Tonight, I listened to a talk N.T. Wright gave back in 2002 at Calvin College. Wright's take on life, theology, and spirituality have always challenged me to reevaluate whether I am living the Christ-life on God's terms or seeking to fabricate it on my own terms. Reading and hearing his perspective on Biblical worship in this setting was no different.
To hear the talk click Freedom and Framework, Spirit and Truth: Recovering Biblical Worship. To read the transcript, click here. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Blessings...
The poem below is entitled Quiet the Noise (Save Me). With this poem comes a specific context, so let me try to explain… When I hear people talk about how to “get saved” or how he/she needs to be “saved” it more often than not has a distinct connotation. It intimates an “Oh, that? Yeah I’ve done that” type of attitude. And with that I am starting to believe the experience of the Christ life gets short-circuited. With this little slip of the tongue a heart’s status is revealed.
Yes, there is a moment when we as Christ followers can look back and say, “God saved me!” To not do so in joy and awe would trivialize the glory and power of what Chris
t did on the cross. However, the power of His death and resurrection shouldn’t be relegated to that moment a person is “saved.” His death and resurrection hold the power of God that keeps saving us. It’s all throughout the New Testament. Paul talks about “working out our salvation (Phil 2:13-14).” And Peter calls the churches to rid themselves of “all malice, and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind… so that you may grow up in your salvation (1 Peter 1:1-2:3).” When I see these passages I realize how we limit His work.
In general when a person is “saved from” something that means that they are “saved for” a purpose or “saved to” someone. It’s the logical progression. Imagine a firefighter saving a baby from a burning home and afterwards the firefighter leaving the baby in the yard; how would you feel? That action of the baby being left in the yard is almost offensive to our natural sensibility. I’m thinking the stinking firefighter needs to find the kids parents and hand the baby over to them. It’s only natural! Right?
The Biblical call is to be transformed. We are being saved more from our sinful nature every day, and thus we are being saved TO know Christ more FOR the purpose of revealing Him to rest of His creation… daily! Jesus called us to make disciples – life long followers; He did not call us to make just converts.
So this reality that I need Him to save me more TO Himself today than I did yesterday is the context for this lyric. It's been my prayer lately, feel free to make it your own...
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Quiet the noise and everything that I’ve let crowd You out.
Quiet my soul and take the stage that should be solely Yours.
Quiet the lies plaguing my mind, the whispers that seem to shout.
Quiet my soul and take the place that You deserve O Lord.
For I long to see You as You are,
and not as I’ve conceived.
And I long to hear Your voice that brings
Your presence and Your fear.
So I sing, Hosanna, I am Yours.
So I sing, Hosanna, save me more.
So I sing, Hosanna, I am Yours.
So I sing, Hosanna, save me Lord.
A friend sent me this lecture from Charles Finney. For those who struggle with loving God simply, this is a good reminder. Remember Finney lived in a time where the language was less casual and so the vernacular will feel cumbersome, but it's worth the read. Click here...
Tonight, I listened to a talk N.T. Wright gave back in 2002 at Calvin College. Wright's take on life, theology, and spirituality have always challenged me to reevaluate whether I am living the Christ-life on God's terms or seeking to fabricate it on my own terms. Reading and hearing his perspective on Biblical worship in this setting was no different.
