[This week's Lectionary Readings]

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

”I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.“ [The Gospel of John 14:15-21]

At house church we concluded our discussion with the Gospel reading, and as we discussed the text Kerri made a wonderfully subversive connection with a song sung earlier that evening. We had been speaking about obedience to Christ, and I had shared Claude’s story of the dysfunctional African eschatology with which he grew up. From here Kerri turned Better Is One Day (Amazon/ ) on its head. In case you are not familiar, the chorus is adapted from Psalm 84:

Better is one day in your courts

Better is one day in your house

Better is one day in your courts

Than thousands elsewhere.

I don’t know what Chris Tomlin had in mind when he wrote the song, but the common reading of this song is with a view toward heaven, saying in essence, ”Better is one day in heaven, than a thousand stuck here on earth.“ Perhaps, however, this is not about heaven, but rather about obedience and following God in the here and now of life on earth. ”Courts“ is a kingdom phrase, and I think a better reading of the song might be, ”Better is one day following God and ushering in God’s Kingdom, than a thousand spent in pursuit of something else.“ This is not a chorus of escapism, but one of mission. With this in mind, listen to the song again.

One thing I ask, and I would seek to see your beauty,

To find you in the place your glory dwells

Whomever has ears to hear, let them hear.