Sweet Child of Mine

The Holy Spirit rocks my world sometimes. 

What I enjoy about my Lutheran tradition is we put some structure into place and then open the door so the Holy Spirit can mess it all up. 

Here are three of the many Holy Spirit moments from Sunday's celebration of graduations, baptism, confirmation, third grade Bibles, and faith formation leaders (it was a whole lot of celebrating and I'm sure there was some whining about how long church was):

1. Simul Justus et Peccator (simultaneously forgiven and sinning). 
There was a moment in worship I never thought I would experience. A young man played Guns N' Roses as special music. I'm pretty sure Axl Rose never expected his music to be in church and I could feel the moment when those of a certain demographic in the congregation all realized what song was being offered up.

I almost started laughing and then worrying about my job, but it was so amazingly beautiful and holy I didn't do either. 

I love the young man who played the special music dearly. He's brilliant and an amazing artist and has probably been scolded by most of the adults in the congregation. We've had some challenges over the years.

There is no better paradox that captures the love of the Christian community than this particular young man playing Guns N' Roses Sweet Child O' Mine. It was perfect.

I don't know any of the lyrics besides all the "Os" and "sweet child of mine", but that is enough to make me smile. The profane and sacred, the sinning and forgiven all mixed into one bag in the church. Church isn't about putting your holy on, but showing up as a sweet child of God's, giggling as the waters of baptism are poured out, and offering a beautiful gift no one else could have offered.

2. The offering of the crosses

There is a point in the service when parents place into their 8th graders' hands a cross and say, "May the cross keep you strong through all suffering and sorrow." 

As they spoke those words, I saw in more than one parent's face the truth of those words. I witnessed the realization dawn that they can't protect their kids from all the heart breaks and hurts ahead of them. We place the cross into our kids' hands not thinking they will escape suffering, but hoping they won't be alone in it.

3. The postlude

It was a gift this year to hear special music from so many of the 8th graders, but the final song knocked the breath out of me. I'm not sure what it was, but it sounded like a river and a perfect sending for a day when we celebrated so many transitions. The bubbling and swells, the stillness and rapids seemed to capture the flow of our lives. We know we can't hold on to a moment in time; we can only ride the river of God's grace. 

I freaking love my job and this whole crew blessed me in many ways. They added a few gray hairs to my head, but also made my heart and life so much richer. 

Amen. Come Holy Spirit.