The Perfect Hymn For a Narcissistic Church

Last updated on: January 30, 2018 at 9:01 am by Jonathan Aigner

The Perfect Hymn For a Narcissistic Church 2018-01-30T09:01:12-05:00 Jonathan Aigner

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty!

I’m feeling this one right now. I feel it a lot, actually, even when Trinity Sunday is still months away.

These couple of lines in particular:

Holy, Holy, Holy! though the darkness hide Thee,
though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see…

There is a lot of darkness out there. Read the news. Scroll your Facebook feed.

There is a lot of darkness in here, too. Deep down. The curse affects us all in a myriad of ways. Evil, sin, sickness, illnesses of mind and body all hamper us, and further obscure the glory that mortal eyes cannot see at our very best.

So yes, I can’t quite get it out of my mind.

If you’ve read much of what I’ve written, you know I don’t like to rely on emotion as proof of the Spirit’s work. Actually, I think it’s one of the most dangerous temptations in Christian worship, especially today. God isn’t who God is because of what we feel about God. In that way, our emotions are meaningless to our worship. They aren’t bad or wrong, only inconsequential. Emotions only begin to matter when we really begin to feel the crushing, fatal effects of sin, our utter helplessness before an infinitely holy God, the elation of God’s mighty, final, freeing acts in Jesus the Christ, and the urgency with which we must live in response.

Contemporary Christian worship has an emotional answer key for this great mystery of faith. So the modern church sings its silly songs, feels its happy feels, and grows more insignificant by the hour. Self-help is its Word, and music is its quasi-holy Sacrament.

So, I’m feeling this one right now, but that doesn’t really matter. Reginald Huber’s text, brilliantly erected within the three-tiered NICAEA, gets the whole thing right. We are not snowflakes. The betterment of our lives and lifting of our emotions is not the function of the church’s worship. We are a blip, barely a speck on a vast human timeline. Our only job in worship is to jump into a story that began long ago and will live on when our failing mortal husks rot and decay.

This is our great privilege.

We do not initiate ourselves into worship. We come, but not at our own bidding. Our good God did this when creation was spoken into existence.

We merely join in the unending hymn, the great heavenly liturgy, the one eternal song.

Holy, Holy, Holy! All the saints adore Thee,
casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
which wert and art and evermore shalt be.

Photo:
Wikipedia

Uncategorized

Previous Post

January 8, 2018

Next Post

February 20, 2018 Dear Church: It's Time We Stop Idolizing the Millennials

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Church of St. YouTube congregational singing congregational song contemporary critiques corporate worship Hymn of the Week hymn singing hymnody and hymnology hymns masturbatory worship Uncategorized worship Worship Quotes

Select a Month February 2023 January 2023 October 2022 September 2022 April 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 November 2019 September 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In James, what is the correct sequence that leads from temptation to death?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Sin, desire, full-grown sin, death Desire, temptation, sin, death Temptation, desire, death, judgment Desire, sin conceived, sin full-grown, death