The Unforced Rhythms of Grace
During my years in Seoul, Korea, I helped form a rock band.There were four of us. Bill played bass and keyboards, Shauna blasted out some awesome vocals, Kerey, who was by far the most talented, played whatever instrument was needed, and I played guitar. We weren’t the best band in Seoul by a long shot, but we had a blast playing in various night clubs and pubs.
Most of our audiences enjoyed our music once they had a few drinks! They also enjoyed learning about the origins of our band. We were the OGRES — Old Guys Ruining Every Song!
Bill was in his early seventies. He worked for Microsoft in his early years, but his heart was always in teaching. He served as a professor at Hongkik University in Seoul. I was pushing sixty and served as pastor of Seoul International Baptist Church. I also taught practical theology as an adjunct professor at Torch Graduate University.
When Bill and I started our band, we knew that two things were absolutely essential. First, we needed help arranging and learning songs. That’s where Kerey came in. Kerey was in his thirties. He served with me as worship leader in our international church, and he was a gifted musician. Second, we needed a lead singer with a strong voice. Shauna, also in her thirties, and a member of our church, agreed to be our frontwoman.
Even with our two young, talented musicians, it didn’t take long to learn that it was a long way to the top if we wanted to rock and roll.
Kerey began meeting with Bill and I both separately and together, as we learned songs and built our setlist. “It’s Only Rock ’N’ Roll,” by the Stones, “Bad Moon Rising,” by Credence Clearwater Revival, “Already Gone,” by The Eagles — all “oldies, but goodies,” like us.
It was hard work, but after a few months, we were ready for our first gig. We played in a downstairs pub in Haebongchon, or “Freedom Village.” Settled by North Korean refugees after the war, Haebongchon became a community known for its international diversity. It was the perfect venue.
It was a great performance, the crowd was into it, and as we moved into our closing songs, we experienced that musicians’ high that comes from a live performance.
That’s when I began the opening to a great song by the Tedeschi Trucks band entitled, “Bound for Glory.” Shauna’s vocals soared on this song, mimicking the smokey, sultry voice of Susan Tedeschi. We knew it would be a great addition to our closing.
And it would have been, except for the fact that I could not find the rhythm. Nerves? Timing? Some church members who showed up just before the song began? What exactly happened, I can’t say, but “Bound for Glory” was bound for disaster. The harder I tried to find the rhythm, or should I say “force” the rhythm, the more it eluded me. Meanwhile, Kerey took a step toward me, met my eyes, and nodded as I followed his lead on the bass guitar. The rhythm returned, we finished the show and hung around for the next band while enjoying a night out together in the incredible city of Seoul, South Korea.
Not long after our gig, I was reading The Message, a translation of the Bible by Eugene Peterson. U2’s Bono met with Peterson a few years back to thank him for The Message, and to share some thoughts together with Eugene about the Psalms in particular and the kingdom of God in general. That’s how I discovered this Bible translation.
Anyway, I was reading from Matthew’s gospel, where Jesus invites his followers to experience the rest for their souls, which comes from living life his way: “Walk with me and work with me — watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace” (The Message, Matt. 11:28–30). I thought about my graceless guitar playing a few nights earlier and how Kerey helped me rediscover my rhythm. Without him, I would have crashed and burned.
It’s easy to lose our rhythm in life. Unexpected, or for that matter, expected changes, stressful circumstances, relationships gone south. One day everything is flowing perfectly, all the pieces coming together in harmony. Then suddenly, without warning, we find ourselves lurching this way and that, desperately trying to get our groove back. That is when it is essential that we look beyond ourselves, beyond our gifts and abilities, and look to Christ as he teaches us the unforced rhythms of grace.
But exactly what are these unforced rhythms of grace, and how do we learn them?
The most common explanation of grace is that grace is unmerited favor. We don’t work for it. We don’t earn it. We simply receive it as a gift from God.
I would also add to this that the word, grace, is most often associated with the word, salvation, a word for which frankly, many Christians tend to have a limited understanding.
Salvation means deliverance. But deliverance from what? In his first sermon of the Christian age, the Apostle Peter urged his hearers to “save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Once again, Eugene Peterson’s translation in the Message brings the meaning home for us today: “Get out while you can; get out of this sick and stupid culture.” (The Message, Acts 2:40)
The world in which we live is adept at trapping us, entangling us, and forcing us to run on an endless treadmill from which we feel we can never get off. Henry David Thoreau’s famous statement in Walden sums it up — “the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”
Jesus’ invitation to learn from him the unforced rhythms of grace is a promise of deliverance from the quiet (sometimes not so quiet) desperation of our hectic, out of control lives. But along with the promise of Christ comes a call and a challenge. Will we dare to leave life’s treadmill? Are we willing to reject the entanglements of a life that seeks to suck the very soul out of us? It won’t be easy. The call to follow Jesus never is. Until we are willing to confront both the powerful conforming influence of our culture, as well as our own importunate ways, we cannot learn these unforced rhythms that lead to life in its fullness.
I’m learning more about grace and the unforced rhythm it brings. I’m learning that I don’t have to live my life in a hurry. I’m learning that not every so-called opportunity is an open door from God. In fact, many of those open doors lead to stairways that descend into prisons, locking us away from the many good things God has planned for our lives.
What do you need to do to experience the unforced rhythms of grace Jesus promises? Whatever it is, I’m guessing it won’t be easy. So as I close, I’d like to leave you with the words of one of my favorite modern-day musician poets, Don Henley: “Sometimes you get the best light from a burning bridge.”¹
- Henley, Don. “My Thanksgiving.” Genius. 2020, genius.com/Don-Henley-my-thanksgiving-lyrics.
