When Songs Break Out of the Box
"Jesus loves me, this I know for the Bible tells me so."
The song is buried so far down in the layers of my personal history that it's a fixture -- part of the sonic furniture of my soul. But as I look at those words... "for the Bible tells me so..." Is that enough? Is the Bible in and of itself enough to persuade my entire being of Jesus' love for me? It's certainly a primary source, don't get me wrong, but no matter how potent and authoritative, are words on a page sufficient to absolutely persuade and sustain me?
Peter and Paul didn't seem to think so. When they argued the validity of the Gospel, they naturally quoted and appealed to the authority of scripture, but there was another piece. In both his sermon at Pentecost (Acts 2:14-36) and his address to the household of Cornelius (Acts 10:34-48), Peter balanced appeal to scripture with personal experiences -- "And we are witnesses..." Paul does the same thing when he is laying out the Gospel for the Corinthians (1 Cor. 15).
Do you have concrete experiences you can point to and say "The Bible says it, and THIS confirms that it's true. Jesus loves me. Me. Not in some universal or impersonal way, but loves me personally. Deeply. Tangibly." I thank God that I do.
I added another one today.
Some background: I have been a U2 fan since 1981. This was back at a time when you could actually buy U2 in Christian bookstores. Thank goodness, because I probably wouldn't have set foot in a Musicland at that time in my life. The music was groundbreaking, the lyrics profound. As I've sung along with the band for the last 25 years, I've been blessed, disturbed, challenged, moved, shattered, elated, and blown away. I've seen them live on every tour since the Joshua Tree. Their music has helped me learn to live in the tensions, acknowledge harsh realities, and come to terms with mystery while ever pushing deeper.
A few months ago, U2 released their new album, "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb." I bought it at 9am that day. I remember driving to church listening to the CD that night and listening raptly to the last song "Yahweh" -- one of the most overtly Christian songs the band has ever recorded. It's a prayer of dependence, of desire, of longing to be stretched and thirst for fulfillment. I had to pull over and weep. When I got to church, I told Matt (good friend and worship guy) about this song and how moved I was by it. I made some sweeping statement like "this feels like a prayer for our church right now."
Fast forward to tonight: When I got to church for worship team rehearsal, Matt greeted me. "Dude! I'm so glad you, in particular, are on this weekend!" The focus of our services is on community partnerships -- the ways we're involved in living out God's love tangibly in our city. Matt asked Tom (Metro Impact Pastor) if he had suggestions for offertory and Tom said "I'd really love it if you guys could do 'Yahweh' by U2." As Matt told the story, I thought there was an audible thump from my jaw hitting the floor. "So you and me get to be Bono this weekend, Jeff."
I know it seems ridiculous, but I felt like God handed me the keys to a brand new car. Like I got a hug from the Lord of the Universe. Like Jesus was saying "This song is for all of my Body, Jeff, but it's also for you. And I planned for you to help sing it." I got weepy all over again.
Jesus loves ME, this I KNOW for the Bible tells me so. And I know that it's true because He shows me. Every day, all the time, whether I notice or not. But sometimes, like tonight, He really pulls out all the stops. He does it for you, too. "Surely Yahweh's mercies are not over, his deeds of faithful love not exhausted; every morning they are renewed; great is His faithfulness!" (Lam 3:22-23)
Blessed be the Name of the Lord!
The song is buried so far down in the layers of my personal history that it's a fixture -- part of the sonic furniture of my soul. But as I look at those words... "for the Bible tells me so..." Is that enough? Is the Bible in and of itself enough to persuade my entire being of Jesus' love for me? It's certainly a primary source, don't get me wrong, but no matter how potent and authoritative, are words on a page sufficient to absolutely persuade and sustain me?
Peter and Paul didn't seem to think so. When they argued the validity of the Gospel, they naturally quoted and appealed to the authority of scripture, but there was another piece. In both his sermon at Pentecost (Acts 2:14-36) and his address to the household of Cornelius (Acts 10:34-48), Peter balanced appeal to scripture with personal experiences -- "And we are witnesses..." Paul does the same thing when he is laying out the Gospel for the Corinthians (1 Cor. 15).
Do you have concrete experiences you can point to and say "The Bible says it, and THIS confirms that it's true. Jesus loves me. Me. Not in some universal or impersonal way, but loves me personally. Deeply. Tangibly." I thank God that I do.
I added another one today.
Some background: I have been a U2 fan since 1981. This was back at a time when you could actually buy U2 in Christian bookstores. Thank goodness, because I probably wouldn't have set foot in a Musicland at that time in my life. The music was groundbreaking, the lyrics profound. As I've sung along with the band for the last 25 years, I've been blessed, disturbed, challenged, moved, shattered, elated, and blown away. I've seen them live on every tour since the Joshua Tree. Their music has helped me learn to live in the tensions, acknowledge harsh realities, and come to terms with mystery while ever pushing deeper.
A few months ago, U2 released their new album, "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb." I bought it at 9am that day. I remember driving to church listening to the CD that night and listening raptly to the last song "Yahweh" -- one of the most overtly Christian songs the band has ever recorded. It's a prayer of dependence, of desire, of longing to be stretched and thirst for fulfillment. I had to pull over and weep. When I got to church, I told Matt (good friend and worship guy) about this song and how moved I was by it. I made some sweeping statement like "this feels like a prayer for our church right now."
Fast forward to tonight: When I got to church for worship team rehearsal, Matt greeted me. "Dude! I'm so glad you, in particular, are on this weekend!" The focus of our services is on community partnerships -- the ways we're involved in living out God's love tangibly in our city. Matt asked Tom (Metro Impact Pastor) if he had suggestions for offertory and Tom said "I'd really love it if you guys could do 'Yahweh' by U2." As Matt told the story, I thought there was an audible thump from my jaw hitting the floor. "So you and me get to be Bono this weekend, Jeff."
I know it seems ridiculous, but I felt like God handed me the keys to a brand new car. Like I got a hug from the Lord of the Universe. Like Jesus was saying "This song is for all of my Body, Jeff, but it's also for you. And I planned for you to help sing it." I got weepy all over again.
Jesus loves ME, this I KNOW for the Bible tells me so. And I know that it's true because He shows me. Every day, all the time, whether I notice or not. But sometimes, like tonight, He really pulls out all the stops. He does it for you, too. "Surely Yahweh's mercies are not over, his deeds of faithful love not exhausted; every morning they are renewed; great is His faithfulness!" (Lam 3:22-23)
Blessed be the Name of the Lord!
posted by jeffmacsimus @ 9:32 PM
3 Comments:
At 10:13 AM,
gloria said…
ROCK ON!! I'm looking forward to it!
At 4:20 PM,
Erin Bennett said…
I love that God shows us how much he loves us in such fun, tangible ways. It was fun being a part of it with you. Well, from back stage anyway... It was wonderful. :)
At 5:27 PM,
Anonymous said…
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Pope John Paul II was the "best front man" the Roman Catholic Church ever had, U2's own front man Bono said Sunday.
The men, both named as nominees for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, campaigned together to end world debt. The lead singer of the Irish rock band once famously gave the Pope his trademark wraparound sunglasses to put on during a meeting, dubbing him "the first funky Pontiff."
"A great show man, a great communicator of ideas even if you didn't agree with all of them, a great friend to the world's poor which is how I got to meet him," Bono said in a statement.
"Without John Paul II its hard to imagine the Drop the Debt campaign succeeding as it did," Bono said, referring to an activist movement which seeks to convince wealthy nations to cancel the debts of the world's poorest countries.
The Pope met Bono, along with other pop stars, aid workers and economists, in 1999 to push for rich nations to write off third world debt by the year 2000 and demanded to know why the West was dragging its feet.
"How could you turn this man down?" Bono said at the time.
A fan of popular culture, the Pope once invited Bob Dylan to perform for him at a church congress in Bologna and joined the Eurythmics, Alanis Morissette and Lou Reed at a concert in Rome in aid of debt reduction.
In January last year at the Vatican, the pontiff even presided over a performance of breakdancers from his home country of Poland.
© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.
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