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Philosphizing Disgrace –Bob Dylan

Ecclesiates 1:9-14

That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one might say, “See this, it is new”? Already it has existed for ages Which were before us. There is no remembrance of earlier things; And also of the later things which will occur, There will be for them no remembrance I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.  I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind. 

Solomon wrote the book of ecclesiates toward the end of his life.  The fresh words of proverbs seem to lose some of their shine as he recounts the days of leadership and kingdom building.  It’s easy to see in his writing, Solomon is worn out.  There is a bitterness contained in his words to his children.  It would appear the balance of wisdom, following God, and building a worldly kingdom with 700 wives has taken its toll and left the wise King with some difficult truth as his days come to an end. Dylan would say, “you who philosophize disgrace” at Solomon’s words, “there is nothing new under the sun.”  Despite the burnout evident in his writing there is a depth of understanding to the human condition we can connect with and learn from.  If in fact there is nothing new under the sun then…

There are things I don’t need to pray about
The scriptures have outlined a great deal of how our lives should be lived. I don’t need to pray to God about whether I should murder someone, the answer is no.  The answer is always no.  We don’t need to ask God if we should live with integrity or many other questions.  He says in Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? Following God isn’t a moving target it’s a steady walk of behavior bringing honor to God.

Others have experienced what I am experiencing
When we are trying to follow God we are connecting with 1000’s of years of History of people following the same God.  The stories of  Abraham, Noah, Moses, Elijah, Micah, and others are our stories.  Whether you are in the depth of despair or the heights of joy there is nothing new under the sun and you can find fellowship with the saints of today and those of old.

The principles that have guided previous generations still guide ours
The main thing is the main thing and the main thing hasn’t changed.  We aren’t writing new books of the bible or uncovering crazy translations which refute the current scriptures.  Even though the bible can seem a little overwhelming at times it can be read and applied to our lives.

Eph. 4:11   And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,  12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,  13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;  14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,  15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—  16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

A dozen different systems go into place the minute you are injured to begin the process of healing.  The word that jumps out to me is effective.  Unless the church, like our human body, is unified we are not able to work together effectively.  Also like the human body when the church is unified and healthy it’s capable of incredible things.

Healing
When all the parts of the church work together they presents a supernatural ability to heal.  People who are disgruntled with broken churches, hurt from past relationships, and jaded in their perspective of God find healing in a healthy church.

Regeneration
Like the body a healthy church has the ability to recreate itself.  The older generations pour into the younger to raise them up in leadership.  The “mothership” church plants other healthy churches.  The church lasts throughout generations.

Conflict Resolution
The scriptural outline for handling conflict is a process of reconciliation not amputation.  Healthy human bodies do to reject it’s members.  As a healthy church there should be a forum of healthy conflict and honesty among believers about their sin.

Bearing Fruit
A healthy church stands as a witness to the world of how people should do life together.  It’s marked by it’s charity and love for people.

I am sure you could add to this list, please do.  As you think through what a healthy church looks like ask yourself one question… whose responsibility is it to make a church healthy?  It’s easy to pile onto the senior leadership and say those people.  Certainly the senior leadership and Elders of any church are responsible for their actions and casting a vision but a healthy church is one where ALL members strive for unity.  How are you doing?   When is the last time you walked across the hall to another department and asked how you could use your resources to build their ministry?  If my left arm were broken I am certain my right arm would pick up the slack until it was healed, do we work the same?

Eph. 4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

2 years ago I fired up my table saw. I was getting started on one of a thousand projects I had put off. This specific project required me to rip through a few 1×10’s on order to repair some old drawers in a dresser I was to cheap to replace. I had safely and successfully operated a table saw for over 20 years. Ignoring some of the well established safety precautions my hand was yanked into the blade I sliced my thumb in half, Awesome! Besides having a very healthy fear of power tools renewed I experienced a miracle. Sure I needed stitches (for the record when you get stitches and the Doctor says you will feel pressure, he/she is lying, you feel pain… lots of pain.) and some medicine but the miracle I experienced was how my body goes into action as soon as I am injured. More specifically the miracle that stopped me from dying, coagulation. “Coagulation is initiated almost instantly after an injury to the blood vessel damages the endothelium (lining of the vessel). Platelets immediately form a hemostatic plug at the site of injury; this is called primary hemostasis. Secondary hemostasis occurs simultaneously; proteins in the blood plasma, called coagulation factors, respond in a complex cascade to form fibrin strands which strengthen the platelet plug.” The minute you are injured a dozen different processes instantly begin to bring about healing.

Paul used the body as an example of how the church should function. I have read through the passage in Ephesians countless times but a few weeks ago God hung me up on one simple word used in the NKJV translation, “effective.” In order for a church to thrive it takes Christians recognizing, honing, and applying their skills but that’s only part of it. An arm can be the best arm on the planet but without the shoulder and the rest of the body it’s just going to sit on the floor. As we function as a healthy church we must ask the question how do my gifts work into the bigger picture. Unless a body is unified it is useless. Our charge is not just to create a ministry, or to build a single part of the body but to strive toward a common goal and work in a coordinated effort in order to achieve an, “effective working by which every part does its share.

I’ve been working as a “worship leader” for seven years now, and this weekend I looked at some numbers. Let’s see, for the first 4 years or so, I was doing an average of around 4 services a week, and in the past 3 years, it has narrowed down to 1-2 a week. You figure an average of 4-5 songs per set. You figure in some extra gigs here and there, and in those collective seven years, I’ve done around 5,820 praise songs.

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired.

I’m just going to throw this out there as well, since we’re being honest here. I am tired of songs. They exhaust me with their predictable formats and their trite, emotionally charged, selfish responses (and as an author of such, I’m pointing the finger at myself). I’m tired of coming up with new, top-40 intros to praise songs to catch people’s attention, and I’m tired of the same 5 songs in the key of D that I can string together as one gigantic big finish.

Psalm 33:3 says to “Sing to Him a new song,” but I mean, really, is that even possible? We only have so many chords, we only have so many words to throw around down here. After decades and generations of music evolution, it seems we’ve turned over every stone only to find the words of Ecclesiastes ringing in our ears – there is nothing new under the sun.

But you see, if I’m tired, it’s my fault. If a song is old and tattered, it is because I have withheld the one, unique, precious thing I can bring to that song – my life.

When I hear Bob Dylan sing “I Shall Be Released,” I can hear his life bleeding through every lyric. There’s no doubt he’s searching, struggling, finding, and it’s right there in his voice. When Damien Rice sings “Elephant,” you can tell he’s lived every line of heartbreak, and that he would give anything to forget her. When I hear Fiona Apple’s “Sleep To Dream,” you don’t have to convince me that she’s been burned. Why? because her life has been infused into the song.

When you were in high school, you would sing “I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever,” and it was what it was – a song. When you were in college, striking out on your own, battling loneliness, you would sing the same song, and it was…different. Life had changed. The song had changed. And after you graduated college and your parents divorced, you sang the same song, seeing it shift just a little in the light. Different. And that one night you were on the floor, grabbing at the carpet, tears streaming down your face, the next morning you sang the song in church, and it was – different. Life had changed. The song had changed.

Worshiping through song is a complete farce if you don’t bring all of yourself to the experience. Songs will always ring hollow if they aren’t fueled by your story. Songs are a beautiful tool of release for the human soul, but if we don’t allow ourselves to exhale through them, we won’t experience the beauty of praise. Before we know it, they become old, tired, lifeless structures that are desperate for the very breath we deny them.

Take the one song you are tired of the most. Yes, that one. Take the lyrics, and think about the last year of your life. Take those lyrics, hold them up, and allow them to catch light. Hear the echoes of your story through the halls of each space between the lines. Take every ounce of courage you have, and let it go. Let your story run rampant through every phrase, and sing. Sing a new song unto the Lord Your God, because He is good, His love endures, and behold – He is doing a new thing.

I have a new hobby. Remixing songs.

When I was in college, I was first introduced to the world of putting music together via computers, and fell in love with the process. I was in the studio at all hours programming away, and became addicted.

Flash forward, after a couple of years of letting GarageBand sit on my computer, I decided to play around with it one day, and I was hooked. Instantly  But it wasn’t enough fun to just record my own songs  I wanted to rip stuff apart and put it back together again. It was a strange craving.

So I stared with your standard emo-pop ballad, sped it up to twice it’s speed, and began. First I began the painstaking journey of matching a drum loop, determining the tempo, and syncing it up with every phrase. Then, I added a groovy synth bass line. Miss a few notes? No problem – drag and drop it to it’s new location. A shaker here, and additional drum loop for texture, and I was done. What a geeky, technological rush of adrenaline.

There is something amazing about taking something and seeing it in a different light. But sometimes in order to do so, you have to take it apart. You have to expose it. You have to let some parts stand on their own, and you have to mute others.  You have to try new pairings of ideas.  You have to cut, paste, and shift.  And more than anything, you have to be open to the synergy that arises when the newly arranged elements begin to evolve into a new monster.

In ministry we spend so many hours trying to reinvent the wheel, when instead what we need to do is use the wheel.  We spend hours at our coffeeshop haunt trying to come up with new snazzy ideas, and beat ourselves up trying to come up with teaching that noone has ever stumbled on before, all in an effort to keep ourselves from being bored of using..the wheel.
But we forget. Many people have never seen the wheel before.  Ever.

We can’t throw it out and start over – why would we?  If we’re not careful, we will turn around and wonder how we got so far away from the basic, fundamental, functional elements of the church that people so desperately need to experience.

Familiarity breeds comfort.  You hear a song you know, you are set at ease. You hear a few new tweaks and changes here and there, and you appreciate the new context. More than anything, now they’ve got your attention.