Music Mondays: Songs that Teach us Stuff

A couple weeks ago, our worship team led us in singing the popular hymn, "Faith is the Victory".  It matched well with the message from Galatians 2 about how we are freed through our faith in Christ. It is a tune that is very typical of hymns of previous generations. It has a slow pace to it, mixed with notes that I don't find all that easy to sing. Yet it has a theme that is repeated consistently throughout - that we find victory through our faith in Christ.

Reading 1 John 5 in my devotions this morning, I was reminded of the clear biblical basis behind this classic.

"For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory has overcome the world - our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"  1 John 5:4-5

I like what Glen Barker says about this verse in his commentary:

"Our being born of God is God's act on our behalf, the event through which he moves to overcome the world...By faith we now have access to what was once accomplished by and through the appearance of Jesus on earth."

Gaebelein, Frank E., J. D. Douglas, Walter C. Kaiser, Leon Morris, Donald W. Burdick, Edwin Blum, Glenn W. Barker, Edwin Blum, and Alan F. Johnson. The Expositor's Bible Commentary. With the New International Version of the Holy Bible, Hebrews--Revelation Volume 12 Volume 12. Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan Pub. House, 1981. pg. 349.

We can experience God's victory over sin, death, and evil through our faith in Jesus Christ. "O, glorious victory that overcomes the world!"

Sermon Snippets

I've spent a night in jail.

I was protesting a traffic ticket and failed to appear in court for my hearing four months later.  I realized I missed it afterwards and thought I covered my basis to stay out of trouble. But it was not to be and two evenings later, there was a knock on my dorm-room door and I was escorted to the Kosciusko County Jail.

They took my fingerprints, my mug-shot was taken, and I got to change into an orange striped jumpsuit.

I believe it ended up being only 7 hours or so, but it was a miserable night.

Sleeping in the drunk tank wasn't really possible. There was nowhere to go and nothing to do. I was stuck.

The apostle Paul knew what being locked up was like too. Several different times in Galatians 3, he talks about how living legalistically is the equivalent of being in a spiritual jail (see vs. 22-23)

Apart from Christ we are prisoners and slaves to legalistic living that tries to be good enough to earn salvation and the approval of God. Unfortunately, that path does not end in life, only imprisonment (3:21).

The good news is that Jesus Christ freed us from having to resort to legalistic living. If we place our faith and trust in what He did for us, we are given the free gifts of freedom, righteousness, and salvation by God.

Paul brings this up to the Galatians because while they were saved by faith, they were dangerously close to buying into false doctrine that said they needed to live by rules and not by faith.  It is not just a salvation issue, but it's clear that legalism is a danger after our initial conversion and regeneration.

I would never volunteer to go back to jail. The entire experience was miserable.
Why then would we want to go back to a legalistic approach to life spiritually? It brings about similar misery and confinement when freedom is what God calls us to.

Music Mondays: Songs that Teach us Stuff

I'm back from vacation and ready to return to our regularly scheduled blogs.

For this week's "Great Hymn, Great Theology" selection (a name I just came up with), I was flipping through a hymnal and came across this selection immediately stood out to me. Watch and enjoy and then I will explain why I like this song so much:

Simply put, I like this song because it's not about me. Many songs of praise focused on what God has done for us. There's nothing wrong with songs being personal, but sometimes we can forget our place. This song is wholly focused on God's greatness and uniqueness as our Creator and Lord. 
It finds it's theme in 1 Timothy 1:17:

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever."

I especially like the third verse when it states, "We blossom and flourish as leaves on a tree, and wither and perish - but naught (nothing) changeth Thee." See James 4:13-15 for another direct Biblical connection.

Even this video that I picked showcases old cathedrals that were built for the purpose of communicating God's grandeur and greatness. Let's do our best to avoid narcissism and a self-centered world view by praising God in ways that remind us of who He is and who we are not.

Music Mondays: Songs that teach us stuff

I'd run low on ideas for Music Monday until it hit me. My posts are typically music-oriented or theologically-oriented, depending on if it's Monday or Friday. Why not combine them and follow the Scriptural idea of focusing on music that teaches?

In two different letters, Paul encourages Christians to use music and worship to teach one another:

"Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord"               Eph. 5:18-19 (NIV)

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God."                                                              Col. 3:16 (ESV)

The Church's music should encourage spiritual growth and be the product of God's Word and the Spirit having free reign in our lives. Little is said in Scripture about the style, but clear admonitions are given about it's substance.  

I've come to observe something interesting about the music world. Popular contemporary Christian music often derives from popular secular music in style. When it comes to substance, the world's music revolves around one thing. Whether it is country, hip-hop, or Top 40, it's almost exclusively about one thing. It begins with 'l' and ends in '-ust'. The Church's music should be about better things.

Thankfully, we have an incredible tradition of music that fulfills the Bible's exhortations. And in upcoming editions of "Music Mondays", I'll highlight great songs of the faith and what they teach us.  Some may surprise you, as we often lose sight of the meaning of those songs that are most familiar to us.

For this initial entry, I wanted to start with a true classic. "Amazing Grace" is one that I could sing in my sleep, and I imagine you could too if you grew up in church. And yet, take another look at the lyrics and observe the progression the song takes:

Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)
That sav'd a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears reliev'd;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believ'd!
Thro' many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promis'd good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures.
Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call'd me here below,
Will be forever mine.

Especially in verses 2-5, John Newton describes the impact God's grace has on us from our spiritual birth through the trials of life and ultimately on the hope of heaven it points us towards. It's a biblical and affirming progression for us, no matter what stage of life we are in. Older hymns tend to follow a progression more than newer songs and it's one reason why songs like this have stood the test of time. 

So next time you hear this played or sing it in church, appreciate the overlooked nuances of this classic hymn of praise.

Sermon Snippets

We are beginning a new sermon series this week in the book of Galatians.

Galatians was written by the apostle Paul to a group of churches in modern-day Turkey. The reason for this letter was a group of religious opponents that constantly gave Paul problems during his ministry - the Judaizers.

In the days of the early church, Christianity was seen as a Jewish religion by much of the outside world. And much debate and discussion was given within the Early Church about it's relationship to Judaism. The Judaizers were those who adamantly insisted that anyone converting still had to follow the regulations and rules of the Old Testament. To become a Jew, one would have to submit to circumcision and follow the various rituals and sacrifices the people of Israel adopted. The problem was, these standards and rules became so important as traditions, the people of Israel widely viewed them as works that had to be done in order to maintain a good standing with God.

With Jesus, that whole paradigm was changed. Paul sets forth clear doctrine in his letter to the Galatians that Jesus has set us free; free from the law and free from legalism. In Christ, we are free.

The principle remains the same for us some 2,000 years later. Every other religion consists of it's own rules and regulations that force on it's adherents a works-based righteousness. Christianity offers grace. And freedom.
We are free from sin through the free grace God offers us in His Son.
We are freed from legalism and doomed life of striving to be 'good-enough' because Jesus paid it all and did it all on our behalf.

We love our freedoms in this country. People can't stop talking about them when it comes to governmental policies and life choices.  We have no clue what real freedom is, apart from Christ.