To the Least of These -- Randy Gill

 

He’d just found out that his friend was behind bars. That’s what it was, with no sugar-coating. Shock, disbelief, disappointment – those were all present on the day that Randy Gill discovered something about a friend, a guy with whom he’d felt a certain camaraderie existed. His friend now wore an emotional weight about his neck, perhaps not unlike a millstone that brings someone low, threatening to drown him. Such a person, one who has disgraced himself, might be in the same quandary as the homeless, destitute soul we too often see at the traffic light, a battered creature asking for a handout. (The image ‘Least of These’ shown here is the placard used by a group at this blogger’s church, a group that seeks to help homeless people in Washington, DC each week.) “To the Least of These”, Randy thought, as he studied scripture and cried out with his insides after mourning his friend’s circumstances all night. And so, with that prayer, Randy helped something productive emerge from a tough situation. Hear Randy’s own thoughts about this below, and consider the phrase ‘there but for the grace of God, go I…’, probably something that we all ought to contemplate the next time we see a fellow human in a deep struggle.

 

One afternoon I learned that a dear friend of mine had been arrested. A secret life none of us would have imagined had suddenly become very public. It was humiliating to my friend and devastating to all of us who loved him. In the days that followed he lost his job, his reputation and was fearful he’d lose his family. I couldn’t stop thinking about how a life could totally change in an instant and my heart broke as I tried to decide how to respond to someone I had loved and admired for years.

 One morning, after a sleepless night, I sat down at my piano and started playing a simple melody. I began thinking about Jesus’ words in Matthew 25 about responding to the least of these. The second verse was actually written first – a direct response to my friend:

 May we reach out to the broken - The beaten the battered

To all who have fallen - Disgraced and ashamed

May we be a comfort - Loving forgiving

and offering grace in Your Name

 That was my prayer. I wanted to respond to my friend with the same grace the Father had shown me. The first verse and chorus were meant to broaden the scope of the song. I’ve always loved the simplicity of the chorus.

 To the last, to the lost, to the least of these. Let us be Jesus today.

I’m happy to say that my friend is doing well in a new career and his family has remained supportive of him throughout his long rehabilitation.

Thanks Randy, for reminding us about the attitude of grace….there’s never too much about Jesus that we can share today.

 

See here some biographic information on the song’s author: Randy Gill | Directory | Lipscomb University

 

Many thanks to Randy Gill, the song’s author/composer, for sharing his memories of the song with this blogger on 9/4/2023.

 

The image of ‘Least of These’ was obtained from the Fairfax Church of Christ Website: https://fxcc.org/ministries/local-outreach/

Deep Calls to Deep -- Randy Gill

 

His family was enduring a deep hurt, so he figured there was no better place to go than to a psalmist who had likewise been suffering, and who called out to the Creator-Healer from a deep pit. Psalm 42 was where Randy Gill went in his abject despair, voicing “Deep Calls to Deep” in 2001, when he feared his family just might be disintegrating before his eyes (perhaps metaphorically ending up not unlike what would happen months later to the Twin Towers in New York…see the photo here). Could Randy have known that his own heart’s therapy would also be salve for a much bigger wound for thousands of people, even a nation? Read on to hear in Randy’s own words what ‘Deep Calls…’ meant when he wrote it, as we today remember a memorable, heart-rending day nearly 22 years ago.  

 

Deep Calls to Deep was written in the spring of 2001. Our adult son had been struggling with drug addiction for years and it was devastating for my wife and me. He would visit from time to time and we were never sure when he left whether we'd ever see him again. My wife and I had even had the very difficult conversation about whether our marriage would survive if he died. That spring was especially hard for all of us and I had taken to reading and re-reading Psalm 42. So many of the psalms are laments, but the language of deep calling out to deep really resonated with me. I wrote the song as a way of reminding myself that even in the worst of times, the psalmist was committed to praising God.

 

ZOE (an acapella singing group) recorded the song in the summer of 2001 and we decided to make lament the theme of our conference that fall. Several of us were dealing with challenges and we thought a conference focusing on the need for expressing our pain to God might be helpful for lots of people. We felt like the church needed to be reminded of the power and place of lament in worship. The conference and the release of the CD were scheduled for the first week of October, but I sent a pre-release copy of Deep Calls to Deep to my friend Larry Mudd who was the worship minister at the Manhattan Church of Christ. He received the song the first week of September. Neither one of us knew at the time how appropriate it was about to become. As far as I can tell, the first time Deep Calls to Deep was ever sung by a congregation was at the Manhattan Church of Christ the Sunday after 9/11.

 

I’m so humbled and moved that the song has meant so much to people in times of trouble and heartbreak. BTW - my son is now healthy and sober.    

 

What was it that fellow over 2,000 years ago said to a group of Corinthians?  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.(2 Corinthians 1:3-4). My misery and healing may be used to help someone else, so pass it along, Paul says. You might call it Grief Share…that’s the name of a ministry that a good Christian sister I know is using to reach others who need it, who need some soul medicine for deep hurts. You may also have heard of Celebrate Recovery; it’s for those who have finally admitted there is something amiss in their lives, and they too want Christian community healing. It all emanates from Him, the One who used His own deep hurt, and an incalculable price He paid, to draw us, His church. Yours might be a deep wound, but our God is a bottomless well of compassion. Thanks to Randy and all of you who serve and love others…you remind us how deep and amazing is our God.       

 

See here some biographic information on the song’s author: Randy Gill | Directory | Lipscomb University

 

Many thanks to Randy Gill, the song’s author/composer, for sharing his memories of the song with this blogger on 9/4/2023.

 

See link here for picture of the World Trade Center destruction in Manhattan in the wake of 9/11/2001: File:FEMA - 3969 - Photograph by Andrea Booher taken on 09-19-2001 in New York.jpg - Wikimedia Commons (This image is a work of a Federal Emergency Management Agency employee, taken or made as part of that person's official duties. As works of the U.S. federal government, all FEMA images are in the public domain in the United States. Additional media usage information may be found at https://www.fema.gov/photo-video-audio-use-guidelines)

You Are Holy (Prince of Peace) -- Marc Imboden and Tammi Rhoton

 

He might have told a story as he taught a group to sing this song for the first time. And, Marc Imboden could have been at a conference, a youth rally, or some kind of workshop, a travel habit in which he routinely engaged, but it’s also possible that he said “You Are Holy (Prince of Peace)” as he went about his life in his home in Lebanon, Indiana (see an image highlighting Boone County, where Lebanon is located, in the picture here) in 1994. His friend and collaborator, Tammi Rhoton, also apparently had contributed to the lyrics or the music, and one or both of them had just one thing in mind with this song, though they decided it was a good idea to call out to God with multiple names. What they had to say suggests stress might have sparked this prayer of devotion, a recognition that even people who call Him ‘Lord’ are not immune from the anxieties that come with the flesh and bone with which he formed us, and the surroundings and other people He grants us. Which other names does He arouse in your spirit today?

 

The variety of locations and the circumstances that Marc and Tammi may have inhabited when they called out to God are not detailed for us, but what they had to say could have emerged from anywhere. Perhaps it was a situation in which they felt a need for calm to enter the room. ‘Prince of Peace’, they write and sing no less than three times, a name that Jesus, even before He was born on earth, was called prophetically (Isaiah 9:6). Or, perhaps it was the Christmas holiday season, when Isaiah’s prophecy could have been on the lips of celebrants recalling how this Holy One was to enter the world and bring what no one else could. Marc and Tammi could have been looking at a wide number of biblical scriptures, in order to gather all the names for Him that they use in their verses. ‘King’, ‘Lord of lords’, ‘King of kings’, ‘Mighty God’, ‘Lord of everything’, ‘Emmanuel’, ‘the great I AM’, ‘the Lamb’, ‘Living God’, ‘Saving Grace’, ‘Ancient of Days’, ‘Alpha and Omega’, ‘Beginning and End’, ‘Savior’, ‘Messiah’, ‘Redeemer’, and ‘Friend’ – 17 other names, in addition to the special one that Isaiah assigned to Him. Each one is a mouthful, and perhaps that’s just what Marc and Tammi thought, too. They need no other accompaniment, other than the few words that these two 20^th Century musicians write about worshipping this worthy, holy, and praiseworthy being. We can do this daily, by following, listening, loving, and singing to adore Him. There’s one posture I can assume in His presence -- ‘bow(ing) down’-- but ‘live(ing) my life for you’ also means I’m walking about every day, appreciating what He means for me right now and in the never-ending future. How would a person, with all that realization of who He is, properly address Him? Perhaps that was on the minds of Marc and Tammi also. The 18 names they use for Him could be multiplied many times, and that still would not suffice. Maybe He provides so many, so that we can call upon Him to match each new day’s challenges.  

 

One source says that Marc Imboden typically told stories as a method he used in worship, when he traveled to help lead gatherings of believers. His aim was to draw the crowds into a special place, even a setting where they could laugh and let their imaginations loose. One doesn’t have to go very deep inside oneself to see that’s what ‘You Are Holy’ was about. Imagine you are with Peter, James, and John up on that high mountain (Matthew 17; Mark 9; Luke 9) and suddenly Jesus is glowing, accompanied by Moses and Elijah. How would you react? That sounds like something maybe Marc Imboden might have said, in telling a story about a group of disciples who were undoubtedly blown away by what they experienced, particularly when God spoke from heaven and told Peter to hush! He’s holy, and you and I are not. Just tell Him who you know Him to be, what others for centuries have been calling Him. That is all you need to understand in that moment. What will you and I say in His presence? That moment is coming, for you and me.        

 

See here for some information on one of the authors (Marc Imboden): https://hymnary.org/hymn/LUYH2013/598

 

The link here shows an album by, and a picture of one of the authors in 2005: Tammi Rhoton - Inside Paper Walls Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic

 

Image of Boone County, where Lebanon is located: File:Map of Indiana highlighting Boone County.svg - Wikimedia Commons and Public Domain statement by the owner of the image: I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide. In some countries this may not be legally possible; if so: I grant anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.