March 23: On Corporate Worship
♫ Music:
Day 27 - Monday, March 23
Rung #19: ON CORPORATE WORSHIP
Scripture: Hebrews 10: 19-25
Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
Poetry:
Rending the Veil
by John Gill
In the brilliant tropic morning, I watched one
Bending his strength against a heavy board
That dragged white dust behind; his forehead, lowered,
Was glistening in the dust-reflected sun.
Two companies of horsemen led him on,
One legion strode beside; Jerusalem poured
Her bloody rabble out, and watched and roared
While through his throbbing hands the nails were run.An amber sun found harbor and at last
Two thieves alone were writhing on their spars;
And he, between them resting, hung his head.
Long shadows that the setting sun had cast
Faded to blueness, and the crystal stars
Shone on his crown of thorns and sparkled red.
ON CORPORATE WORSHIP
Yesterday morning, I raced to watch my church’s service online from the comfort of my home, the excitement to do so not sourced by a mere “want,” but more an absolute “need.” As the days continue to unfold in this unprecedented season of “quarantine” and “social distancing,” I have never been more acutely aware of how tenacious and stubborn the church must continue to be.
There is something particularly gripping about this passage in Hebrews 10, particularly the inevitable urgency and agency that comes from reflecting on what Jesus has done through the shedding of His blood for those who believe.
Firstly, the author of Hebrews speaks of the favor and privilege now afforded to the believers, beginning firstly with the confidence they may carry with them to enter the “holy places.” Consider the shame of your old self, the acute awareness of your depravity and need for a Savior in one hand, and with the other, hold tightly to the One who now guides you into His dwelling place to sit and commune with Him. Fix your eyes not on the cause for separation or need for distance before, but on the ability now to take your seat reserved next to Him without trepidation or question or fear. How sweet it is to find solidarity with those who gather there too!
The author continues by noting and celebrating the “great priest” over our house, the house of God. This wonderful priest is none other than Jesus, “the founder and perfecter of our faith,” (Heb. 12:2) whose blood is now our righteousness and the welcome mat that greets us and reminds us of how we can now walk through. This Jesus, our atoning sacrifice, was for the one and it too was for all, and thus, we are charged with an imperative to respond. So now, here lies the urgency and agency: we must meet with Jesus now, as we are, and we must go to convene with Him together.
- LET US: draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith (v.22). There remains no need to perpetuate the distance any longer. Now, with full access to Him who is benevolent and merciful, we can run like children to our Father, fully assured to find even faith as small as a mustard seed deemed valuable and meritable. Together we gather at His feet, our lowly place equal and shared; our voices rise in unison to sing of His redeeming love, our shouts surging with joy and celebration for those emerging from the water, baptized and whole.
- LET US: hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering (v.23). Tighten your grip on the Gospel - is it more commendable to be found faithful when the glassy sea is calm, or in the darkness of night when the tumultuous storm rages on? Steady your step and vehemently refuse to be moved. His word does not return void, He who promised is faithful.
- LET US: consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together...but encouraging one another (v.24-25). Together, we must ponder and ruminate and pray for inspiration as to new ways to charge towards love and the good works prepared in advance for us to do. And with that, we must not let the priority of community and time together fall to the wayside. The author of Hebrews here seems to insinuate how easy it is to neglect or forego the art of meeting together; combat this habit with the holier habit of encouragement.
The tenacious and stubborn role of the church then is threefold: to show up for God, to show up for ourselves, and to show up for each other.
Prayer:
Jesus,
May we gather for corporate worship, so overwhelmed by the abundant love and grace you pour out that it leaves us responding in songs of praise, and desperate to plunge deeper into your Word. May we gather for corporate worship, insistent on hearing the sound of our own faith resonating louder than our doubt, worry, impotence, and pride. May we gather for corporate worship, taking the hands of those around us as we walk in tandem towards You who inspires us to love and encourage one another well -- all because You first loved us. May we show up for ourselves and for each other, humbled to find that in every moment, in every space, and in every detail, You are showing up for us too.
Amen
Chantelle Gibbs
Adjunct Professor of Communication
Biola University
For more information about the artwork, music, poetry, and devotional writer selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab. To learn more about the themes of this year’s Lent Project, please go to: https://ccca.biola.edu/lent/2020/#day-feb-25
About the Art:
Church Interiors
Chinese Village Churches Series
2004-2008
Yuanming Cao
Digital print on metal
76.2cm x 101.6 cm x 2 cm
From the exhibition: Matter + Spirit: A Chinese/American Exhibition
Nagel Institute for the Study of World Christianity
This work belongs to an extensive series of artworks the artist produced as a result of a field study on Chinese rural churches in Suzhou region, Anhui Province. The artist produced this series from 2004-2009 while he was a philosophy student. For his research he visited more than 600 countryside churches and collected a large number of documents and other resources. Church Interiors or what are appropriately called sanctuaries, is an indexical work in a whole series that documented church doorways, church benches, and other aspects which show the unity and diversity of these rural congregations. The great variety of these church sanctuaries reflects the life of each congregation, which together constitute the body of Christ. These spaces are invigorated with touches of the color red, which recalls not only the blood of Christ, but also joy and celebration in Chinese culture, which is why the cross of Christ is typically red in Chinese churches.
About the Artist:
Yuanming Cao (also known as Cao Zaifei) is an artist who works with painting, sculpture, installation, and digital imaging. Born in 1974 in Suzhou, Anhui Province, China, he graduated from the Department of Oil Painting of Nanjing Academy of Arts and the Department of Philosophy of Nanjing University. He was a visiting scholar at the Research Center for Religion and Chinese Society in Purdue University and currently teaches at the School of Fine Arts in Shanghai University.
About the Music:
“Your Peace Will Make Us One” (feat. Urban Doxology) from the album Peace
The Lyrics:
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord
You are speaking truth to power, you are laying down our swords
Replanting every vineyard 'til a brand new wine is poured
Your peace will make us one
I've seen you in our home fires burning with a quiet light
You are mothering and feeding in the wee hours of the night
Your gentle love is patient, you will never fade or tire
Your peace will make us one
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Your peace will make us one
In the beauty of the lilies, you were born across the sea
With a glory in your bosom that is still transfiguring
Dismantling our empires 'til each one of us is free
Your peace will make us one
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Your peace will make us one
About the LyrIcists:
Audrey Assad and Julia Ward Howe
Audrey Assad (b.1983) is the daughter of a Syrian refugee, an author, speaker, producer, and critically lauded songwriter and musician. She creates music she calls “soundtracks of prayer” on the label Fortunate Fall Records, which she co-owns with her husband. Assad is also one half of the pop band LEVV, whose debut EP peaked at #17 on the iTunes Alternative chart. In 2014, Assad released an EP, Death, Be Not Proud, which reflected on her recent encounters with loss and suffering--including her husband’s journey through cancer and chemotherapy. In 2018, after several years of personal pain and trials, Assad recorded the album Evergreen, which stems from a season of renewed creativity. The album celebrates with new songs of rebirth, identity, the rebuilding of trust, and discovery of joy and love.
http://www.audreyassad.com/
Julia Ward Howe (1819 –1910) was an American writer, lecturer, abolitionist, and suffragist known for writing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” She also co-founded the American Woman Suffrage Association. Howe was the fourth of seven children of prominent New York City banker Samuel Ward and poet Julia Rush Ward. Early on, Howe developed a love of poetry and by age twenty was anonymously published in literary magazines. During the Civil War, Atlantic Monthly published Howe’s poem, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” which brought lasting fame and is considered the Union’s Civil War anthem. After the war, Howe established and led major women’s organizations championing the vote for women. Howe also became a peace advocate, presiding over the Women’s International Peace Association in 1871. Howe was the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1908. She also received an honorary degree from Smith College.
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/julia-ward-howe
About the Composer:
Traditional American Tune: "John Brown's Body"
“John Brown's Body" is a United States marching song about the abolitionist John Brown. The song was popular in the Union during the American Civil War. The tune arose out of the folk hymn tradition of the American camp meeting movement of the late 18th and early 19th century. According to an 1890 account, the original John Brown lyrics were a collective effort by a group of Union soldiers who were referring both to the famous John Brown and also, humorously, to a Sergeant John Brown of their own battalion. Various other authors have published additional verses or claimed credit for originating the John Brown lyrics and tune. The "flavor of coarseness, possibly of irreverence" led many of the era to feel uncomfortable with the earliest "John Brown" lyrics. This in turn led to the creation of many variant versions of the text that aspired to a higher literary quality. The most famous of these is Julia Ward Howe's "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", which was written when a friend suggested, "Why do you not write some good words for that stirring tune?” Numerous informal versions and adaptations of the lyrics and music have been created from the mid-1800s down to the present, making "John Brown's Body" an example of a living folk music tradition.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown%27s_Body
About the Performers:
Audrey Assad and Urban Doxology
Audrey Assad (b.1983) is the daughter of a Syrian refugee, an author, speaker, producer, and critically lauded songwriter and musician. She creates music she calls “soundtracks of prayer” on the label Fortunate Fall Records, which she co-owns with her husband. Assad is also one half of the pop band LEVV, whose debut EP peaked at #17 on the iTunes Alternative chart. In 2014, Assad released an EP, Death, Be Not Proud, which reflected on her recent encounters with loss and suffering--including her husband’s journey through cancer and chemotherapy. In 2018, after several years of personal pain and trials, Assad recorded the album Evergreen, which stems from a season of renewed creativity. The album celebrates with new songs of rebirth, identity, the rebuilding of trust, and discovery of joy and love.
http://www.audreyassad.com/
Urban Doxology is a ministry that writes the soundtrack of reconciliation in the racially diverse and gentrifying neighborhood of Church Hill, Richmond, VA. The band evolved out of the Urban Songwriting Internship Program that is a partnership with Arrabon and East End Fellowship. Most of the band members are an active part of East End Fellowship, a community that endeavors to be a faithful presence seeking God’s joy and justice for their neighborhood out of love for Christ. Urban Doxology is a ministry of Arrabon, whose mission is to equip Christian leaders and their communities with the resources to effectively engage in the work of reconciliation.
http://www.urbandoxology.com/about
https://arrabon.com/what-is-arrabon/
About the Poet:
John J. Gill (1924-1995) was a poet and small-press publisher who for nearly four decades was a leading spirit in advancing alternative and small press publishing. His avant-garde literary review New American and Canadian Poetry from the 1960's garnered praise as one of the ten best poetry magazines in the United States. From 1956 to 1965, John Gill was an assistant professor of English literature at Ithaca College in New York. He authored: Young Man's Letter, Gill's Blues, Country Pleasures, and From the Diary of Peter Doyle and Other Poems. He also edited (with Elaine Gill) The Tongue-in-Cheek Proverb Book. In 1997, through the efforts of Professor Dr. Carola Kaplan from the English and Foreign Languages Department at Cal Poly Pomona, Gill’s widow Elaine donated over 5,600 titles of world poetry from her husband’s personal library to the Cal Poly Pomona University Library.
https://www.cpp.edu/~library/special-collections/JohnGillModernPoetry.shtml
About the Devotion Writer:
Chantelle Gibbs
Adjunct Professor of Communication
Biola University
Chantelle Gibbs is an adjunct professor of Communication at Biola University, her alma mater, where she has been teaching for five years. She also is employed as an Event Coordinator at Fuller Seminary, along with working as an actress, writer, musician, and lover of people in Los Angeles.