This week, Josh preached from Luke 12:13-21. It was also Trinity Sunday, which is the day on the Church calendar that we make a point to acknowledge, contemplate, and appreciate the fact that God has been revealed to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--Three, yet One. Our songs were gathered with the Trinity in mind. Below, you’ll find the list of the songs and artists. Clicking the song titles will take you to the lyrics. Below the songs, there is an example of one way you might think of these songs in light of this week's theme. If you want to talk about any of these, feel free to comment or email me at jamie@ubcwaco.org.
Songs
House of God Forever by Jon Foreman
Wild One by Jameson McGregor
Fall Afresh by Jeremy Riddle
How They Fit In:
There are many ways to think about the significance of songs and the way they fit together–-this is simply one way you can look at these songs in light of this week’s theme.
Holy, Holy, Holy: This song presents the tension between God being glorious, such that there is no one else that stands on equal footing with God, and the fact that God is both One and Three. This is most apparent at the end of the third stanza when "there is none beside Thee" and "God in Three persons, blessed Trinity" are placed side by side. There are various ways to think about the word "holy," but perhaps one of the most straight forward, when speaking of God, is the idea that God is Wholly Other. This means that what we can know about God is fundamentally limited--even though God created us in way that we can be in relationship with God. The mystery of the Trinity is incoherent in terms of human reason, but it would be presumptuous to assume that we have the capacity to map out and comprehend One who is Wholly Other.
Just A Closer Walk With Thee: We sang this song to focus on God the Son. In Jesus, God crossed the boundary between being Wholly Other and experiencing existence as a human. Though humans cannot hope to ascend to the heights of God and understand everything there is to know about God, God came to us and showed us who God is in a "language" that we can understand. Aside from showing us what God is like, Jesus called us to be a particular kind of people--people of love. With this in mind, we sang this not only to acknowledge Jesus as God, but to ask for help in being people who are more formed into His likeness.
House of God Forever: We sang this song to focus on God the Father. Though God is Wholly Other, God cares for us. Though there is much about God that we cannot understand, God fully understands us, and knows how to meet our needs.
Wild One: I shared a reading from N.T. Wright's For All God's Worth before we played this song, and I think his words sum up the place of this song better than I can articulate. You can read the selection here.
Fall Afresh: We sang this song to focus on God the Holy Spirit. Though God is Wholly Other, God has come to dwell among us in the Holy Spirit, transforming us into something new, and connecting us to one another and to Godself. We also sang this song to look over our shoulder at last weeks' songs. This is what we said: When we come to Pentecost each year, we are celebrating the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts, thanking God for blessing the Church with the Gift of God's continual presence. We are also reminding ourselves that this Gift has been given to us as well. In reminding ourselves of this, we are hoping for a renewed awareness of the Spirit's presence. We shouldn't reduce Pentecost to a yearly refilling station for caring about the Spirit, but we also should not pretend that we live lives that are fully aware of the Spirit at all times. Pentecost is a time to remember that we are a people who have been given a Gift, and to live into that reality.
Doxology: We close our time together each week with this proclamation that God is worthy of praise from every inch of the cosmos.
-JM