Newest FREE Cardiphonia Record Resets Old Ascension Hymns

Those of us that are part of the retuned hymn movement speak in our more internal discussions about the various "waves" of the movement, and Bruce Benedict at Cardiphonia certainly has continued to be one of the leading forces in the second or third wave.  Cardiphonia has now established a pattern of "flash mob" compilation recordings, gathering various artists from various parts of the country with various stylistic bents.  Their latest album, out this week, is Hymns for the Ascension, centering on that important but under-appreciated event of Jesus' departure from earth to His rightful seat of power and advocacy in heaven (check out my post about why the Ascension is really, really important).  In my opinion, the songwriting and production quality of the Cardiphonia compilations continues to get better and better.  

For churches that don't follow the liturgical year, is this album of any value?  Are any of these songs usable?  Certainly.  For folks in those contexts, I'd encourage you to think about how the ascension highlights aspects of the gospel we tend to talk about less.  When we sing the gospel, we most often talk about the cross, atonement, forgiveness, and sacrifice.  But the beauty of the gospel goes deeper.  The ascension highlights these aspects:

• Jesus as our priestly mediator
• Jesus as our advocate, "pleading the merit of His blood" before the Judge
• Jesus as Ruler and King

 The second point is especially gripping to me.  Jesus prays for us!  He goes to bat for us before the Father.  Imagine the kind of ministry that would take place among our people if we sung about that more often!  So, you don't need to be "liturgical" to make use of this album; we don't need an ascension-themed Sunday to get mileage out of singing about the ascension.  

I will also say that the quality, artistry, and even quirks of this album (my song included) shouldn't take away our ability as worship leaders and planners, to do the job of "listening through" the songs to hear their basic melodic and chord structure.  Sometimes, we get so caught up in the production that quite singable songs sound unsingable.  That's the perennial tension of the "recorded product."  Nevertheless, many of these songs are congregationally friendly in a surprisingly diverse amount of worship contexts.  I will hopefully be incorporating at least one of these even in our traditional service (Majorins' beautiful "God Ascended").

Best yet, it's FREE, and any donations go to Jobs for Life.  Check it out!  (I'll post on my song and behind-the-scenes composition choices soon.)

In all this liturgy-hype, we need to remember that liturgy isn't the answer

"Nicodemus came to Jesus by night" (Photo: Matson Photo Service)

In many ways, "liturgy" is all the rage right now. Our postmodern context has effectively rooted out our roots, and the emerging newest adult generation (perhaps the first group of evangelicals to have grown up in the purely "contemporary" church) is feeling the fragmentation and ahistorical nature of much of evangelicalism, especially as it pertains to worship.  And we want our roots back.

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Is the Christian Calendar a Biblical Idea?

I’m a latecomer to the church calendar year.  I didn’t grow up in a “liturgical” context.  The worship of my youth was dynamic, free-church-style evangelical worship—a block of songs, special music accompanying an offering, and the sermon, in a nutshell.  The first time I was exposed to the Church year was in college.  It seemed foreign and unbiblical.  (Well, maybe not unbiblical, but at least extra-biblical.)  It seemed to be “unnecessary tradition” with little to no value. 

My conversion to being an observer and proponent of the Christian calendar (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost) initially came not through biblical arguments but through experiencing it.  Its fruit began to bloom in my life and spirituality.  However, it’s still important to ask if there is a biblical case to be made.  There is no explicit command to observe the Christian year, nor does the Bible, at first glance, seem to give us much of an outline for worship, either weekly or annually.  Still, I now believe that the biblical evidence strongly compels us to consider the Christian year as something consonant with the heart of God for our worship.¹

The Old Testament Roots of the Christian Year²

When God first established the formal worship of His people (there were hints and glances prior, but worship was more informal and not necessarily “cultic” then³), He revealed a desire for there to be an annual cycle of worship.  In seeking His people’s holiness (Lev 11:45), God established a Law that would help them, on an individual level, to be personally set apart (Lev 17-22).  He established a sacrificial system to help the people see that personal holiness meant that atonement had to bridge the fellowship-gap between God and humanity (Lev 1-7, 16).  But God also made clear that He desired time to be set apart as His.  Leviticus 23-25 records God’s prescription for annual time-keeping:⁴

• Feast of Unleavened Bread / Passover – remembering and reenacting God’s salvation; a pilgrim festival
• Feast of Firstfruits – dedicating and celebrating the harvest as God’s
• Feast of Weeks / Feast of the Harvest / Pentecost – recognizing that God is provider of all things; a pilgrim festival
• Feast of Trumpets – call for a solemn assembly to prepare for the most sacred month, which includes the Day of Atonement
• Day of Atonement – a holy convocation where the people of God afflict themselves, seeking and receiving atonement through sacrifice
• Feast of Booths / Feast of Tabernacles – remembering and reenacting God’s redemption from Egypt, with special attention to Israel’s time in the wilderness

One other important piece to point out is how Sabbath covers over all these feasts and festivals as a meta-concept, which is why it is mentioned first in Leviticus 23.  As we look at the calendar, notice here the rhythms of preparation and fulfillment.  Notice also that the “high points” of the year center around sacrifice, atonement, salvation, and redemption (Passover, Day of Atonement).  The goal of the liturgical year in the Pentateuch appears to be to have the people of God retell, reenact, and even relive their salvation history.  Not only is it a symbolic recollection of past events, but also God intends that the people imbibe the year in such a way that the past becomes their present, their life.⁵  So, for the people of God in the Old Testament, worship not only had weekly rituals but annual ones. 

The New Testament Fulfillment of Old Testament Worship

It would seem to make sense, then, that if Christ is the fulfillment of all Old Testament worship and longing, if Christ is the substance to which the shadow pointed, worshipers would seek the continuation of such an annual worship-cycle through a Christological lens.  The question that is always debated is, Does Christ’s fulfillment mean the cessation of all these practices because they are fulfilled in Him, or does it mean that these practices are carried on reinterpreted and re-practiced now in Christ?  Ultimately, we probably can’t come down with a clear biblical “should” one way or the other.  There is gospel freedom to be shared here.  Still, let’s entertain an often understated motif in the Gospel of John that may nudge us toward the validity and benefit of observing an annual worship cycle centered around Jesus Christ.

John is unique among the gospel-writers because he wrote considerably later than Matthew, Mark, or Luke.  His vantage point and agenda are from an entirely different place than that of the synoptic Gospels.  Many scholars have noted that John’s writings, especially in Revelation, are loaded with liturgical content, and we may overlook just how liturgically-oriented John is in the first half of his Gospel.  John 2-4 centers around the them of the newness of Christ’s ministry⁶ with many worship-metaphors nestled in the text.  When Jesus turns water into wine, stressing the new joy He will bring, He does so with jars used for ceremonial washing (2:6).  He reveals Himself to be a new Moses, but instead of turning water into blood (a sign of judgment), He transforms it into wine (a sign of joy).  The metaphor turns on itself, though, because Jesus would later institute one of the most sacred acts of worship, the Lord’s Supper (the Passover fulfilled), a chief staple of which would be wine.  A few verses later, Jesus speaks rather cryptically about destroying and raising the temple (2:19), the center of worship.

John 3 and 4 are as “liturgically loaded” as the previous chapter.  Jesus has a conversation with Nicodemus about the new birth, immediately followed by teaching and experiences with John the Baptist all centered around baptism and ceremonial washing (3:22-36).  Then, tucked in Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman is a theological debate about worship and place (4:19-24), revealing a “new universalism” of the mission of God going beyond the walls of Israel to the rest of the world. 

All this merely sets the stage for the stunning liturgical revelation in chapters 5-10. We need first-century Jewish lenses to clearly see what is happening here, because John is making radical observations about Christ as the fulfillment of Judaism, particularly the Jewish feasts and festivals.  Chapter 5 begins with Jesus’ Sabbath-healing and subsequent tussle with the Jewish leaders.  Just as Sabbath opened up and became the framework for the feasts recorded in Leviticus 23-25, so Sabbath frames what follows in John.  This is not a coincidence. 

Chapter 6 opens with an overt reference to the fact that the events following were taking place as “the Passover, the Feast of the Jews, was at hand” (6:4).  So when Jesus teaches the people, in this context, by saying, “I am the bread of life” (6:35, ESV), this is no mere illustrative metaphor.  He is claiming that He Himself is the fulfillment of the Festival of Unleavened Bread.  Chapter 7 opens by jumping to the reality that “the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand” (7:2, ESV).  Part of this festival involved a week-long water-drawing ritual, culminating on the eighth day, when the water ceremony wouldn’t be enacted.⁷  It is at this dramatic climax of the festival where Jesus makes another stunning proclamation:

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” (7:37-38, ESV)

Similarly, the Feast of Booths also contained a lighting ceremony in which four large lamps were lit to accompany joyful singing.  On the last night, the lamps were purposefully not lit in order to stress Israel’s waiting for the fullness of salvation to come.⁸  On this night, Jesus stands and says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (8:12, ESV).  Again, Christ is not merely making powerful illustrations; He is claiming His rightful place as the central figure of the worship calendar of the people of God.  Jesus is the One to whom the water and light point.  Christ is the fulfillment of the Feast of Booths.

Chapter 10 moves the reader into the Festival of Dedication (10:22), in which is celebrated the rededication of the temple (164 B.C.) after its desecration during the intertestamental period.  Jesus again plays a trump card on the meaning and significance of this festival by claiming the utmost authority (10:30, 38) as Israel’s true Liberator, above Judas Maccabeus, who was looked at by some Jews as a Messianic figure leading up to the rededication of the temple.  Jesus will soon reveal, too, that He is the true Temple. 

At this point, it has to be acknowledged that while it is probably not John’s intent to unroll for the reader a liturgical map of Old Testament practices re-interpreted in Christ, this conclusion is certainly a byproduct of the discussion in chapters 5-10.  The liturgical lessons contained in here are the “residue,” if you will, of John’s main points.  Here we see Jesus claiming that He must be the center of the annual worship cycle of the people of God. 

The Christian Year and the Centrality of Christ

Putting this all together, several principles can be derived from these biblical passages (and others):

• God values annual cycles and seasons of worship for His people.
• God desires that those cycles and seasons ebb and flow to the rhythms of sacrifice, atonement, salvation, and redemption.
• In Christ, we find all those themes fulfilled.

Would it not make sense, then, that it might be most wise for Christians to embrace these values and ideas in the form of a worship calendar centered around the person and work of Jesus?  Well, this happens to be what the Christian calendar precisely is.  In the Church year, we retell, reenact, and relive the life of Christ.  We walk through His birth and early years (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany).  We journey through his life of ministry, temptation, and prayer (Lent).  We live in His resurrection and ascension (Easter), and we abide in His Spirit’s presence until He comes (Pentecost).  We relive our salvation history in Christ.  This all seems very consonant with the heart of God for worship, and it illustrates in a holistic manner the nature of how the Old Testament and New Testament work in tandem to develop a robust theology of worship.  So is the Christian liturgical year a biblical idea?  Yes, I believe it is.⁹  

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¹It is worth noting that, in my own Reformed/Presbyterian tradition, there is a tension around this issue.  American Presbyterians claim a heritage from (with a broad brush) two different worship streams: (a) a “low church” Puritan stream, which reacted strongly against its Roman Catholic and Anglican context by arguing that every Sunday is a “holy day” and that no one day or season should take prominence over another (it is this stream of thought that has largely influenced evangelical worship in the United States, well beyond Reformed traditions); (b) a “high church” stream in the Reformed tradition of Anglicanism and “high Presbyterian” worship.  It should be obvious that I’m an advocate more for the latter.  While I sympathize with the Puritan outlook on worship, my contention is that they were overly reactionary, and, in an effort to “purify” the Church from abuses, they threw the liturgical baby out with the bathwater.

²It should be acknowledged here that presupposed in this line of argumentation is a more covenantal view of the continuity of God’s redemptive plan between the Old and New Testaments.  Those who do not share this presupposition will find the argument from the Old Testament as a whole unconvincing.  Because I believe in the continuity of God’s covenants and that they were all unveiling one plan of redemption in Jesus Christ, it follows that there can be value for Christian worship in observing the rhythms and patterns of Old Testament worship. 

³Some scholars speak of a proto- or primitive cult observable in the worship of Abraham (e.g. the altar in Gen 22) or even the animal sacrifice of Adam and Eve for clothing (Gen 3:21), but I am speaking of the overt, formalized worship practice for Israel recorded in Scripture.

⁴See also Ex 23:10-19; 34:18-26; Num 28-29; Deut 16:1-17.

⁵This is the rich meaning behind the New Testament word anamnesis, which is often overlooked when we read “remembrance” in English (e.g. 1 Cor 11:24-25).

⁶The following references to themes of newness are taken from Craig Blomberg, Jesus and the Gospels (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1997).

⁷Blomberg, Jesus, 296.

⁸Ibid., 297.

⁹It is crucial, especially in discussions of worship, to be honest about our methodology in the way we arrive at conclusions about what is “biblical.”  Often times, people talk past each other without realizing that some are applying a more literalist or rigidly prescriptive paradigm on how one arrives at “biblical” conclusions, while others assume, as I do, that there exists liturgical merit in exegeting theological values and propositions from the text in such discussions.  A must-read on this subject is Michael A. Farley, “What is ‘Biblical’ Worship? Biblical Hermeneutics and Evangelical Theologies of Worship,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 51/3 (September 2008).

What is Biblical Worship?

The Difficulty of “Biblical Worship” Discussions

I’ve been in conversation with some trusted friends over the issue of “biblical worship” and how many people (including us) toss that phrase around, often meaning very different things.  The concern is that people use the Bible to talk about worship without admitting that we approach the Text with different methodologies in place that color what we pull out of it.  When well-meaning Bible thinkers exegete Scripture and come out with defenses for quite different worship practices, we need to pause and ask the meta-questions about how we’re approaching the text, which texts we’re approaching, and why some texts are informative to the topic while others are not. 

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Worship Reading Goals for 2012

Worship leaders should be worship readers, so here’s my ambitious list for 2012 (off the heels of what I have read in 2011).  These are the books I want to focus on in the field of worship, but they won’t be the only things I read.  In fact, I want to take seriously C. S. Lewis’s admonishment to read one old book for every new one.  These are all relatively new books, and though I won’t read as many old books, I hope to read a few (Bradshaw, below, will open me up to some primary source material that will take me into the old stuff).  I also hope to read one or two works of classic literature and am open to recommendations.  Literature always stirs my soul and imagination and often helps me think about well-worn issues in new ways.

John Jefferson Davis, Worship and the Reality of God: An Evangelical Theology of Real Presence (2010)

I’ve actually read this one already, but I plan on revisiting it, outlining it, and imparting its wisdom to others.  In fact, our Worship, Music, & Arts team at Cherry Creek will be discussing it at our retreat this January.

Simon Chan, Liturgical Theology (2009)

I’m about half way through this book already, so it will likely be my first finish in 2012.  It is blowing my face off.  Its dialogue is so different from what evangelicals typically talk about, and it really lifts up a high view of gathered, corporate worship.  It is also heavily footnoted (which I love) and is therefore opening me up to a host of resources, especially to choice worship-thinkers outside of the evangelical tradition.

Jean-Jacques von Allmen, Worship: Its Theology and Practice (1965)

Both Davis and Chan (above) have cited this resource enough times that I feel it’s important enough to dig up.  It’s from a Reformed perspective, but it takes some surprising turns, I believe, such that it wouldn’t sound like the standard fare from Reformed worship writers (not that they’re bad!).

Edward Kilmartin, Christian Liturgy: Theology and Practice (1988)

A Roman Catholic liturgiologist who will especially inform me in the area of Worship and the Trinity.  Chan references this book a fair amount.

Paul Bradshaw, The Search for the Origins of Christian Worship: Sources and Methods for the Study of Early Liturgy (2002)

I’m looking forward to this book being a resource of primary material regarding early Christian worship and its roots in Jewish synagogue worship.

Hilaire Belloc, “On Song,” from On Everything (1910)

I honestly can’t remember why I’ve flagged this essay to read, except that something else I read referenced it and compelled me to check it out.  Free download from Google Books.

Paul Westermeyer, Te Deum: The Church and Music (1998)

This one won’t be read from cover to cover but will be referenced heavily, especially as it pertains to traditional worship music and liturgy.  Bruce Benedict at Cardiphonia turned me on to this resource.

John Williamson Nevin, The Mystical Presence: A Vindication of the Reformed or Calvinistic Doctrine of the Holy Eucharist (1846)

I’m interested in understanding my Presbyterian/Reformed tradition better when it comes to the theology of the Lord’s Supper, and many have said that Nevin’s work is seminal.

Honorable mention (or, books on my radar that may either gain or lose traction on the journey to making the 2012 list): 

Robert W. Jenson, Systematic Theology, vol. 2, The Works of God (2001)

Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of the World (1997)

Alexander Schmemann, Introduction to Liturgical Theology (1966)

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Worship leaders & thinkers: What are you reading?  What will you read?  What has recently impacted your view, practice, and leadership of worship?  I'm very curious.

What is a Canticle?

We evangelicals interested in historic worship practices, traditions, and liturgies have a steep learning curve.  Part of that learning curve is a glossary of vocabulary words that pretty much feel like a foreign language (and there’s actually good reason for that…much old school worship lingo is Latin-based, not English-based).  From matins to Magnificat, from vespers to Nunc dimittis, we cautiously dip our toes in the water.  One of those Liturgese words is “canticle,” and I’ve found it particularly hard to understand what it is.  Upon reading Paul Westermeyer’s concise yet thorough definition below, I now understand why. 

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Worship and the Physical Body: The Earthen Vessels Symposium - Part 2

This is Part 2 of a blog symposium with Matt Anderson on his book Earthen Vessels.

[GO TO PART 1]

How We Analyze Disembodied Forms of Worship

This section puts Anderson at odds with much of the cutting edge thinking about online church, video feeds of preachers, and disembodied Christian “communities.”  I agree with his analysis (ultimately, that the aforementioned realities are inadequate, even wrong, and betray an inadequate biblical anthropology) and will only add a few things.  Anderson pokes at something very significant at the get-go when he talks about the “altar call” and the dominance of the act of evangelism in shaping evangelical worship.¹³  We can burrow down deeper, here.  Evangelical worship today has been shaped by the realities of the American frontier. 

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Worship and the Physical Body: The Earthen Vessels Symposium - Part 1

I have the privilege of contributing to a blog symposium, along with several other authors and bloggers, on Matt Anderson’s terrific book, Earthen Vessels: Why Our Bodies Matter to Our Faith.¹  Matt is a fellow Biola-grad, lover of Christ’s Church, and blogaholic over at Mere Orthodoxy and Evangel.  Even as I interact with the book, be sure to check Mere-O in a few days from this post to see Matt’s interaction with me.

The final chapter of the book, “The Body and the Church,” instead of focusing on ecclesiology (the study of the church), in general, zeroes in on doxology (the study of worship) in particular.  To structure the dialogue, let me first attempt to summarize the chapter in a thesis statement, along with his subsequent supporting arguments.  Anderson’s chief point is that the physical body matters to corporate worship.

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