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The Church’s First Hymn: Getting Low

The Church's First Hymn

Rev. Nathan Hill Philippians 2:1-11

Over the past 20-30 years, the kinds of music that we hear and join in praise in the midst of church has changed pretty dramatically, lead largely by the emergence of what we call contemporary Christian music, praise songs and worship songs and Christian radio.

Of those numerous songs that began to be sung in all kinds of churches, there is not one more well known and notorious than "Shout to the Lord". We sing it in the midst of worship on a regular basis. What is remarkable about the song is its pure simplicity and the way it has become popular, not just in English, but in many languages and many cultures. On any given Sunday, there are thousands of churches who probably worship using this song all across our planet.

On one hand, Shout to the Lord is an example of why worship music has changed - it's easy to learn, the lyrics are very accessible, and it's got a melody that is both joyful but simple.

On the other hand, it's also the kind of song that can feel a little sappy and emotional, a little too simple in the midst of the chaos of our lives. And it can get stuck in your head. After we sing it today, some of you may find yourselves humming it in the shower.

But like many popular songs written by Christian centered around worshipping God, it has got its own story, maybe not as great as others but also quite interesting.

Songwriter Darlene Zesch, most famous for having been a part of the worship staff at Hillsong United churched in Australia, talks about how she wrote the song in this interview:

SHOW CLIP.

Just to put it in our minds, let's sing it one time through.

What strikes me about this and other praise songs is how many of us respond to them.

Yes, they are simple - yes, the melodies are not as complex as others - but there is a part of us that doesn't need it to be that complex. There is a part of us that needs songs that remind us of very simple and basic things of our faith. In the case of Shout to the Lord, it is that our Lord, Jesus, is worthy of our worship - this rabbi, this Son of God, is not just anybody and everybody. He was different, special, amazing.

Of course, what was special about him is the subject of lots of debate.

Theologians have written books and books to try to understand and unravel why Jesus stood out, why Jesus and his life and what we know of him as a historical figure changed history and inspired and called people to follow him.

As the song's lyric say, is Jesus really worthy of "mountains bowing down at the sound of his name?"

In our scripture this morning, we get one of my favorites - Paul's letter to the Philippians. Philippi had a special place in Paul's heart - this was one of the early churches that Paul himself founded. He knew the people intimately, so intimately that he wrote them this letter while he was imprisoned for being a rebel and a rabble rouser.

In the first section of the scripture, verses 1-5, Paul reveals why he was likely in jail. The key verse is verse 4 for me - "Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others." It's something that you might hear reading one of those self help books. It seems like common sense type advice, and yet it's probably why Paul was in jail.

Very few people in our world live that way.

Most of us think first of ourselves. Most of us are more concerned about our own comfort, our own views, and our own stuff than we are of others. When we do meet someone who lives that way, it's great - we are inspired - but we also look at them like something is wrong them.

Paul, as he wrote this, knew that the church at Philippi could skip this over just as easily. Oh, Paul is just preaching again - same ol', same ol' - so he does something cool. He lays out a verse or chorus from an early church hymn or praise song.

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.

Theologians are pretty sure of this. They know this by comparing the way Paul typically wrote. And while he did write often very poetically and beautifully, this section, in the original Greek, is not Paul's way of writing. So in most of our bibles, you will find htis section formatted more like a poem than as part of the overall paragraph.

Unfortunately, we don't know if this hymn had a classic rock beat, a reggae beat, or whatever, but we learn from it what Paul was trying to say to the people.

Jesus was remarkable. Jesus was different. Live like Jesus.

Paul's point is that we are to live like Jesus and in Jesus' life and actions and ministry, he always looked to the interests of others. In his very incarnation, as the Son of God, he embodied the love of God, a love that looked not like a great and mighty king but an obedient and lowly servant. He did not go around demanding others pay attention to him - instead, he humbled himself, he lowered himself, he went amidst the dirt and served those who maybe felt they never deserved to be served.

I imagine this caught the church at Philippi's attention - I imagine they stopped and went back and said, "Paul is really trying to tell us something important about the mind of Jesus and how our minds ought to be."

Times have changed, but they haven't changed that much. In the days of the early church and in our time, there are lots of self-proclaimed leaders who want the power and the title but often don't have an ounce of humility to go along with it. There are many who want to serve but refuse to bend down to do it. There are many who want the shortcut to the good life without ever getting their hands dirty.

But in Jesus, we find one who didn't just speak but touched, embraced, wept, and ate with those who society deemed low.

At our Thursday night Intersection gathering, one of our young college students, originally from Nigeria, shared some wisdom from his mother. He said she often told him, "Sometimes in life, you got to get low to conquer." (repeat)

That resonated with me - that resonated with my own personal life where I want the accolades without doing the work - that resonated in our political conversation where many want to propose solutions without putting in the elbow grease - that resonated in the lives of many of us afflicted by broken relationships and addictions who want to be free without making any changes.

When I think about getting low,

I think about Jesus, the Son of God, who got so low that on the night before he was betrayed and tortured and nailed to a cross, he got down on his knees and washed the feet of those who follow him.

I think about the people in our lives who are often so low that we step over them, especially those who clean our bathrooms and our offices and our homes, and we sometimes forget to thank for their willingness to serve us and get low. (Labor Day weekend)

I think about what it would look to like have a presidential candidate whose motto was "getting low to make a difference", who'd rather clean dishes than take photo ops.

I think about how our culture needs to get low if we are every going to confront, expose, and dismantle the sin of racism that still drives us apart and makes us fear each other.

I think about the kind of work we are called to when we get low enough to help one family at a time in our Bridge of Hope homeless ministry, even as it drains our energy and tests our faith and challenges us to rethink how to love broken hurting people.

I think about the kind of work as a church we need to do to hear the needs of our community, work that may mean we have to shut our mouths, get low, and listen for a long time.

Getting low is not easy - it's not fun - and yet, God did it out of love for this world and for us.

End with Tony Campolo story of Mission Year. Two by two. Going up to doors and porches, not selling a church, but saying - is there anything we can pray about? And the stories about seeking employment, about such and such person who is sick and can't afford meds, this family that's in trouble - they go back and pray and then get on the phone and start trying to connect the dots. I know a business that is hiring - let's get them an interview. Who can we ask for medicine help? It's not fancy work - it's not easy work - it's not always exciting - but it's getting low.

It's living like Jesus - being like Jesus - walking with Jesus - and in that space, when we are low enough that Jesus is right there with us, we know why "mountains bow down and the seas will roar, at the sound of his name."

#sermon #tonycampolo #getting low #serving #jesus #praise music #shout to the lord

When the song Low comes on pandora and you remember how you ripped your skinny jeans dancing to it at a party once. 😂

#getting low #low #old music #2000s