Songs for a Summer Pandemic, 2020

Mark 5:1-20, "My Demons" (07/08/20)

If you've been around for a while, you might remember our study of the Devil and demons. There's the ten word summary: The Devil is a liar and tempter; demons cause illness. Demons, like the COVID-19 virus, make you physically or mentally ill. The Devil tempts you into sin. Fortunately, the man who lived in the tombs was able to fight his illness just enough to ask Jesus to cast out "My Demons."

Exodus 12:1-13, 21-27 "Somebody's Knockin'" (07/07/20)

"Somebody's Knockin'," but don't let him in. Most English Bibles say in vs. 23 that the LORD will not allow the "destroyer" to enter any home that is marked with the blood of the lamb. This seems to be a better translation of the Hebrew word than "angel of death," which you see occasionally. I especially like what John Wesley has to say: "whether this was a good or an evil angel, we have not light to determine," which is about the way most of us feel about this passage, I think. But the point of this scripture, and of this song, is that we are able to keep a supernatural agent of destruction out of our life. We should do that.

Job 1:1-12, 1:22 – 2:1-10, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." (07/09/20)

I planned today's song weeks ago; I didn't even know Charlie Daniels was sick. But with or without him, we can't possibly leave out "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." In the Bible, the Devil goes down to Uz, as we read today, and also down to the Wilderness, as in Matthew 4 and Luke 4. Don't you just cringe as Johnny offers the Devil a chair? It worked out okay for him, but not so much for Faust. Both Job and Johnny manage to beat the Devil at his own game, but I don't recommend trying that, because he's a crafty old goat. And he cheats.

I know that many of you are uncomfortable with the idea that God and Satan basically make a bet about Job, and Job is the one who suffers for it. It might help you to know that many scholars believe that Job is a play about why bad things happen to good people, and that "God" and "Satan" are characters in this play. Now, if that idea makes the rest of you uncomfortable, just read the text as written. This is not a division that's worth breaking communion over.

2 Corinthians 11:1-21, "Devil in Disguise." (07/06/20)

Last year we heard several songs about angels, most of which had nothing to do with real angels. In contrast, the songs I found about the Devil seem to be fairly well aligned with scripture. Paul warned us to watch out for the "Devil in Disguise." The Devil is a liar, a cheat, a tempter, and a master of disguise; like Elvis, we need to get wise.

Matthew 4:1-11; James 1:12-16, 4:7; 1 Peter 5:8-9, "Say I Won't." (07/10/20)

Finally, what should you and I do about the Devil? We should follow the example of Jesus and just "Say I Won't." Why y'all scared to be different?

Deuteronomy 8:3; 1 Samuel 3:1-10; Psalms 29:1-11, "Turn Your Radio On" (06/15/20)

After last year's study was completely planned, Dana U.'s Sunday School class nominated "the entire bluegrass genre." This week we'll listen to some bluegrass and some country, I think, although the distinction isn't completely clear to me. Banjos, I think.

I've often told my Bethel students that God is like 24-hour talk radio, because all you have to do to hear the voice of God is tune in.

Turn Your Radio On

Psalms 145:1-21, "Forever and Ever Amen" (06/12/20)

David knew that God loved him, and he wrote a song saying that he would love God "Forever and Ever Amen."

Matthew 22:23-40, "Believe" (06/16/20)

Jesus often reminded his listeners of what "is written in the scriptures." When the Sadducees come to him with a trick question, he says that the reason they have to ask is that they don't understand the scriptures. When the Pharisees ask a trick question about the Law, he says that the entirety of the Law and Prophets hangs on two commandments; again, they would know this is they studied the scriptures. Read the scripture so you know what it is that you "Believe."

Psalms 126:1-6; Isaiah 25:6-9; Revelation 21:1-4, Two Views of Heaven: "Holes in the Floor of Heaven" and "Heaven's Watching Over Me" (06/17/20)

Fellow-reader Dana U. writes, "I remember thinking this was the most dreadful song...because we all want to go to heaven to spend eternity crying!" Fortunately for Dana and all of us, "Holes in the Floor of Heaven" don't make it rain, because God assures us that there will be no tears in Heaven.

Now, fellow-reader Judy L. has another idea, namely that those who gone before are watching and helping us out when they can. "Heaven's Watching Over Me" is on solid scriptural ground in saying that it's our Lord who's watching over us and that "my friends and my loved ones already gone home" are "a great cloud of witnesses cheering me on" (Hebrews 12:1-2).

Luke 13:1-5; Ecclesiastes 9:11-12; Genesis 50:16-20; Romans 8:28, "Three Wooden Crosses" (07/02/20)

"Three Wooden Crosses" revisits an unanswerable question, but unfortunately it answers it. Incorrectly. The singer says that his preacher's mother was spared from death in order to produce the preacher: "Why there's not four of them, now I guess we know."

What the Bible says is just the opposite: bad things happen to us; that's just the way it is. Both Joseph and Paul tell us that God will work hard at bringing some good from everything that happens to us; however, that is not the reason bad things happen in the first place. God would a lot rather bring good from good.

1 Corinthians 15:51-58; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, "I'll Fly Away" (06/18/20)

"I'll Fly Away" may be my favorite bluegrass song. Paul does not suggest that wings are necessary, which is a good thing; as we learned last year, I will not have them.

John 14:1-23, "Build Me a Cabin in the Corner of Glory Land." (06/19/20)

I feel like today's song should be "I wonder, wonder who, who wrote the book of love," or more accurately, who translated the Book of love? The Greek word monay is used twice in the entire Bible, once in John 14:2 and once in John 14:23. It comes from the verb meno/remain, abide, so it means place, abode. Jesus is speaking both times, on the same topic. So why does only one of the sixteen English translations I looked at have the same English word in both places? It's a mystery. The Darby Bible has "many abodes"/"make our abode." Yay, Darby translators!

Anyway. Jesus is going to prepare a place for our abode, but

Build Me a Cabin in the Corner of Glory Land

1 Peter 1:14-19; Revelation 7:9-17, "Are You Washed in the Blood of the Lamb?" (07/03/20)

The idea of Jesus as the lamb of God, sacrificed for the sins of the world, seems to have originated with John the Baptist, even before the start of Jesus' own ministry (John 1:29, 36). In John's vision, he reaches even further back, to the idea that Aaron and his sons and their garments are hallowed by sprinkling the blood of a ram on them (Exodus 29:15-21). "Are You Washed in the Blood of the Lamb?"

I always associate this song with Vachel Lindsey, even though he didn't write it. He wrote a poem, to be sung to the same tune and with the same refrain, about General William Booth, the Methodist preacher who founded the Salvation Army.

Genesis 37:1-11, "Joseph's Coat" (06/22/20)

After we finished last summer's Songs, my daughter-in-law and I realized that I hadn't done anything from "Jesus Christ, Superstar." Or "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." Or "Godspell." Or ... show tunes in general. This week's selections correct that oversight.

Aww ... everybody knows the story of Joseph's coat of many colors, so we're all disappointed to learn that scholars say "Joseph's Coat" had "big sleeves," not "many colors." You need a modern translation.

I have one daughter, and I call her husband my "favorite son-in-law." He answers, "I'm your only son-in-law, Mom." I tell him, "If I had more than one, you'd still be my favorite, I just wouldn't say so." Jacob had a favorite son, and unfortunately he said so, which made his other sons unhappy and caused a lot of trouble. It all worked out okay in the end, because God can bring good from evil, but you have to wonder: What greater good could God have brought about without the evil of favoritism and jealousy?

p.s. I really wanted to include the "Benjamin Calypso," but the study isn't long enough, so under no circumstances should you watch that video and read Genesis 44.

Isaiah 56:1-8; Luke 14:12-24, "God Help the Outcasts" (06/09/20)

"God Help the Outcasts" is a prayer that begins by wondering whether the singer should even speak to God. Yes! God loves outcasts! I especially appreciate that the singer says, "I ask for nothing; I can get by, but I know so many less lucky than I." So here is an outcast praying for other, less fortunate people. We who are not outcasts should follow this example, or better yet, not make them outcasts in the first place. Love God; love your neighbor.

Exodus 2:1-19, "The 10 Plagues." (06/23/20)

Until I watched this video clip from "The Prince of Egypt," I never really considered how Moses might have felt about "The 10 Plagues." We Christians and Jews think of Moses as the great Jewish leader and lawgiver who led the children of Israel out of Egypt; we forget that he was raised as an Egyptian. He was adopted by Pharaoh's daughter and lived in Pharaoh's household from the time he was a small child. Even after he fled the country, the daughters of Jethro the Midianite recognized him as an Egyptian, not as a Hebrew. In this scene, Pharaoh and Moses call each other "brother," and I have to consider whether that may actually be how Moses and Pharaoh looked at each other. No fight is so bitter as a family fight.

Colossians 1:1-12, 4:2-4; 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13, 5:25, "Somewhere Out There" (06/24/20)

Paul loved his converts and prayed continuously for them, and he urged all his converts "Somewhere Out There" to pray for him as well.

2 Samuel 12:1-10; Proverbs 10:4, 15:25, 17:1, 21:9, 28:11, 1:1-6, "If I were a rich man" (06/25/20)

I was playing today's song while I was planning the study, and non-reader Madison L. commented, "So 'If I were a rich man,' I'd behave badly?"

Um, yeah. I never noticed before, but that's exactly what this song – which I love, by the way – does say. "If I were rich," Tevya dreams, "I wouldn't have to work, I'd build a big house, I'd be proud, my wife would be quarrelsome, and people would hang on my every word, right or wrong." David had the same idea, "I'm rich, so I can do whatever I want to." Maybe God's vast, eternal plan is that people without great wealth can't be tempted to use it to behave badly. Now, toward the end of the song, Tevya says that the sweetest thing of all would be to study the holy books, and that's good, but you can study without wealth.

Mark 3:13-19 (see also Matthew 10:2-4; Luke 6:13-15); Acts 1:1-13, "Simon Zealotes" (06/26/20)

The only thing we know about "Simon Zealotes" is that he was a Zealot. He's mentioned by name only four times, in the lists of apostles given in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Acts. The Good News calls him "Simon the Patriot," because the Zealots wanted to throw the Romans out of Judea, by force if necessary. In our passage from Acts, the disciples ask, "Lord, will you at this time give the Kingdom back to Israel?" The speaker isn't identified, but that's a very Zealot kind of question.

I like the enthusiasm that Simon shows in this song from "Jesus Christ Superstar," because enthusiasm strikes me as an excellent reason for having a Zealot among the apostles. And you can see from his smile that Jesus loves Simon and his enthusiasm, too. Notice that Jesus is smiling right up until Simon says, "add a touch of hate at Rome"; at that point, Jesus gets worried. Simon doesn't understand Jesus' goals, and neither do we, mostly, but Jesus loves us anyway.

1 Maccabees 1:41-53; 4:20-59, "A Small Piece of Heaven" (07/13/20)

Whenever a child cried or ran around during the worship service, the late Rev. Dr. Bob Templeton used to pause briefly and remind us, "That's our future." A few weeks ago, our own Rev. Dr. Pam said that future church isn't going to look like today's church. She was talking specifically about changes brought about by the COVID-19 virus, but what she said is true for every generation. The Church is always changing, growing, moving into new parts of the world, and adapting to the needs of society. This week we're looking into our future.

"A Small Piece of Heaven" is part of a kids' Hanukkah program. The reading is somewhat long, because most of us aren't familiar with the books of Maccabees, and we need some background. Hanukkah, or the Festival of Lights, celebrates the rededication of the Temple after it was profaned by Antiochus Epiphanes. Traditionally (from the Talmud, not scripture), there was only enough of the necessary holy oil for one day, but it burned for the required eight days – a miracle! for sure!

Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Ephesians 6:11-20; 1 Corinthians 9:23-27, "Go Hard" (07/14/20)

"Go Hard" means "Do it with all your might." I love this song! Especially "God blessed me and I ain't even gotta sneeze."

Shout out = public expression of thanks or gratitude. Reppin' = representing. Word up = "So true" or "Yes, I agree." Turned up = excited and happy, especially associated with dancing or music. Gassed up = excited and happy.

John 15:1-12; 1 John 2:1-11, "Every Move I Make" (07/15/20)

Jesus says that "Every Move I Make" should be made in him.

Matthew 26:36-56; Luke 24:36-41, "Gethsemane" (07/16/20)

The sweetness of the child contrasts with the bitterness of "Gethsemane"; just as resurrection contrasts with betrayal.

Revelation 19:6-16, 21:1-7, 22:16-17 "Ride on King Jesus" (07/17/20)

You know that the Church is the Bride of Christ. I've heard a lot of gloomy predictions about the future of the Church in the past 20 years, but if you're still worried about that after this week, call me. As near as I can tell from the dates on the videos we've watched this week, none of the kids we've seen should be much out of their twenties. They are amazing, and the future of the Church is secure with them in charge. She might not look like my church, today, but She will be strong and beautiful in the presence of God. "Ride on King Jesus"! Amen!

More Songs for Summer

Songs for Summer, 2019
Invocation, Angels (mostly badly represented), and Good theology
Mixed, Bad, and Truly Weird theology and My Favorites

Songs for a Summer Pandemic, 2020
We're All In This Together, the Great Physician, and more Good theology
The Devil, Bluegrass and Country, Show Tunes, and Our Future

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