Worships’ Deleted Scenes?

Isaac Watts never made a movie, something to do with living between 1674-1748 I guess, but in another sense he did, on a massive scale - it is just that his ‘screen’ was the worshippers’ imagination. Regarded by many as the father of the modern hymn, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross is just one of many great texts surviving and thriving to this very day. Long before movies were even thought of he could take the worshipper’s imagination by the hand and paint a scene with just a few well-chosen lines.

‘See from his head, his hands his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down. Did ‘ere such love or sorrow meet or wounds compose so rich a crown?’

I came across the following stanza by Isaac Watts that offers an interesting insight into his philosophy.

My dear Redeemer and my Lord I read my duty in Thy word But in Thy life the law appears Drawn out in living characters

Another way of putting it might be that alongside the truths, teachings, principles and prophecies of the Word, we need clips from ‘Jesus - The Movie’ [as it were] to run in our imaginations as we worship, the Man and the Message ‘drawn out in living characters’, animated, brought to life. Actually, many worship songs do this well already, but my point is this; it seems to me that we tend to replay only a handful of scenes, mostly the crucifixion and the resurrection, and of course the Nativity when it is in season.

Contains rarely seen footage What more could we be singing about Jesus? After all, this is the Man with 101 names from Advocate, Almighty, Alpha and Omega all the way to Word of God, and 45 Biblical ‘types’ from Adam to Zerubbabel. Actually, we are quite well served with songs featuring God’s names and titles, but the Gospel accounts play out scenes, dramas, characters, teachings and more in quick succession that alternately excite, intrigue, inform, move, convict, comfort and disturb. There must be endless ‘clips’ that could potentially be triggered in worshippers imaginations.

To my mind one of the greatest ‘un-sung’ categories is the parable. There are 57 of them [depending how you count], how often do our contemporary songs refer to them?

Here is an interesting example from Charles Wesley – be patient with the archaic language and see how soon you recognise the parable.

Pure the soul at first was made, Marked with God’s authentic sign, But the image is decayed, Wholly lost the stamp Divine: Lost himself the sinner lies, Sunk in sin and trampled down, Till the Lord of earth and skies, Finds and claims him for his own.

Then the sinner seeks thy grace, By the candle of the Word, Sweeps the house, the untightened place Waiting to receive his Lord: Still he searches after Thee, And when Thou discovered art, Feels the joyful ecstasy, Finds the image in his heart.

The parable of the Lost Coin of course, interpreted as an allegory of personal salvation.

Now, as a seasoned songwriter and song-selector I know that too much information in a worship song can be counter-productive, like over-loading a rowing boat; there comes a point when it ceases to function in the flotation department! Hymns of course can carry a much bigger payload. However, even if a song simply references a Bible story, character or incident in a successful way, it can carry a world of meaningful associations with it. Even if the worshipper has little prior knowledge of the story, it may be the ‘trailer’ that leads them to it.

A good recent example of referencing a Bible event [in this case an Old Testament event] is Matt Redman’s ‘Lord, Let Your Glory Fall’.

Lord, let Your glory fall As on that ancient day…….. Voices in unison Giving You thanks and praise Joined by the instruments And then Your glory came Your presence like a cloud Upon that ancient day The priests were overwhelmed Because Your glory came

Matt Redman ©

When we sing the song we remember the dedication of Solomon’s Temple, and when we read the story it triggers the memory of the song.

I suggested in my last blog that because one of the fundamental dynamics of worship is that of revelation leading to response, services and songs that are heavy on response and light on revelation can end up being ‘driven’ by platform and decibel energy rather than carried by the overflow of heart response to the salvation story.

Is Jesus waiting for us inside the story? One day last year I drafted a simple song that fell together quite quickly [for me!] but was immediately baffled by what I had – it felt and sounded like a worship song but not one of the words was addressed to God, in fact the verses described a Biblical scene and the bridge and chorus were Jesus speaking to us. On a whim I sang it at a song-writing workshop to illustrate a piece of ‘work-in-progress’ and it surprised me by suddenly coming to life. I finished it off and now use it regularly in the ‘flow’ of worship, and in the singing it often seems to me that Jesus is especially present, or could it be that as we ‘step into the story’ we meet him there. How about looking at it this way – Jesus is already ‘inside the story’ waiting for us to visit him there.

Are clips being screened at a worship service near you?

Graham Kendrick

Love each other

All the room was hushed and still And when the bowl was filled He stooped to wash their feet And when it was complete He said:

This is what I’m asking you to do This is why I’m kneeling here beside you This is what I want my church to be This is what I want the world to see – Who it is you follow

Love each other One another Love each other In the way that I have loved you Walk together And whatever comes Love each other In the way that I have loved you

Let the room be hushed and still Let us go to where he kneels And join him as he serves And learn his ways of love He said:

Graham Kendrick © Make Way Music www.grahamkendrick.co.uk