Worship

Understanding through Worship

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Rob Bell’s book has stirred up a lot of debate and I’ve been conducting a number of debates on facebook with my brother and my niece. You can find their blogs here and here. I feel totally inadequate to face the issues raised. How could a loving God condemn those who reject him to eternity in Hell? It’s a good question worthy of an answer that has been throught through and chewed on.   How do we reconcile God’s wrath – showed most graphically this weekend of all weekends in the horrific death of his only Son Jesus on the cross – with his mercy?

Well of course the answer is found in the cross too.  I know the theory well.  And in many ways I am very happy with the explanation of Jesus’ substitutionary atonement.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV)

But somehow seeing it all written on the page, in a book, or in the many excellent blogs on the subject, it all seems inadequate as an explanation. That’s partly my human-ness as I reduce God to my level. But perhaps there is something else too?

A quotation cited in a book about Bach’s sacred music I am currently reading really struck me:

The satisfaction theory of the atonement, when it was transposed from devotion to dogmatics, from meditation to systematic theology, created enormous problems: for the doctrine of God, for the portrait of the life of Jesus Christ, for the interpretation of the Bible. With the elimination of its full liturgical and sacramental context, it did not make sense – or, alternately, made entirely too much sense, transforming the mystery of the cross into the transaction of a celestial Shylock who demanded his pound of flesh. Bach’s St Matthew Passion rescued “satisfaction” from itself by restoring it to a liturgical context in which it could give voice to central and fundamental affirmations of the Christian Gospel[1]

I am not sure that I can go along with what Pelikan says here. Although no doubt there are those who would.  But nevertheless the thought struck me forcibly that perhaps it is only in Worship that we can truly understand the fullness of the Atonement. Or to put it another way.

But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
until I went into the sanctuary of God;
(Psalm 73:16-17 ESV)

Certainly I was greatly blessed today listening again to two wonderful arias from the St John Passion commenting on Jesus’ final words from the Cross as recorded in John’s Gospel – “It is finished!”

Es ist vollbracht!
It is accomplished !
What comfort for all suffering souls!
The night of sorrow
now reaches its final hours.
The hero from Judah triumphs in his might
and brings the strife to an end.
It is accomplished!

Mein teurer Heiland, laß dich fragen,
My beloved Saviour, let me ask you,
since you have now been nailed to the cross
and you yourself have said : It is accomplished,
have I been set free from death?
Through your pain and death can I
inherit the kingdom of heaven?
Is this the redemption of the whole world?
You can indeed not speak for anguish;
but you bow your head
and silently say : yes!

[1] Pelikan, Jaroslav, Bach Among the Theologians (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1979), 100-101

Insights into Biblical Worship from three very different churches

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Worship by the Book – D A Carson, Tim Keller, Mark Ashton, R Kent Hughes

I enjoyed this book, although parts of it were slightly outdated (from 2002, you would have thought it would have kept pace, but I don’t think so, quite). There is an introduction by Don Carson (typically thoughtful) and then three chapters describing worship at the Round Church Cambridge, College Church Wheaton IL, and Tim Keller’s Redeemer Presbyterian Church in downtown Manhattan, New York.   Tim Keller’s chapter is worth the price of the book alone and I loved his thoughts about Postmodernism and Calvin’s ideas of how worship should be conducted. Worth quoting:

Calvin’s corporate worship tradition resonates with many of the concerns of postmodern people. They have a hunger for ancient roots and a common history; Calvin emphasises this through liturgy in a way that neither traditional Free Church worship nor contemporary praise worship does. They have a hunger for transcendence and experience; Calvin provides awe and wonder better than the cognition-heavy Free Church services in the Zwinglian-Puritan tradition and better than the informal and breezy “seeker services.” Postmodern people are much more ignorant of basic Christian truth than their forebears and need a place to come and learn it, yet they are also more distrustful of “hype” and sentimentality than older generations. Calvin’s worship tradition avoids the emotional manipulation that so frightens secular people about charismatic services, even though they desire the transcendence that contemporary-praise appears to offer.

Thank goodness too, that Keller finally puts paid to the notion that musical form and style are completely neutral – some music is simply inappropriate for worship. However he also shows that style boundaries are much more elastic than traditionalists would have you believe. You can read the book on Google books, here.

A Many Generation Foundation (1)

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I am prompted to start what might be a series of posts because of a series of recent and upcoming events.

Most recently I read this post from Bob Kauflin about the legacy of Asaph, the Levite, later chief musician and author of Psalm 78 (and 11 others):

The Legacy of Asaph – Learning to Sing in the Same Room

In it Bob talks about Asaph’s enduring legacy. He ministered in the tabernacle, he was chief cymbal player when David returned the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem. The “sons” of Asaph ministered in the tabernacle and later Temple for David and Solomon. All through the reign of the kings of Judah sons of Asaph ministered, worshipped, prophesied and were at the heart of Revivals of Hezekiah and Josiah, and the rebuilding of the temple of after the exile under Ezra. That’s a pretty high calling. To establish such a heritage is worth working for. Something Isaiah calls “a foundation of many generations”

And the Lord will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail.

And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to dwell in.

Isaiah 58:11-12

The story of Asaph reminded me that I have a copy of Oswald Chamber’s My Utmost for His Highest with the following inscription:

A Token of Appreciation
to
Miss Joan Castro [my mother]
from
German P.O.Ws at 194 camp, Penkridge
in Remembrance
of her Valuable Singing at many
Musical Services
in the
Parish Church – Penkridge

Then yesterday I discovered that a close relative (possibly father) of a great-great grandmother of mine had been a Baptist Pastor in Gislingham, Suffolk – about 45 mins drive from where I now live. By all accounts my grandmother’s family were all stauch non-conformists going back generations in Suffolk.  He had certainly raised up a many-generation foundation which includes missionaries, Baptist ministers as well as many ordinary Christians now in churches as far afield as Belgium, Seattle Washington, Colorado, London… and Ipswich.

Then lastly my twins, both of whom have helped lead the music for worship at our Church for the last several years, are both off to College/University to study music in the next 2 weeks.  My prayer for them (and for their elder brother Jonathan) has always been that they will be the next generation of the many-generation foundation of those serving God.

It inspired me to keep praying, to keep working at leading of music for others to worship, and at the raising up together of the next Generation to do that. What higher calling could there be?

Habakkuk Jazz

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You don’t often find Christian Jazz. And even less often do you find Christian jazz based on a German Chorale which was also the subject of a Bach Motet. So check out the Jason Harms Quintet! You can find free downloadable charts of the songs on the same site including one which I really want to try based on Habakkuk 3:17-19.

There is a great story about them on the Desiring God Blog. 

So, do Jesus and Jazz mix?  What about using Jazz like this in Worship? On a Sunday morning? Not sure I would do it – but what do you think?