Purposeful Praise: Making Sense of Congregational Singing

What Child Is This: All Hail the … Baby?

It’s easy to forget just how incongruous Christ’s birth must have seemed at the time. The long-awaited Messiah, the son of David, the king with angel heralds—introduced as a helpless infant sleeping in a feeding trough! And of course that incongruity pales in comparison to the paradox that this human child was God himself.

The question-and-answer format used in “What Child Is This” serves to revive our sense of awe and wonder at Jesus’s identity. Each verse juxtaposes signs of Christ’s majesty with signs of his humble position. I’d like to focus on the carol’s second verse, which is packed with meaning.

Why lies he in such mean estate, where ox and ass are feeding?

Mean estate means a humble, lowly, or impoverished condition. This phrase brings to mind Mary’s hymn of praise (the Magnificat), in which she glorifies God for singling her out for blessing: “he has looked on the humble estate of his servant” (Luke 1:48). It also brings to mind Paul’s meditation on Christ’s humility: Jesus, “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:6–7). (More on this later.)

Good Christian, fear; for sinners here the silent Word is pleading.

In normal syntax, this sentence might run something like this: “Fear, Good Christian, because the silent Word is pleading for sinners!” The Word refers to Christ, identified as the “ultimate truth” sought by Greek philosophers—though they conceived of the Word as an impersonal force. In his very personal role as the mediator between God and his people, Christ pleads our case before God’s judgment seat (Rom. 8:34). And what does Jesus plead? He pleads for God to show us mercy because he (Jesus) has satisfied God’s law on our behalf. This is why, even as a speechless baby, the then-silent Word was pleading for sinners by his righteous life.

Christ’s accomplishment should inspire fear, in the sense of reverential awe of God.

Nails, spear, shall pierce him through; the cross be borne for me, for you …

Going back to Philippians 2, “And being found in human form, [Christ] humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (v. 8). Becoming human wasn’t enough, becoming a helpless baby wasn’t enough, even becoming a poverty-stricken, homeless baby wasn’t enough. Jesus came to endure the most shameful death imaginable.

And now we come to the answer to the question posed in the first line of this verse: the reason for Christ’s “mean estate,” the explanation for the incongruity of God the Word as a human baby destined to be crucified, is that he bore all these things out of love “for me, for you.”

Hail, hail the Word made flesh, the babe, the son of Mary.

Our response is decreed by Philippians 2: “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (v. 9–11). In the last line of the carol’s second verse, as in the last lines of the other two verses, we urge creation to join this chorus.

This blog was written by Corrie Schwab

Purposeful Praise: Making Sense of Congregational Singing

O Come, O Come Emmanuel: It’s All in the Name

Since (at latest) the eighth century, Christian churches have been using a set of call-and-response chants known as the “O Antiphons” during the Advent season. Now, if you’re like me, you’re probably wondering whether the O Antiphons come after the N Antiphons. But “O” in this case doesn’t signify a letter of the alphabet; rather, it’s a one-letter word that indicates direct address. Each chant addresses Christ using a title related to an Old Testament prophesy of the Messiah’s coming. For instance, the final chant begins with “O Emmanuel.”

The original seven Latin chants are still recited in Catholic churches during Advent, but many centuries ago five of them were converted into the hymn we know as “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” with the verses rearranged to put Emmanuel first.

“O come, O come, Emmanuel” makes a great first line (and a great title) because it’s a play on words. Since Emmanuel means God with us, the first line is essentially calling on God-with-us to come to us: the answer is in the request. The name Emmanuel first appears in the prophesy of Isaiah 7:14: “The Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

The hymn’s second verse begins “O come, O come, thou Lord of might” and goes on to highlight Christ’s identity as God the majestic lawgiver. Lord in English (and the corresponding dominus in Latin) is usually used to translate two of God’s names: his title Adonai, which indicates his sovereignty and power, and his name Yahweh, which declares his self-sufficiency. The Latin version of our hymn actually uses the word Adonai. The prophesy in view, however, seems to be Isaiah 33:22, where Lord is a translation of Yahweh: “For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our king; he will save us.”

The third verse calls Christ “Rod of Jesse.” Rod here means shoot or branch: “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit” (Isaiah 11:1). But the English translation also lets us envision the rod as something that can physically beat down Satan’s tyranny. Jesse, of course, was King David’s father, so this title indicates that Christ is the heir of David, rightful king of God’s people. By referring to Jesse rather than David, though, Isaiah not only states that the Messiah will be David’s heir, but also suggests that he will be at least as important as David.

The fourth verse refers to Christ as Dayspring and highlights his role as comforter. Dayspring is a delightfully picturesque word for the dawn, and the rest of the verse reflects Isaiah 9:2: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.”

The fifth and final verse begins “O come, thou Key of David,” and asks Christ to bring us safely home. Key of David refers to Isaiah 22:22, where Isaiah prophesies about God’s servant, a man named Eliakim: “I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.” A further reference to the key of David in Revelation 3:7 makes it clear, however, that Eliakim prefigures Christ, “the holy one, the true one,” who has ultimate authority over who enters God’s house.

The refrain at the end of each verse switches from addressing Christ to addressing Israel (i.e., God’s people): “Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.” Again, calling Christ Emmanuel reminds us that he is already with us even as we ask him to come. Indeed, the season of Advent brings into sharp focus the already-not-yet state of our Christian life: we anticipate Christ’s second coming even while we remember how he already arrived and redeemed us, just as we long to fully experience God’s kingdom even while we know we’re already living in it.

And what gives us assurance that Christ will come again and fulfill all the promises about him? It’s in his nature—in his very name.

This blog was written by Corrie Schwab

Sermon Follow Up: Why Read the Bible

What are some things you might do every day or nearly every day in the coming year? Eat? Brush your teeth? Exercise? Listen to music? Watch TV (youtube, netflix)? Read (books, blogs, email, facebook, twitter)?

This past Sunday I preached on 2 Timothy 3:14-17, “Why Read the Bible?”, encouraging all Proclamation members to develop (or continue) the habit of daily reading the Bible in 2016 using the same Bible reading plan: the discipleship journal through the Bible in a year plan.

The Bible is worth reading. It is worthy of your time.

In 2 Timothy 3 we learn that we can benefit from reading the Bible in at least three ways:

1. The Bible is God’s appointed means of saving us and making us more like Jesus.

…and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. -2 Timothy 3:15

2. The Bible is God’s appointed means of speaking to his people.

All Scripture is breathed out by God…-2 Timothy 3:16

3. The Bible is God’s appointed means of equipping us for every good work.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. -2 Timothy 3:16-17

I would encourage all of you to join us in using the same plan to read the Bible in 2016.

WHY USE THIS PLAN? 

1. Community
It will enable us all to read from the same passages in the Bible at the same time and we can learn together and ask our questions together and share with one another what we are learning. We can also incorporate passages into our gathered worship services on Sundays.

2. Variety
This plan has you reading from the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Gospels every day throughout the year.

3. Flexibility
This plan is easy to customize. You can use anywhere from 1 to 4 of the bookmarks and take from 1 to 4 years to read through the Bible. This allows everyone, even the smallest child, to participate.
If you can read, you can begin this plan (the Gospels bookmark is the shortest). You can also read to your children, perhaps using a bookmark as part of your family worship.

4. Buffer Days
Each month has only 25 readings, so you can miss days and not fall behind.

5. Don’t use this plan if you already have a plan that you are using and that has worked well for you.

HOW TO USE THIS PLAN

1. Make a plan: having a time and place to read each day will help.

2. Dig: Read the passages for each day

3. Digest: Think and pray about what you are reading
    It may help to journal or write down a verse or thought each day.Write down any questions           you have of the text (anything you don’t understand).                                                                         Ask/answer these questions:

    What does it teach about God (Father, Son, Spirit)?

    What does it each about me/people?

    How should I respond (repent, believe, praise, thanks, worship, etc)?

    Who can I tell?

4. Declare: (begin talking with others about what you are learning)

5. Delight:

More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. -Psalm 19:10

WHY READ THE BIBLE?

Our aim is not to be successful in a new year’s resolution or simply complete a plan or check of a box. It is not to simply finish.

Our aim is to feed our faith as we seek God in his word. It is to be made more like Jesus and hear God speak and be equipped for every good work. I hope you will join us!

My First Year As Your Pastoral Intern

I thought it would be good, coming up to the end of my first year of my internship at Proclamation Presbyterian Church, to take a few moments to give some reflections on my first year.

It goes without saying, although I've said it before and I'll say it again, I am overwhelmingly grateful for the opportunity to serve Christ's church here at Proclamation. When I finished my under-grad degree at Lancaster Bible College in the May of 2014, I was in a complete daze. My brother Peter passed away less than a month before, I had a degree but a Bachelor of Science in Bible is a pretty useless degree, practically speaking. I had no plan, no idea where to go or what to do next, I was physically and emotionally emptied, wondering what the Lord had next for me. I had no idea that by the end of that summer, through the love, support, and guidance of men like Dr. Michael Rogers at Westminster PCA and our own Troy De Bruin that I would be enrolled in Covenant Theological Seminary in St Louis, would be taken “under care” of the Susquehanna Valley Presbytery, and would be serving, at the time, as a part-time unpaid pastoral intern at Proclamation. I was grateful and energized, excited to be able to further my education, serve my local church body, and to have the guidance and accountability of the presbytery over me. Then, most unlooked for and unexpectedly to me, talks began circulating about making my internship a full-time paid internship beginning in January of this year. I would have never thought that I would be working in full time ministry less than a year after finishing my under-grad degree, but the Lord God seems to be full of surprises!

As Troy and I sat down at the beginning of the year, we laid out a pretty aggressive outline for what my internship should look like. We modeled this largely upon Kevin DeYoung's internship program at University Reformed Church. The outline included a lot of reading and a lot of book reports. Of course, Troy and I did not account for the fact that URC was a well established church with long established ministries already in place. Needless to say, while our outline was not completely laid to waste, the tasks of working full time for a young church and beginning a seminary program sort of “got in the way” of our internship outline. 

Personally, I do not consider this veering from the internship outline a loss. In the past year, I have had an experience in ministry that most seminary students will never have. It seems I've been able to have my hands in many different pots as the ministry of Proclamation has grown. Everything from planning our weekly worship services to helping launch a children and youth ministry, helping to teach and train men for leadership roles in our church, sitting in on session meetings, helping to plan and facilitate our first congregational meeting, memorizing and blogging my way through the Westminster Shorter Catechism, preaching for the first time, sitting in on new-membership interviews, being involved in the organization of Proclamation into a particular congregation of the Presbyterian Church of America, I count it all a great and wonderful blessing to have the Lord allow me to be involved in so many different aspects of Christian ministry. The Lord has and is doing amazing things through the body of believers at Proclamation and I thank God often for this amazing opportunity.

I also praise and thank God that he brought me to this particular body of believers. The community at Proclamation is a beautiful, loving, and supportive community who, I believe, is truly united around the gospel of Jesus Christ. When I read in the book of Acts about how the early Christians shared in every aspect of their lives, I'm encouraged at how our little church reflects this spirit. We have shared in times of great joy, great growth, and especially great sorrow and grief. It seems that in the life of our young church, we've had to endure the entire range of trials, tribulations, and joys that any large church would face. And I count it a blessing to serve this congregation in all of these circumstances. 

The support, both financially and spiritually, that I've received this first year is overwhelming. I could never repay all of you for the love and support I've received. I could never express the deep-seated gratitude that I truly feel. I praise God often for you all. The Lord God truly is building his church, both here in Mount Joy and globally, and I pray that you all agree, it is a tremendous privilege and honor to be part of such a great and eternal work. 

Sermon Follow Up

I closed the sermon this past Sunday by quoting (with some minor edits) from a sermon by Dr. S. M. Lockridge (1913-2000) entitled “That’s My King”:

Visuals set to the audio of the famous sermon "Seven Way King" as spoken by Dr. S.M. Lockridge. The audio is slightly edited for a better flow in the video. The music in the background was performed live by the GCC band while the video played on the screens. It then led directly into the worship song "Here is Our King" (To see the performance in it's entirety go here: http://www.gccwired.com/mediaplayer/playeropener.asp?id=478 ) Created entirely using After Effects with footage from the movie "The Passion of the Christ". The video took 30 hours to create plus around 6 hours of rendering. The final After Effects project file totaled well over 600 layers. By popular demand I have enabled downloading of this video. This is for personal, non-commercial use only. Please contact me before using for any other means. If you would like to download this video without the live band underneath, that version can be found here: http://vimeo.com/10485795

Transcript of the original below (HT: David Reimer):

“My King” – Dr. S.M. Lockridge

My King was born King.

The Bible says He’s a Seven Way King.
He’s the King of the Jews — that’s a racial King.
He’s the King of Israel — that’s a national King.
He’s the King of righteousness.
He’s the King of the ages.
He’s the King of Heaven.
He’s the King of glory.
He’s the King of kings
and He is the Lord of lords.

Now that’s my King. Well I wonder if you know Him.
Do you know Him?

Don’t try to mislead me.
Do you know my King?

David said the Heavens declare the glory of God,
and the firmament showeth His handiwork.
My King is the only one whom there are no means of measure can define His limitless love.
No far seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shoreless supplies.
No barriers can hinder Him from pouring out His blessing.

Well, well,
He’s enduringly strong.
He’s entirely sincere.
He’s eternally steadfast.
He’s immortally graceful.
He’s imperially powerful.
He’s impartially merciful.
That’s my King.

He’s God’s Son.
He’s the sinner’s savior.
He’s the centerpiece of civilization.
He stands alone in Himself.
He’s august.
He’s unique.
He’s unparalleled.
He’s unprecedented.
He’s supreme.
He’s pre-eminent.

Well, He’s the loftiest idea in literature.
He’s the highest personality in philosophy.
He’s the supreme problem in higher criticism.
He’s the fundamental doctrine of true theology.
He’s the cardinal necessity of spiritual religion.
That’s my King.

He’s the miracle of the age.
He’s the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him.

Well, He’s the only one able to supply all of our needs simultaneously.
He supplies strength for the weak.
He’s available for the tempted and the tried.
He sympathizes and He saves.
He’s strong God and He guides.
He heals the sick.
He cleanses the lepers.
He forgives sinners.
He discharges debtors.
He delivers the captives.
He defends the feeble.
He blesses the young.
He serves the unfortunate.
He regards the aged.
He rewards the diligent and He beautifies the meek.
Do you know Him?

Well, my King is a King of knowledge.
He’s the wellspring of wisdom.
He’s the doorway of deliverance.
He’s the pathway of peace.
He’s the roadway of righteousness.
He’s the highway of holiness.
He’s the gateway of glory.
He’s the Master of the mighty.
He’s the Captain of the conquerors.
He’s the Head of the heroes.
He’s the Leader of the legislators.
He’s the Overseer of the overcomers.
He’s the Governor of governors.
He’s the Prince of princes.
He’s the King of kings and He’s the Lord of lords.

That’s my King. Yeah. Yeah.
That’s my King. My King, yeah.

His office is manifold.
His promise is sure.
His light is matchless.
His goodness is limitless.
His mercy is everlasting.
His love never changes.
His word is enough.
His grace is sufficient.
His reign is righteous.
His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

Well. I wish I could describe Him to you,
but He’s indescribable.
He’s indescribable. Yeah!

He’s incomprehensible.
He’s invincible.
He’s irresistible.

I’m trying to tell you,
the heavens of heavens cannot contain Him,
let alone a man explain Him.
You can’t get Him out of your mind.
You can’t get Him off of your hand.
You can’t outlive Him and you can’t live without Him.

Well, Pharisees couldn’t stand Him,
but they found out they couldn’t stop Him.
Pilate couldn’t find any fault in Him.
The witnesses couldn’t get their testimonies to agree.
Herod couldn’t kill Him.
Death couldn’t handle Him and the grave couldn’t hold Him.

That’s my King. Yeah!

He always has been and He always will be.
I’m talking about He had no predecessor
and He’ll have no successor.
There was nobody before Him
and there’ll be nobody after Him.
You can’t impeach Him
and He’s not gonna resign.
That’s my King! That’s my King!

Thine, Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory.
Well, all the power belongs to my King.
We’re around here talking about black power and white power and green power,
but it’s God’s power. Thine is the power.

Yeah.
And the glory.
We try to get prestige and honor and glory for ourselves,
but the glory is all His. Yes.
Thine is the Kingdom
and the power and the glory,
forever and ever
and ever
and ever.

How long is that?
And ever and ever and ever and ever.
And when you get through with all of the forevers,
then, Amen.