Canaan's Rest

I recently heard Amy Grant’s new single entitled, “The 6th of January (Yasgur’s Farm)”  I felt some nostalgia, as the song took me back to the 60’s when I was just a new convert.  The song didn’t have a preachy tone, rather it was almost contemplative, causing older listeners to reflect on their story and the present narrative of in our nation.  It did not ask us to do anything, but rather to ponder what might have been lost.  The last phrase of the song, leaves us with a challenging question for our conflicted time.  “I look ahead and realize we’ve lost our way.”  

I identified with the song because Amy Grant was a contemporary Christian artist, who was a part of my spiritual journey.  She now is older, having endured some difficult times on her journey.  Anyone who grow up with Amy Grant and lived through “Woodstock” will immediately be taken down memory lane, reflecting on the culture of the 60’s and its affects on our day.  

Here are some of the lyrics.  The first verse: “Maybe it’s the time of year/ Or maybe it’s the time of man/ 60’s playlist and a beer/ I’m suddenly 16 again/ What’s the future hold in store/ What’s it hiding up its sleeve/ All that wide-eyed hope/ Were we so naive.”  This seems like a longing for the past and a questioning of what was once experienced.  For those of us who are older, our response  is tied to our memory of the “old days” while those who are younger can only wonder what is being communicated.

Here’s the chorus: “Hey mister where’s the road to Yasgur’s farm/ He stares at me with pity and alarm/ Says that crowd left here long ago/ Scattered all to hell and Harper’s Ferry/ On the 6th of January.” Yasgur’s farm was the site of “Woodstock (1969)” and the summer of love.  Harper’s Ferry is identified with the civil rights movement.  Of course, January 6th refers to the confusion regarding the protest in our nation’s capital.  

The second verse includes the following,”I’m shopping for some groceries/ Muzak piped in overhead/ They only play the melody/ I hear the words John Lennon said/ Asking me to imagine/ As I fight this cart with crooked wheels.”  The bridge to the song seems to leave us wondering; “And we’re driving home and the radio plays/ What’s going on – Marvin Gaye/ Is it right on red or left on MLK/ I look ahead and realize we’ve lost our way.” 

 From the Message we read in I John 1:3-4, “We saw it, we heard it, and now we’re telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ.  Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!” As a seasoned follower of Jesus, I share with my readers the joy of having communion with  the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, since before the “summer of love.”

When I listen to Amy Grant, I do not have regret, sorrow or any longing for the “old days.”  Jesus has carried my wife and I, as we raised our family, during those  turbulent times brought about by “the summer of love (1968). To those who are younger, wondering what Ms. Grant sings about, I say, “keep your eyes on Jesus,” He is “The Way.”  Yes, “imagine” Jesus.  He will see you through.  I am living proof of what  the Lord has done in one man and his family.  Keep looking to Jesus and a future with Him.

Jeremiah was called by God to  warn the people of Judah.   One of the words he uses to describe their lifestyle is the word “deceit.”  Deceit in today’s culture is described as “the practice of deceiving; concealment or distortion of the truth for the purpose of misleading; duplicity; fraud; cheating.” In 5:27 the prophet accuses the wicked of living in houses “full of deceit.” “The wicked lie in wait like men who snare birds and  like those who set traps to catch people.  Like cages full of birds, their houses are full of deceit” (Jer. 5:26-7). 

These wicked men were compared to hunters luring unsuspecting birds into a trap. The poor were helpless in resisting their schemes.  “Like cages filled with small birds used for sacrifices their houses were filled with the possessions acquired by their deceitful practices” (Huey).  The Message describes it well, “My people are infiltrated by wicked men, unscrupulous men on the hunt. They set traps for the unsuspecting.  Their victims are innocent men and women. Their houses are stuffed with ill-gotten gain, like a hunter’s beg full of birds.” (Jer. 5:26-7).

It seems that deceit was all pervasive in the culture.  “From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophet and priest alike, all practice deceit” (Jer. 6:13).  The amplified says, “Everyone deals deceitfully.” The prophet laments their attitude, “They cling to deceit; they refuse to return” (Jer 8:5).  The ESV says they are in “perpetual backsliding.” The prophets and priests alike, “all practice deceit” (Jer. 8:10).  But they refused to change.  The Lord declares, “You live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me (Jer. 9:6).

It has begun to cause conflict in relationships.  God warns them of social disorder due to their deceitful practices.  “Friend deceive friend, and no one speaks the truth.  They have taught their tongues to lie; they weary themselves with sinning.  You live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me” (Jer. 9:4). Their tongue were like, ” a deadly arrow; it speaks with deceit.  With his mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors, but in their hearts they set traps for them” (Jer 9:8).  

Above all, in Chapter 7, Jeremiah points out the deception of their worship.  “Do not trust in deceptive words and say, ‘This is the temple of the Lord.'” (Jer. 7:5).  In their worship, they were, “trusting in deceptive words that are worthless” (Jer. 7:8).  The people felt they were safe, “safe to do all these detestable things” (Jer. 7:10)  The Lord was watching as his house became “a den of robbers.”  

God told Jeremiah not to pray for them any longer.  For the people, “did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts” (Jer. 7:24).  They were going, “backward and not forward” (Jer. 7:24).  God warned Jeremiah, “When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you, when you call to them, they will not listen” (Jer. 7:27).  Their worship was deceptive:  false and only going through the motion.  Why!! Because, “Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips” (Jer. 7:28)

With all the deception in our culture, we need vigilance in our worship of God.  It can become rote and filled with worthless word, where  we, “only pretend to be sorry” (Jer. 3:10).  We have nothing to boast about. “But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things” (Jer. 9:24)