 Featuring: Trinity’s Adult Choir Soloists: Jennifer Aitken, soprano and Timothy Wilds, baritone Violin: Mariya Potapova, Paul Stroebel Viola: Stephanie Quinn Cello: Franklin Keel Piano: Vance Reese Reader: Danielle Teague Pastor: Duane Davis Director: Anthony Moore The Seven Last Words from the Cross are seven expressions of Jesus during his crucifixion, gathered from the four Gospels. These seven sayings have been widely used in Good Friday worship services since the 16th century and have set to music by many composers including, but not limited to: Lassus, Pergolesi, Haydn, Gounod, Franck, Dubois, Gubaidulina, and Macmillan. As I was considering a new musical setting of our Lord’s dying words, I was drawn to another scriptural list of Jesus’ sayings from the beginning of his earthly ministry – the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes are proclamations from the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew. Each is a declaration of blessing, without a narrative context, that forms a major biblical theme. These blessings have a gospel logic that is contrary to earthly wisdom: the poor in spirit and the meek, not the strong and powerful will have the kingdom of God and inherit the earth. When I began to contemplate the seven words and the beatitudes together, I noticed many similar themes. Jesus said that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be blessed, but on the cross he thirsts in agony as the only true righteous man. He promised that those who are merciful shall receive mercy, but he receives his Father’s wrath against our sin even as he implores his Father to forgive those crucifying him. For our sake [God] made [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. I have used a chiastic structure for the music. A chiasm is a literary device in which a sequence of ideas is presented and then repeated in reverse order. The result is a “mirror” effect as the ideas are “reflected” back in a passage. The term chiasm comes from the Greek letter chi, which looks like our letter X. This structure is found often in the Bible, especially in the Psalms and Old Testament as well as the music of J. S. Bach. There is even a mirroring of Jesus’s relationship with his Father in the structure of the seven words. In one and seven Jesus addresses God as his Father (“Father, forgive them” and “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit”) but in word four the relationship is broken and Jesus, forsaken on the cross, cries out to him as “my God.” Jesus secures for us the very blessings and benefits he is denied on the cross.
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This is an excellent, yet brief discussion among D. A. Carson, Matt Boswell and Keith Getty on the nature of the songs we sing in worship and their impact upon us. I particularly appreciate Keith's point about songs not merely being a vehicle for orthodox theology, but a work of poetry, beauty, and excellence. Theological precision is merely the starting point. The offerings of songs and lyrics must be honorable, lovely, and commendable as works of art.  One of the primary emphases in worship and music Sunday School class has been to distinguish between principles and preferences. Many battles over worship have been fought over critical aspects of our faith, but many in recent history have been waged over preferences, stylistic concerns, and music.
Scripture offers us very little about the specifics of our corporate gatherings. We know that early believers "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers" (Acts 2:42). But how should we teach? What does the fellowship look like? Was the breaking of bread a full meal, a symbolic remembrance of Jesus' death or some conceptual combination of both? Principles are guiding concepts that come from the overall teaching of Scripture. These principles will have multiple expressions depending on the time in history and cultural location. Saying that worship songs should be based on the language and themes of Scripture is a principle, but saying that worship songs should always utilize an organ, band, or synthesizer is a preference. Universal principles should be applicable in all points and locations in history - from the house church risking persecution to the cathedral or from the first century church to the twenty-first century church.  There have been an astonishing number of good books on worship written in the last 15 years, but if I have to choose a favorite it would be Harold Best's Unceasing Worship: Biblical Perspectives on Worship and the Arts. His work is the most comprehensive and holistic approach to worship I have seen.
The core of the book is Best's concept of “continuous outpouring.” Best states that if from eternity the triune God “cannot but give of himself, reveal himself, pour himself out,” and if humans were created in God's image, then humans also bear his image as outpourers. We began to pour ourselves out towards God from the instant of our creation. We were not created to worship, implying God needed to be worshiped. We were not created for worship, with that being one element which can be separated. We were “created continuously outpouring”… and all that we “pour out” is intended as worship. Worship is “human outpouring” in response to the divine “outpouring of lordship” (p. 24). While worship before the Fall consisted of mutual outpouring between God and imago Dei, Best stresses that the Fall did not end worship or continuous outpouring. When Adam and Eve fell, “Our outpouring was falsified. But it continued, with one telling difference: we exchanged gods” (p. 25). This is the heart of idolatry and why it is at the root of all sins. When we sin, we do not cease to worship, our worship changes direction - from the Creator to something created.
I have our church sing these extra verses at least one Sunday in Advent. The scriptural allusions show us that God's plan of redemption first promised to Eve in Genesis is fulfilled in the work of the second Adam (Jesus).
Glory to the newborn King! 
Worship of the living and true God is essentially an engagement with him on the terms that he proposes and in the way that he alone makes possible.
-David Peterson To worship God ‘in spirit and in truth’ is first and foremost a way of saying that we must worship God by means of Christ. In him the reality has dawned and the shadows are being swept away (Hebrews 8:13). Christian worship is new covenant worship; it is gospel-inspired worship; it is Christ-centered worship; it is cross-focused worship. -D. A. Carson Worship is what we were created for. This is the final end of all existence-the worship of God. God created the universe so that it would display the worth of His glory. And He created us so that we would see this glory and reflect it by knowing and loving it-with all our heart and soul and mind and strength. -John Piper Worship is the believer’s response of all that they are – mind, emotions, will, body – to what God is and says and does. -Warren Wiersbe …acknowledging that someone or something else is greater – worth more – and by consequence, to be obeyed, feared, and adored… Worship is the sign that in giving myself completely to someone or something, I want to be mastered by it. -Harold Best Worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His Beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose – and all of this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy for that self-centeredness which is our original sin and the source of all actual sin. -William Temple Worship is the continuous outpouring of all that I am, all that I do and all that I can ever become in light of a chosen or choosing god. -Harold Best
When looking at the Christmas narrative, the supernatural events surrounding Jesus’ birth dominate our focus. As we read the beginning of the gospels of Matthew and Luke, it is very easy to freeze Joseph, Mary, the Shepherds, the Magi, and Herod into two-dimensional characters witnessing angelic messages and spirit-filled dreams. It is helpful to remember that they were flesh and blood people and that most of their life details are not recorded in Scripture. How do they deal with God’s unfolding plan for their lives?
Mary and Joseph were betrothed. They were anticipating a married life together and the hopeful blessings of a future family when God intervened. Mary will bear the Son of God and Joseph will raise the child as his own. The shepherds were living and working in the fields. Considered ceremonially unclean because of their work, they had come to terms with their limited and low status in society when God intervened. The angelic proclamation of the birth of Jesus is given to these men and they are brought near to the Son of God in worship. Three astrologers in the East are looking for the sign of the Messiah, and then one ordinary day, they find that God has arrived. The Magi immediately travel to Bethlehem and see the young Jesus and offer worship and extravagant gifts because they recognize God has entered time and space. The question before us is not whether God will intervene in our lives, but rather how we respond when He does. Life just doesn’t turn out as we would plan, but that is very often when God reveals His presence. Relationships are broken; cancer ravages a loved one; good friends move far away; children and parents lock in conflict. When God interrupts our lives, do we react by wrestling in faith with his providence, seeking his love and trusting his fatherly care? As Mary and Joseph, the Shepherds, and the Magi learned, no life works out as expected, but the Lord is at work. This Christmas, take the hopes and fears of all your years to God. He will meet you. A few minutes on Facebook or in front of a TV and you quickly notice how hyper our descriptive language has become. A recipe has to be AMAZING!, a performance of a song is the MOST EPIC VERSION you have ever heard, and TV shows proclaim that the upcoming episode is the one THAT WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING! I understand the need for a product to stand out among others, but when carpet cleaners, stunt videos, and dog tricks are AWESOME we are left feeling flat when we speak of the awesome God of the Bible. The Christian books designed to challenge and grow our faith fall victim to this temptation as well and, of course, I am guilty of it too. How do we dial ourselves back and speak of things with an appropriate perspective? Michael Horton, professor of Apologetics at Westminster Seminary California, has recognized this trend and some of the heart issues behind it. He has written a book to help us process this dilemma. I greatly enjoyed reading his book on worship, A Better Way, and I look forward to reading his new book or-di-nar-y which is available today. Here is what Amazon says about it:  Radical. Crazy. Transformative and restless. Every word we read these days seems to suggest there’s a “next-best-thing,” if only we would change our comfortable, compromising lives. In fact, the greatest fear most Christians have is boredom—the sense that they are missing out on the radical life Jesus promised. One thing is certain. No one wants to be “ordinary.”
Yet pastor and author Michael Horton believes that our attempts to measure our spiritual growth by our experiences, constantly seeking after the next big breakthrough, have left many Christians disillusioned and disappointed. There’s nothing wrong with an energetic faith; the danger is that we can burn ourselves out on restless anxieties and unrealistic expectations. What’s needed is not another program or a fresh approach to spiritual growth; it’s a renewed appreciation for the commonplace. Far from a call to low expectations and passivity, Horton invites readers to recover their sense of joy in the ordinary. He provides a guide to a sustainable discipleship that happens over the long haul—not a quick fix that leaves readers empty with unfulfilled promises. Convicting and ultimately empowering,Ordinary is not a call to do less; it’s an invitation to experience the elusive joy of the ordinary Christian life. |
AuthorAnthony is the Director of Music and Worship at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Asheville, NC. Recommended WebsitesRecommended Music for WorshipKeith and Kristyn Getty
Sojourn Music Indelible Grace Stuart Townend Sovereign Grace Red Mountain Bifrost Arts Current BookshelfRecommended ReadingUnceasing Worship
Worship Matters With One Voice Look and Live Te Deum True Worshipers Rhythms of Grace The Worship Architect The Stories We Tell Music Though the Eyes of Faith Christ Centered Worship Archives
July 2016
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