Hymns Project - I Cannot Tell

Something that really started concerning me when I got more serious about my faith as a younger Christian was how certain people, based on their "doctrines" seemed to think that they could explain everything about God and how He worked.  Even though they might say that God is God because He can't be fully known and His ways are beyond comprehension, they still had to have everything fit inside their systematic, theological box.  They don't have much room for mystery or for people's ideas or beliefs that don't fit with theirs (even if the other person's thoughts have as much or more biblical backing than theirs).

Well I admit that as I've grown in my walk with Christ, I think I have more answers than I used to, and I am definitely the kind of person that doesn't like to be wrong (hence I think I'm right most of the time).  Thankfully God and people that are close to me have continued to remind me of this so that I can try to keep it in check.  In the last year or so, God has really helped me with this by challenging me with the concept of mystery, and how that is crucial to our faith, since after all, how could God be God if we could explain everything about Him.

I've been working on a bunch of hymns to bring into our church's repertoire, most of which I've had to give a more contemporary feel for us to be able to play it in our context.  One of those hymns is "I Cannot Tell" by W.Y. Fullerton.  It really meditates on a bunch of things that we can't explain or really know from our position where Christ is concerned.  Like how amazing His love is that that He would humble Himself to come to earth  to save us.  Or how He is going to return and make all things new and reign forever (I'm pretty sure the Left Behind books are not the answer to that question either).  

Each verse then contrasts what we "cannot tell" with what God has made known to us.  Besides the fact that it emphasizes mystery and keeps us in a humbles place where our theology is concerned, I noticed today that it really connects with the book Future Grace that I wrote about in my last post.  We don't need to know the answers to all the things we "cannot tell" about, but we have the promises of God to cling to that He has done what He said He did or will accomplish what He said He will.  A song like this can help us to be comfortable and even rejoice in the mystery of our God, but also help us to recall some of God's promises in worship.  Maybe I'll post the mp3 of this when I finish the recording, but in the meantime here's the words in case you aren't familiar with it.  The music is to the Irish tune "O Danny Boy."  

I cannot tell why He whom angels worship,
Should set His love upon the sons of men,
Or why, as Shepherd, He should seek the wanderers,
To bring them back, they know not how or when.
But this I know, that He was born of Mary
When Bethlehem’s manger was His only home,
And that He lived at Nazareth and labored,
And so the Savior, Savior of the world is come.

I cannot tell how silently He suffered,
As with His peace He graced this place of tears,
Or how His heart upon the cross was broken,
The crown of pain to three and thirty years.
But this I know, He heals the brokenhearted,
And stays our sin, and calms our lurking fear,
And lifts the burden from the heavy laden,
For yet the Savior, Savior of the world is here.

I cannot tell how He will win the nations,
How He will claim His earthly heritage,
How satisfy the needs and aspirations
Of East and West, of sinner and of sage.
But this I know, all flesh shall see His glory,
And He shall reap the harvest He has sown,
And some glad day His sun shall shine in splendor
When He the Savior, Savior of the world is known.

I cannot tell how all the lands shall worship,
When, at His bidding, every storm is stilled,
Or who can say how great the jubilation
When all the hearts of men with love are filled.
But this I know, the skies will thrill with rapture,
And countless voices then will join to sing,
And earth to Heaven, and Heaven to earth, will answer:
At last the Savior, Savior of the world is King!

Hymn Project

For the past few months I have been working on a hymn project which I am really excited about. The idea was put forth by one of the elders at Christ's Church as part of my work as the minister of worship.  The objective is to introduce 24 new hymns into the church's regular repertoire  over the course of the next three years.  There are many great reasons for doing this.  One is that many hymns can serve to fill theological gaps that are found in a lot of today's contemporary Christian music.  So I will specifically be looking to use hymns that address such themes as the Trinity, Holy Spirit, God's Story from the beginning till now and in the world to come, Missions, Mystery.  A lot of hymns inform us about the details and truth of our faith, and sadly I don't think that the same can be said for a lot of the other worship music that is out there, at least not as a whole.  In fact some are down right wrong.

Also, a lot of today's worship music is very "me" or "I" centered as I have mentioned before in some of my posts.  There are plenty of hymns that fall into that self-centered category too, but thankfully there also lots of great ones that are very God-centered, and the church needs more God-centered worship.

So, I have gone through the hymnal we have at Christ's Church, over 600 songs and prayers!  I chose somewhere between 120 and 150 to take a more serious look at.  I was primarily focused on lyrical content, but music was taken into consideration in assessing these hymns.  The great thing about music though, is that it can be re-written while still using the original lyrics.  I've found many hymns that I loved the words to, but was not crazy about the music.  So many hymns have that same generic progression I, IV, V, I with a II to V somewhere in there (sorry more technical musical terminology).   Some people from older generations might have a hard time with some musical changes because they have known  a particular hymn a certain way for decades.  However, I think that in order to pass down these treasured songs to the next generations, it is important that we sing a new song to the Lord and connect the great theology and poetry of these pieces with the sound of today's music.  I think people like David Crowder, Chris Tomlin, and Watermark have done a great job of bringing new life into some of the classic hymns and making them relevant to younger generations. However, I also recognize that there are certain classics that just shouldn't be altered and will be sung the same way a hundred years from now, like O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing, All Creatures of Our God and King, and Holy, Holy, Holy, etc.

The other great thing about this project has been that I've had a chance to get some of the people at CCA involved in it, and they've been very enthusiastic about what I'm doing. These people have some great insight into the world of hymns and are much more familiar with the library of hymns that I am.  One thing I was reminded of when meeting with one brother on the subject was that the hymns have been a link between many denominations, generations, nations, etc.  This is why its important that the hymn thread continue.  The more we share in common with other bodies of Christ, the more unified we can hopefully become.  

If you are not a hymn person I encourage you to check out Passion's Hymns: Ancient and Modern.  Perhaps the modern take on the hymns will help you to appreciate the content and truth that they contain.

Hopefully as I do some new arrangements I will be able to post them here in the blog.  So look forward to that.  Here's some hymns I've started re-arranging already, or am seriously considering. 

This is My Father's World

We've a Story to Tell to the Nations

Eternal Father, When to Thee

I Cannot Tell

The Solid Rock

Let me know if you have any suggestions for great hymns that I should take into consideration with this project.