Vibrating Jesus

A lot of our personal theology (i.e. what we think of God) is formed from the songs and hymns we sing in church services. A lot can be formed by what we read, or what we hear in sermons, and we usually have an opinion on messages we receive by those routes ('won't be reading his books again', 'Didn't agree with that preacher') but we usually object less to what we sing.

Case in point - at College Communion this last Thursday night we had a good mix of old and new, contemporary songs and older hymns and I loved the new musical setting for the 'Nunc Dimittis' even though I didn't know what the Nunc Dimittis was before this week. And I'm not saying that because my friend Disco Dave was leading and had written that new setting.

But in the final hymn 'We Shall Go Out With Hope of Resurrection' there were lyrics that sneaked up on you. It's a relatively modern 1990's set of words, to a familiar tune - Danny Boy. The first verse was fine:

We shall go out with hope of resurrection,

We shall go out, from strength to strength go on,

We shall go out, and tell our stories boldly,

Tales of a love that will not let us go.

We'll sing our songs of wrongs that can be righted,

We'll dream our dream of hurts that can be healed,

We'll weave a cloth of all the world united,

Within the vision of a Christ who sets us free.

OK? Having sung that through in your head have you really taken the words on board? If you sing in church how often do you actually process the words between eye and mouth? Do they pass through your brain on the way, or does your mouth just flap up and down vaguely in time with the music? If you've processed it, can you see why it's been used for services post 9/11, services for abused women, for the disenfranchised?

Let's move onto verse 2, which tells us what we should be doing to help those situations described in the first verse.

We'll give a voice to those who have not spoken,

We'll find the words for those whose lips are sealed,

We'll make the tunes for those who sing no longer,

Vibrating Jesus into every heart.

We'll share our joy with those who are still weeping,

Chant hymns of strength for hearts that break in grief,

We'll leap and dance the resurrection story,

Including all within the circles of our love.

I have to admit that I wasn't really concentrating on what I was singing in this song at all until I saw line 4 looming. And no sooner had it loomed and been sung than I noticed several of my fellows having difficulty with it - one almost doubled over in uncontrollable laughter, others merely with their heads and shoulders shaking a little more than normal. I don't remember singing the rest of the verse, and the main topic of conversation over dinner was that line.

Exactly how do I vibrate Jesus into people's hearts? If you know, please tell me. Only the brave ask Google. I think I know what the writer was trying to say, and I wish I was as innocent as he, but does nobody proof read these things before they are published?

My subsequent research into this hymn has failed to find that precise lyric on the internet. I suspect it got modified in individual churches quite quickly after publication, as I've found a few alternative versions in published service sheets: 'Expressive love alive in every heart', 'Vibrating love alive in every heart', but actually these don't communicate the writer's original sentiment.

Disco Dave was quite upset about our reaction to the hymn as it's one of his favourites. Apart from that line I love it too, and would probably use it. It has been used for as well as just being a great 'going out' hymn for reminding people what their Christian responsibilities are. But we mess with song lyrics at our peril - sometimes the theology expressed in a song isn't quite what we agree with, and with so many churches using screens these days it's so easy to change words at the click of a mouse. But we should seek the author's permission to do so, and they will frequently refuse permission as it totally changes the meaning of the song as written. In which case we should either use it as written, or choose another song.

And that leaves me in a dilemma with this song.

p.s. The hymn discussed is (c) June Boyce-Tillman, 1993.