Insight From our Singing - part 14

I like songs that remind us of the truth of Ephesians 6:10-17 - that we are in a war with far more than flesh and blood.  Songs that are a call to victory.  To me, the song "Rise up O Church of God" serves this function. 

Rise up O church of God - have done with lesser things
Give heart and mind and soul and strength to serve the King of Kings.

Rise up O church of God - His kingdom tarries long

Bring in the day of brotherhood and end the night of wrong.

Rise up O church of God - The church for you doth wait

Her strength unequal to her task, rise up and make her great!

Lift High the cross of Christ.  Tread where His feet have trod.

As brothers of the Son of Man, Rise up O church of God.

This song is so simple.  It contains two simple commands, the first repeated.  

     1. Rise up!  - So often we remain passive in our faith.  We go to church and wait for something to happen.  We read our Bible and wait for something to happen.  We pray and wait for God to do something.  We see a need or something that perhaps needs to change and we wait and ask God to send someone to do something.  Perhaps the call of God contains the command for us to Rise Up and do something. 

Sometimes we rely on a small group of people to do this, while a large portion of the church remains inactive.  Consider something.  If you are a part of a church, you have been gifted in some way by the Holy Spirit to encourage and edify the church you are a part of.  Seek out what that gift is and use it!

Verse three drives home the need.  Our churches are unable to do that which God has called them to do without the help of those who make up the church.  The church is not simply an organization that is here to serve your needs, it is a living organism that you are a part of that is moving toward eternity. 

     2. Lift High the Cross of Christ. - this to me is the banner under which we fight.  The struggle may be real, but we hold high the flag that reminds us that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Is this your banner?  Is this what you look to for encouragement?   Is this what gets you through the day?  If not - perhaps it is time to consider changing banners! 

A simple song with a simple call.  We as individuals in our churches need to rise up and lift high the cross of Christ on a daily basis!

Insight from our Singing - part 13

"See the Destined Day Arise"

See the destined day arise!  See a willing sacrifice.
Jesus, to redeem our loss, hangs upon the shameful cross.
Jesus who buy you could bear wrath so great and justice fair
Every pang and bitter throe finishing your life of woe.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Lamb of God for sinners slain

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Jesus Christ we praise your name. 

In our Sunday School class we have been talking about how important Jesus truly was.  He was essential to our salvation as only He could bear the wrath of God and act as a substitute for my sin.  Only He could satisfy the righteous requirements of the law and stand for me.  This song reminds us that not only was He the only one, but that He was willing to do this.

Think of it.  The holy, righteous, just, perfect Son of God chose willingly to come to earth to die for me.  He chose to allow those around Him to slap and mock Him as He faced a trial with a judge that He himself has to remind would have no power aside from that which is given him by none other than God himself.  He endured false accusations.  He was beaten.  He was mocked.  He was whipped to the point of death and all of this before He was forced to carry His own cross down the road toward Calvary. 

He laid there and was nailed to wood as a willing sacrifice.  I do not think that we think about this nearly enough.  In fact, most of us have an image of Jesus that either fails in one or two directions.  Sometimes our image of Christ is too manly.  We focus on the tossing out of the money changers at the temple and we think that Jesus was  a man's man.  Part of this is valid, but Jesus was also meek, and gentle, and a lamb led to the slaughter.  He chose not to fight when He could have.  Chose to endure rather than execute judgment.  But likewise we sometimes think of Jesus meek and mild and forget that He allowed people to beat Him.  When He told His disciples to turn the other cheek, He himself showed them how to live in that manner.  Even in the garden when Peter tried to stand and fight for Him, He scolds Peter and heals the ear of the servant. 

Jesus had to be a willing sacrifice.  He did not go down fighting because He knew what He was really doing.  And in the very moment that the whole world thought Jesus had lost, it was precisely at that point in time that Jesus concludes, "It is finished."  And in those words reveals the victory.  Our debt was paid because Jesus finished His own life of woe. 

May we with the hymnist truly say, "Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Lamb of God for sinners slain."  And may we strive to live in the power of the Spirit for the glory of the one who was our willing sacrifice. 

Insight from our Singing - part 12

I have really enjoyed this journey through a hymnal finding and being reminded of songs that we sing (or don't sing but should) that have depth and encouragement for us. 

Sometimes there is meaning in the story behind the song.  Such is the case with "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day".

The words are fairly simple.

I heard the bells on Christmas day
their old familiar carols play
and wild and sweet the words repeat
of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how the day had come

The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along the unbroken song

of peace on earth good will to men. 

And in despair I bowed my head
'There is no peace on earth' I said
For hate is strong and mocks the song
of peace on earth good will to men.

Then pealed the bells both loud and deep

'God is not dead nor does he sleep

The wrong shall fail the right prevail

With peace on earth, good will to men.

Verse three sounds a little odd for a Christian service.  When you read the story of how and why he wrote the song you understand a little more.  He had  a son who was severely injured in the Civil War.  He had just recently lost his wife to a tragic accidental fire in which it has been said he himself was badly burned trying to save her.  And in this midst of his grief he wrote this song.  Now verse three makes a little sense.  Our lives are not always joyous and awesome!  Sometimes life hurts.  And it is in these moments that we need to be reminded that God is not dead and does not sleep and that He is bringing about His plan to make peace on earth!  What a great thought.  Even so come quickly Lord Jesus.

Insight From Our Singing - part 11

Sometimes in our lives we need correctives to the way that we think.  Some of these are abrupt and we need to correct a wrong way of thinking.  Most of these I think however are correctives that involve becoming too committed to a way of thinking and failing to balance this according to Scripture.  One such area in which this occurs is our view of Jesus.  Allow me to test this with a few questions.

When you think of Jesus do you think of Him in terms of the revealed King returning on a white horse to conquer?   Or do you think of Him as the God-man with children gathered around Him?

When you think of the life of Jesus, do you think more about His gentleness with the healing of the masses, or do you think of the temple changers being driven out by flipping tables and whips?

Sometimes we get caught up thinking about one side of the revealed part of Scripture without taking the whole to correct our view so that we are not incomplete.  Sometimes our singing does the same.  We sing about the friend we have in Jesus.  We sing about the love Jesus has for us.  We sing about how His mercies are new.  And we forget about the coming judgment.  Or that He has come to do more than love us, but to change us.  This is why I love the song, "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence".

Let all mortal flesh keep silence, and with fear and trembling stand;
Ponder nothing earthly minded, For with blessing in His hand,
Christ our God to earth descendeth, Our full homage too demand.

Wait a second.  I thought Christ came to earth as a baby all cute and cuddly!  He came to demand my homage?  What a corrective. 

Rank on rank the host of heaven Spreads its vanguard on the way,
As the Light of light descendeth from the realms of endless day,
That the powers of hell may vanquish as the darkness clears away. 

At His feet the six-winged seraph; Cherubim with sleepless eye
Veil their faces to the Presence As with ceasless voice they cry,
'Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia Lord Most High.

This picture of servitude and worship is one that we desperately need to correct our self-centered, prideful ways.  Christ did come to save sinners, but that was His means of bringing honor to the Father and glory to Himself.  Songs like this can correct our perspective and are much needed to remind us that we are here to bring honor to God.

One Body, Many Members

1 Corinthians 12:12 says, "For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ."  (NASB)

I am so grateful for this truth and the realization that the work of the gospel does not belong solely to the Pastor!  I am so thankful for my church body who gathers together weekly, but who worships together through service in many different ways during the course of the weeks and months and years. 

It is interesting that many people consider their relationship with Jesus to be something private and something that they exercise only as an individual or as they come to church.  I think this is a fateful view of the Christian life.  We were reborn into the family of God.  We are a member of a larger body.  Nearly every metaphor that describes the church or the Christian is a plural metaphor.  We come together to form something larger than ourselves.  And interestingly, I believe that we are called to function in the same way.  We are to do together what we cannot do ourselves.  And this is where the body of Christ comes together - not at church - but outside the church.  Here is what I mean.

I can only be neighbors to a few people - but our church is neighbors to many.  I can only be a co-worker to a few people, but as a church we can be co-workers to many.  I as a person - even a pastor - can only do so much, but as a church we can do so much more.  As a church we can run a VBS that ministers to many because people invited friends and neighbors in a way that I could not.  As a church we can pass out 3000 water bottles during a single parade (I could not).  As a church we can organize and connect with a sister church in China in a way that I could not on my own.  The church combines all of our individual opportunity into a communal opportunity in the same way it combines our individual joy into community joy, or our individual sorrow into communal sorrow.  We are the body of Christ.  And I am so pleased to see White Lake Baptist Church function as the body of Christ.  It is my prayer that we will continue to do so!

From Babel to Blessing

I had a unique experience this past weekend to speak at our own church with a translator who translated all that was said into Chinese.  We had this opportunity because of a missionary whom I have gotten to know over the last year who had served in China and built a great relationship with the church he served.  (Thanks Mike!)  Their church sent over five young people and two adult translators to send them to camp and to experience life and church in America.  On Saturday, we had a pool party together.  After the party, I was talking with my children about the difficulty of understanding each other when language was a barrier and I drew their attention back to Genesis 11 and the tower where all of the languages were confused.  I reminded them that this was a result of people refusing to do what God had commanded. 

Then Sunday came.  It first struck me as we were singing "This is the Day" with the words in English and Chinese.  It struck me as our guests kindly shared with us gifts from their church and their homeland.  But it hit me like a brick while I was standing and preaching with a man beside me who was reading the same verses that I was, but in Chinese.  He was preaching the same sermon that I was, but in another language.  And I was broadsided by the ongoing realization that our God is a global God and our gospel is a global gospel.

How foolish of me to be surprised by this.

"After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;  and they cry out with a Loud voice, saying, 'Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."  (Rev. 7:9-10, NASB)

One day, people from all tongues will praise the Lord for His salvation.  All tongues that we see now as a result of sin will praise God for His redemption.  We are so myopic when we worship that we see only ourselves.  And this week, I got the chance to expand my vision of God and be reminded that I was worshiping with brothers and sisters around the world.  And while we may not share the same language - worship is universal.  The gospel transcends culture, language, or any other barrier we might invent.  Glory be to our glorious, global God.

Insight from our Singing - part 10

Sometimes when we think of church songs, we think of songs that are quite wordy and verbose.  Sometimes we think of songs with words in them that we do not understand and deep theological truth.  There is nothing wrong with any of these things, but sometimes we need to be reminded of the simplicity of our relationship with God. 

In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise,
In the morning when I rise, Give me Jesus.

The glorious simplicity of this song is wonderful!  When we boil everything down and strip all of the extras away, every single morning - I need Jesus.  Not simply a want for Jesus, but a deep seeded need to allow Jesus to control my life for the day.

Oh when I am alone,

Oh when I am alone,

Oh when I am alone, Give me Jesus.

I love how beautiful this song is.  In those moments that we find ourselves awake and feeling as though no one cares, there is no one or no thing that we need more than Jesus.  I imagine that sometimes Jesus would like to be treated like my cell phone.  Sounds strange I know, but let me explain.  When I can't find my cell phone my life upends until I have it in my possession again.  It has my calendar, my notes, my access to all of my documents, it is an indispensable tool (at least in my mind).  When I have misplaced it (thankfully not very often), life stops until I find it again.  Imagine if that was how I treated my Lord and Savior.  If I ceased to feel His glorious presence I stopped everything until I was found in Him!

Oh when I come to die,

Oh when I come to die,

Oh when I come to die, Give me Jesus.

What a challenge.  Jesus is not something that I need only when I am alone, but every moment I am awake from now until the moment that I leave this earth.  It is no small thing to long for Jesus in this way.  And yet we find ourselves so easily distracted by the temporary struggles we face this side of glory.  My prayer is that we would long for Jesus each morning, every moment, until the day that we die. 

Soli Deo Gloria