Joining the priestly kingdom

Notes from a sermon on salvation, from Ephesians 2:1-10, to a small group of first and second generation Burmese-American youth and their parents, March 2, 2025

When I was living in Yangon, Myanmar, I bought a black T-shirt at an evangelistic concert. The shirt, produced by Grace Music School, has the inscription in large gray letters, "Raising the Levite generation". What do you think it means? I think it means that church musicians and those who train and support them are raising up the next generation of worshipers, carrying on the tradition of the Levites who led singing and offered sacrifices in the tabernacle and the temple.

I was reminded of this shirt as I prepared to talk about Ephesians 2:1-10 where Paul magnifies the grace of God displayed in saving his people. There, Paul is essentially reenacting in a New Testament context Psalm 136, as performed by the priests at the dedication of Solomon's temple in 2 Chronicles 5. This psalm tells the story of creation, the exodus, and the conquering of Israel's enemies in Canaan, with the constant refrain, "his love endures forever". The Hebrew word for love here is hesed, which has some semantic overlap with the word for grace in the New Testament, according to Bible scholar Will Kynes. Although the Greek word in the Septuagint version of Psalm 136 is eleos, 'mercy, compassion' rather than charis 'grace', the overall thrust of the passage is the same as Paul's, in recounting and thanking God for his past rescue and ongoing kindness.

Typologically, the Psalmist's words "He remembered us in our low estate... and freed us from our enemies" are similar to Paul's when he tells the church that although they used to be dead in sins, following the ways of the world, the world's evil spiritual ruler, and their sinful minds and bodily cravings, God mercifully raised them to life with Christ and seated them (spiritually) with Christ in the heavenly realms where he rules with all authority, just as the Israelites were freed from slavery to the Pharaoh and given possession of the land of Canaan.

While the Levites at the dedication of the temple only had a small part of God's story of redemption to recount, we have its fulfillment. Matthew Bates summarizes the apostolic proclamation of the gospel of Jesus the King in the following ten points:

He preexisted as God the son, was sent by the Father, took on human flesh in fulfillment of God's promises to David, died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, was buried, was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, appeared to many witnesses, is enthroned at the right hand of God as the ruling Christ, has sent the Holy Spirit to his people to effect his rule, and will come again as final judge to rule.

In even simpler form, we form the shape of the gospel story when we hold up two fingers on our left hand in a V for victory. Jesus came down, died, was buried, rose again, and ascended to the Father's right hand. Just as the middle finger is longer than the index finger, so Jesus was raised even higher than before, because his saving work magnified his grace and demonstrated his worthiness to rule the cosmos.

So we, with Paul, are priests, singing the song of this story with one voice. As Revelation 1:5-6 says, "To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever!"

One final point, which I have adapted from Bates's work: We are saved by grace, through faith, and this is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9). If we are to really understand the force of Paul's idea of faith, we could often translate it "allegiance", with the idea that when someone in the early church was baptized, they confessed that Jesus is Lord and, by implication, that Caesar is not -- a preparation for martyrdom and evidence of a new citizenship.

I teach a class to help immigrants prepare for the United States citizenship test. My students have to memorize 100 questions and answers about American history and government, and be ready to answer up to ten of them, read a sentence aloud and write down a dictated sentence to show their English ability, and answer a number of personal questions such as whether they have ever been a member of the Communist Party or any terrorist groups. Last and most importantly, they have to swear the oath of allegiance, promising to be loyal to the United States, to give up loyalty to other countries, including all positions of royalty, and to obey the laws of this country.

When I delivered this sermon to the youth of a Burmese church, all the kids and their parents were very familiar with this test, as the parents had taken it in the last few years. For the rest of us, it would do us good to see the Christian life through the eyes of a recent immigrant. We enter salvation, a relationship of saving rescue and ongoing union with the Messiah, by pledging our ultimate allegiance to him and trusting him enough to obey his will.

If you have not yet entered this kingdom, will you choose to pledge your allegiance to King Jesus, by trusting him, turning from your ways to his way, and identifying with him and his people publicly by asking your parents or your pastor for baptism? 

If you are still learning, will you ask for his Spirit to help you understand? 

If you have entered his kingdom, will you ask him what is the next step he wants you to take to continue in him? 

For me this week, that has meant getting rid of Spotify, Kindle, and ChatGPT on my phone, and praying over a list of the youth at the Burmese church, and praying for my accountability group mates and their wives. What might it mean for you?

Further reading:

Bates, Matthew W. 2021. The gospel precisely: surprisingly good news about Jesus Christ the king. A Renew.org resource.

Kynes, Will. 2010. God's grace in the Old Testament: considering the hesed of the Lord. Knowing & Doing (C.S. Lewis Institute), Summer 2010.

Wright, N. T.. New Testament for Everyone Complete Eighteen-Volume Set: 20th Anniversary Edition with Study Guide (The New Testament for Everyone) (p. 3442-3446). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition. 

Scripture passages:

Ephesians 2:1-10 (The New Testament for Everyone by N.T. Wright)

So where do you come into it all? Well, you were dead because of your offences and sins! That was the road you used to travel, keeping in step with this world’s ‘present age’; in step, too, with the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is, even now, at work among people whose whole lives consist of disobeying God. Actually, that’s how all of us used to behave, conditioned by physical desires. We used to do what our flesh and our minds were urging us to do. What was the result? We too were subject to wrath in our natural state, just like everyone else. But when it comes to mercy, God is rich! He had such great love for us that he took us at the very point where we were dead through our offences, and made us alive together with the Messiah (yes, you are saved by sheer grace!). He raised us up with him, and made us sit with him – in the heavenly places, in Messiah Jesus! This was so that in the ages to come he could show just how unbelievably rich his grace is, the kindness he has shown us in Messiah Jesus.

How has this all come about? You have been saved by grace, through faith! This doesn’t happen on your own initiative; it’s God’s gift. It isn’t on the basis of works, so no one is able to boast. This is the explanation: God has made us what we are. God has created us in Messiah Jesus for the good works that he prepared, ahead of time, as the road we must travel.

Psalm 136 (NIV 2011)

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.

Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.

Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever.

to him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever.

who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever.

who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever.

who made the great lights— His love endures forever.

the sun to govern the day, His love endures forever.

the moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever.

to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt His love endures forever.

and brought Israel out from among them His love endures forever.

with a mighty hand and outstretched arm; His love endures forever.

to him who divided the Red Sea asunder His love endures forever.

and brought Israel through the midst of it, His love endures forever.

but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea; His love endures forever.

to him who led his people through the wilderness; His love endures forever.

to him who struck down great kings, His love endures forever.

and killed mighty kings— His love endures forever.

Sihon king of the Amorites His love endures forever.

and Og king of Bashan— His love endures forever.

and gave their land as an inheritance, His love endures forever.

an inheritance to his servant Israel. His love endures forever.

He remembered us in our low estate His love endures forever.

and freed us from our enemies. His love endures forever.

He gives food to every creature. His love endures forever.

Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.

2 Chronicles 5:11-14 (NIV 2011)

The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place. All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of their divisions. All the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives—stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets. The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang: "He is good; his love endures forever." Then the temple of the LORD was filled with the cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God. 

An algebra of faith

There is an algebra of faith that says Jesus plus nothing equals everything, and Jesus plus something equals nothing.

When some New Testament passages say whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, and others say whoever believes will be saved, the algebra says that belief is required and baptism is optional. 

I get where this logic is coming from, and at its best, it points toward the insight that all our obedience and all our disciplines and all our studies are meant to open us up to the work of God in the Messiah Jesus, and that this is all a gift from him, even our joining in the work. 

But if we take it too far, we become like those who say "Master, Master" but don't do what Jesus says. We follow the six steps of salvation, we "get saved", and we believe we are saved, but we do nothing to continue in him. And if we don't continue in him, what expectation do we have of being saved at the last day?

This, I think, is why the Stone-Campbell movement warned us against "faith only" teachings. This is why the Book of Common Prayer says that baptism is "generally necessary" to salvation, as is participation in the eucharist in some gathering of believers called "church". Some people may do without it in dire circumstances, but if you persistently ignore it, who or what are you actually ordering your life around? (Online shopping? Social media? Sports? Your job? Your family? Your fears?) Are you expecting those things to save you? 

When Jesus said unless you give up everything you have, you can't be his disciple, where is that in our statement of faith or our gospel tract or our wordless book? 

Whoever endures to the end will be saved. And yet this endurance is a result of the warnings, comforts, and instructions found in Scripture, interpreted to us by the Spirit, reminded to us by our friends, both by their words and their presence. 

My Nigerian student's wife's elder sister's son took his own life recently, and so, as is the custom in Igbo culture, he and his wife have been coming over to the sister's house every evening and staying until around midnight, for the past two or three weeks, and they plan to continue doing this until she feels stable again. This is the kind of care that Jesus expects of us sometimes. And this is the kind of comfort that the Spirit brings through fellow humans, to help us endure. 

Let's leave aside the algebra of our faith and move on to the relational side. 

Aspects of Participation in an Evangelical Worship Service

Sometimes I think I'm a passive spectator in a church service. And I've unfairly written that judgment, thinking that was the end of the story, unless something changed. But last night I came back and noticed a number of aspects of participation that I hadn't paid attention to before. All of them involve the body, cognition, emotion, and coordination with others and with the Divine. Each aspect has the potential to activate the embodiment of truth and love - connecting and participating with others for their good because of something you are learning about reality, and receiving care from them as well. 

Walking in, I exchanged greetings by name with two or three people and received a bulletin and printed list of scripture verses and prayer topics. I held the list, wondering what it was for.

Singing, I held and shifted through whatever posture of worship felt meaningful to me while coordinating my voice with others, alternating between (mostly) listening to unfamiliar parts and joining with familiar parts. The songs activated memories, because the worship leader had told me two weeks before that they would play two particular songs, and I had previewed them on a streaming app to learn the tune.

During greeting time, I shook hands and made eye contact with two or three people around me, coordinating facial expressions and coregulating emotions, exchanging names, recent holiday experiences, and details about where we live, our families, and our travels.

During the responsive reading, I listened to the leader read the first part, and joined my voice with the congregation in the second part, coordinating my tempo to match theirs.

During the sermon, I listened to the pastor expressing care for listeners' difficult situations during the introduction to the sermon and opening prayer, which activated feelings of being seen, understood, and comforted. 

I stood for the scripture reading.

I raised my hand in response to questions.

I heard movie quotes and saw movie images, which activated powerful shared cultural memories related to the Bible story.

I wrote notes in the bulletin and filled in missing words in the blanks.

At the end of the sermon, the pastor revealed the purpose of the list -- to guide a few minutes of prayer for the world, the church, and ourselves. A family of three sitting next to me invited me to join them and lead out in the prayer time.

It was easier for me to notice experiencing embodied participation when I visited an Orthodox or Anglican service -- maybe partly because it was unfamiliar and I had to consciously make meaning of it. But intentionally focusing my gaze on the familiar allowed me to see that participation was here, too. One advantage I found with the familiar was that I already knew some of the people, and other people I had seen their names before, which meant for deeper conversation. One fellow I met mentioned that he's visiting from out of state, and hasn't been able to find a church in his hometown, and so I was able to write to a friend near his hometown and ask for local church recommendations for him.

As Louis Agassiz said, "a pencil is one of the best eyes." So I'm writing down what I saw, in hopes that I will remember it next time I feel jaded with the ordinary.

Further reading:

Bob Tierney. 'Let's take another look at the fish: the writing process as discovery.' https://teach.nwp.org/lets-take-another-look-at-the-fish-the-writing-process-as-discovery/

Matthew Lee Anderson. Earthen Vessels. https://matthewleeanderson.com/book/earthen-vessels/

Missing

missing

Tonight, I am missing my mom (1959-2020) and the way my siblings, Dad, and I used to be together. I'm missing my friends in Taiwan, Thailand, and Myanmar. I'm missing my Aunt Sally, who passed away on November 22. I'm missing friends from Fallbrook CA, and friends from churches in the Portland area that I used to know -- Evergreen Christian, Household of Faith, Grace and Glory. 

thankful

I'm thankful that one of my mom's Fallbrook friends texted me back right away when I reached out a couple weeks ago. I'm thankful that I could reunite with old church friends at a wedding and an international student gathering last weekend. I'm thankful that my Grammy is still around and picked up the phone when I called her tonight. I'm thankful that my roommate asks me how I'm doing -- and wants to hear more when I say I'm feeling nostalgic. I'm thankful for friends to eat dinner with three nights this week, for a positive connection when delivering Angel Tree gifts, for students who brought me snacks from their son's wedding in India, and for workmates to laugh with and commiserate with. The road goes up and down, but we are on our way. 

psalms

This morning, I did a search of the sermons at my church that were based on the Psalms. There were 23 sermons on Psalms preached between 2017 and 2022, and none in 2023 or 2024, although I do recall one based on repentance in Joshua 7 that also mentioned Psalm 51. (We went through a long sermon series on the Torah, the Sermon on the Mount, and now Joshua in 2023 and 2024, which explains the lack of psalms recently.) 

Of these 23, six sermons, or 26%, were on psalms of lament. (25-44% of all the Psalms are laments, including repentance and imprecation, according to Laurie Krieg and Matt Krieg, Journey Well, page 72.) The lament psalms preached on included Psalms 42 "As a deer pants", 64 "Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint", and 77 "I cry aloud to God", which are personal laments, and Psalms 51 "Have mercy on me" (twice) and 130 "Out of the depths I cry to you", which are repentant laments, according to the classification in Mark Vroegop, Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, page 201. 

Psalms preached on multiple times were Psalm 1 "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked" (2x), Psalm 19 "The heavens declare the glory of God" (3x), Psalm 51 "Have mercy on me" (2x), and Psalm 84 "How lovely is your dwelling place" (2x). Why do you think these ones were so popular? I think because they focus on living a flourishing life by listening to God's word (Psalms 1 and 19), repenting for personal sin along with King David (Psalm 51), and marveling at being in God's house (Psalm 84). The Bible, repentance, and corporate worship are familiar territory, and since we often don't practice what we preach even in these areas, it is worth preaching on them again.

public grief

And yet, since I'm in a nostalgic mood, I was thinking too about how churches struggle to process grief in public. Why don't we sing and preach on more of the hard psalms? The ones expressing anger, sadness, and need? 

We have GriefShare (which I should probably go to) and men's recovery groups and midweek prayer groups, including praying through the psalms, which I think are very much needed spaces and practices. And grief and lament and injustice come up from time to time in a larger corporate setting, even in sermons not on the psalms, such as the one this week on Ezekiel 34:11-31 on longing for the Good Shepherd during Advent season. We sang "O come, O come, Emmanuel", this week, which is very much a song of longing, both in the words and in the musical setting. And back before Easter at the Good Friday service, we had a prolonged meditation on the darkness that Jesus faced on the way to the cross.

In general, though, maybe we think we aren't ready yet to show our true feelings amongst a larger group. 

how long till is it well?

Remember Horatio Spafford's song "It is well"? Its serene words of confident trust in God after losing his son, his business holdings, and his four daughters, came after a long time of wrestling with his thoughts. And even after penning the song, he walked a long, strange journey that included leading an apocalyptic cult and establishing an American colony in Jerusalem. Despite its aura as a song for sufferers, the only hints of complaint in the song are "when sorrows like sea billows roll" -- but these are echoed and compounded by the highs and lows of the chorus, reminiscent of Mendelssohn's "Fingal's Cave" with the waves of sound crashing against the rocks. Even when we don't voice them, the sorrows still roll. And the words "thou hast taught me" take a lifetime to realize.

crashing an AA meeting

Last Sunday morning I attended an AA meeting by mistake -- Google Maps said it was "Living Word Baptist Church", but it turned out to be "Sunday Solutions AA" at the Salmon Creek Grange. The woman who spoke first said she had been sweating bullets the night before thinking of what to say -- and yet the story she shared of her worst moments and how God met her there and brought her to where she is now was just what I needed to hear. Those 34 individuals at the Grange knew the peculiar joy that comes through participating in suffering together.

five seconds

A friend told me recently about Mel Robbins's "Five Second Rule" -- count to five and start moving your body toward the thing you know you need to do before you finish saying "five". Your present self will follow and your future self will thank you.

an invitation to lament

If you would like to try, and you live in the Portland area, consider joining me at Imago Dei Central City on Sunday, Dec 15, 6-7pm -- they will be having a lament worship night. Details at the following link: https://imagodeicentralcity.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/2572688

another song

Besides "It is well" and "Fingal's Cave", I recommend listening to Carrie Newcomer's song "Holy as a day is spent". I like it so well I've put it as my "go to bed" alarm song -- which I've sadly blown through tonight. Try these lyrics on...

And frying eggs sound like psalms

With bits of salt measured in my palm

It's all a part of a sacrament

As holy as a day is spent

...

Unknowingly we slow our pace

In the shade of unexpected grace

And with grateful smiles and sad lament

As holy as a day is spent

...

And morning light sings "providence"

As holy as a day is spent

Evagrius on fighting the long battle God has already won

 In my last post, I did some wrestling with the song "I'm fighting a battle you've already won", feeling that its bold faith and jaunty tune are hard to square with longterm experiences of hardship until balanced with songs of lament and union with Christ. 

I have one further thought, as I pick up a book from the stack on the floor. This June, I ordered a copy of John Mark Comer's Live No Lies, in a fit of compulsive bookbuying. When it came, I flipped through and found the best part: a neat little appendix on how to create your own handbook for fighting demons. This in turn directed me to the fourth-century monk theologian Evagrius of Pontus, and his book Talking Back. See below (from Book 2, Sections 2-3), where Brother Evagrius speaks the word of God from Exodus to his own tempting voice...

=================

Against the thought of sadness that arises in us due to the many temptations of ____ that come upon us and cut off our hope by saying to us, "What beautiful thing do you expect after all this labor?":

"If you indeed listen to my voice and do all the things that I will say to you, I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. For my angel will go as your leader and will bring you to the Amorite, the Hittite, and Perizzite, and Canaanite, and Gergesite, and Hivite, and Jebusite, and I will destroy them." (Exodus 23:22-23)

-----

Against the thought that supposes that in a single hour the evil thoughts of ____ will flee from it:

"I will not cast them out in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the land multiply against you. Gradually I will cast them out from before you, until you have increased and will inherit the land." (Exodus 23:29-30)

=================

Thank you, Evagrius -- and Moses. Here is both an acknowledgement of the long struggle and the solid hope from Scripture, telling us why the long struggle is part of the plan, and why it is worth it -- and how it is that all our striving is part of God's plan to lead us through and save us from every danger and foe, even and especially our false selves. He will do it and we will do it and it will take a long time and a lot of work and we will be stronger in the end and more aware of our weakness, and of his powerful help supporting us on every side.

=================

And here is the famous song mentioned at the top of the post, so you can come to your own conclusions. I want to take seriously my friend and worship leader Tyler Newkirk's recommendation to read the song as a poem apart from the music and savor the truth it presents:

You've Already Won

(by Shane and Shane, found here)

[Verse 1]

There's peace that outlasts darkness

Hope that's in the blood

There's future grace that's mine today

That Jesus Christ has won

So I can face tomorrow

For tomorrow's in Your hands

All I need, you will provide

Just like you always have

[Chorus]

And I'm fighting a battle

You've already won

No matter what comes my way

I will overcome

Don't know what you're doing

But I know what you've done

And I'm fighting a battle

You've already won

[Verse 2]

There's mercy in the waiting

Manna for today

And when it's gone, I know you're not

You are my hope and stay

When the sea is raging

Your Spirit is my help

He'll fix my eyes on Jesus Christ

I'll say that it is well

Oh, I know that it is well

[Chorus]

I'm fighting a battle

You've already won

No matter what comes my way

I will overcome

Don't know what your doing

But I know what you've done (thank you, God)

I'm fighting a battle

You've already won

[Bridge]

I know how the story ends

We will be with you again (you're the one who saves)

You're my Savior, my defense (so we don't have to be afraid)

No more fear in life or death

I know how the story ends (we will be with you)

We will be with you again

You're my Savior, my defense (no more fear)

No more fear in life or death (alright, y'all, with everything you've got, here we go)

I know how the story ends (we will be with You)

We will be with you again (You're my Savior)

You're my Savior, my defense (no more fear)

No more fear in life or death

I know how the story ends (oh, I need no other, need no other)

[Chorus]

I'm fighting a battle

That You've already won

No matter what comes my way

I will overcome

Don't know what you're doing

But I know what you've done (thank you, God)

I'm fighting a battle

You've already won

[Outro]

I'm fighting a battle

You've already won (hey)

Grudem on worship music

When it comes to worship music, I strongly resonate with most of theologian Wayne Gudem's thoughts below. So you can understand why, listen to my oscillating heart. 

When I can turn my head toward the back of the room, and the voices of the congregation fill my ears, I feel like a part of the body, a family. 

When all I can hear is one voice at the microphone from the stage, I feel like a spectator. 

When songs are as easy to sing from memory in the dark with a group of friends at Cottonwood Beach when wind blew the sheet music away and everyone's cell phone is off, as they are with a live band and words on a big screen, I feel like I can "take the Name of Jesus with" me wherever I go. 

When songs are belted out in a key above my normal vocal range, with a nondescript verse, anthemic chorus, and two bridges and a thumping drum and electric guitar solo, I feel trapped, like I woke up in a concert at the Clark County Amphitheater that I didn't buy tickets for, and I know I'll have no way of remembering any of the words on my way home except for the chorus. 

When I hear the strains of a song from my childhood and notice myself and everyone around me swaying and swinging, or when I find a lilting melody I can harmonize with, I know I've found my place. 

When I feel the sanctuary room start to fill with electric sounds and panic starts to rise within me, when I can no longer hear my own voice or that of the person behind me, and I grab my backpack and run to the lobby only to find one or two friends who're there for the same reason, I start to realize that the worship-industrial experience was not designed for people like us.

And my friends and their kids are in the band. How can I love what they love and still respect my own feelings?

Try a thing seven times and you'll like it. It almost worked with jelly rolls. I even found a BlackPink song that I liked after listening to their entire discography.

And the mystery I cannot yet grasp is how some musical experiences can move others in and yet close me out. 

In the shower Monday morning, I find myself humming "I'm fighting a battle you've already won", even while wrestling with thoughts that I don't quite believe it yet, that the words and their catchy tune don't take hardship seriously enough. And so I switch to "Where are you, Lord" or "Teach me to abide", and then back comes the catchy tune with the bold words, and this time I like it better in spite of myself. We need both, and the one song makes more sense in light of the other.

And still, I think there is such a thing as a different spirit or ethos, both between songwriters, and between songleading styles. 

I asked ChatGPT to evaluate the songs of Phil Wickham with those of his brother Evan, and decide for each whether the lyrics reflected the theology of Joel Osteen's Your Best Life Now or Joseph Hellerman's When the Church Was a Family. ChatGPT said Phil's songs were just a bit like Osteen's book because of his emphasis on the individual worshiper celebrating their victory through Christ (although Phil focuses more on the glory of God and Osteen more on self), while Evan's songs were more like Hellerman's book because of his focus on community and contemplation and drawing from the wider historic church tradition. If you listen to Evan's story of his crisis of faith and reconstruction, you'll understand why. I especially recommend the breath prayer (mentioned here) which he uses to help submit his identity as a songwriter and every other identity and make them secondary to his one identity as loved child of God: 

"Nothing to lose. Nothing to prove. 

My life is Christ. Nothing else matters." 

And now on to Mr. Grudem:

"Worship Music: Some Personal Observations"

(from Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 2nd edition, chapter 51. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2020.)

In the following section, I have included some arguments from Scripture and also some personal observations and preferences based on my experiences. I realize that some readers may have different opinions, but I hope that, in general, churches will find these observations helpful.

a. "Look at Me!" Vs. "Look at God!"

The first consideration when thinking about worship music is the heart attitude of the worship leader (and the same questions could be asked of any others in the worship band or choir). Is the worship leader's main goal to get people to think, "He (or she) is an excellent musician and put on an excellent musical performance," or is the main goal to get people to think, "He (or she) led me into the presence of God, and I truly worshiped God." The first answer produces a "performance mentality" where the musicians seek to show off their musical abilities, and if people clap at the end, they will be mainly clapping for the musicians. The second answer leads to a "worship atmosphere" where people often sense the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit, where the time of singing sometimes will end with reverent silence, and if people do clap at the end, they will be clapping for God, as in Psalm 47:1: "Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy!"

Avoiding a "performance mentality" is admittedly difficult, perhaps especially so for highly trained musicians who have been receiving acclamation for years for their outstanding musical performances. But it is certainly possible through prayer and through recognizing that "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5).

Because of these same considerations, my personal preference (others may differ) is for a worship leader to speak to the congregation between songs rarely, and then very briefly, and sometimes not at all. At the end of a wonderful worship song, I am often thinking about God and his presence in the room, and then if the worship leader starts talking, this breaks my concentration, and I have to start thinking about the worship leader and what he or she is saying.

b. Volume.

Many years ago, my wife, Margaret, and I were part of an exciting new church where God was evidently at work, many people were being saved, and the church was bursting with hundreds of people in their twenties and thirties. We especially loved the times of worship with new contemporary worship songs. But one Sunday a friend from another state visited our church. After the service, he said, "The drums were so loud that I guess you don't want anyone over forty years old coming to your church." (He himself was a mature, wise pastor of a large, influential church.) I didn't understand what he meant, because we loved the music in that church, but now at age seventy-one I clearly understand. After age forty or so, many people's ears become sensitive to loud noises, and for some it becomes physically painful to sit in a church with a loud worship band. (This is true for many but not all people after age forty or fifty.)

I am now aware, through many personal conversations, that there are several churches in our area with good Bible teaching but with music so loud that many of our friends won't consider attending, or they will show up thirty minutes late so that they miss the worship time but hear the sermon. In either case, they are prevented from participating in the corporate worship life of that church. Commenting in Christianity Today on the same problem, Canadian professor John G. Stackhouse Jr. wrote, "I find almost every worship band in every church I visit to be too loud -- not just a little bit loud, but uncomfortably, even painfully, loud."

The situation has some parallels with the church at Corinth, where some people were enjoying speaking in tongues during the worship service but other people could not understand what they were saying. Paul rebuked them: "You may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up" (1 Cor. 14:17). The Corinthian tongue-speakers were genuinely worshiping and giving thanks to God, but when there was no interpretation of the tongues, they were leaving others out and not acting in love. Reflecting a similar concern, my comments to the worship leader in a high music-volume church would be to paraphrase Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 14:17: "You may be praising God well enough, but your music is so loud that many other people are not allowed to worship with you."

Of course, there is a place for Christian bands to give loud concerts aimed at (for example) people under thirty. This may be for an evangelistic purpose, or it may simply be a special concert for people to enjoy listening to. But the Sunday morning worship service, where the whole church should be worshiping together, is not the place for such a concert.

c. Are People Mostly Singing or Mostly Listening?

Corporate worship should be a time when the vast majority of people in the congregation actually sing songs of worship and praise to God. A worship leader should lead people to worship, not simply worship God by himself or with the band while everybody else watches.

Paul was writing to the entire church in Colossae when he said they should be "singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God" (Col. 3:16). This was not just a command for a few Christians with unusual skill in playing instruments or singing, but it was for everyone. But I have visited churches I could see hardly anyone singing but almost everyone standing listening with mouths closed. In such a case, the worship band was not leading congregational worship but was replacing congregational worship with a mini concert.

In a related verse, Paul writes to the Christians in Ephesus, "Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart" (Eph. 5:18). In this verse Paul specifies that the songs in our worship times can be addressed both to "one another" and also to "the Lord." One implication of Paul's encouragement to be "addressing one another" in our songs is that a congregation should be able to hear itself singing. When a worship band is so loud that people in the congregation cannot hear themselves or others singing, the people can hardly be said to be "addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs."

On the other hand, sometimes a worship leader will silence all the instruments and lead the entire congregation in a cappella singing. I find these times especially meaningful, as I hear the entire congregation "addressing one another" and "making melody to the Lord" in songs of worship.

d. Are the Songs Easily Singable?

Many of the most popular hymns that have endured in the church through centuries have melody lines that are relatively easy to remember and easy to sing, even without musical instruments. (Think of "Amazing Grace," "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," or "Great Is Thy Faithfulness.") Some contemporary worship music shares that characteristic: once you learn the songs, they are easy to sing.

But other songs used in modern worship have strange melody lines that are hard to learn and hard to remember. Some have pauses that need to be filled in by musical instruments, with the result that people cannot easily sing them by themselves or in small groups. And on Sunday mornings, few people will sing along with songs that are not easy to sing.

e. Do Most of the People Know Most of the Songs?

There is certainly a place for teaching a congregation new songs ("Oh sing to the Lord a new song," Ps. 96:1; see also Ps. 33:3; 40:3; 98:1; Rev. 5:9; 14:3). But the vast majority of songs in any worship service should be ones that people already know because people worship best with songs they know.

Twice a year at Phoenix Seminary (where I teach) we have a special evening chapel service for the whole seminary community, and every time we do this, we invite a worship leader from one of the more than 100 churches that send students to our seminary. These different worship leaders nearly always do a good job of leading such a diverse group in worship because they stick to familiar worship songs that almost everyone already knows. But occasionally a worship leader will try to teach us a new song that he himself has recently composed. It never works well. This is because people cannot worship very effectively while they are trying to learn a song they have never heard before -- their minds are concentrating on trying to learn the melody and the words, and not very much of their attention is focused on coming into the presence of God.

f. Older Hymns Vs. Contemporary Worship Songs.

I am thankful to God for the proliferation of many thousands of new worship songs in recent decades. I find many of them conducive to deep, heartfelt worship, both in the assembly of the church and in private times of praise at home or in my car.

However, I am surprised that some churches now sing only songs written in the last twenty or thirty years (or less). The church of Christ has a rich history of hymns that have endured through the centuries and have effectively expressed people's faith and love for God. It is true that in previous generations churches have regularly adopted new songs and hymns, but they have not entirely discarded the older ones.

I have carried around a favorite hymn book for about forty years, and when I went through the index recently I found that I knew 324 of the 538 hymns in that book. I would feel a great loss if I attended a church where none of those familiar hymns were ever sung. While I appreciate many contemporary worship songs, I also love to sing songs like "Jesus, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts," originally written (in Latin) by Bernard of Clairvaux, who lived 1091-1153. If this song has ministered to people's hearts for over 800 years, that is a good argument for continuing its use from time to time. What about "Be Thou My Vision" (from an Irish hymn, eighth century AD), "All Creatures of Our God and King" (Francis of Assisi, lived 1182-1226), or "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God," written by Martin Luther (lived 1483-1546)? More recently composed but still nearly 300 years old are hymns by Isaac Watts (lived 1674-1748), such as "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross."

Future generations will continue to reap spiritual blessings from the richness of these older hymns if churches today continue to use them in worship, along with contemporary worship music as well. But a word of caution -- worship leaders who incorporate some older hymns as well as newer worship songs should realize that, for people who have sung these hymns for decades, they are truly the music of their hearts, music with which they have long familiarity. Therefore any efforts at "improving" the words or the music should be done minimally, if at all, and only when really necessary, not just for novelty, because this would then be asking people to learn a (partially) new song (see section e above). Just as an older generation can learn new worship songs, so a younger generation can certainly learn some of the older hymns of the church.

g. The Theological Content of Worship Songs.

It is important, as a first priority, that the words of all the songs used in worship faithfully represent the teachings of Scripture. Paul tells Titus, "Teach what corresponds with sound doctrine" (Titus 2:1), and that also applies to worship songs because the songs sung by a church have a teaching function -- and that teaching needs to be theologically sound.

Over time, the songs should also encompass the wide range of topics taught by the Bible. The well-used hymnal that I mentioned in the previous section has a "Topical Index" with 101 categories of theological and practical topics that are addressed by these hymns. I do not know if a compilation of modern worship songs would have such a diverse range of topics. Whatever songs are used in worship in a church, it would be beneficial to the entire church if, over the course of months and years, the songs as a whole imitated the content of the teaching of the apostle Paul, who proclaimed "the whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27). 

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Note from Nathan: I posted this on Facebook on 12/2/2024, and then revised it slightly and posted it here, after some encouragement by my FB friends, particularly Brenda Boerger and Joana Jones.

Barsanuphius on the sanctified imagination

In the following letters to a deacon, 6th century spiritual director Barsanuphius of Gaza uses a sanctified imagination to show how to visualize God's presence and repent while serving communion.

Letter 241

Question from the same person [a brother monk] to the same Great Old Man [Barsanuphius]: "Father, since your holiness ordered me to serve at liturgy, declare to me, I implore you, what I should be pondering or meditating as I stand before the altar with the priest, or when I am cutting up the holy bread or offering people to drink of the holy blood, or again when I am carrying Communion and taking it to someone. And should I have a special vestment for liturgical use or a covering for my legs?"

Response by Barsanuphius.

Brother, all of this is a spiritual allegory, but you understand it literally. The deacon serves like the Cherubim, and ought to be all eye, all intellect, with his intellect and thought looking upward, with fear, trembling, and doxology. For he bears the body and blood of the immortal King. He even assumes the face of the Seraphim in proclaiming the doxology and in fanning the hidden mysteries as with their holy wings, recalling through these wings the levitation from this earth and from things material, while crying out ceaselessly with his intellect in the temple of the inner self the victory hymn of the magnificent glory of our God: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord of Sabaoth; heaven and earth are full of your glory." And from the dreadful and fearful voice of this proclamation, the devil falls away trembling from the captive soul, and the demons are made to flee in confusion and shame, leaving it free from their slavery.

So now the soul recognizes that the true light has dawned upon it; and, focusing its attention, it sees the beauty of the immortal Lamb and seeks to be filled with his body and blood. Then, it hears the loud voice of David crying out and saying: "Taste and see that the Lord is good." And approaching with fear, it becomes a partaker of his body and blood, and this taste becomes indelible in the soul, protecting it from every passion. "Devote yourself to these things," whether you are standing before the holy mysteries, or else dividing or distributing the drink, or while carrying Communion to someone or gathering up the holy things, and generally in every service that you perform at the altar.

As for your vestment, acquire a spiritual cloak in which God is well pleased. The covering for your legs signifies mortification of the members. Tell me, brother, if a person wears a purple, fully silken robe and yet is a fornicator, does the clothing purify that person from fornication or from the other passions? What then shall they do who are worthy of the holy mysteries but who lack garments? The Lord ordered us to have one garment, and that is the garment of virtues, of which may God make all of us worthy to the ages. Amen.

Letter 242

Question by the same person to the same Great Old Man: "Master, forgive me, and pray for me for the sake of the Lord, that my senses may be sanctified. And although your holiness said that the deacon ought to be like the Cherubim and the Seraphim, yet I am polluted in the senses. What, then, shall I do in order that my ministry as a deacon may not be to my condemnation? For I am wretched and cannot control myself. For God's sake, help me so that I may not lose my soul in every way." 

Response.

Do your best always to remember this image of how the deacon ought to be and of how you actually are, remembering death and how you are going to encounter God. And in continually condemning yourself, your heart feels compunction in order to receive repentance. For he who said by the prophet: "First confess your sins, so that you may be justified," this same one justifies you and renders you innocent of every condemnation. Indeed, it is said: "It is God who justifies; who is it then that will condemn you?" So, as I have on other occasions stated to you, acquire humility, obedience, and submission, and you shall be saved. And do not argue at all, saying: "Why this, or why that?" but become obedient, especially to your abbot, who, after God, cares for you and has been entrusted with your soul. And if you have the zeal to keep these things, then I shall do abundantly more than I possibly can, so that God may grant you the strength to make this possible. The Lord shall keep you and protect you from the evil one. Amen.

(Source: John Chryssavgis (tr.), Barsanuphius and John Letters, Volume I, pp.247-249. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2006.)