Singing the Blues with Jesus

Not a Sermon - Just a Thought for March 16, 2007

The highlight of a road trip from Houston to Nashville in 2003 was a stop in Memphis. My wife and I walked historic Beale Street gorging on blues and barbeque. The air was so thick with music spilling out of everywhere that I swooned and I could’ve sworn I saw the ghost of Elvis walking up on Union Avenue. I attribute that to the spicy dry rub on the ribs, though. At one point I went into the restroom in one house of blues and read the graffiti while there.

White men can’t sing the blues - saith the wall.

I disagree. The blues find their voice in suffering, polished and sparkling until the pain comes shining through in doleful, truthful song. The blues can be sung by anyone who has ever suffered. And that’s everyone I know, because suffering doesn’t discriminate.

That’s the Biblical witness, to be sure. David sang the blues, the children of Israel sang the blues, Job sang the blues, Paul sang the blues, and even Jesus sang the blues. Giving voice to our suffering – making a groaning lament – is sometimes good for us because it acknowledges our pain and helps us to remember that suffering is common to all of us. It’s also good to know that suffering doesn’t last forever, but while it’s here we can be honest with God about our pain.
God is right there with us, even when we sing the blues.

We’ll look at Psalm 22 this Sunday at Willow Meadows Baptist Church in a sermon that is going to be a call to honesty in worship. It is part three in our series Wounded Light – Making Sense of Suffering. If you’re around town this weekend I hope you can join us as we gather for worship at 9:00am and again at 11:10am.

I guess that’s why they call it the blues,
Pastor Gary

Not a Sermon – Just a Thought is a weekly e-column written by me, Gary Long. You can subscribe or unsubscribe from this list by contacting me at glong@wmbc.org.