Jeremy L. Berg

A room packed with good folks looking for some Monday afternoon musical entertainment. It was my debut performance at a new senior living facility and I had the time of my life playing a barrage of oldies hits that transported the audience back in time and made some hearts melt and toes tap.

They clapped. They cheered. They sang along. Some told me afterwards they wanted to jump out of their seat and dance. My set list included Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Elton John, and The Beatles to name just a few.

This is not a faith-based establishment so the pastor-man needed to avoid getting “preachy,” so I found a creative back door into sharing some bright rays of gospel hope. Many of the songs are full of heartache, dead end choices, hard living, lost love, loneliness and despair.

I highlighted Mr. Bojangles’ woes, a tragic but sympathetic figure in Jerry Jeff Walker’s song characterized by jail cells, alcoholism, wandering from town to town with his dog, a song and dance man trying to outrun his demons and give the world the only gift he possesses: another song and dance. This echoes an Elton John song I performed:

If I was a sculptor, heh, But then again, no

or a man who makes potions in a travelin’ show

I know its not much, but it’s the best I can do

My gift is my song and this one’s for you.

I took 30 seconds to mention I am a minister who travels about trying to bring some hope and light to lives that may be living in the shadows of despair. Instead ministering to the audience, I turned my attention toward the characters in the songs and ministered to them instead.

“How I wish I could have a chat with ole Mr. Bojangles and help him find his way to a better life,” I said. Neil Diamond’s “Solitary Man” could indeed find a Love that will stay and won’t play games with his heart. Neil Young can find a “Heart of Gold” if he looks up. Pancho and Lefty do indeed need our prayers, but don’t we all? Echoing Dylan, there really is a love that’s “true like ice, like fire.”

Instead of giving them a sermon, I simply introduced my next song saying, “This song describes where I have found light in the darkness, and the hope to carry on in hard times.” I then played “Hold Me Jesus” by Rich Mullins and let the art of the song do the evangelism:

“Well sometimes my life just don’t make sense at all
When the mountains look so big
And my faith just seems so small

So hold me Jesus ’cause I’m shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory
Won’t You be my Prince of Peace

And I wake up in the night and feel the dark
It’s so hot inside my soul
I swear there must be blisters on my heart

So hold me Jesus ’cause I’m shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory
Won’t You be my Prince of Peace

Surrender don’t come natural to me
I’d rather fight You for something I don’t really want
Than to take what You give that I need
And I’ve beat my head against so many walls
Now I’m falling down I’m falling on my knees

And this Salvation Army band is playing this hymn
And Your grace rings out so deep
It makes my resistance seem so thin

I’m singing hold me Jesus ’cause I’m shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory
Won’t You be my Prince of Peace

This morning I woke up to a note from the Activities Director at the senior center saying:

“Last night as I was leaving, there was a gentleman who stopped me in the hall tearing up and said he had felt a strong connection to you and was moved by you, and said that was out of the ordinary for him. And he felt he should ask about you and wondered if he could talk to you sometime, as he has his affairs in order but wants a good minister to preside over his funeral service(s) whenever that might be.”

By golly, I went out with my red guitar in hand yesterday to perform a bunch of pagan hits, and dare say I ended up doing a bit of evangelism. I didn’t need to preach. I didn’t need to offend. I only pointed out our common struggle, the brokenness of this world, and the hope that there is a remedy.

I wrote recently (and shared with our church this past Sunday) that it might be time for preachers to step back a bit, and make more room “up front” for the artists and storytellers and gospel troubadours to get the message across in a song. Let all who have ears to hear, keep listened for the Kingdom that is sneaking in through the cracks of good music.

Here’s a few clips from my show yesterday:

My full setlist:

• Fire and Rain by James Taylor
• good hearted woman by Waylon
• That’ll be the Day by Buddy Holly
• Love Minus Zero by Bob Dylan
• Solitary man by Neil Diamond
• LOVE by Nat King Cole
• Mr. Bojangles by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
• King of the Road by Roger Miller
• It’s now or never by Elvis
• Pancho & Lefty by Townes Van Zandt
• Hello Mary Lou by Ricky Nelson
• Your song by Elton John
• Heart of gold by Neil Young
• Norwegian wood by The Beatles
• You’ve got to hide your love away by The Beatles
• Hold Me Jesus by Rich Mullens 
• Like a Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan