"Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?"
Romans 7:24.
One of the great joys of Christianity is the manner in which it conveys truth to us through the vital method of the arts (language, music and images), and this is particularly true when it comes to our own nature.
Recently I watched a two hour special on You Tube on the music of the Jesus movement of the 70's, and heard a new song by the superb Randy Stonehill. Listen to these lyrics:
Like a man who has lost his memory, we got in this calamity.The Truth of who we are Is distant as the stars, so we paint our portraits in the dark, and build this lonely house of cards, but we are not sure what is real, and we are aching to be healed, And the hours we would cling to flow like water through our hands, and we hear and see and think and feel, but we never understand, all the Glory and the meaning of our days,
Abandon your Heart and it will take flight O its beating like an angel's wings that long for heavens light, Abandon your heart, just set it free The Mighty Love of God is calling - Abandon your heart to me.
We'd deified our wilfulness, our prison walls are made of this, our only hope awaits just beyond those wicket gates. We would go to almost any length to preserve this weakness we call strength, but peace can never dwell in a house of infidels. Then the fire of life burns in us, but it's power is denied. We are lost in frantic motion, We are never satisfied, But I swear it does not have to be this way
Abandon your Heart and it will take flight. O it's beating like an angel's wings that long for heavens light. Abandon your heart, just set it free The Mighty Love of God is calling - Abandon your heart to me.
All these things we try to hold, They only rob our thirsting souls and make us old But when we dare to let go, We will finally know the joy that always alludes our grasp.
Abandon your heart.
Whether we see ourselves as akin to Edmund (The Chronicles of Narnia), giving ground to the allure of Turkish delight, or far more in the vein of the twisted genius of William Minor, the truth we cannot escape is our 'hearts' indeed enslave us to the manner of wretchedness Paul is unpacking in Romans 7 (which is why good Christian liturgy always revolves around confession, absolution, Gospel declaration and the mediation of the Lord's supper). We were indeed made to fly to heights that truly astonish (as any work of genius reveals), but we are brought low by our vices and our continuing propensity to these. We, in effect, destroy ourselves by our own bent towards murder (anger), lust (with our hearts, if not with our bodies), and greed, but God has recused us from all our evil by the giving up of His beloved Son.
We are called to cast all our burdens, all our terrible woes and inclinations to what is worse upon Him, because at the cross, He carried these for the whole world, and brought a merciful reconciliation to our Father that cannot be broken - nothing now, because of Calvary, can ever sever us from that love. That is the mark God wishes us to bare before the world - naked souls redeemed entirely by His care, that can then dance without shame before His abiding presence in the ecstasy of unequaled joy.
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