Tag: Worship

Posted in Different Scriptures, Uncategorized

He “lives”?

Posted on by Wick

“..songs affect what we think because of repetition – singing the same songs over a period of years embeds the message; and when music is added to the text, an emotional element is introduced that causes greater attachment to the message of the song.” (Constance Cherry, The Worship Architect, 2010)helives

The above statement carries all sorts of implications for the music we listen to, the music we encourage our kids to listen to, etc.  But here we are asking about the words that shape our theology and faith over time.  Modern songs get a pretty hefty (and often deserved) criticism at times for their vague or shallow theology.  But there are plenty of songs (I’m looking at you, “I’ll Fly Away”) that we love to sing, that we should also be careful to examine/balance with Biblical teaching/awareness.

Today I’m asking us to re-examine the words of a song most of us probably sang over the weekend.  “He Lives” (#220 if you’d rather not use the screen), is a classic hymn with some great reminders in it.  “I serve a risen Savior, He’s in the world today.”  What a hope-filled offer for us to live toward!  But on further review of the entire song, there’s something significant missing from it: a resurrected Jesus.

Let’s pretend you don’t have it memorized for a moment, and examine the chorus:

He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today,
He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way.
He lives, He lives, salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart.

Yes! Amen.  I love it.  I sing it loudly, and I even hold out the final “LIIIIIIIIVES” until the lack of breath begins to turn my lungs inside out.  Yet the Jesus in this song is not the physically resurrected Jesus we celebrate visiting His disciples and revealing His scars.  I’m not saying Jesus couldn’t visit us physically, either recognizably or hiding his identity (both are seen in post-resurrection accounts).  But I’m saying when most of us sing this chorus (and the rest of the song), we’re probably actually referring to the SPIRIT of Jesus at best…and the idea of Jesus at worst.

Yes, I believe the “presence” of Jesus we have been given through the Holy Spirit, and a God who is omnipresent/immanuel is “God With Us”.   That means so much of the song still rings true.  But if we lift this song up as our primary “Easter Song”, we can miss something vital to our faith:

We believe Jesus was physically resurrected ahead of all things.  That all humanity who have died or will die, continue to wait for a full and coming revealing of God’s fullness at which point we will all share in the same physical and bodily resurrection.

He does not “walk with me and talk with me” the same way He walked and talked with the disciples who saw him after the resurrection. Why? Because he has physically gone to be with the Father, to a location many simply refer to as “Paradise” (using Luke 23:43).  A place where it seems both non-resurrected beings (like the thief), and resurrected beings (only Jesus, for now) can be together in God’s presence as we await the final return of Jesus.

The promise and hope of the resurrection isn’t that Jesus has returned spiritually to “be in our hearts”, and help us not feel lonely along the paths we walk.  That’s one of the blessings of the encourager He has given us (Holy Spirit).  But the promise and hope we receive as we celebrate the resurrected Jesus are found in 1 Corinthians 15 (take a moment to read it!).  In Jesus we see the “first fruits” of all New Creation, and an example of what God has in store for all of us – our loved ones, and creation itself!

This is a foundational truth, and one of the greatest things we can clarify to a world that assumes we all think Jesus is a spiritual being hiding in our hearts that helps us to be “good behaving people”.  The Holy Spirit can help transform our hearts and minds, and the grace of God is actively moving to heal/restore the image of our Loving God He intended in creation.   But we believe there is much more to celebrate in Jesus, and much more hope for the embodied lives we live today.  These physical bodies (and this physical world) are tied deeply to the New Creation we believe will exist fully someday.  So caring for others, for creation, and for ourselves happens in fully embodied ways.  There are so many things still to say here, but plenty have already said them.  I just wanted to throw out a quick reminder.

For more on this, check out: Surprised by Hope by NT Wright, Salvation Means Creation Healed by Howard Snyder, and Earthen Vessels Matthew Anderson

Posted in Spoken Word

Pentecost (a poem)

Posted on by Wick

Dry.

Coughing as I breathe in, chest wheezing, this dusty cloud kicks up when I walk.

When I talk, words fall to the ground without sound.

Cracks invading the pavement, waiting for someone tall to step wrong and fall. Someone saw rain in the distance, just one instance, but that was years ago.

For now, nothing grows. And so, nothing sows. The last leaves turned to ash.  Out of resource, out of cash.  It happened so fast, before we realized we were empty.  The wind blows over another dried up, used to be, has been but isn’t now.

For a split second, seems to bow on purpose, then falls.

Smashing into a million pieces in these parched halls.  The air so dry it’s impossible to sweat – impossible to shed a tear, for fear of losing the last drops of moisture we assume are somewhere deep inside.  We’ve tried to hide.  We’ve lied to hide.  Cause when it’s gone, it’s gone.

Or so we’ve heard.  Not another word.  After all, we’ll get by.  We just need to try.  Try harder.  To really mean it this time.

Sunlight breaks, the cushion shakes and reveals the dust we’ve been breathing.  Our lungs as thirsty as our throats, debris forming coats.  A trembling unsettles our dust.  Frightened, but we must, respond.

The room is shaking, the ground quaking, the clouds fill the sky and darken brightly.

Not a drip.   Not a trickle or a stream. But all in one moment it happens.

Dams break, waves overtake, water makes and snakes its’ way, soaking the day, washing away any traces of ash and dust.  Respond we must, gasping for air and at the same time sinking without a care.

The pipes have burst, rushing like floods from somewhere unseen.  More like a geyser, like the spring from which all springs are sprung – filling our lungs and drowning out all remnants of thirst.

To a land that was cursed – healing and life, New Life. A Spirit poured out, and all creation shouts “Great is the Lamb that was slain!”  “Great is His Name!” The Spirit that came, as God promised it would.

See His blood on the wood…

We receive and are never the same.

Isaiah 44:3

Posted in Uncategorized

Temptations of Jesus, Pt. 3

Posted on by Wick

Looking back at the story of Jesus being tempted, we see Satan grasping for straws with one final attempt at throwing Jesus off track. He takes Jesus to “very high mountain”, and shows him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. Then he offers to give Jesus all these things if he will “fall down and worship me”. This is crazy. You know how crazy this is, right? It’s incredibly hard to understand, and yet at the same time reveals something important about this ‘being’ known as “the deceiver”. He’s apparently so good at painting his deceptions, he has deceived even himself here. God, who has created all things and to whom all things are subject – especially any earthly powers or splendor. God himself comes in human form, as the Son. He’s already been declared such at His baptism, just in case any of us wonders if he really knew. And yet here is Satan, promising to give something to Christ that was not quite His to give in the first place. His desire to deceive Jesus runs so deep, he has deceived even himself to think that in this moment, Jesus might look at him and say, “Well actually that sounds quite nice. I’d love to have all of that, and worshiping you is a fairly small price to pay.”

So how does Satan justify even making such an offer? I don’t know.

Perhaps it has something to do with knowing how powerful a draw that offer might be. He knows the hearts of humans. He knows we love to be in power, we love to receive praise. We love to be in control. His offer to Jesus sounds a lot like a promise of power, praise, and control over these Kingdoms. These are all healthy things to appreciate, in the context of serving God. But the tempter was trying to see if, even for a moment, He could catch Jesus in a moment of weakness. If he would turn toward Satan as the source of power and control, turning away third-temptation-of-christfrom God for these things. Doing so, would have given far more than just a foothold.

Such temptation works its’ way into our lives as well. We’re tempted on a daily basis to think there are other sources of power, and other sources of control. The world screams at us to be anxious about this or that happening in other parts of the world, or even events happening in our own country, state, or community. Tempting us to think that we need to serve the powers that be over listening to the voice of God that desires to free us to live in peace. Jesus has become Lord of all, not by bowing to Satan, but by sacrificing Himself out of love, allowing these “powers” to do their worst…yet being revealed as powerless against God.

Jesus responds to Satan one more time, but 3 times is enough. He commands Satan to go away from him. It’s easy to wonder why He didn’t use this response the first time, but maybe it was so that we would have these specific interactions to wrestle with, and connect with our lives. It must be because each of these 3 interactions has something different to offer us, and reveal about God. Again, just another reason I found myself unable to escape a sort of “3 point message” on this one.

So Jesus responds again with words from Deuteronomy, words that every follower of God would be familiar with, and a phrase that appears multiple times throughout the Old Testament, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only Him.” Above any powers of this world, above any glory this world has to offer, we are called to worship and serve God.

The words come as a challenge to us as well, as we begin our season of preparing for Easter. What are we serving? What are we “working toward”? What do we hope to gain each day as we leave the house, and what do we dream about as we head to sleep each night? Are they the things of God, or are they offerings of the world?

The honest answer is this: None of us can stand above the rest and claim to not have desired the things of this world. Scripture tells us that none of us is without sin. That the only person who met with these temptations and remained faithful is Christ. And even He didn’t do so for His own sake, but for ours. That through his obedience and standing before God…we might have access to the throne. That through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, we are actually enabled to celebrate Easter! Not as the arrival of our judge, but as the arrival of New Life even NOW!

Will you receive the reminder, to repent and turn toward God? Can we confess together, we’ve not responded as Jesus did in these moments. That we’ve given in, accepted the lies and offerings of power, control, and fulfillment. If not with significant things, then in small ways. Tiny footholds where we’ve bought into the ways of this world, instead of living as citizens of the Kingdom. This morning, Jesus stands as the one we’re to follow, and proclaims to Satan, “GO AWAY!” Can we join together in proclaiming that today? Declaring God as the only Lord we have, and the only One we will serve….no matter what?

If so, look out….transformation is going to happen…come back for the final “Temptations of Jesus, Pt. 4″…