Occasio

Babeling about the new Mumford and Sons album

On their second album, Babel, Mumford and Sons continue to dismantle the modern project. Refusing to settle for a bifurcated sense of spirit and flesh—the Divine on one side of a chasm and humanity on the other—these anthems, ballads, and stomps (iTunes labels them “alternate,” but it’s hard to know what to call these tracks) are all prayers. And they’re love songs. Often they’re both. However, one thing is certain: the listener won’t find any trite Jesus-is-my-boyfriend platitudes here.

M&S paint pictures of humanity’s gritty, fallen, and desperate condition. But this isn’t some kind of bluegrass-punk, full of anger and contempt for the culture around. This isn’t accusatory, it’s confessional. The songwriter continually acknowledges his own weakness, unfaithfulness and need for grace. And that’s what makes this such a refreshing compilation. Faith, Hope and Love seem to walk into the bowels of human depravity right alongside the poet. Faith and doubt aren’t enemies, they travel hand-in-hand. Human nature is eminently capable of unspeakable evil, but Grace never leaves sight. Stones will be moved. Tombs will be opened. The heart beats a bit slower. The Divine will break forth into creation. Healing comes.

But M&S remind us that there are prerequisites on the way to a rendezvous with Hope. Looking with eyes for things that can’t be seen, lifting hands in surrender, kneeling in submission, admitting weakness, reflecting on brokenness—all necessary for a stroll through this miniscule experience called human existence.

Babel is a collection of fifteen songs (deluxe album), each a story of conflict and/or triumph, that point us to the messiness of life. With this album, M&S have joined the ranks of U2, Bruce Cockburn, Arcade Fire and the like, offering more questions than answers, but always pointing to something beyond the narcissistic self the Western world is so familiar with and so unable to recognize. Three cheers and a hoorah for anyone that helps us tear down Babel.

I’ve only had a couple of listens, but here are a few highlights from the album.

“Babel”
Often thought of as meaningless talk (babble), this refers to the Tower of Babel in Genesis. Babel was a futile project of pride and arrogance, a failed attempt to become divine. For all our progress, the last 500 years has been little more than an attempt to do the same. Tear it down!

I know my weakness, know my voice, I'll believe in grace and choice
and I know perhaps my heart is farce but I'll be born without a mask
Like the city that nursed my greed and my pride I stretch my arms into the sky
I cry Babel, Babel, look at me now, the walls of my town they come crumbling down

“Whispers in the Dark”
Socrates said the unexamined life is not worth living. What makes us weak? Is it the same that makes us strong? Often times, with good intentions, we set out to serve the Lord but find ourselves in the company of the devil.

It's not what I do that makes me, In my weakness I grew strong
Held my tongue, And I've learned from errors made early
A brush with the devil can clear your mind, And strengthen your spine

Whispers in the dark, Steal a kiss and you'll break a heart
Pick up your clothes and curl your toes, Learn your lesson, lead me home
Spare my sins for the ark, I was to slow to depart
I'm a cad but I'm not aflawed, I set out to serve the Lord

“I Will Wait”
We often hear the phrase, “Never Forget,” usually in association with some terrible offense that has been committed against us. There’s a great turn of phrase in this song, “You forgave, and I won’t forget.” The times we’ve been forgiven are monumental and so much more worthy of our remembrances.

And I'll kneel down, Wait for now
And I'll kneel down, Know my ground
And I'll kneel down, Wait for now
 
Raise my hands, Paint my spirit gold
And bow my head, Keep my heart slow

“Holland Road”
Okay, this one had me in tears. Really. Listen for the “Hallelujah” horn section at the end.

But I still believe though these cracks you'll see,
When I'm on my knees I'll still believe,
And when I've hit the ground, neither lost nor found,
If you believe in me I'll still believe

"Ghosts that We Knew"
So many things have the potential to haunt us. Ghosts come in all shapes and forms. Maybe our children are a clue to our escape.

So give me hope in the darkness that I will see the light
Cause oh that gave me such a fright
But I will hold on as long as you like
Just promise me that we'll be alright

But the ghosts that we knew will flicker from view
And we'll live a long life

“Hopeless Wanderer”
A mixed-tempo romp reminding us to “be where you are” and to love the ones we journey with.

So when your hopes are on fire, But you know your desire
Don't hold a glass over the flame, Don't let your heart grow cold
I will call you by name, I will share your road
Hold me fast, Hold me fast, Cuz I'm a hopeless wanderer
Hold me fast, Hold me fast,  Cuz I'm a hopeless wanderer
I will learn, I will learn to love the sky I wander

“Below My Feet”
How many moments everyday do we miss the chance to learn something? We keep praying to know God’s will as it relates to the future. Maybe we need to know the here and now before we can know what lies ahead.

Well I was still, But I was under your spell
But I was told by Jesus, All was well
So all must be well
 
Keep the earth below my feet
For all my sweat, my blood runs weak
Let me learn from where I have been
Keep my eyes to serve my hands to learn

“The Boxer”
This gets honorable mention because it’s an extra included with the deluxe download. Jerry Douglas, the king of the Dobro, and Paul Simon join M&S for an absolutely perfect tune. So much babble.

I am just a poor boy
Though my story seldom told
I squandered my resistance
For a pocket full of mumbles such are promises

Another round of Theology, Culture and U2

My course "MIN 340 Theology, Culture and U2" begins again this fall at Fresno Pacific University. This is the fourth time I will teach it (it's offered every other fall) and it's one of my favorites. I'll try to bring updates from the course to this blog every now-and-then.

I still have room for more students in the class, so if you're in the Fresno, CA area and have Tuesdays from 3:30-5:05 free and want to take it for credit or just audit let me know.

For texts we'll be using Bono in Conversation with Michka Assayas and Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalog by Beth Maynard (over at U2 Sermons) and Raewynne J. Whiteley. Beth has been a great friend and somewhat of an inspiration for the class.

Here is a flyer with more details for those who are interested.

 

 

 

Car accidents, vertigo and U2

One of the fun things I get to do is write for the website @U2. It's a topnotch fan and news site that follows the music, work and influence of the band. I recently wrote an article there about the car accident my family was in and how it relates to U2's "Vertigo." Here's an excerpt.

Spinning. Slipping. Colliding. These are the moments in life when all hell breaks loose, overwhelming us with the chaos and fear of loneliness, uncertainty, doubt and a host of other staggering emotions. This post-9/11 world only adds to feelings of isolation and insecurity. The culture that so quickly engulfs our souls (especially in Western nations) has left us distrustful of politics, unsure of the economy, cynical of science and skeptical of religion. There are moments in life, for many of us, when nothing seems permanent or stable anymore. These are the moments that challenge our assumptions about what is important.
 
U2's "Vertigo" is a song that I've come back to again and again since it showed up in 2004 on the How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb album. As a musical piece, the song was enthusiastically received by fans and critics, often recognized as a modern reinvention of the band's post-punk roots. The grinding guitar and driving rhythm work well to support the emotion of the song. In the official music video, the band members spiral up and down, trying to hold their ground on wildly undulating rings of an enormous bullseye, while being blasted by a gale-force wind in a featureless desert. On the recent 360 tour, images of U2 playing live spun increasingly faster around the gargantuan circular screen until they were a blur of speeding faces. As the lead track on Bomb, "Vertigo" sets a tone for the album and reminds us of the tenuousness of life through both music and lyric.
 
I can identify with Bono's acknowledgment, "I'm at a place called vertigo," and also with Edge's response, "Donde esta?" (loosely meaning, "Where are you?"). The song offers both confession and question. I especially like the Jacknife Lee mix in which Bono sings an alternate lyric in the fourth line:
 
Lights go down
It's dark, the jungle is
Your head can't rule your heart
And fear is taking over every thought
Your eyes are wide
And though your soul, it can't be bought
Your mind can wander
 
Fear. We fear all kinds of things. I'm finally coming to terms with my greatest anxiety: the fear of uncertainty. This gets particularly complicated in a world that never seems to stop spinning, a world that was once predictable but is now so uncertain. My mind wanders.
 
Bono has said "Vertigo" is a commentary on the culture we live in. He talks about the song in U2 By U2.
 
"In the case of 'Vertigo,' I was thinking about this awful nightclub we've all been to. You're supposed to be having a great time and everything's extraordinary around you and the drinks are the price of buying a bar in a Third World country. You're there and you're doing it and you're having it and you sort of don't want to be there. And it felt like the way a lot of people were feeling at that moment, as you turn on the telly or you're just looking around and you see big, fat Capitalism at the top of its mountain, just about to topple. It's that woozy, sick feeling of realizing that here we are, drinking, eating, polluting, robbing ourselves to death. And in the middle of the club, there's this girl. She has crimson nails. I don't even know if she's beautiful, it doesn't matter but she has a cross around her neck, and the character in this stares at the cross just to steady himself."
 
In a 2005 interview with Rolling Stone, Bono suggested that, in the midst of all the turmoil and chaos of life, there are images -- in this case the image of a crucifix -- that can capture our attention so completely that they ground us. It is somehow in these moments, and through these images, that we find hope and meaning. We are finally able to make sense of the insensible. And it is in these moments that love breaks through, teaching us, molding us, grounding us.

For the rest of the article, and more about our car accident, on the @U2 website, click here.

 

Aung San Suu Kyi: "Walk On"

This is a repost from my original post at @U2's blog

This past weekend, Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), an opposition party to the ruling junta in Burma (officially known as Myanmar by the government there) won an astonishing 43 out of 45 seats up for grabs in a general election. Suu Kyi herself will now sit in one of the parliamentary seats.

Burmese activists remain hopeful but cautious as the votes still need to be verified by the military-run government. If the Burmese people continue to support the democratic vision of the NLD, Suu Kyi and her party have the potential to gain a majority of seats in parliament in the 2015 election.

U2 have long been supporters of the pro-democracy leader, likening her to Martin Luther King. During the recent 360 tour they honored Suu Kyi by dedicating several songs to her. On their first swing through America, the band offered a prayer by singing “MLK” – “sleep, sleep tonight / and may your dreams be realized” – and then blazing into “Walk On,” a song written about her for the album All That You Can’t Leave Behind.

But an amazing thing happened just before U2 returned to the States for the final leg of their tour (beginning with the fourth leg). Suu Kyi was released from nearly 22 years of captivity and house arrest. U2’s petition became a prayer of thanksgiving by substituting “MLK” with “Scarlet.” Only one word was needed: “Rejoice!” The anthem “Walk On” then became a celebration of peace and justice over and against the military oppression of the Burmese government.

It’s uncertain as to whether the junta will honor the election (they haven’t in the past), but the eyes of the world are now on Burma, and the pressure to become a democratic nation is expansive. In speaking of this “new era,” Suu Kyi reminded her supporters, "What is important is not how many seats we may have won, but that . . . the people participated in the democratic process. We invite all parties who wish to bring peace and prosperity to our country [to work together]."

Past comments on Aung San Suu Kyi from Bono

From 2007
I have a little bit of a relationship with Aung San Suu Kyi. I've met her family and corresponded with her. U2 actually wrote a song - Walk On - for her. I've always followed her progress and that of the Burmese people. She is a study in grace and they are a study in patience.

From 2004
It's hard not to become a monster when you are trying to defeat one. Aung San Suu Kyi is the moral leader of Myanmar, the country more correctly known as Burma. She has been, in effect, under house arrest since 1989.

Suu Kyi is a real hero in an age of phony phone-in celebrity, which hands out that title freely to the most spoiled and under qualified. Her quiet voice of reason makes the world look noisy, mad; it is a low mantra of grace in an age of terror, a reminder of everything we take for granted and just what it can take to get it. Thinking of her, you can't help but use anachronistic language of duty and personal sacrifice.

Here is a clip of "MLK" and "Walk On" from October 25, 2009 in Pasadena, California.

 

 

Here is a clip of "Scarlet" and "Walk On" from July 26, 2011 (after Suu Kyi's release) in Pittsburgh.

 

 

 

Teaching "Theology, Culture and U2" at North Fresno Church

This fall I’ll be teaching the Sunday school class “Theology, Culture and U2” at North Fresno Church. This will be an adaptation of the college class I teach at Fresno Pacific University. I'm looking forward to seeing how the material translates to and is received by people in the congregation (we're even having the high school students join!).

The rock band U2 has delivered a consistent message of biblical faith and social justice since its 1980 debut album. The band members, heavily influenced in their early years by living in war-torn Ireland and belonging to a Christian community called Shalom, fill their songs with rich biblical imagery and address global issues of poverty, inequity, fair trade, AIDS, debt relief and more. In this class we’ll explore how U2’s music, message and theology interact with culture to create a unique yet sometimes controversial expression of Christian faith.

What is theology? What are the pressing issues facing this planet on which we live? How should the church respond to these issues? What could a rock band from Ireland have to teach us about all of this?

If you’re curious and live in the Fresno area, join us every Sunday, starting September 25, 10:00 AM on the third floor at North Fresno Church (5724 N. Fresno St.). Contact me if you have more questions.

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“God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house… God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both of their lives… God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war…” -Bono

“Who knew that some Irish guys who sing about sex, drugs and rock-n-roll would turn out to be some of my favorite theologians?” -Jessica, former student

 

Teaching U2: The Classroom as Theological Learning Space

I'm finally getting around to posting this. Back in October of 2009 I attended and presented a paper at the first-ever academic conference on U2, The Hype And The Feedback. The paper was published last year in Pacific Journal, a publication of Fresno Pacific University. Jessica Mast, a former student of mine at FPU, helped write the piece by giving the perspective of a sharp 20-something woman who's learned to love the work of U2. I'm grateful that she gave input and was also able to attend the conference with me.

"Teaching U2: The Classroom as Theological Learning Space" highlights some of the outcomes from a very unique class I teach at FPU, "Theology, Culture and U2." To my knowledge, it's the only semester-long course of it's kind.

In the paper I suggest that students' perceptions of theology can be radically shifted by investigating U2's approach to scripture, global activism and artistry. The band's biblical background certainly influences their engagement with the world.

Hear for yourself what students discovered by studying U2:

"Before taking this class my idea of theology would have been the systematic study of the Bible and all of its principles. I would have described theology as taking each passage of scripture in the Bible and defining the clear, distinct truth or command God is expressing to his followers. If you were to ask me how one can better understand theology I would have told you to start a Bible study, listen to a sermon, or talk with a Bible scholar. U2 has changed all of that. Through studying the music of U2 I have been faced with a new reality: theology isn’t knowledge, its practice!"   -Kyle

"Before taking this class, I thought theology was simply the study of God. I can understand now that theology is yes, based on orthodoxy, but also orthopraxy. The music of U2 has freed my soul in a way. Ha, I’m now more annoying to others—telling them what Jesus is doing in the world and throwing a few U2 facts and lyrics in as well. But more than just learning to “act out” my faith more, or even speak up more… things and life and faith become more primal. More sensory-oriented. Let’s taste our faith, feel our faith, smell it, hear it, let’s touch it. But together, please."   -Karen

You can find the whole paper here. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

The spirit/wind/breath of God's creation

Psalm 104 is a beautiful poetic recounting of God's marvelous act of creation. In this 3000-year-old poem the author praises Yahweh for his creativity and his sustenance of the cosmos. The psalmist mirrors the Genesis story by recalling God's creation of the heavens and earth, the plant and animal kingdoms and human beings. Yahweh is to be praised as the divine author and sustainer of his magnificent creation.

As I read this inspiring psalm recently, I was struck by the psalmist's testimony of what he perceives God to be doing, not just in the past, but in the present activity of everyday life. He reminds his soul to rejoice in the ongoing work of creation which is evident in the continual blessings and benefits God bestows on his handiwork. God continues to be at work as humans do all the normal things of daily life and activity, as animals hunt for and gather food, as plants spring to life then wither and die and as streams and rivers swell and recede in their normal seasonal patterns.

Verses 29-30 are particularly thought-provoking. Speaking of the living world, the psalmist asserts,

When you hide your face,
   they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
   they die and return to the dust.
When you send your Spirit,
   they are created,
   and you renew the face of the earth. (NIV)

Essential to understanding these two verses is the use of the Hebrew word ruach. It's an amazing word representing a broad and important concept. Ruach can be translated in several different ways, most commonly as spirit, wind, and breath. Verse 29 literally says, "when you take away their spirit/wind/breath, they die...." In a similar way, verse 30 says, "When you send your spirit/wind/breath, they are created...." God's ruach is his ever-present ongoing spirit-of-life/wind-of-life/breath-of-life which enables the act of creation.

Though ruach is used in Psalm 104, it has a much older history. We find the first use of ruach in the first book of the bible. Genesis 1:1-2 records, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters" (NIV).

The NRSV translates the last line as “a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.” The general sense is that God was actively beginning the process of creation through his spirit/wind/breath. Furthermore, ruach is clearly a feminine noun. Ruach hovers and broods over the nest of creation, and as it germinates and begins to take shape she guides and nurtures the process.

As we step into the New Testament we are quickly confronted with “spirit” language. In one of the bible’s most famous stories we find a Pharisee named Nicodemus coming to Jesus with questions about God (John 3:1-21). Jesus responds, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again” (NIV). Rather than “born again,” a more accurate translation is “born from above.” Either way the emphasis is on new life through a birth other than that of a human nature.

When Nicodemus asks Jesus how this is possible, Jesus responds with,

Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. (NIV)

Every time the word “spirit” or “wind” is used in Jesus’ response, it is the Greek word pneuma. This word is the equivalent to the Hebrew ruach in the Old Testament. In answering Nicodemus’s question about how to enter the kingdom of God, Jesus draws upon the creation story of Genesis, as well as the long tradition of ruach as a creative motherly process. Eugene Peterson’s translation from John 3:5-6 of The Message is helpful and enlightening:

Jesus said, "You're not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation—the 'wind-hovering-over-the-water' creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life—it's not possible to enter God's kingdom. When you look at a baby, it's just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can't see and touch—the Spirit—and becomes a living spirit.

The same creative, life-giving spirit/wind/breath of Genesis is present and active in the salvation process. Thus, God continues his ongoing creative work through the very spirit and act of creation.

It’s not by coincidence then that Jesus appears to the disciples after his resurrection with a similar message. John 20:21-22 records the scene for us: “Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” In a final act with his disciples, Jesus breathes on them and grants them an equal portion, an in-filling, of God’s pneuma. The ruach of the Old Testament now hovers and broods over and in them to continue the powerful process of creation.

Psalm 104 took me on a journey through Old and New Testaments this week. I was reminded again to praise God with my whole being for his ongoing creative work in this world. The spirit continues to blow and breathe a fresh wind of life, restoration and salvation. And I, as a vessel of this nurturing, life-giving, brooding spirit, am called to join in the ongoing work of creation. When God sends his spirit, we should expect improbable and generative acts of creation -- the kinds of acts that most of us wouldn’t dare to imagine or dream about.

But let’s keep imagining and dreaming. To do anything less might mean quenching the spirit and impeding the creative work of the kingdom at hand.

 

I know a girl who's like a sea
I watch her changing every day for me

One day she's still, the next she swells
You can hear the universe in her sea shells

No line on the horizon

 

U2 and the failed rapture - such a disappointment

The rapture has come and gone. Harold Camping and his Family Radio franchise predicted a massive earthquake that would roll across the planet corresponding to exactly 6:00 PM in every time zone on May 21. At the same time Christians were to be raptured up into the air, finally being delivered from the evils of the world and ushered into the presence of God in heaven.

Such a disappointment.

Not that the rapture didn’t happen—that’s not the disappointment. The disillusionment comes from watching the whole farcical, tragic mess unfold. The heartbreaking reality is that Christians, fueled by a media that almost solely looks for sensationalism in a story, often miss the meaning and purpose of the church and God’s kingdom for this not-so-late-great-planet Earth.

As a kid I lived through the 1970s and was influenced by the hysteria of end times doctrine. I read Hal Lindsey, Tim LaHaye and other popular authors who created a new genre of Christian horror/sci-fi/fantasy. I went to a camp where the speaker explained all of the mystical peoples, signs and places of the Bible by careful isolating and then linking individual verses, with the end result of teaching us who Gog and Magog were, what the antichrist and the beast would do and other concepts like tribulation, millennium and rapture. I saw my share of scare-the-hell-out-of-you plays, skits and movies. All of us Evangelicals thought the end was at hand.

And then, a few years later I realized that this whole convoluted scheme for understanding Christ’s return was actually less than 200 years old. It was only introduced and then popularized by people like John Darby (considered the father of dispensationalism) in the mid-nineteenth century and C.I. Scofield (author of the Scofield Reference Bible which emphasized dispensationalism) in the early twentieth century. This type of systematic teaching was further formalized by Lewis Chafer, the founder of Dallas Theological Seminary, in the mid-twentieth century, and teachings on the rapture and the millennium gained wild popularity in the seventies through Lindsey’s and LaHaye’s writings (even though the terms are never even found in the Bible). None of this was even thought of for the first 1800 years of the Christian Church.

Such a disappointment.

Because of our modern focus on leaving Earth (yes, I said “our” focus), Evangelicals have missed out on one of the greatest truths of scripture: the Kingdom of God is among us. It’s not here or there, Jesus said, it’s in your midst and it continues to come. The “eternal life” of John 3:16 is something that starts in the here-and-now. He prayed, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus illustrated the kingdom with metaphors of a tiny seed growing into a huge tree and yeast that permeates the rising dough. When he left this world his disciples were deeply concerned about knowing when he would return. His answer? “That’s none of your business, you belong here so get busy doing the work of my kingdom.” In seeking to evacuate this planet we forget that the church is a beautiful sign, testimony and witness of God’s great kingdom. Well... it's supposed to be.

Such a disappointment.

May 21, 2011 was not just an epic fail for the rapture, it also marked the return of U2 to the United States. Those who follow the theological threads of U2’s work know that one of the more consistent themes found in their songs is that of eschatology, or in other words, a theology of end times (see "My U2 Rapture Playlist" here).  
 
As a quick illustration, check out the title and album cover for their most recent project No Line on the Horizon. Undoubtedly, the title represents a view of the kingdom suggested by Jesus’ prayer, “on earth as it is in heaven.” The cover art is a beautiful black and white photo of the ocean meeting sky with the horizon running perfectly through the middle. Superimposed on the clear wrapper of the CD is an equal sign arranged in such a way that one bar of the sign straddles heaven and the other rests on earth. It's a beautiful representation of a holistic biblical concept of heaven and earth. One is not evil and the other good; both are avenues through which God brings his kingdom.

During the concert (remember, it’s the night of the supposed rapture), the band played the song “Until the End of the World,” a marvelous apocalyptic tune in which they retell Judas’s story of betrayal and ask the hypothetical question of whether God’s love and grace are big enough to redeem Judas (their answer is unequivocally, “Yes!”). But, on this night, Bono had a variety of comments to make about the hype and hysteria of the day. Here are some of his remarks.

In the intro to the song Bono announces, “This is for the reverend Harold Camping” and then a bit later, “Such a disappointment.”

Such a disappointment.

Why? Because the rapture didn’t happen? No, that’s not the reason. The disappointment lies in that so many have misunderstood what the kingdom of God is and have been shifting the focus to some kind of earth-equals-hell-and-I’m-outta-here plan. The disappointment is that we have, all of us, including the non-Christian media outlets, turned a beautiful truth into a horror story. The disappointment comes from being unable to recognize that God is at work in his wonderful creation and that we have the opportunity (the responsibility?) to join him.

In the middle of the instrumental bridge of UTEOTW Bono brings it home. “God is in the house,” he says/admits/admonishes. He is here! He has come, he is coming and he will continue to come!

During the grand chaotic cacophony of the song’s final few strains, Bono screams with the conviction of a man that knows heaven is not just some distant ethereal place, “Somewhere! Somewhere! It is… it’s heaven!” And then in a beautiful poignant act of symbolism he reaches down, picks up some roses and one-by-one throws them to the impassioned crowd, shouting, “We bring peace! We bring peace!” The peace that Bono references is not some kind of fleeting 70s-style flower power, nor is it the forceful coercion of law and order, or even the absence of violence. It is the shalom of God’s kingdom, the entire story of the gospel including salvation, rescue, redemption, righteousness, justice, freedom and restoration. This is the stuff of heaven!

But the drama isn't over, and in a twist of irony so common at a U2 concert the band leave us with one more image. In the last moment of the song, in a scene played out on two bridges above the screaming crowd, Bono stretches across the chasm between he and The Edge and offers his fellow band member a rose. The trusses they stand on move closer and closer together but just inches away and unable to reach far enough, Bono drops the flower to the audience below. Is the peace of God's kingdom at hand? Yes. Is it here in its perfect and fullest form? Not yet. There will be days when we will recognize God's kingdom and reign over his beautiful creation and we will celebrate. But there will be other days when we acknowledge its incompleteness and continue to run, crawl, scale, climb and search for any glimpse of its glory. That is the tension in which we live.

The whole scene during UTEOTW is a cathartic, moving, grace-filled corrective to the escapist mentality of a rapture-centric American population. The kingdom of God is here, but not yet. It is now, but still to come. It is among us, but not completed. And U2, once again, masterfully and artistically have reminded us so.

Check out a couple of videos of "Until the End of the World" from the May 21 show.

Here is the whole song from a distance.

 

Here is a close-up of the stage. The footage of Bono is very impactful, particularly starting at 3:40. Highly recommended viewing!

 

Lyrics to the song here at the @U2 website.

(Here is another postI did on Bono's use of C.S. Lewis in which I mention the song "Until the End of the World.")

 

My U2 Rapture Playlist

U2 have written a pile of apocalyptic songs over the last three decades, though the band seem to go through phases. The last two albums, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and No Line on the Horizon, are clearly grounded in the here-and-now, the themes and topics are on the streets and usually offer a challenge to make a change. But other albums are more end-of-the-world focused. All That You Can’t Leave Behind reminds the listener of intangible relationships, rewards and desires that aren’t of this world. POP, Zooropa and Achtung Baby, almost seem to be conversations with the “other side,” often filled with dark and ominous characters who sometimes espouse half-lies and half-truths in an attempt to persuade the listener through irony and satire; at other times these albums bluntly and painfully reflect the failures and sufferings of this physical existence. The Joshua Tree and The Unforgettable Fire remind the listener that some longings and desires are constantly in conflict with human nature; the songs speak of reunions, relationships, departures and arrivals, and all the stuff of dreams yet to be realized. The early works, War, October and Boy, lay the groundwork for some pretty serious thought on the coming apocalypse, be it political, cultural or theological – we can almost hear the band counting down the “Seconds.”

Having given such a brief and woefully inadequate overview of U2’s foray into the apocalyptic genre, I offer the following: My U2 Rapture Playlist. I could have easily picked twenty tunes, or even whole albums, but here are ten songs that get me thinking and moving. And if the rapture doesn’t happen on May 21, 2011, it’s at least a good track list for a decent motorcycle ride! Feel free to leave your own list in the comments section. "On earth as it is in heaven..." -Tim

TOP TEN RAPTURE PLAYLIST

10. “Tomorrow,” October (1981)

Won't you come back tomorrow / Won't you be back tomorrow
Will you be back tomorrow / Can I sleep tonight

Open up, open up to the love of God / To the love of He who made the blind to see
He's coming back / He's coming back
I believe Him / Jesus is coming / I'm gonna be there

9. “Stateless,” The Million Dollar Hotel (2000)

I've got no home in this world / Just gravity, luck, and time
I've got no home in this world / Just you and you are not mine

Stateless / Weightless / Stateless

8. “A Sort of Homecoming,” The Unforgettable Fire (1984)

And you know it's time to go / Through the sleet and driving snow
Across the fields of mourning / To a light that's in the distance

And you hunger for the time / Time to heal, desire, time
And your earth moves beneath / Your own dream landscape

7. “Last Night on Earth,” POP (1997)

She feels the ground is giving way / But she thinks we're better off that way
The more you take the less you feel / The less you know the more you believe
The more you have, the more it takes today

You got to give it away / You got to give it away
Well, she don't care what it's worth
She's living like it's the last night on earth

6. “Gone,” POP (1997)

You get to feel so guilty got so much for so little
Then you find that feeling just won't go away
You're holding on to every little thing so tightly
Till there's nothing left for you anyay

Goodbye, you can keep this suit of lights
I'm be up with the sun / I'm not coming down

5. “I’ll Go Crazy if I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight,” No Line on the Horizon (2009) (Live U2360 Remix of course!)

It's not a hill, it's a mountain / As you start out the climb
Listen for me, I'll be shouting / We're gonna make it all the way to the light
But you now I'll go crazy if I don't go crazy tonight

4. “Where the Streets Have No Name,” Joshua Tree (1987)

Where the streets have no name / Where the streets have no name
We're still building, then burning down love / Burning down love
And when I go there I go there with you / It's all I can do

3. “Walk On,” All That You Can’t Leave Behind (2000)

You're packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been
A place that has to be believed to be seen

Leave it behind

2. “Until the End of the World,” Achtung Baby (1991)

Waves of regret and waves of joy / I reached out for the one I tried to destroy
You, you said you'd wait / 'Til the end of the world

1. “Elevation,” All That You Can’t Leave Behind (2000)

You elevate my soul / I've lost all self-control
Been living like a mole / Now, going down, excavation
I and I into the sky / You make me feel like I can fly so high
Elevation

 

John Piper, C.S. Lewis and Bono

On February 27 John Piper preached a sermon entitled “No One Ever Spoke Like This Man!” His text was John 7:40-52 and the sermon title is a direct quote of Jerusalem temple guards in reference to the controversy surrounding Jesus’ teaching. Piper then proceeded to enumerate eight “spectacular claims” of Jesus that clearly marked Jesus as God’s son.

In concluding his sermon, and in an effort to drive home his thesis that Christ is different than any other teacher who has walked the Earth, Piper used two supporting voices—one conventional and one atypical. While it might have sounded odd to Piper’s congregation, for those of us who are familiar with the work of U2 it is no surprise that someone would link a traditional Christian author like C.S. Lewis with the contemporary rocker Bono.

For decades Bono has been playing with themes found in the writings of Lewis, specifically focusing on The Screwtape Letters. In this classic work, Lewis creates a fictional narrative in which a head demon, Screwtape, instructs and mentors a younger demon, his nephew, Wormwood. Screwtape’s task is to teach Wormwood how to distract and tempt the human that has been assigned to him. The senior demon consistently counsels the younger to twist the truth in slight, almost imperceptible ways. This, he says, will lead to the greatest chance of success against the enemy (in this case, God).

There are things for humans to do all day long without His minding in the least—sleeping, washing, eating, drinking, making love, playing, praying, working. Everything has to be twisted before it's any use to us. -Screwtape

Bono has played with this idea and has in the past become the Devil’s advocate in at least two significant ways. First, in U2's song "The Fly," Bono actually personifies the character he calls The Fly. Bono said that this early 90s hit was like a phone call from hell in which he, the senior demon, was letting loose the secrets of his trade. The Fly sings, "They say a secret is something you tell one other person, so I'm telling you, child." And later in the song,

It's no secret that the stars are falling from the sky
The universe exploded 'cause of one man's lie
Look, I gotta go, yeah I'm running outta change
There's a lot of things, if I could I'd rearrange.

But even more than the lyrics of the song, it's the live presentation that crystallizes the message of The Fly. In 1994 on the Zoo TV tour the band flashed brazen graphics across state-of-the-art larger-than-life video screens. With messages like “Everything you know is wrong,” “Reject your weakness,” and “Watch more TV,” The Fly spewed half-truths and half-lies. Interspersed amongst the cacophony of aphorisms were messages that required the viewer’s judgment as to how true or how false the statements were. In one case the message that read “It’s your world you can change it” morphed into one a bit more cynical of a consumerist culture: “It’s your world you can charge it.”

“The Fly” found new life on the Vertigo tour in 2005 as the diabolical messenger shifted the theme away from media, technology and materialism toward selfishness and individualism. Cast onto a screen several stories high, the word “YOU” was repeatedly flashed at The Fly’s hearers (see video I took here at the final concert on the Vertigo tour in Hawaii). “You are the difference,” “The secret is your self!” “Sell your soul,” and “Reclaim your space, it belongs to you” were some of the messages, all partially true and partially false. The listener must decide where the dividing line is and how the truth has been twisted. The film U23D took the barrage of messages one step further by cascading letters, words and sentences in front of the band and nearly on top of the theater audience. The presentation was wholly engaging. The Fly, as the deceiver, was at the top of his game. (For a thorough treatment of “The Fly” see Beth Maynard’s outstanding three-part commentary here: #1, #2, #3.)

A second way that Bono has personified the devil’s advocate of Lewis’s Screwtape Letters is through the MacPhisto character, also from the 90s-era Zoo TV tour. This persona was a greasy-haired, red-horned, decrepit has-been rock star who clearly voiced an ironic and evil agenda. MacPhisto assured his clamoring devotees that “Daddy’s Gonna Pay for Your Crashed Car” and then showered the delighted audience with fake paper money. He followed that with a discourse to his adoring followers and offered them everything they ever wanted. Example: “People of the former Soviet Union, I've given you capitalism, so now you can all dream of being as wealthy and glamorous as me.” Of course, the underlying message in all of this was: be careful what you wish for, it may be your undoing.

The washed-up and washed-out demon, obviously reeling from many regrets, closed the concert a few minutes later by singing a haunting lament/love song, “Love Is Blindness.”

Love is drowning / In a deep well
All the secrets / And no one to tell
Take the money / Honey / It's blindness

Love is blindness / I don't want to see
Won't you wrap the night / Around me
Take my heart / Blindness

It’s no surprise to see the ongoing ways that Bono brings the world of C.S. Lewis to the live performances of U2’s songs. On a more recent tour Bono continued to demonstrate the influence of Lewis with another persona often identified as evil.  As Edge’s guitar wails in siren like fashion, Bono confesses, “Jesus, this is Judas” and then launches into the apocalyptic song “Until the End of the Word,” an imaginative conversation in which Judas comes to Christ seeking love, reconciliation and forgiveness. The unfaithful disciple sings, "Waves of regret and waves of joy. I reached out to the one I tried to destroy. You, you said you'd wait 'til the end of the world." The song is dramatized as Bono takes on the character of Judas and Edge loosely plays the role of Christ. It is a brilliant piece of music, theater and art, the story of betrayal and redemption acted out on a concert stage. Lewis, I think, would be pleased.

So, though he was somewhat ambivalent about his new-found discovery, Piper was correct to associate U2’s Bono with C.S. Lewis. The influence of the latter upon the former is probably far deeper than Piper could imagine. In fact, Piper’s treatment of Bono is fairly cursory and even a bit suspect. The preacher pinches a passage from the book Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas to support a classic notion of Lewis that Jesus must be either “Liar, Lunatic or Lord” (from Mere Christianity). Piper quotes Bono:

Look, the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: he was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius. But actually Christ doesn't allow you that. He doesn't let you off that hook. Christ says:

No. I'm not saying I'm a teacher, don't call me teacher. I'm not saying I'm a prophet. I'm saying: "I'm the Messiah." I'm saying: "I am God incarnate." And people say: No, no, please, just be a prophet. A prophet, we can take. You're a bit eccentric. We've had John the Baptist eating locusts and wild honey, we can handle that. But don't mention the "M" word! Because, you know, we're gonna have to crucify you.

And he goes: No, no. I know you're expecting me to come back with an army, and set you free from these creeps, but actually I am the Messiah. At this point, everyone starts staring at their shoes, and says: Oh, my God, he's gonna keep saying this. So what you're left with is: either Christ was who He said He was, the Messiah or a complete nutcase. I mean, we're talking nutcase on the level of Charles Manson. . . . I'm not joking here. The idea that the entire course of civilization for over half of the globe could have its fate changed and turned upside-down by a nutcase, for me, that's farfetched. (p. 227).

Piper also asks in his sermon, “Is Bono born again?” and then answers himself, “I don’t know.” That’s almost a bit surprising since Piper has been getting pretty good at identifying who’s “in” and who’s “out” lately. But nonetheless, it’s obvious that he is not really familiar with Bono or U2 (nor has he read the full Assayas book) and finds the quote a convenient contemporary anecdote for his homily. (I’m guessing he simply read this Wikipedia article in which Bono is referenced.)

Do C.S. Lewis and Bono belong in the same sermon together? Yes, it’s easy to imagine. Lewis’s influence on U2 is easily detected and chronicled far above and beyond the examples I discuss in this post. But while John Piper makes a good linkage between the two, his use of Bono is lacking. It’s a utilitarian move at best. The themes and nuances of the Oxford author as they appear in the work of U2 are plentiful, sometimes subtle, other times not so much. It’s a joy to really investigate these and to hear the voice of Lewis rise up with depth and focus in U2. Simply using a quote from Bono to make the linkage leaves a lot to yet be desired and discovered.