Awesome God
CHCC: August 24, 2008
INTRODUCTION:
Phil. 1:21, “For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Today I’m finishing up a series of sermons on hymn writers. I’ve talked about several great Christian song writers from the past. But today I want to talk about someone who wrote music for OUR time. In fact, he wrote two of the songs we sang today --- Step by Step and Awesome God. His name is Rich Mullins, and he composed hundreds of Christian songs from the early 1980’s until he died in a jeep accident at the age of 41.
The story of Mullin’s life is a testimony in itself. In fact, those who knew him said his life was an arrow pointing to heaven. That description came from the picture you see overhead. A friend took the picture while they were visiting Ireland. When he took the picture, the friend said, “You look like an arrow pointing to heaven!” … and the description stuck.
Rich was one of those kids who showed tremendous aptitude for music early on. His mom discovered his unusual talent one day when she was listening to Rich’s sister, Debbie, practicing piano. 10-year-old Debbie kept playing a section of the song that she just couldn’t get. She played it over and over and over again. (Any of you who have children learning to play an instrument know what that’s like!)
Suddenly, Mom heard the song being played flawlessly all the way through. She exclaimed, “Good job, Debbie! You’re really getting it!.” Then she walked into the room … to find little 5-year-old Rich … who had never had a music lesson in his life … playing Debbie’s song effortlessly.
Needless to say, they got Rich signed up for piano lessons right away. He quickly mastered several instruments, and he was especially drawn to unusual instruments like the mandolin, the hammered dulcimer, and the tin flute. If you listen to his albums, you’ll hear him playing all those instruments.
There’s so much I could share about Rich Mullins, that it’s a challenge to keep it down --- so we can get out of here and let the Spanish folks have their service. Sydney Dodds (our church treasurer) loaned me a devotional biography about his life that I recommend to any of you who want to know more about him. I put the information on the sermon notes page. (Rich Mullins – A Devotional Biography; An Arrow Pointing to Heaven; by James Bryan Smith)
Rich had a number of themes that he repeated over and over in his music and his writing. One of the themes of his life and his songs was the Importance of the Church.
1. The Importance of the Church
Rich was brought up in a Christian home. For the first 6 years of his life, he attended Quaker meetings with his mother and two sisters. This background gave him a lifetime appreciation for seeking God’s presence with simplicity and silence. In later years, Rich became involved in his dad’s church: Whitewater Christian Church in Richmond, Indiana. That connection lead Rich to attend Cincinnati Bible Seminary.
He attended for 6 years without finishing a degree. Rich had a hard time narrowing down to a single major --- but the time was not wasted. During those years, he worked as a youth minister in a Methodist Church --- and he wrote Christian music which he performed all around the Midwest in a band called Zion.
Because of his talents, Rich’s Uncle believed he could make a living from his music. (You know how it is. When someone’s been in college for 6 years, you start hoping they’ll take an interest in making a living.) But the problem was, Rich had absolutely NO interest in money. From beginning to the end of his life, all Rich cared about was doing ministry. So his uncle convinced him that making a CD would expand his ability to reach out to people.
He was right. Rich’s CD eventually wound up in the hands of Amy Grant’s organization. When they called Rich and asked if they could use his song, Sing Your Praise to the Lord, Rich just said “Sure, go ahead.” He didn’t ask anything about payment because he figured he was just giving it to them.
That song rose to #1 on the Contemporary Christian Music Charts. And eventually he was hired as the starting singer for Amy Grant’s concerts. That’s when his career took off. But Rich was never your typical Christian Music Artist. He was advised to lose weight, learn to dance on stage, and write more upbeat songs … so he could advance his career and make more money. But Rich ignored all that kind of advice.
His purpose in writing and performing music was simply to point people to Christ. His concerts were as much a worship service as you would find in any Church.
Rich Mullins always loved the Church. From the Quakers he learned the value of silence, hearing the Word, and being open to the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Christian Church exposed him to corporate worship and scriptural teachings. In his later years he expressed appreciation for certain aspects of the Catholic Church, especially the writings of St. Francis of Assisi. Rich spoke highly of his spiritual roots in church --- and of the importance of connecting with others in a church family.
Here’s how Rich put it: “Sometimes it concerns me, the number of people who can quote my songs… but they can’t quote the scriptures ... I mean, if entertainment is what you want, I suggest Christian entertainment … because I think it is good. But if what you want is spiritual nourishment, I suggest you go to church or read your Bible. The Christian music industry is a capitalistic endeavor, period. And if anyone is interested in spiritual vitality they need to invest themselves in a church --- not in an industry.” (“A message to the Media” Creation Festival Radio Special, Mt. Union, Pa. June 27, ’96)
2. The Grace of God
Another prevalent theme in Rich’s music is the overarching Grace of God. Rich Mullins was among many who were transformed by Brennan Manning’s book, The Ragamuffin Gospel. This book opened Rich’s heart to God’s Grace in a new way. He was so changed by reading the book that he produced an album called A Liturgy, A Legacy, and a Ragamuffin band.
When the full truth of God’s unconditional grace dawned on Rich, he was forever changed by it … and his music and concerts were also transformed. Here’s what he said to a concert audience in 1995: “However badly you think of yourself, God is crazy about you. God is in love with you. … Some of us fear that someday we’ll do something so bad that God won’t notice us anymore. Well, let me tell you, God loves us completely. He knew us at our worst before He ever began to love us at all. And in the love of God there are no degrees; there is only love.” (Anderson, Indiana concert, Nov. 16, ’95)
Rich gave the same message in his music. In one of his most beautiful songs, “The Love of God” Rich penned these powerful lines:
There’s a wideness in God’s mercy, I cannot find in my own,
And he keeps His fire burning to melt this heart of stone
Keeps me aching with a yearning, Keeps me glad to have been caught,
In the reckless raging fury, that they call the Love of God
One time Rich was asked how he created his music. He said, “I usually start with the accompaniment. Then I put a melody over it. --- Then I write the words --- as sub-titles for anyone who can’t get the message without them.”
It’s impossible to say whether Rich’s greatest talent was in his music or in the poetry he wrote as “subtitles.” But when you put them together, the words and music make a powerful impression on anyone who listens to them.
The year he died (1997), Rich was working on an album called, The Jesus Record. All 10 songs on the album are songs about Jesus. Before his death, Rich had recorded 9 of the 10 songs on an old tape recorder in an abandoned church building. But it was up to his friends to finish the project in his behalf … and release it from re-mastering of the rough tapes he had left behind. This album shows another major theme in his music and his life --- above everything he wanted to know and to be like Jesus.
3. The Humanity of Jesus
Rich loved to consider the flesh and blood Jesus who grew up in Galilee and worked in a carpenter’s shop. He wrote a song called Boy like me/Man like you that expresses how real Jesus was to him. Listen to these lyrics:
You was a baby like I was once,
You was cryin’ in the early mornin’
You was born in a stable Lord,
Reid Memorial was where I was born.
They wrapped You in swaddling clothes,
me they dressed in baby blue.
I was twelve years old in the meeting house,
listening to the old men pray,
I was tryin’ hard to figure out
what it was they was tryin’ to say.
There you were in the temple,
they said You weren’t old enough
to know the things you knew.
Did you grow up hungry, did you grow up fast?
Did the little girls giggle when you walked past?
Did you wonder what it was that made them laugh?
CHORUS
Did they tell you stories ‘bout the saints of old?
Stories about their faith?
They say stories like that make a boy grow bold.
Stories like that make a man walk straight.
You was a boy like I was once,
you was a boy like me.
I grew up around Indiana,
You grew up around Galilee.
And if I ever really do grow up. Lord
I want to grow up and be just like you.
That was truly the goal of Rich Mullins’ life --- to be like Jesus. During the last few years of his life, Rich lived on a Navajo Reservation where he worked with a mission. From all his considerable earnings, he only accepted about 20,000 a year --- the average income of an American worker. The rest of his earnings went to his church and to mission work among the American Indians.
After I read about his life, I felt like Rich Mullins was a sort of John the Baptist for our day. Like John the Baptist, Rich chose to live an austere life. He was never satisfied with the status quo … in his own life, or in the Church. And … like John the Baptist … he tended to say exactly what he thought, even if it rubbed people the wrong way.
For example, at one event someone in the audience said, “I think God has called me into the music ministry. What should I do?”
Rich answered, “Well, if God’s the one who called you, ask Him!”
When Rich Mullins was asked why he chose to live in poverty, he said:
“This is what I’ve come to think: If I want to identify fully with Jesus Christ --- whom I claim to be my Savior and Lord --- the best way I can do that is to identify with the poor. This I know will go against the teachings of all the popular evangelical preachers. But they’re just wrong. They’re not bad, they’re just wrong. (Rich strongly disagreed with the “Prosperity” or “Health and Wealth” gospel that is so popular in America.)
He went on to say, “Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure little niche in the world … Christianity is about learning to love like Jesus loved. And Jesus loved the poor. Jesus loved the broken.”
CONCLUSION:
Some of the most beautiful lyrics Rich Mullins wrote are in a song called “If I Stand”
If I stand let me stand on the promise
That you will pull me through
And if I can’t let me fall on the grace
That first brought me to You
And if I sing let me sing for the joy
That has born in me these songs
And if I weep let it be as a man
Who is longing for his home
The people who know Rich Mullins best said he longed for heaven more than he loved this earth. Heaven’s home is where he is now.
But his songs AND his life remain here on earth as an example to all of us … an example of someone who gave all he had to give in service for His God.
I think it’s accurate to say that … like in the photograph his friend took while they were in Ireland … Rich Mullins really WAS an arrow pointing to Heaven.
