We were only in Estonia for a few hours but I absolutely fell in love with it! The history of Tallinn, the capitol of Estonia is mind-boggling. Tallinn was established in 1219, but Estonia was inhabited by a Finnish speaking tribe long before the Danish crusaders came in and established Tallinn. It was under Danish, Swedish and Russian rule. Declared independence from Russia then annexed by the Soviet Union again, then declaring independence, then annexed again by the Sobiet Union in 1940. Then WWII and so much destruction. After the Soviet Union broke apart, Tallinn became the capital of Estonia (1991).
Although this was only a stay of a few hours (including the concert) something about this country and this city grabbed my heart. We took a faily short walk to the church where the concert was going to be because that was our only chance to see a tiny part of Tallinn. I don’t know if it was the incredible architecture of the old buildings or the cobblestone streets or the skyline of steeples when we first got there, but it pulled me into its history and its current life.
Old town, which was actually our path to Oleviste Baptist Church (St. Olaf’s Church) was remarkable. Some of the original buildings remained and many others had been restored. I could’t stop thinking about all the people who had walked through the gates to old town. The history, the people, the destruction, the rebuilding, the communism, the freedom, all were soaked up into those walls and streets.
You could see the steeple of our venue from just about everywhere. Oleviste Baptist Church was gorgeous. Obviously not always a Baptist church and certaily had a complicated history.
This is where my biggest lesson of the day took shape. Even in preparation for this mission trip I would wonder, how could people not know Jesus. How could they not understand God’s hesed, His unfailing love? What does it take?
When we walked into this incredible building, a thought began to slowly well up in my soul. When the men were setting up I walked around trying to take in every inch of this incredible buildign. As I walked and looked at the church, the first thing I noticed was the breathtaking altar and the painting of Jesus on the cross. Then I started looking around and couldn’t find a painting of the resurrection. What an incomplete story. Maybe it was there somewhere, but it certainly wasn’t front and center. My heart cried out, We serve a living Savior. He’s alive and He intercedes for us to the Father, and He is coming back for us someday. You need to know the rest of the story!
Then, I began looking for a good place to sit, if room allowed, and be able to see the entire group. Incredibly enough, there was not a single pew where you could sit and take in the entire worship. A portion of the choir and all of the orchestra were behind the big pillars.
This was not a place to feel a part of woship, to be brought into presence of God. It was not the fault of the church meeting here now, but the building was designed that way. In order to hold up the incredibly grand and exquitisely decorated ceiling that was very, very tall there had to be huge columns.
The design of this amazing building radiated separation between God and His people. it set an invisible curtain between what was holy and the people; sounds familiar doesn’t it?
So the men sang about a God who loves us and cares about us. They shared a God who wants to be with us and have a relationship with us; a God who has come near and given everything through Jesus. They invited everyone to join into worship and share in this time together. It was beautiful ad heartbreaking all at the same time.
As I prayed during the concert, a desperation came over me for these people to know the God who loves, the Savior who came and died, the Lord who lives and sits at the right hand of God, the Spirit who dwells in those who have believed. I ache for them to know Him the way I do!
I pray for the church folks that are following up after this concert. Give them the courage and the desire to share boldly. May these pews be filled with people who are finding the real Savior of the world.
I pray for us as we are back home that we will feel the same way about everyone we meet. May we be forever changed. And may the pews of our churches be filled with those who are finally finding what they have been searching for.
You must be logged in to post a comment.