find them and bring them to him, so he may bring them to life once more. This is the plan. This is God's hope for the world.

And when it comes to fullness, there will be such a song as the universe has never known. Joyful noise indeed. Amen.