“Yahweh” and The Jesus Prayer

We had a great worship service yesterday. Our style is typically “contemporary” (I really don’t like that word but it seems to be one that most people understand, though often with misconceptions); I lead with acoustic guitar but try to be creative and incorporate all art forms, not just music.

So yesterday we continued our Lenten series with a twist – we went “unplugged.” We tried to get rid of the distractions that even a worship service can bring. No drums, no stage lights, no color washes, no images of any kind – just white text on a black screen. This is very hard for me because I’m so visually oriented. Our little worship combo included guitar, piano and violin and focused on quiet, reflective music and practices.

A highlight of the service was the incorporation of The Jesus Prayer. This prayer emerged around the sixth century from the Desert Fathers and Mothers. Prior to 313 A.D. the church was persecuted and Christians suffered for their faith. When Constantine legalized Christianity it became the faith of the Roman Empire. Almost overnight Christianity was ushered in as the official state religion. In response to the shallow faith experience that this shift brought, people began to relocate to the desert to discover again the power of suffering and self-denial in spiritual formation. Out of this movement came The Jesus Prayer.

While this prayer has had an evolution of form and practice, many people recognize it as a variation of the Kyrie. On Sunday we used the text, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” We not only used this at several different points in the service, but also practiced the prayer repetitively during communion. One way to recite the prayer is to pray it rhythmically while breathing: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God” on the inhale, “have mercy on me, a sinner” on the exhale. I am trying to spend ten minutes a day this week with this practice. While that will result in 100 or so repetitions, the Desert Fathers were known to repeat the prayer thousands of times a day. The goal is to let the prayer work its way into the very heart and soul of spiritual formation.

For the sermon, Pastor James has been working through a sequence of Lenten messages from the book, At The Cross: Meditations on People Who Were There, a series of devotions given on Good Fridays in St. Andrews, Scotland. This week we focused on Peter’s failure before the crucifixion of Christ. Our need for mercy, repentance and forgiveness is no less or no greater than Peter’s. We all know the desperation that comes from failing Christ.

We closed the service with an acoustic version of “Yahweh,” U2’s psalm/prayer/confession for dependence on our Creator. It’s a cry for renewal and transformation. We have used the song in worship before, but this time I introduced it as "Peter’s song." What would Peter have thought standing on the beach before Christ, after the denials and after the resurrection? Certainly he remembered that his feet had carried him far away from Christ, that his mouth had recanted and rejected his Lord, and that his hands had wanted to respond with sword and violence. As the sun rose the morning after a hard night of fishing, would Peter have understood the newness of the dawn after the pain of failure and denial? I think so.

Watch the live clip of this song from Chicago here.

Don’t forget to see U23D and make sure you stay for the credits – a beautiful live rendition of “Yahweh” with stunning and purposeful graphics.

Take these shoes, Click clacking down some dead end street
Take these shoes, And make them fit
Take this shirt, Polyester white trash made in nowhere
Take this shirt, And make it clean (clean)
Take this soul, Stranded in some skin and bones
Take this soul, And make it sing

Yahweh, Yahweh, Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, Yahweh, Still I'm waiting for the dawn

Take these hands, Teach them what to carry
Take these hands, Don't make a fist (no)
Take this mouth, So quick to criticise
Take this mouth, Give it a kiss

Yahweh, Yahweh, Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, Yahweh, Still I'm waiting for the dawn

Take this city, A city should be shining on a hill
Take this city, If it be your will
What no man can own, no man can take
Take this heart, And make it break

Comments

[Melody]

Tim, I just wanted to say thanks so much for sharing. I wish I could have been there on Sunday--it sounds like some moments of deep truth really happened. I really appreciate hearing what is going on and the U2 video was very powerful...and thought-provoking. always more questions...

Melody

[2 Elders]

Here's a wonderful little book on THE JESUS PRAYER!
'The Orthodox world - and beyond - is acquainted
with the justly famous and righteous Elder Joseph the Hesychast,
who reposed on the Holy Mountain in 1959. Less known outside Russia is
Archbishop Golinsky-Michaelovsky, who was another
committed practioner and teacher of The Jesus Prayer.'
The English Language Editor was Fr. Ambrose (Young) and the
Publisher was The Skete of the Entrance of the
Theotokos into the Temple in Haysville, Ohio.
click HERE [ http://users.rio.com/bamm/2elders ] for a preview!