Please mark in your songbooks for the song after the lesson...

Yesterday was "National Grilled Cheese" day. I know this, because I read it on facebook, which means it must be right. I did not have a grilled cheese sandwich yesterday. I wanted one. But the whole giving up bread thing for Lent is cramping my style, not the least of which includes having to give up grilled cheese sandwiches.

I also saw on facebook where we are supposed to post songs and/or song lyrics for 30 days. Again, I am not sure who is coming up with these things. But hey, why not?

The song lyrics thing got me to thinking about one song in particular. In fact, if I happened to be a member of one of the young community churches that uses U2 songs as worship hymns, I would ask them to broaden their horizons to include Tom Petty. I am all for singing "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" during worship, as long as it comes before communion.

Ever since my friend Arlene took the 30 day song challenge, I have thought about this song Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne wrote together years ago. To me, it sounds like a song of faith, a song that looks at the world and longs for something else, something bigger, something eternal.

So let's get to the point.

The song is called "I Won't Back Down." Like most songs, each one of us interprets the lyrics within an individual frame of reference. We apply meaning in ways the songwriter may have never intended. That is not a matter of right or wrong. Just the way it is. No getting around it. For example, I cannot hear the song "Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who without thinking of previous bad bosses. Maybe Pete meant it that way. Whatever the case, that is the image in my head during the song. No avoiding it. Come to think of it, that one might be a good worship song, too. Especially when Roger screams "YEAAAHHH!" at the end.

And maybe, just maybe, Tom Petty would come lead worship if we asked him. If he did, we could begin worship with 2 Thessalonians 2:14-17:

"God called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word."

Then, right after that reading from Scripture, we would ask everyone to remain standing, and sing along with Tom:

Well I won't back down

No I won't back down

You could stand me up at the gates of hell

But I won't back down

Gonna stand my ground

Won't be turned around

And I'll keep this world from draggin' me down

Gonna stand my ground

And I won't back down.

I cannot possibly know where you are today in your faith-walk, O dear bloggerland friend. But this much I know: We are in this life to build up one another, to draw strength from each other, and to share in moments like this one in order to keep pressing on toward the goal, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus.

God, by grace, gives us eternal encouragement and good hope. That single line from Scripture is enough to get us through the day where we might all sing with confidence as the body of Christ with one voice, "And I won't back down."

Let's stand and sing.