My mother is 85-years old now, nearly blind, and uses a walker to get around. Despite all that, she’s still a spiritual force. Her prayer life is dynamic, and her understanding of Scripture is unbelievable. She cannot read Scripture anymore, but she continues to learn and grow in her understanding by listening.
This morning, as a change of pace, I took her to the Heritage Service at Cornerstone Church. Normally we attend CrossWinds, which has contemporary music. My mom tolerates this, but it’s not really her cup of tea. So the change to an older style worship seemed like something she would enjoy.
Sure enough, she loved it. Even the announcements were ideal for her, with the pastor announcing a Heritage Hymn Sing that was coming up on a Saturday night. He joked that to make it seem realistic, they’d hand out fans and turn off the air conditioning, so people could fan themselves just like old revivals! My mom got a great laugh from that because it rang so true to her.
We sang eight hymns and my Mom loved every moment of it. One of the hymns was especially touching to her: Closer to Thee. It was song my mother sang to my sister when my sister was battling pancreatic cancer. My sister was closer to Jesus just two days later.
For me, the hymn “We Have Come to Join in Worship” was touching. The second verse is:
See them gather all around you,
Those He bought at such a cost;
See the weary, see the hurting,
See the lonely, see the lost.
Be His hand, and touch the needy;
Be His gospel, let it sound!
Be His body, and sweet manna
Will be showered all around.
It’s so helpful to remember that the idea of helping the weary, the hurting, the lonely, and the lost is nothing new to the Church. There is strength to be gained when we understand that our work in this world is built upon the work of our spiritual predecessors. The history of the Church, so little understood today, is invaluable to understanding where our priorities should be.
I’m thankful for the old hymns that remind me of this. I’m thankful that a few “old timers” like my Mom are around to display the power of the old hymns and the thoughtfulness that comes from them. I’m thankful and take solace that these hymns connect us to the power, authority and grace of the historical Church.