Thanks to Bill for posting this:
Category Archives: Video
A nod to the Browncoats
I’ve been meaning to post this and hadn’t gotten around to doing so, but now’s probably as good a time as ever; so, apropos of nothing in particular, here’s the title sequence to the late, much lamented show Firefly:
I do hope that someday we get the rest of the story; and I particularly hope that that includes Whedon resurrecting the characters he so callously killed off. (Yes, people die, but under the circumstances, I think that really was a callous way to treat the actors in question.)
Put not your trust in princes
Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God,
who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.
—Psalm 146:3-7a (ESV)
O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.
—Psalm 131 (ESV)
The tendency to put one’s trust in rulers and other political figures is, of course, a universal one, a temptation to which we’re all prone; it’s not just a problem in American politics, by any means. This is not a respect in which America is exceptional. I do think, though, that we’ve been taking it to unusual heights of late, and especially during this election season—and this isn’t just a problem for one side, either. Certainly a number of conservative pundits grumbled about the response to Sarah Palin, calling it nothing more than a bad case of celebrity worship, and I can’t count the number of e-mails I’ve received with subject lines like “We MUST Win!” Well, no, sorry, we mustn’t. I firmly agree it would be better if we did and that bad things will happen if we don’t, but what of that? Even if we’re right, it might very well be better for the long term that the Democrats have their day to do whatever they want. And of course, one must always be humbly aware that one could easily be wrong.
That said, trust in princes is a greater problem on the Democratic side of the aisle, at least this time around; the Obama campaign was built on it right from the beginning—not just in the messianic language about epiphanies and “this is the moment the planet started to heal,” but in the whole theme of his campaign. The basic appeal has been, from day one, “Put your hope in Obama.” When you do that, this kind of thing is the logical consequence (HT: Bill):
To that I say, no; even if I were voting for the guy, I wouldn’t do that. The man is a politician, and a Chicago politician, no less. Anyone who puts their trust in politicians—any politicians—is a fool in the full biblical sense, and I use the term completely advisedly.
Put not your trust in politicians, for in them there is no salvation. Vote, yes; vote wisely, yes; understand the issues and decide carefully, yes, yes, yes. And then leave the results to God. Do what you consider he leads you to do, but don’t presume to judge what MUST happen, or to conclude that if the results don’t go your way that God must somehow have failed. To know the future and what must be is too great and too marvelous for us. Calm and quiet your soul in the presence of God, and rest lightly in him; pray for the winners, and for the losers, and for all of us, and put your trust and your hope in the only one worthy of them: in the Lord. Put your hope in him alone for this troubled time, and for the time to come, and you will be blessed, for your help and your hope will be the one who “who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry.” He takes care of his people, even when he leads us through the valley of the shadow of death, and he will take care of you.
For something brighter
Here’s some videos by a group I really enjoy, Newfoundland’s Great Big Sea. (I don’t make expansive claims for the brilliance of their lyrics, but they’re Newfoundland folkies at heart, and I like their sound.)
Ordinary Day
Goin’ Up
Lukey
Feel it Turn
Everything Shines
Walk on the Moon
Work ethic
For your amusement . . .
Thought on faith in trying times
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
—James 1:5-8 (ESV)
[Christ] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.
—Ephesians 4:11-15 (ESV)
I’ll be honest, I’m rather discouraged today; there just doesn’t seem to be a lot of good news out there. Of course, that’s hardly unusual—looking for good news from the world is rather like looking for your next rent payment on the roulette wheel—but it’s still got me down. In matters big (a financial crisis created by partisan stupidity that no one on either side of the aisle seems to have any real clue how to fix, but which may yet be exacerbated by yet more partisan stupidity) and small (the Seahawks are off to a bad start this season, both in their play and in their front office’s overreaction to it), things just seem to be going wrong all over the place. (Granted, the Red Sox did knock the Yankees out of the playoffs, but that only counts for so much when my own team is on the verge of 100 losses.) Throw in a bad night of sleep, and it’s a recipe for a funk.
But God is at work in these times as in any other, and last night when I was up into the wee hours and really starting to get low, he sent me a message, in the form of this YouTube video of one of my favorite groups, the defunct (and much-missed) Jacob’s Trouble:
Wind and Wave
(Lyrics are below; the Scriptures, of course, are above.) It was this morning, and is now, an important reminder to me: when I let circumstances get to me, when I let what seems to be an aura of bad news get me down, when I let myself get pessimistic, I’m falling back into allowing myself to be tossed around, buffeted about, and driven this way and that by the winds and waves of circumstances; I’m letting “human cunning” and “craftiness in deceitful schemes” wash me off my foundation and blow me out into the sea of doubt, rather than trusting in God. Granted, the circumstances right now aren’t pretty in a lot of respects, and it feels natural to me to expect the worst and then start glooming over it; but I have reason to stand on faith in God, rather than giving myself over to the wind and the wave, because I’ve seen other bad times (on a personal level, worse times) and he’s always brought me and my family through. Our country has seen other bad times, and he’s always brought the nation through; God has allowed this “almost-chosen people” to suffer many things, but he’s never failed us yet. The worries of the moment do not outweigh the testimony of the past; our hopes and fears for tomorrow are affected by this morning’s news, to be sure, but they are not at its mercy, for God by his providence continues to be at work, even through the bad news.
I don’t usually repost videos, but this song was another one God used this morning, just to remind me that even when the wind blows hard, he is with us on the road, and his mercy is always for us:
Kyrie
I have reason to trust in God; I have reason to be confident that the struggles of the present moment aren’t permanent. I just need to remember that, and to ask him for the wisdom and, yes, the faith I need to rise above those struggles, rather than allowing them to overcome me. And in doing so . . . I feel better already.
Wind and Wave
I needed wisdom on a matter of faith,
So I sought the Lord at his dwelling place—
Hello? Is there anyone home?
He said, “Let him who comes to me ask believing,
‘Cause faith is revealing but doubt is deceiving,
You know? Don’t you know?”
But I couldn’t seem to stand my ground—
I floundered, flailed, and almost drowned;
And as I sank, I thought I heard a sound.Chorus:
Wind and wave, to and fro, back and forth, stop and go,
Lost in doubt. Am I out or am I safe?
Fire and ice, land and sea. It’s up to you, it’s down to me.
Will I be eternally weak in faith
On the wind and the wave?A voice inside me said, “You’re on your own!
You blew it once too often, now He’s left you alone!”
Oh, no! Please say it isn’t so!
So I clung to my feelings, forgot the facts,
‘Til I heard the voice of Jesus telling me to relax,
“Let go. I’ll take control.”
Well, it was tough at first but I obeyed.
I just went limp and then I prayed,
“Please, Jesus, save me from this open grave.”Chorus
Now, I’m not saying that I will never doubt again,
‘Cause after all I’m just a man, yeah, yeah.
All I know is if I should doubt again
He’ll understand. He understands.“I will never leave you nor forsake you;
I will always be with you.
I will never leave you nor forsake you;
I will always be with you.”Chorus
Words and music: Steve Atwell, Mark Blackburn, and Jerry Davison
© 1989 Broken Songs
From the album Door into Summer, by Jacob’s Trouble
Something to brighten up your Monday morning
Just because.
“May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering!”
I just realized, I hadn’t remembered to post this. It’s a powerful little clip, and truly, as Jared says, a vivid picture of gospel-driven living.
Song of the Week
I’d never heard of Brandon Heath before he asked my wife’s cousin Curt and his kids to be among the cast of extras for his new video. The video is now out (my thanks to my dear wife for posting it), and it’s a great song; I’m not ashamed to say it made me weep. We fall so short of loving others the way God calls us to love; certainly, I do. Dear God, this is my prayer too.
Give Me Your Eyes
Looked down from a broken sky
Traced out by the city lights;
My world from a mile high—
Best seat in the house tonight.
Touch down on the cold blacktop—
Hold on for the sudden stop;
Breathe in the familiar shock
Of confusion and chaos.
All those people going somewhere—
Why have I never cared?
Chorus:
Give me your eyes for just one second,
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing;
Give me your love for humanity.
Give me your arms for the broken-hearted,
The ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me your heart for the ones forgotten;
Give me your eyes so I can see, yeah.
Step out on a busy street,
See a girl and our eyes meet;
Does her best to smile at me,
To hide what’s underneath.
There’s a man just to her right,
Black suit and a bright red tie,
To ashamed to tell his wife
He’s out of work, he’s buying time.
All those people going somewhere—
Why have I never cared?
Chorus
I’ve been here a million times;
A couple of million eyes,
Just move and pass me by—
I swear I never thought that I was wrong.
Well, I want a second glance,
So give me a second chance
To see the way you’ve seen the people all along.
Chorus
Give me your eyes,
Lord, give me your eyes,
For everything that I keep missing.
Give me your heart for the broken-hearted;
Give me your eyes,
Lord, give me your eyes.
Words and music: Brandon Heath and Jason Ingram
©2008 Sitka6 Music/Peertunes, Ltd./Grange Hill Music/Windsor Way Music
From the album What If We, by Brandon Heath
The heavy yoke of self-justification
At the Synod of the Church of England at York Minster last month, just before the Lambeth Conference, the Archbishop of Canterbury preached a brave and important sermon—brave and important because he sought to apply the truth of Scripture to the situation in which the Anglican Communion finds itself. In so doing, he offered some characterizations of different parties within Anglicanism with which I don’t agree, but any such quibbles are secondary; the core of his message was wise and deeply biblical. This is in keeping with what I’ve come to expect from Dr. Rowan Williams: even when he arrives at positions with which I disagree (as he fairly often does), he consistently gets there for the right reasons. That’s as true as ever in this sermon, which is at heart a meditation on the ways in which we try to replace Jesus’ well-fitted yoke with (in the words of one of the Desert Fathers) “the heavy yoke of self-justification.”
There’s a phrase to ponder—a heavy yoke of self-justification. That’s the law, that’s the curse. That’s the waterless pit indeed—where we struggle ceaselessly, unrelentingly, to make ourselves more right, and to lay hold upon our future. We lay upon ourselves a heavy yoke, from which only the grace of Jesus Christ can deliver us. In a nutshell, we lay upon ourselves the yoke of desperate seriousness about ourselves.
And Christ’s promise is so difficult because it’s so simple. “The Unbearable Lightness of Being”, as the novelist says, that is what Christ offers to us: receiving it is hard. Naaman of Assyria when he came to Elisha to be healed of his leprosy, could not believe that the answer was easy. There must be something complicated for him to do. There must be some magic to be done. The word alone, “release” is not enough. We long for, we are in love with the heavy yoke of self justification. Naaman wanted to go away from Elisha, able to say, “Well I had some part in that—I did the difficult things the prophet asked me”. And Elisha, in the name of God, tells him to do something simple, to immerse himself in the mercy of God. And when Jesus says, “Our yoke is easy and my burden is light”, that is what he says, to all of us as individuals, to us as a Synod, to us as a Church, to us as a society, to us as a human world: lay aside the obsession to possess the future, receive the word of promise, here. And that’s why, as Jesus himself says in the gospel, that’s why only some people really do hear the word easily—only the tax collectors and the sinners. . . .
He alone rests in that eternal, unifiable life. That is why he says, “Come to me and I will give you rest; I will give you sight; I will bring you hope.””My yoke is easy; my burden is light”, which is why we need to be where he is, nowhere else, where he is with the Father.
This is a sermon to read (or listen to; video is available below and on the page with the transcript) with our hearts wide open, that the Spirit may use it to bring us to repentance, and to greater wisdom.
HT: Alan Jacobs
Photo: “Strongman Event: the Yoke Race,” 2010, Artur Andrzej. Public domain.
