The Church with broken wings.
“Rise up, church, with broken wings,
Fill this place with songs again
of our God who reigns on high;
by God’s grace again we’ll fly.
Shout to the north and the south;
Sing to the east and the west.
Jesus is Savior to all;
Lord of heaven and earth.”
This
verse is from a new praise song which will be included in “Glory to God: The
Presbyterian Hymnal.” I attended the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation
breakfast today where their new hymnal was introduced, along with many of the
other new books published this year. As part of our breakfast meeting, the
special committee for the new hymnal led us in singing several of the new
additions to the hymnal. The verse here is from “Men of Faith, Rise Up and Sing”
which is a praise and worship song from Delirious?, an English Christian rock
and worship band. The catchy, upbeat tune of this song and the image of the ‘church
with broken wings’ spoke to me. Yes, maybe we are church with broken wings. It
seems that our days of soaring high with vision and energy are past. Now, too
much, contention and conflict, mistrust and a lack of collegiality burden us.
Especially here at the General Assembly, we seem to bring out all our ‘issues’
again, replaying, rehashing and seeking a way forward. Often it feels like
we are a ‘church with broken wings’. But this is not the message of this
wonderful, new worship song. And this is not the truth that sings in my heart.
I believe and I pray that “by God’s grace again we’ll fly.”
I encourage
you to check out our new hymnal at Presbyterianhymnal.org. The full text and
music for “Men of Faith, Rise Up and Sing” is available there along with other
new samples. Information about pre-ordering is also now available.
