I’ve grown extremely frustrated with the church lately. Dissatisfied, really. Isaiah chapter 58 has really spoken to me in the last year. If God was enraged by Israel’s way of worshipping, empty and just for show, how much more frustrated is He with us? We have so many resources, and yet we do not share them with others. We invest in our buildings, in our programs, and our literal neighbours are living in mold-infested apartments. How did we get so disconnected? We ask God to heal us from our infirmities, and do nothing to prevent our neighbours from getting pneumonia. Then we get upset with Him for not answering our prayers, when we don’t even obey Him in the simplest of commandments. We’re spoiled. Christ died so we could have life, and we complain
about it.He is so gracious. He tells us exactly what we need to do in order for our lives to get better. To feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, love our families. It’s not that complicated, and yet it’s still so hard for us to grasp.
I realize that this song is not exactly something to lead people in singing. I also realize that it’s quite confrontational. I’m still not sure how to implement this song to enrich the worship experience of my community. All I know is that this is the song that God has placed on my heart.
One of the things that we talked about in this course was the important of reading Scripture for the sake of reading Scripture, not for the purpose of preaching on it. I know that what I have done with the lyrics of this song is far from what the Scriptures actually say. What I wanted to accomplish was to express the heart of this passage. There are so many emotions in this passage that are easy to miss. This passage is full of passion, despair, angry, fury, sadness, perseverance, direction, and hope. Scripture can speak for itself. Sometimes we just need to hear it in our own language for it to connect.
Father, I’m sorry that we so often fail to obey You.
Jesus, I thank You for Your blood that covers all sins, past, present, and future.
Spirit, strengthen us to live in Your will.
Jesus, I thank You for Your blood that covers all sins, past, present, and future.
Spirit, strengthen us to live in Your will.
5 comments:
Hillary! I loved your song. It made me think of a song by Jon Foreman (of Switchfoot - he's been doing some amazing solo work lately) called, "Instead of a Show." You can listen to it on his MySpace here:
http://www.myspace.com/jonforeman
I liked your phrasing a lot, because it was very different but flowed really well. Nice stuff!
Thanks so much!
When I told a friend of mine I was writing a song about justice-making, she wrote down a song that I should check out. I decided I would wait to listen to it, so that I didn't "taint" my thoughts. I just opened the note, and it's definitely "Instead of Show". Crazy, hey?
That IS crazy! You will like it, I think. Definitely follows the same idea pattern. I always enjoy discovering new music. And I definitely relate with your and Jon's theme in these songs. Where is our heart? Who's will are we feeding? Our own or God's?
Hillary, thanks for this. I responded in more detail via a Facebook message. Thanks for fighting for your life, and ours.
Hillary,
Great lyrics on this. My wife and I and our pastor have been drawn to Isaiah 57, 58 & 59 lately also. I totally feel the same as you expressed in your post. Must be a God thing!
Nice work!
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