I am just returning from a weekend with a wonderful eclectic group of folks.  You may call us Wild Geese, Goslings, Progressives, Liberals, forward-thinkers, heretics, saints, sinners or a myriad of other descriptors.  And, not one of those descriptors would be more true or less true.

Let me tell you a secret.

A Creator created YOU.

And when that Creator created you (with all your failures, fears and passions), this Creator was not thinking, “I’m creating the next MLK Jr., Brian McLaren or John Lennon”.  I believe a Creator spent time on you.  Adding a dash of this and a dash of that to make you just the awesome person you are.

And I say this, because this Creator created you to play an instrument.  This Creator created you to participate in life with others.  This Creator gave you gifts like charm, talent and charisma.

There’s a shift coming.  This Creator is calling us to be ready to take part.  The Creator has gifted you with a particular place to stand and a particular role to play.

As I mentioned earlier, I have just returned from a week with the Wild Geese of Shakori Hills, North Carolina.  We got bit by bugs.  Some of us got burned by the sun.  We all heard some amazing speakers.  We all heard some amazing musicians.  We were challenged to justice and we were challenged to help create safer space for all of our brothers and sisters.

There were some of us  that were luckier than others this weekend. I, for instance, did not suffer a sunburn.  However, I did encounter quite a few bugs.  Then, some of us were lucky enough to catch a band by the name The Collection.  The Collection Family Band is a group of 14 musicians.  Each of these musicians play at least 1 instrument.  And they make beautiful music. They are an inspiration to me.

Some of these musicians are quite loud and at the fore-front of the band.  Some of them are a little quieter and play beautiful accompaniment.  Some of them are singers.  One of them is a dancing bassist.  Another is a jubilant ringer of bells.  Then, there is the more reserved keyboardists.

Our Creator is calling us to create beautiful music. The Creator is calling us to an instrument of sorts.  This does not mean we all have leading roles.  Some of us are called to play the accompaniment.

I have hope for Emergence again.  This past weekend was beautiful.  We all played into our strengths.  We didn’t try to play someone else’s instrument.  We didn’t try to take others’ glory.

We all could learn a thing or two from the band The Collection that played Saturday afternoon.

We, as the Emerging Church, are a Collection of sorts ourselves.  We are an eclectic group of folks who have different skill sets and different paths to expressing our Creator-given blessings.  But we still need to learn to play beautiful music together.  We need to learn to play music that a young generation might want to dance to.  And we play that music that a younger generation might want to dance to when we leave our ego at home.  We play that music that others want to dance to when we practice our craft.  We play that music when we stop being critical of our neighbors.

Our Creator has created you to tell a story.  Tell that story with all you have.  But don’t criticize someone else for telling a different one.  Life would be very boring if we were all playing the same instrument.  Some of us play the instrument and sing the song of racial equality.  Some of us, the song of gender equality.  Some of us the song of social justice for the poor and homeless.  Others sing the song of LGBTQ equality.  Well, I’m here to tell you folks, when we all come together singing our individual songs, the melody is beautiful.  And we are truly singing the new song in new tongues.

And I think that might be music that a new generation of emerging church planters and theologians and pickers and grinners might want to dance to.

May the Grace and Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you from now and unto the end of the Age.

And may our Wild Geese keep flying.

Amen.