TRUMPETS SHALL SOUND!

Daffodils in spring gladden my heart like nothing else. I grew up in Western Washington’s Puyallup Valley, which for decades has celebrated that flower with a parade and outstanding teen girls chosen as “daffodil royalty.” But for me, it’s more than a spring party. The trumpeted golden flowers to me speak of the glory of God. This time of year, I often search for You-Tube excerpts of the solo, “The Trumpet shall Sound,” from Handel’s Messiah. Nothing grips my heart like its straight-from-scripture lyrics: about the someday-beginning of forever-life with God:

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:52 KJV)

Along with the prospect of a sudden rush to eternity comes the self-examination in anticipation of the searing, pure eyes of a Holy God. Have I glorified Him with my life? Have I sought to serve Him? Did people see Jesus in Me? Or did I throw away my opportunities, instead spending my time in worthless activities? In our media-saturated culture, which connects the number of Facebook “followers” with status, that's an uncomfortable question.

Maybe I should rephrase this: If God read your Facebook posts, how would you feel?

I've come to appreciate the spiritual insights of Christian pastor and author A.W. Tozer (1897-1963). He spoke and wrote widely of the deeper inner spiritual life. When asked about the perception of “holiness” as a “negative kind of piety” that people shy away from, Tozer replied:

No, of course not! Holiness in the Bible means moral wholeness—a positive quality which actually includes kindness, mercy, purity, moral blamelessness and godliness. It is always thought to be of in a positive, white intensity of degree.*

A former pastor (now deceased) one year ministered healing words through a daily devotional based on a read-through-the-Bible calendar. His widow sent me a copy of the printed devotions, and it has enriched my Bible study for now a second year. He died before the predicted “final trumpet sound” when Christ returns again. But...could I hear it in my lifetime? I don't know. I do know this: every day is closer.

For several years a church I once attended had a very senior pastor on staff for “visitation.” He outlived two wives, dying in his nineties! But I was told that in his last year, in a little bedroom suite he shared with his third wife at a senior home, there was a note on their door: “Perhaps today.”

We who knew him, knew his meaning: Jesus might come before he died. Well, he died. But those two words continue to come to mind as eternity gets closer. Especially they revisit every spring, when the earth awakens and my favorite flowers inch up with their golden, trumpet crowns.

Earth-words cannot adequately describe the worship culture of Heaven. But angels with trumpets are prominently mentioned. Yes, the trumpet shall sound—infinitely louder and more joyful than the golden but mute daffodils of spring.

*A.W. Tozer, I Call It Heresy (Harrisburg, PA: Christian Publications, 1974). p. 63.

This short video (at the beginning) highlights the trumpet solo from Handel's Messiah:

Bing Videos

PEACE

Some of the last buds of summer at my home were this duo or roses, one which graced the bush for a few days, and one bud nearby, ready to take its place. A few weeks after this, I pruned all our roses to prevent snow breakage. Our rose beds edge the driveway, meaning snow shoveling can damage them. But I have no other options when I wake up to a foot of snow and need to clear the driveway.

The prophet Isaiah had similar observations, though certainly not with “snow load.”

The grass withers and the flowers fall. (Isaiah 40:8a)

Well, duh. It's called the cycle of life. It works for both the plant and animal world. But the opposite is this, in the very next verse:

But the word of our God stands forever. (Isaiah 40:8b)

There's another verse in Isaiah that gets repeated exposure during the Christmas season:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,

And the government will be on his shoulders,

And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace

there will be no end...(Isaiah 9:6-7)

Prophecies are glimmers of hope, reflections of God's good and just character. This one reminds us that Christmas is not just about a miracle Baby, destined to be a Savior, swaddled and put for safekeeping in a feeding trough. It's about the King of Kings, the Prince of Peace. “Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end” (v. 7).

I could be wrong—I'm not the world's greatest authority on roses—but I think the bloom I photographed is the “Peace Rose.” I didn't plan it that way, but it's a fitting illustration for our longings for the Prince of Peace—the Lord Jesus---to infuse this broken world with healing and peace. It's God's long-range plan.

Will He come Monday, which our calendar (though not historically true) assigns to the celebration of His birth? Or in about a week, when one old year bows aside to welcome the new? Only God knows. His Word tells us it will happen in the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:52).

So yes, summer's flowers will wilt and their petals drop Their canes will blacken and die as cold sets in. But Peace, real Peace through the Prince of Peace, is in God's plan for this battered world. This is Hope worth celebrating. No presents, cards, trees, feasts, Black Fridays, or fancy decorations required. Just pure, worshiping hearts.