Last night we held Ash Wednesday services. For those who are not familiar with what Ash Wednesday is about it is the first service of the Lent season. Lent is a time set aside for Christians to consider the journey of Christ to Jerusalem and ultimately his death on the cross.
Lent is considered a penitential season. Christians reflect on their own sinfulness and the need / fact that Jesus came to pay the price for our sin. Paul summarizes this whole idea nicely in Romans: “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.”
We did something different last night. All the music was prerecorded. And there were two “secular” songs incorporated into the worship service for the gathered pilgrims to consider. Some folks were curious about the lyrics of the songs and may have wondered why they were chosen.
The opening music, what would have been a prelude was a traditional song used during the season of Purim in Jewish synagogues. The language you heard that may have sounded arabic was in fact Hebrew. I must admit that I played the wrong track last night. I intended to play a different Jewish song (with no lyrics) but played Chag Purim instead.
Here are the lyrics of Chag Purim:
Purim time
Purim time
A big festival for the Jewish people
Masks, noisemakers
songs and dances.
Wind your noisemakers - it sounds like “rash rash rash”
Purim time
Purim time
we send gifts to one another
Treats, sweets
and other nice things.
Wind your noisemakers - it sounds like “rash rash rash”
The Festival of Purim is when the Jewish people celebrate their deliverance from the Persians. The Book of Esther in our Old Testament tells the story. The lyricsare silly and simple probably so that children can learn them quickly and participate in the fun.
Although it wasn’tthe song i intended to start with last nigh, Ithink that the Holy Spirit was at work because it set a different feel. Chag Purim is a festive tune. People are happy and dancing and making noise. There is a sese in which we come to worship on Ash Wednesday (and perhaps every time we come to worship) blissfully unaware of the nature of our heart wound. We are sinners in need of repentence and the grace of God. Our revelry buts up against the truth about who we are prior to being made new by the blood of Jesus Christ.
The first song for reflection was Down Their By the Train. The style is traditional gospel but the song is a modern one. Written by Tom Waits, we listened to a recording by Johnny Cash. Here are the lyrics:
There’s a place I know where the train goes slow
Where the sinner can be washed in the blood of the lamb
There’s a river by the trestle down by sinner’s grove
Down where the willow and the dogwood grow
You can hear the whistle, you can hear the bell
From the halls of heaven to the gates of hell
And there’s room for the forsaken if you’re there on time
You’ll be washed of all your sins and all of your crimes
If you’re down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there where the train goes slow
There’s a golden moon that shines up through the mist
And I know that your name can be on that list
There’s no eye for an eye, there’s no tooth for a tooth
I saw Judas Iscariot carrying John Wilkes Booth
He was down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
He was down there where the train goes slow
If you’ve lost all your hope, if you’ve lost all your faith
I know you can be cared for and I know you can be safe
And all the shamefuls and all of the whores
And even the soldier who pierced the side of the Lord
Is down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there where the train goes slow
Well, I’ve never asked forgiveness and I’ve never said a prayer
Never given of myself, never truly cared
I’ve left the ones who loved me and I’m still raising Cain
I’ve taken the low road and if you’ve done the same
Meet me down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there where the train goes slow
Meet me down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there by the train
Down there where the train goes slow
The way Johnny Cash performs it the song is at once haunting and beautiful. Traditional gospel in the African American tradition often uses the symbol of the train for salvation. There are a couple of reasons for that (i suspect) one is that the train was a modern miracle. It could take you places that you wanted to go to and could get you there quicker and safer. The train had the allure of freedom and mobility in the same way that a car does today for the teenager or a plane may have for adults. The second reason I can speak to with more confidence. The underground railroad was the metaphor used to describe the system of people and homes that runaway slaves could use for the journey to liberation. It seems natural to me that that same metaphor could be appropriated for the salvation we are offered from God through Christ Jesus.
Hence, ”down there by the train” becomes a description of people loading ad getting ready to journey to salvation. But the song goes far beyond somethign that simple. The folks described throughout the song are folks who are guilty of what we might call great sin or at least socially unacceptable ones. Prostitutes are mentioned and so are killers and betrayers like John Wilkes Booth and Judas Iscariot. But the imagery is unmistakeable. All of them can find forgiveness and salvation if they will just go down there to the train to that place where it is leaving so slowly, slow enough for anyone to catch it.
In the end the narrator of the song puts themselves and their “more minor” indiscretion into the throng gathering by the train. Even a sinner such as I, whose sin may seem smaller but is really the equal of those others can be forgiven.
It should be obvious now why that song was chosen. Lent is a time to reflect on our own sinfulness which is always much greater in God’s eyes than in our own. Lent is also the time to reflect on the amazing unfathomable limitless grace and mercy of God to forgive even us and anyone else who learns to trust in Him for their redemption and salvation.
The second song we listened to was a little harder to hear the lyrics of because it was a live recording. The artist might surprise you: Pink Floyd. They are a fully secular group. Make no mistake, they are not even remotely Christian but several of their songs make wise comment on society. This song in particular though, speaks to a latent hope in people everywhere, and one that will find its realization in what Christ is doing for us.
That by the way is why i chose the song. As we come through a time of repentence and reflection on our sinfulness we do well to remember that the actions that God has taken on our behalf are not simply personal although that is a huge benefit. In Christ, God is reconciling the entire world to himself. There is a new creation underway and the resurrected Christ is the first fruit of that new life and new world and new reality. There is so much more going on in the death and resurrection of Jesus that simply redeeming you and I from our sinfulness.
Here are the lyrices to “On the Turning Away”
On the turning away
From the pale and downtrodden
And the words they say
Which we won’t understand
Don’t accept that whats happening
Is just a case of other’s suffering
Or you’ll find that you’re joining in
The turning away
Its a sin that somehow
Light is changing to shadow
And casting its shroud
Over all we have known
Unaware how the ranks have grown
Driven on by a heart of stone
We could find that we’re all alone
In the dream of the proud
On the wings of the night
As the daytime is stirring
Where the speechless unite
In a silent accord
Using words you will find are strange
And mesmerized as they light the flame
Feel the new wind of change
On the wings of the night
No more turning away
From the weak and the weary
No more turning away
From the coldness inside
Just a world that we all must share
Its not enough just to stand and stare
Is it only a dream that there’ll be
No more turning away?
In this song, Pink Floyd (they are a group and not one person) describe how the world so often turns away from the pale and downtrodden, the weak and the weary, etc. We do this because we believe the that their suffering is brought upon themselves. We turn from them because we pursue the dream of the proud and therefore can ignore the plight of the needy.
Even as the song longs for the day that this is no longer the case it does have the limitation of not knowing where to find the solution. Like much of th esecular world (oblivious to the condition of sin that we all share) the assumption is that if we simply all agreed that this is a world that we all must sahre we would live peaceably with one another. We could avoid all the injustices and pain in this world if we all just thought differently.
Lent reminds us that we must turn toward God. The Christian knows that apart from God there is no way to change. The core problem, our heart wound, our sinfulness must be addressed. Then we can begin to think differently about the world around us and the way we live. ONce a person has acknowledged their sinfulness and called upon the mercy of the Lord then they can begin to change through the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. We can be taught to rend out hearts and not just our garments which is to say we can practice true repentence, a fundamental change in who we are and how we live.
It is not just a dream that there will one day be no more turning away. But we won’t get there on our own merit. We will get there through the love and grace of Jesus Christ.
Hopefully this will help you understnad better why I chose those songs for Ash Wednesday. I hope reflecting on them will provide another means for the Holy Spirit to will and work for the change in your heart that God most desires.
See you Sunday
Pastor Michael
