Collect for February 22, 2009

God of all the nations of the earth: Remember the multitudes who have been created in your image but have not known the redeeming work of our Savior Jesus Christ; and grant that, by the prayers and labors of your holy church, they may be brought to know and worship you as you have been revealed in your Son; who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Song Commentary for February 15

Every week I am going to be posting a commentary on the songs we sing at Trinity U.M.C. on the Lord's day, as well as the collect/invocation, and occasionally a "teaching moment" on a particular aspect of the worship service.


Songs:
"Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise" - words by Walter Chalmers Smith, 1867 (1 Tim. 1:17)
"Here I Am To Worship" - by Tim Hughes
"Fairest Lord Jesus" - words by Munster Gesangbuch, 1677; trans. Joseph August Seiss, 1873. music: Schlesische Volkslieder, 1842; arr. by Richard Storrs Willis, 1850
"Inside Out" - by Hillsong United

Because we have a visiting speaker coming to our church on the 22nd of February, we decided to celebrate Transfiguration Sunday on the 15th. Transfiguration Sunday is the last Lord's day in Epiphany, the season of the church calendar when we celebrate the 'manifestation' or appearing of Christ, the God-Man, to the world. In a way, it is a continued celebration of the incarnation following the Christmas season (which happens to have 12 days, believe it or not!). So this week we are celebrating the revealing of Jesus' glory on the mountain of transfiguration. There, as my New Testament professor so eloquently simplified, "Jesus got all white and shiny." You can read the account here.

Thus, I selected songs for this week that involved the theme of light.

The first song, "Immortal, Invisible" celebrates the unseen character of God, using language taken from the King James Version of 1 Timothy 1:17 - "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen." Thus the first two lines of the first verse:

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
in light inaccessible hid from our eyes, . . .

And the last verse:

Thou reignest in glory; thou dwellest in light;
thine angels adore thee, all veiling their sight;
all laud we would render: O help us to see
'tis only the splendor of light hideth thee.

These stanzas remind us of some other verses. 1 Timothy 6:16 says, ". . . God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen." And 1 John 1:5, ". . . God is light, in him there is no darkness at all." And James 1:17, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." It is the official teaching of the church universal and of scripture that God is invisible. We cannot see him. But John gives us this reminder: "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us" (1 John 4:12).

"Here I Am To Worship" is a song about the incarnation. I sometimes worry that people may not realize this. This song worships Jesus specifically, and honors his coming into the world.

Here are the relevant verses from the first chapter of John to this song and to this holy day: "Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. . . . The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. . . . The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. . . . From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known" (John 1:3-5, 9, 14, 16-18).

Let's examine the first verse:

Light of the world, you stepped down into darkness,
opened my eyes, let me see
beauty that made this heart adore you
hope of a light spent with you.

Please notice how all the verbs of this first verse are past perfect. Translated, "you stepped down into darkness, you opened my eyes, you did let me see." We are speaking about what Christ did for us by being born into the darkness of this world.

This ought not to be confused with a quite legitimate request that is not the matter of this song: "open my eyes, let me see."

The first and accurate interpretation of this first verse is in the past tense, while the second would be a misunderstanding of the verse's meaning.

My favorite line from the second verse is:

Humbly you came to the earth you created,
all for love's sake became poor.

Shane Claiborne accurately points out in his book The Irresistible Revolution that Jesus was actually poor, by human standards. He wasn't only poor by divine standards, but once he began his ministry, had "no place to lay his head" (Matthew 8:20). He had no possessions, relied on the hospitality of friends, and, of course, was poor in spirit. Not to mention that he died the most shameful death imaginable during his day. Crucified as a regular rebel.

Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down,
Here I am to say that you're my God.

This chorus claims Christ himself as our God. This implies that he is divine, and shares all the divine attributes with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. But it also implies that Christ rules over us, and his will and teaching are instructive and primarily influential for our actions. This part of the chorus seems to me to primarily imply our subjection to Christ as our God, our bowing down in reverence to him.

Dictionary.com tells me that there are several definitions of "fair." Of course, the one we're most familiar with is "free from bias, dishonesty, or injustice." While this quality certainly describes Jesus, I am not certain whether that is what Munster Gesangbuch had in mind when he penned the words of "Fairest Lord Jesus." Although, verses 1 and 4 certainly speak of the Lordship of Christ, and in that respect he certainly rules justly and fairly. However, verses 2 and 3 speak of Christ's brightness in comparison with the most beautiful and bright things of creation, so at least in this respect I believe we are speaking of Christ as being pleasing in appearance, or bright in glory, impeccable and without blemish. These verses obviously go nicely with the Transfiguration.

"Inside Out" is a song that reminds us that worship is not merely about outward appearances, but about surrendering to and praising God from the inside out:

In my heart and my soul I give you control,
Consume me from the inside out, Lord.
Let justice and praise become my embrace
to love you from the inside out.

and,

And the cry of my heart is to bring you praise -
from the inside out, Lord, my soul cries out.

With language of "consume me from the inside out," we think of God having all of us, totally. And our pastor spoke of bearing our cross in the light of Christ's glory, since glory is found in the cross. So he spoke of surrendering to God's will, and denying ourselves. This song picks up that theme:

Your will above all else, still my purpose remains
The art of losing myself in bringing you praise.

And so let this be our prayer:

God our Father, before the suffering of your only Son Jesus you revealed his glory upon the holy mountain – grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Teaching Moment: "AMEN"

Occasionally I am going to offer a moment of teaching on worship before or during Sunday’s service. Today is our first teaching moment.

There are two Hebrew words which Christians have carried over into nearly every language without translating them. Do you know what they are? If you do, shout them out.

They are ‘alleluia’ and ‘amen.’ These words were so common and so meaningful to the earliest Christians that they did not translate them. ‘Alleluia,’ of course, means “praise the LORD,” while ‘amen’ means “let it be so” or “so be it.” It is not merely a way of ending a prayer. Rather, it is a word affirming one’s assent and agreement with the words that have just been prayed. It was the practice of the early church, and still is the practice in many churches for the whole congregation to end a prayer with ‘amen,’ after the prayer has been spoken by the leader. Saying ‘amen’ is a way for the congregation to say together, and to God, “We affirm and ask for what was just prayed. We add our prayers to the prayer of the leader.”

And so, it is my earnest desire that we begin saying ‘amen’ together, as a whole congregation. It is not so hard to tell when a prayer has ended, when it is time for everyone to say ‘amen.’ Prayers often end with something like this: “In Jesus’ name” or “through Jesus Christ our Lord” or some prayers have a Trinitarian ending, such as “through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.” After each of these types of endings, it is fully appropriate for the congregation give their agreement by saying, ‘amen.’ However, you may want to wait for a brief moment to make sure that the prayer is really over before you say ‘amen.’

So before the service today, I want us to get in some practice. Get ready to say ‘amen’ after each of these prayer endings. Ready? Here we go.

“In Jesus name,” amen.

“through Christ our Lord,” amen.

“through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.” Amen.

Okay? That’s all the practice we get. From now on, let’s be ready to give a whole-hearted ‘amen’ all together as a congregation in affirmation of the prayers that are prayed in our midst. You will have plenty of opportunities today to become accustomed to this practice.

One more thing: you may either say ‘ah-men’ or ‘ay-men.’ Pronounce it as you like.

Collect for Lord's Day, Feb. 15th

God our Father, before the suffering of your only Son Jesus you revealed his glory upon the holy mountain – grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Recently Hired

My dear brothers and sisters of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Of recent God has graciously provided that I be hired as the worship leader of Trinity United Methodist Church in Hartford City, IN. Such an opportunity to serve God's people and kingdom gives me great joy, and I already love my job. My duties include: weekly song selection, planning worship services, leading in prayer, working with the choir, praise team, and passionate worship committee, and above all getting to know God's people better that I may love and serve them as Christ would have me do. I am superbly excited, and eagerly expect God to do marvelous things for, in and through Trinity Church. I pray you will rejoice with me for God's gracious gifts.

More than anything, I ask for your holy prayers:
+ that God would increase my faith, hope and love, that they may overflow to the many,
+ that God would give me all the grace necessary for salvation and ministry,
+ that I would hear God's voice and follow his lead in leading his people in worship, and
+ that integrity and uprightness would protect me, and I would be delivered from the evil one.

On this website I will be posting things related to ministry for the benefit of our congregation.

The Lord give you his peace,
brother Scott

Collect for February 1, at Trinity U.M.C., Hartford City IN

A collect is a short prayer usually said before the scripture readings in the western church liturgy.

"God of all creation, through your beloved Son Jesus Christ you have called all people to yourself. Grant that we may follow the example of Christ and his apostles by opening our arms, offering ourselves, and proclaiming the truth to our neighbors, and by carrying your good news across social borders, so that your salvation may be known among all peoples. All this we ask through Jesus Christ your Son, our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen."

Hesychasm

Two weeks ago I finished reading The Way of a Pilgrim and The Pilgrim Continues His Way, that contemporary classic of Russian Orthodoxy. It was a short book, delightful to read, very pious in spirit. The author of the book was desiring to know how he might pray continually, without ceasing. After seeking out many instructors, he finally came upon a wise spiritual man who told him to pray the following prayer again and again, not losing heart: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.’ It was not long before the pilgrim became quite accustomed to and fond of the prayer, for it brought him inner peace of mind and heart, as he trusted Christ’s mercy. Meeting foes and friends along the way, another wise man instructed him that while we may not always be disposed to the best attitude of the mind or heart when we pray, we certainly have good control over how often we pray. And so, it is quite within reach that we might bring ourselves to say it as often as possible. This prayer tradition is called hesychasm, from the Greek word for rest or repose. Saint Augustine said, “God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are unquiet until they find their rest in You.” In faith we bring ourselves to the place of God’s grace, and the blessed Paul says in Romans that “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17). And so if we bring ourselves to say the prayer, either aloud or in our hearts, we come to the place of hearing, where faith is born. Without doubt the name of Jesus is our salvation, and “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom. 10:13).

Not long after I had finished this book, I began praying that prayer. It quickly brought me to humility and to concern for my neighbor. I trust that Christ had comforted my soul, and so I was able to offer kindness to my neighbors. I found that when I stopped praying, selfishness and indifference would raise their ugly heads, but when I said the prayer they were put to rest, and I cared again about my neighbor. Praying this prayer gave me an acute awareness of my own spiritual poverty, and my great need for God’s grace. For Christ himself, though he was rich, became poor for our sakes, so that we, through his poverty, might become rich (2 Cor. 8:9).

It would be rather arrogant of me to presume that this particular form of prayer is suitable for everyone, and I do not. If you do not find it helpful, then by all means discard it and make haste in discovering some other regular habit that works for you.