Jesus Juve, Soli Deo Gloria

As I set out on the journey of making this new album, I am reminded of and refreshed by one of the practices of one of my heros….Johann Sebastian Bach.

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Many people know him well as one of the most brilliant and prolific composers of all time….which he is.  What many people do not know, however, are the very things about Bach for which I have the most respect.

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Bach was a devout Christian, and his music and life gave evidence for this.  One of my favorite quotes of all-time is Bach’s reason for music:  ”The chief end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul” (Beautiful.  Reminds you of the Westminster doesn’t it?)   Many of his works have melodies that are mathematically/melodically encoded spelling out Bible verses or bits of liturgy from the Mass.  On top of this, Bach was a hard-worker…not a lazy, romanticized dreamer.  He was the worship leader/pastor of 4 churches at ONE TIME, and also a father of 20 CHILDREN!  (Some of you just threw up a little bit in your mouth)

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Yet through all of this, Bach wrote music….amazing music….amazing music to the GLORY of GOD!  But how?  I’m glad you asked.  Bach practiced something that was extremely simple, methodical, practical, and intentional….and this something makes him one of my heros….

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At the beginning of EVERY piece of music Bach ever wrote were 2 words:  JESUS JUVE.  This is Latin for “Jesus Help Me”.  Help me?  J.S. freaking Bach asking for HELP?  Yep.  He was.  Bach knew and lived the words of John 15…”Apart from Me you can do nothing”.  The greatest composer of all-time needed God’s help to write music.  ”Jesus Juve” was his prayer, and that’s a prayer that God loves to hear.

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Then, at the end of EVERY piece of music Bach ever wrote were 3 words…words which have become somewhat famous…”Soli Deo Gloria”.  Many of you know what that means….it’s Latin for “To God Alone Be The Glory”.  Another extremely humbling statement, especially from the pen of one of the greatest composers of all-time.  But he wrote it EVERY TIME.  Every piece.  He didn’t save it for just the good ones….or just the “ok” ones.  He wrote it every time.  To God alone.

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What an incredible practice for any artist or composer….and yet it is an incredible practice for ALL of us.  It is THE lesson of life.  We all do things, and we try to do them as best we can.  And yet as Bach teaches us, we must write “Jesus Juve” at the beginning of everything we do, because everything we know and have and do is GRACE.  The mind that Bach thought with, the hands that he wrote with, and the fingers he composed with were all GIFTS from heaven, and Bach knew this and lived this.  Do you?  Think about it….this very sentence you are reading right now is only possible because God is sustaining your mind and your thoughts in this very moment, and He has created a matrix of truth through which words can be interpreted and understood.  Your breath is God’s.  Your heartbeat is His.  Meditating on these things makes a humble man.  Forgetting it is a foundry of pride.

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Those who can write “Jesus Juve” before their work are much more inclined to write “Soli Deo Gloria” at the end of their work.  The power to work was God’s….the strength God’s….so GOD MUST receive ALL the GLORY.  What are you doing right now?  What are you achieving?  Is your life saying “Look at God!”  ”He did it!”  Or are you taking a piece of the pie?  Remember these words from 1 corinthians 3:

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¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³ their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. ¹⁴ If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

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What’s done for ourselves will burn.  Whatever is done for God’s glory will endure….whether we eat or we drink or whatever we do (1 Cor 10:31).  So HOW do we do EVERYTHING that we do to the glory of GOD?  We follow Bach’s example.

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Writing that you might write “Jesus Juve” and “Soli Deo Gloria” and the beginning and end of everything you do,

Matt

Sing The Story (How I plan worship sets)

I plan virtually EVERY worship set I lead the same way I would plan to share Christ with a total stranger on the street.  Let me explain (but keep that statement in your back pocket).

David Platt once said “worship is a rhythm of revelation and response”.  I would wholeheartedly agree.  We see God and we respond.  That is why the use of God’s Word in worship is not an option.  You will not (cannot) respond to something or Someone you have not seen, and you cannot see the Triune God apart from His Word.  The Bible is the revelation of who God is, and worship sets must be saturated with Scripture or they are worthless.  The Bible is also the revelation of what God has done….i.e. The Story of God….i.e. The Gospel.  When we worship we are remembering the mighty deeds of God, His faithfulness, and most of all His faithfulness in sending His Son to die for us and be raised for our sins.  So when someone stands up to lead the Church in worship, their two PRIMARY roles are teacher and story-teller.  Through Scripture, the worship leader is teaching people WHO God is, and telling people WHAT God has done.  (see Isaiah 6:1-8 and Col 3:16)

Now….you still have that statement from the beginning in your back pocket?  Good, cause here we go….

I never begin my worship sets with “cross songs”.  Why?  Because that’s not where God started His Story, and that’s not where I would start when sharing Christ with a someone on the street.  Imagine this somewhat typical scenario:  You see a dude in the mall you want to share Christ with.  You’re not sure how to start, so you just throw out a quick “uh….hey man, did you know that Jesus loves you?”  You smile, and hope the Holy Spirit falls.  Since we’re in America, you just get a slightly awkward look and then a response, “yeah”.  Now, you’re wondering what to say.  He already knows Jesus loves him, so I guess he’s a Christian?  So, you respond with “uh, cool man.  um, have a great day!”.  So what went wrong in this scenario?  Why wasn’t the gospel unbelievably good news (or unbelievably offensive)?  Because the story teller started in the middle of the story.  This guy didn’t even know he needed Jesus to love him.

You can’t see how amazing grace is until you see how disgusting sin is and how Holy God is.  Thus, when I’m sharing the gospel with someone on the street, I always want to make sure I start with GOD…..His character, His nature, His power, His holiness, etc (using the Bible).  Then, in light of That, they/you see sin, depravity, and eternal separation as a consequence for all sinners.  NOW ENTER THE CROSS….because THAT’S when it’s GLORIOUSLY GOOD NEWS!  We can have peace with God again!  You see, the guy in the scenario above didn’t know he NEEDED the cross, and as worship leaders it is also crucial for us to ALWAYS ASSUME that people don’t know that they need the cross.  Here’s what I’m getting at:  Leading worship is sharing the gospel!  It’s putting the whole Story on display.  Congregations are full of people who have forgotten that they need the cross, so we as worship leaders (who also forget) MUST remind them (and remind ourselves)!  So here’s what it looks like practically for me (Isaiah 6 is a great model):

I usually start every worship set with a couple worship songs that just make God look HUGE.  Songs that remind us that He is Different from us…that He is Holy, Holy, Holy (i.e. Everlasting God, Revelation Song, Glory To God, Our God, etc.).  Then sometimes I’ll do a song of contrition….a song that cries for the mercies of God in light of who He is (Give us clean hands, You Alone Can Rescue, etc.).  THEN, and every time, I will bring in the “cross songs”.  And at this point in the service, they are SO precious.  Infinitely precious, b/c we have seen the infinite distance God has come to save us (Jesus Paid It All, In Christ Alone, etc.)! Then I will hit the resurrection (Stronger, Mighty To Save, etc.), and finally sometimes I will close with some missional songs (Open Hands, etc.).

I am honored to lead in about 6 or 7 worship services a week, and I can truly say, it does NOT get old this way.  The Gospel is good news.  Always.

Planning worship sets primarily around tempo (fast songs first, slow songs last) or key(s) (playing songs in the same key or related keys), in my opinion, leads to banal and trite singing that doesn’t have Biblical or logical substance.  And we know we don’t need more of that.  We need The Story.  We don’t need more worship jukeboxes who stand on stage and sing out of context excerpts of The Story that sound cool.  We need men of prayer, full of the Word, who stand up with the weight of glory on them and sing The Story.

I’d love to hear from you.  Worship Leaders:  what’s your formula for worship planning?  Do you have one?  I’d love to learn from you.  My goal in this post was not to say that my way of leading worship is the only right way of leading worship, although I do feel quite strongly about it.  If you don’t have a formula, I would encourage you to start thinking through this lens.

Writing that our churches might be full of people who are set ablaze with the Gospel-

Matt