Musing on a song while thinking about writing on politics (an interlude)
Who is equal to the task?
My wife and I drove 2000 miles (and flew another 5000) in the last few weeks. For the most part we beheld glorious scenery in the mountains of Alaska and the Western USA, and in the blue lakes and flowing rivers fed by glaciers.
But some parts of the drive were boring. When the ride got boring, we listened to podcasts. We also sang.
The podcasts were interviews and commentaries on the Presidential debate. As we spiraled toward depression, we turned to a selection of favorite Christian songs. The playlist brought us Andrew Peterson’s version of Chris Tomlin’s Is He Worthy? It was so needed.
The text for the song
This song is based on Revelation 5. It is a vision given to John of the throne room of the cosmos. The entire book is about the end of history – and how it will end. That it begins with the throne-room is right and logical.
A scroll is introduced, on which is written the plans and acts of God to make right all wrongs and to create a new heavens and earth in which he will dwell with his people. However, the scroll is sealed.
There is an understanding that only a certain kind of person can open the seals. That person must be qualified to do so. They must have the required character and resumé.
The question is asked, Who is Worthy? What follows is a worldwide search through all of history, but no one is found. No one. John weeps. It appears we are left with the world as it is forever.
But there is a surprise. A voice directs John to the Lion of Judah, but when he turns to see, there is a Lamb, newly appearing, standing, clearly previously slain (I for one think this appearance is the ascension). When the Lamb goes to God’s right hand to take the scroll, he is heralded as the only One of such character and achievement to be worthy to break the seals. Why? He has conquered the enemies of God. He has defeated death. He has offered himself as a sacrifice.
He steps forward to take the scroll so he might open and seals and begin the restoration of all things by the cleansing of all from sin – and he does so, a series of songs is sung by an ever-widening circle pf created beings. He alone is worthy.
This is Jesus the Christ.
The song
Tomlin paraphrases the drama of the passage with sung questions and congregational answers, beginning with our sense that the world is broken but God will not be defeated.
Do you feel the world is broken? (We do)
Do you feel the shadows deepen? (We do)
But do you know that all the dark won't stop the light from getting through? (We do)
Do you wish that you could see it all made new? (We do)
Is all creation groaning? (It is)
Is a new creation coming? (It is)
Is the glory of the Lord to be the light within our midst? (It is)
Is it good that we remind ourselves of this? (It is)
Then he asks the question; Who is equal to the task of setting things right? of mending the broken world? And he answers.
Is anyone worthy? Is anyone whole?
Is anyone able to break the seal and open the scroll?
The Lion of Judah who conquered the grave
He is David's root and the Lamb who died to ransom the slave
Is He worthy? Is He worthy
Of all blessing and honor and glory?
Is He worthy of this?
He is
He returns to our assurance that God is at work:
Does the Father truly love us? (He does)
Does the Spirit move among us? (He does)
And does Jesus, our Messiah, hold forever those He loves? (He does)
Does our God intend to dwell again with us? (He does)
Then he asks again who is worthy?, this time with an answer:
Is anyone worthy? Is anyone whole?
Is anyone able to break the seal and open the scroll?
The Lion of Judah who conquered the grave
He is David's root and the Lamb who died to ransom the slave
From every people and tribe (People and tribe)
Every nation and tongue (Every nation and tongue)
He has made us a kingdom and priests to God
To reign with the Son
Is He worthy? Is He worthy
Of all blessing and honor and glory?
Is He worthy? Is He worthy?
Is He worthy of this?
He is, He is
Is He worthy? Is He worthy?
He is, He is
He is worthy, He is worthy
He is
Caught up in the emotion of our present despair, our yearning for the healing of the world, my wife and I wept as we listened and sang. Here was our hope and a correction to false hopes.
The need
The song speaks to our sense of the corruption of all things, our hope in God’s promise of a new creation, our faith that he is at work now – but it asks repeatedly WHO is worthy to accomplish this?
Many people see the world as broken. How can they not? But who can set things right?That is the question that everyone asks.
Throughout history, people have turned to heroes and government and power as the solution. Every four years our two political parties gather for a few days of what seems to be a festival of group worship. They think that their party and candidate are the solution — that they are worthy. The promises made each election cycle are eschatological.
False hopes: Who is Worthy?
As an exercise we inserted 2024 candidates and parties as answers to the question. What struck us is how ridiculous and blasphemous that was. Yet this is what we hear in our society — and even among some of our fellow Christians and — not a few Christian leaders. Consider the juxtaposition of Trump and Jesus.
Or the celebration of the powers of Biden:
Or this mingling of God’s word with our human Constitution:
These are a few of the many examples of our wrongly saying, “He is worthy” to political leaders or movements.
Way Over Their Pay Grade
They are not worthy. No human leader is. They are all sinners, utterly powerless to crush the spiritual forces of darkness. They can’t even master their own passions and impulses. The blind leading the blind is a better analogy. Slaves to sin promising freedom to other slaves of sin. Mortals, who will die, promising a new society.
They should never be mentioned by God’s people as the ground for any hope. How equally blasphemous to insert the Constitution or socialism or capitalism, or anti-racism, or any ideology into the answer.
True hope
Revelation 5 asserts the uniqueness of Jesus, based on facts. He resisted all sin, took on the forces of evil and defeated them, conquered by humility and love and not by power, and defeated death itself.
We sang with joy when we realized that there is only One who is worthy. He is already reigning, bringing about his purposes infallibly. The lyrics called us to confidence in him and worship of him.
It also put the rigamarole of Election 2024 in its place. Our anxiety and despair flowed from believing the lies about the ultimacy of this election.
It also called us to cry out to God to work. This year is an opportunity, not for culture wars, but for the message of the Worthy Lamb to be brought into all discussions. That requires us to pray, to ask God that the faithful church would not trade its mighty weapons of the Word and prayer for political activism. To pray that God would preserve us from diluting or polluting our mission by mixing the Worthy Lamb with nationalism.
We want to speak of the One who is worthy, to show how he answers all the aspirations of all political ideologies, and to pray that others would have their eyes opened to say, “He alone is worthy of all blessing and power and wisdom and honor.”
Amen!