1 / 23

singing in a strange land

singing in a strange land. Psalm 137. 1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion. 2 On the willows there we hung up our harps. 3 For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”.

ivy-michael
Télécharger la présentation

singing in a strange land

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. singing in a strange land

  2. Psalm 137 1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion. 2 On the willows there we hung up our harps. 3 For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

  3. 4 How could we sing the LORD's song in a foreign land? 5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither! 6 Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy.

  4. 7 Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem's fall, how they said, "Tear it down! Tear it down! Down to its foundations!" 8 O daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction! Happy shall they be who pay you back what you have done to us! 9 Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock!

  5. are we as Church in exile? • minority group on the margins, no links to state power • beliefs and values at odds with surrounding society • having to work out what living faithfully looks like against a backdrop of competing worldviews / religious options • loss of established structures and influence, crisis of confidence • old certainties gone, old ways of being church become impossible to maintain

  6. PilgrimageAndrew Moon

  7. How could we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?

  8. refusing to engage 1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat down and weptwhen we remembered Zion. 2 On the willows there we hung up our harps. 3 For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

  9. 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, so that they may have sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. Jeremiah 29:5-6 • Be where you are, Live where you are • Don’t be passive and turn in on yourselves – thrive!

  10. nostalgia 4 How could we sing the LORD's song in a foreign land? 5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither! 6 Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy.

  11. 10 For this is what the LORD says: Only when Babylon's seventy years are completed will I visit you, and I will fulfill my promise to you and bring you back to this place. 11 For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Jeremiah 29:10-11 • Let go of the past, you are where I mean you to be

  12. anger, desire for judgment 7 Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem's fall, how they said, "Tear it down! Tear it down! Down to its foundations!" 8 O daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction! Happy shall they be who pay you back what you have done to us! 9 Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock!

  13. 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. Jeremiah 29:7 • Engage with the context you’re in • Know it, and engage with its issues, otherwise how can you pray for it and seek its wellbeing?

  14. a question to live by How could we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land? How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?

  15. 3 For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

  16. singing the song • Need to know the strange land pretty well! • Out on the edge engaging with context • Give up the idea that everyone shares our values (or perhaps that they should) • Lost in translation? – music, words, concepts

  17. redemption as drama • Act I – Creation (the Author’s intentions) • Act II – Fall (it goes horribly wrong) • Act III – Israel • Act IV – Jesus • Act VI – Church – most of script is missing! • faithful improvisation (also works for songs!) • Act VI – Restoration (Author’s purposes are finally realised)

More Related