“Because He Lives”
Written by Jessica Murdoch, Rhetorical Redhead; Performed by Ray White
© 2016 Rhetorical Redhead All Rights Reserved
This Easter, I had the opportunity to compose another spoken word poem for Salem Alliance Church. The piece would be performed by an intelligent young man by the name of Ray White, recorded by SAC’s extremely talented tech guy, Chris Hahn, and directed by myself and Jeff Brown, the church’s Worship Pastor.
I continue to be humbled and blessed by beautiful collaborations such as these…they fall into my lap without my asking, and I’ve learned to say “yes” to the things that terrify me. Growth happens when you’re able to work through your fears, making them work for you, and replacing uncertainty with absolute trust. It’s so very hard. But so very liberating. And that is exactly what happened this Easter weekend. I never seem to be able to articulate these experiences very well…and I suppose that is alright. The best things in life need no explanation.
The livestream video is available to view by clicking here. For those who do not wish to watch the full video, the spoken word piece begins at the 24:45 time stamp. If you happen to meet Ray or Chris or Jeff, thank them. And I do hope you’ll take the time to watch the service in its entirety. We are surrounded by passionate and talented individuals who have such a heart for Christ and for others. Let’s celebrate Him, and each other, and remember that we live because He lives.
(Text of poem below.)
“Because He Lives”
Written by Jessica Murdoch; Performed by Ray White
© 2016 Rhetorical Redhead All Rights Reserved
Blesséd are those who did not see
with rivered eyes as metallic streams flowed free
in silence-bitten mouths and still believed
Who did not see the gnarled tree
the tree cut down to cut down Love
and boring holes bore He who’d bleed
on Golgotha where we
did not watch God ascend to be
nailed to angry skies
and die at the pleasure of His people
But Love
ah Love could not come true without the lie of death
its serpent tongues piercing the defenseless heels of Mercy
congealing His gasps,
the enemy’s unworthy, wicked, wasteful threats
The serpent betting against a stacked deck
in that His final breath bore no finality
for death’s dark travesty made void in Jesus’ majesty
poured out from every pore
in streams of crystal sanguine beauty
Oh blesséd are we
who did not see…
believed in the oldest story told, indeed,
because our newfound life depended on a mustard seed
Without the Light we cannot see
but faith is blind and so are we without Him
Darkness only is
because Light…is
You are…because Father, Son, Spirit…are
Grace is
Grace lives
“For God so loved the world, He gave—”
and gave, and gave
became a slave to our humanity, traded
glory for thorns
psalms for scorn
because God is Love and Love was made
not to judge but to save His children from themselves…
What parent wills their child’s demise?
It’s no
wild surprise that Abba, Father, chose to give His life for us, His grand design,
if only to spare us from our flesh and from our minds
Our Eden independence
the grand—the only—sentence we would bear
but there…inscribed above His bleeding head He bore our sin of Knowledge not our own
because beating death meant severing the distance we chose
chasmatically—chaotic…’cly—in the Garden
as hearts were hardened
by our assumptions of good…and evil…good and…evil…
never begging pardon as His people
believing “Me” to be our number one priority
Blesséd are we…
who did not see it coming
who did not see what kind of Love it would take
to break the faultless bones of God
forsake the throne, forsake His life,
for the sake of giving us our own with Him in Paradise…
Now…doesn’t that sound nice?
To live a life devoid of shame, devoid of sin, devoid of lies…
WAKE UP.
This is life—
but there is no life if there
is no Christ!
Blesséd is He
who did not need hands to move the stone
barring the dead and living to be housed alone
and separate from holy possibility
The Choice made ours, no bars, no laws to hold our souls apart
but daily do we choose
to live or lose and let the walls grow taller ‘round our broken hearts
No boulder, pebble, brick too small to do our part
in layering lies and filling furrows with mortared deceit in place of Truth…
The Builder did not come to reject us…
For sticks and stones
are but rocks and bones the enemy uses to clone our false and slowful debt
as deception flows to steal your soul, so—why embrace death
when the Living Water came without a toll to quench our deserters’ breath?
The gift of free will has always been free
and blesséd are we who are freed by the Cross
triumphant in loss, regaining rebirth without cost…
Give pause…
Give praise…
because He loved
my soul was saved for all eternity…
“Why do you weep?…Whom do you seek?”
Oh blesséd be…
who did not see…
who knows that Jesus came to live to love to die
and bring redemption in His Victory.