7 minute read
Session Two
TWO
MONDAY | SEPTEMBER 5TH (LITURGY & SONG)
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You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel. And the Lord will cause his majestic voice to be heard. -Isaiah 30:29-30
Songs of Hope in a Time of War
JONI EARECKSON TADA
LIFE IS WAR. I wake up every day on the front lines, what with my 55 years of quadriplegia. But whether chronic pain sinks its jaws into my hip, or it’s simply another weary day of plain paralysis, I always strengthen my heart with a robust hymn.
It’s the way Jesus faced his suffering. There in the Upper Room, right after he broke bread with his disciples, “they sang a hymn, and went out to the Mount of Olives” (Matthew 26:30 ). Of all the times and places that God chose to have us remember his Son singing, it was when he was led to his death. This was the one horrible moment—recorded for posterity—when our Savior sang.
When your life feels like a battlefield; when bullets are zinging and you can barely catch your breath, turn to hymns that possess enough spiritual muscle to barge into your soul and shake awake a hopeful response. Hymns with lyrics that raise us onto a different plane spiritually, summoning us to remember our calling. A well-crafted song of suffering—filled with truths about life and God—has power to do that.
Hymns For War
Every fierce battle in life’s struggles has a corresponding hymn that can arouse hope and even joy. Songs of praise to God shore up our hearts, as well as the hearts of anyone who happens to be listening. There is something powerful— even supernatural—about watching a suffering believer sing.
I have seen this during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, especially among Ukrainians with disabilities and their families. Joni and Friends has joined with Galyna, our Ukrainian in-country partner, to evacuate over 430 special-needs families out of that war-torn land. Galyna is “working her network,” tracking down and rescuing disabled people out of harm’s way. And once these families are safely across the border in Poland, I have watched them disembark their buses, singing “Great is Thy Faithfulness” in Ukrainian! Such scenes bring me to tears. These exhausted refugees—encumbered by their own disabilities—should be despairing, but Jesus has transformed their lament into songs of victory.
Ukrainians with disabilities, however, are the people of Psalm 137:4 who cry out to God, “How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?” Displaced from their homes, neighborhoods, and loved ones in their desperate escape from war, they have literally left everything without the promise of a safe return. And still, they join hands and hearts in songs of praise to the Lord for delivering them safely across the border. Even now, as Joni and Friends organizes Family Retreats for the Ukrainian disabled and their loved ones, we are making sure they have plenty of times to sing at these events! And we’ll have lots of singing at our Warrior Getaways for Ukrainian soldiers who now must bear wounds from the conflict with Russia.
God’s people have been singing their way through war and suffering for ages. When the Ephesians were being persecuted and threatened with torture, Paul commanded them to encourage “one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart” (Ephesians 5:19). Paul himself takes his own advice when—bloodied, bruised, and shackled in jail—he boisterously sings a hymn at midnight, proving that spiritual songs are powerful ammunition for besieged Christians.
Ukrainian believers see themselves in the choir of Levites who marched onto the battlefield in front of Jehoshaphat’s troops singing, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever.” (2 Chronicles 20:21-22). Singing hymns of the faith in desperate times throws the devil into confusion, sending his hoards running.
Even so, when things look dark, most of us find it hard to sing. But that’s when it’s time to reach for a hymnal, flip to a stalwart, solid hymn and sing invigorating stanzas that foster hope and faith.
Yes, life is an unrelenting war, filled with doubts, disabilities, and death. So, remember your best defense in every assault is to “Sing and make melody with your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19). Be inspired by your brothers and sisters in Ukraine, for when you find there is no music left in your life, our Great Composer still has a melody orchestrated for you. Wait upon him. And then, sing his brave music on the battlefront! •
The pandemic has reminded us that life is fragile. There is so much about the future we do not know. Yet, we do know that all of us will face death. Unless Jesus returns first, it is the one certainty we can count on.
The historic creeds and catechisms of the church are honest about this reality. The Heidelberg Catechism of 1563 begins, "What is your only comfort in life and in death?" The answer is profound: "That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him." These are truths we must sing. That is why, in the providence of God, I am excited that I have been able to sing this song with my four daughters. It is a song that is honest about death, and that’s why I think it is a song that can remind us of our unshakeable hope. This song took over two years to complete. A couple friends and fellow songwriters, Jordan Kauflin and Matt Merker, brought me an idea for a hymn of hope. Little did we know that two other writers on our team, Matt Boswell and Matt Papa, were trying to write a song based on the first article of the Heidelberg Catechism, quoted above. We brought the two ideas together, and around the piano at our home in Northern Ireland, a new song was born: “Christ Our Hope in Life and Death.” Christianity that ignores the reality of death is utterly inauthentic. We need songs that are honest about the grave, for we have real hope to offer our troubled world. Though many believers have known sickness, grief, and loss in these difficult days, we can still sing with confidence, because we know the One who conquered the grave by his resurrection. We need not approach death crippled by fear. As this song reminds us, we can sing “Hallelujah”—because Christ himself is our hope in life and death.
—KEITH GETTY
SCHEDULE
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 6TH
7:30am....................................................... Exhibits Open l Ryman Hall C
9:00am-12:00pm....................................... Plenary Session 3 l Delta Ballroom Message from Paul Tripp Message from D.A. Carson Interviews with Mark Dever and Michael Oh
7:30pm-10:30pm....................................... Plenary Session 4 l Delta Ballroom Message from Shai Linne Interviews with Malcolm Guite, Blair Linne, Joan Murray, and Roberta Ahmanson Message from Jeremy Begbie Handel’s Messiah
