Transform - A song

The Spirit of The Lord was upon him

To bring the good news to the poor,

Humbly he took on the servants burden

To lift our broken flesh from the floor.

God and flesh without a contradiction

Holy Spirit heal this divide,

Let us live out the incarnation

To be the body where Christ does reside.

Transform our hearts,

Transform our hands,

To transform.

The Spirit of The Lord was upon him

To set all the captives free,

He followed a life of love to its conclusion

When hatred nailed him firmly to a tree.

God and suffering without a contradiction

Holy Spirit comfort while we hide,

Help us to take on the crucifixion

To be the body where Christ does reside.

Transform our hearts,

Transform our hands,

To transform.

The Spirit of the sovereign was upon him

To declare the favour of The Lord,

He shattered every paradigm we made for him

When with utter life he over came the sword.

Deathless life without a contradiction

Holy Spirit rouse these dry bones,

Help us to live lives of resurrection

To be be the body where Christ is at home

Transform our hearts,

Transform our hands,

To transform.

I was inspired to write this song while preparing a sermon on 'Jesus Shaped Mission' and Philippians 2:5-11.

Taking the concept of the church being encouraged to 'have the same mind as Christ Jesus', and that the passage moves through the incarnation, death, resurrection and glorification of Jesus, I then reflected on what this might look like practically. This question led me to Jesus quoting Isaiah in Luke 4:17-21. The song grew out of the interplay between these two passages.

Philippians 2:5-11 (NRSV)

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

Who, though he was in the form of God,

    did not regard equality with God

    as something to be exploited,

7 

but emptied himself,

    taking the form of a slave,

    being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,

he humbled himself

    and became obedient to the point of death—

    even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him

    and gave him the name

    that is above every name,

 

so that at the name of Jesus

    every knee should bend,

    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

 

and every tongue should confess

    that Jesus Christ is Lord,

    to the glory of God the Father.

Luke 4:17-21 (NRSV)

‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

    because he has anointed me

        to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

    and recovery of sight to the blind,

        to let the oppressed go free,

 

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’