Celebrating The U-2charist

Now, Religion in the News, a report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media.This week’s item is from Christian Post Reporter, January 30, 2007, with a headline:U2CHARIST.The following are excerpts:U2 songs are sung by millions around the world, and lately the rock band has drawn a new score of fans, Christian clergy.The US church phenomenon U2CHARIST is now hitting the Church of England for the country’s first holy communion service using U2’s best selling songs.Already, 150 churches in 15 US states and 7 countries have had, or planned to have U2CHARIST.The service stems from an Episcopal church in York Harbor, Maine, where the Reverend Page Blair displayed U2’s lyrics next to the altar in the summer of 2005.Blair said, much of U2 songs are explicitly Christian, and perfectly suitable for worship service, according to USA Today.She also noted that some people might need time to get used to the idea.We are hoping the service will be a fresh way to look at worship, less formal and less rigid, said the right Reverend Timothy Ellis, bishop of Granthum, according to the London Telegraph.This is not designed to replace traditional services, but to enhance the worship provision of the church.We need to try new expressions.If we don’t try to update and refresh our thinking we will die.

Tom:

Dave, you don’t know where to begin with something like this.We could start with the so-called Eucharist.Having been a Catholic for 30 years of my life, the Eucharist was changing this piece of bread, consecrated, transubstantiated into the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, and then worshipped as a piece of bread representing God, but not just representing God, this is God.So, we could start with that—

Dave:

Tom, let me interrupt you, I was just in Rome, well, a few months ago now, and there they were at St Peter’s, you’ve got a chapel, and you know, the light is burning in the tabernacle and there on a monstrance you have this wafer that the priest has just transubstantiated, and people come and sit there and pray to this wafer, and thank this—Well, Mother Teresa, one of her great joys was thanking Jesus for being willing to humble himself to become this little wafer!So anyway, that’s the Eucharist.

Tom:

Right.In the Episcopal church, high Episcopal, they might not go that far but they would say at least the presence of God involved, the Lutherans certainly would use consubstantiation and say, Yes, Jesus’ presence in the element.So, what do we do with this?Now we have service that’s so far removed from what the Scripture teaches, but now we have a popular group, U2, this is Bono’s group, and Bono has become a statesman, a humanist, certainly recognized by our country, our Congress and throughout the world.

Dave:

Well, he’s a favorite with Rick Warren.

Tom:

Of course, being a humanist he’s concerned about the world’s problems, and so on.But let’s get back to this issue.Here you have the Church of England, and I believe this other church is an Episcopal church here in the United States.

Dave:

Very close.

Tom:

They are trying to attract to this service, which has many problems biblically, by using the music of U2, and the lyrics.Are you interested in some of the lyrics, Dave?

Dave:

Tom, I live a very sheltered life, and I almost never heard of U2, but I have vaguely, and I wouldn’t know their lyrics.

Tom:

Well, some of the songs that this Episcopal priest selected would be Mysterious Ways.Here’s how it goes:It’s all right, It’s all right, It’s all right.She moves in mysterious ways.It’s all right, It’s all right, It’s all right.We move through miracle days.The spirit moves in mysterious ways.And then, there is another song called, Elevation:Explain all these controls, can’t sing but I’ve got soul.The goal is elevation, a mole, digging in a hole, digging up my soul now, going down, excavation.You see the relationship, Dave?

Dave:

Nonsense!She, I object to “she,” God is not a she.The reason why female language is not right for God, because a woman gives birth out of herself, God does not.He created the universe out of nothing!And now we’re—Tom, it’s pitiful stuff when there are such fantastic hymns written by people who really knew the Lord.But what do these guys have to do with Christianity?

Tom:

Dave, certainly, U2 has been recognized in popular Christianity as a guy has at least an affinity for Christianity.

Dave:

About Bono?

Tom:

Bono, right.

Dave:

Now why don’t you tell us what he had his audience chant at one of his concerts.

Tom:

Well, again, this is such a mixed bag it’s unbelievable.At one concert, to promote unity, the unity of faiths, he had the audience chanting, Christian, Muslim, Jew, all true, Christian, Muslim, Jew, all true.True in what sense?Certainly not theologically.

Dave:

It’s true that they are alive on the earth today, but Tom, true?Christians believe in the Trinity.Israel believes in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, which he is also a trinity, very clearly made.Muslims, the Qur’an says if you believe in the Trinity you go straight to hell.They believe in one god who hates Jews.The God of the Bible is called 203 times the God of Israel.The Qur’an says Jesus did not die on the cross.He didn’t die for our sins, someone died in His place.He didn’t resurrect, and so forth.So, Islam denies the very foundation of Christianity, and you’re going to say, Christian, Muslim, Jew, all true?That is a lie in itself!See, what that says is, the person who sang it doesn’t really care what you believe—we’re just after unity, and he ignores, or despises the very foundation of these faiths.It reminds me of the New Agers, Tom.But what if you say, Oh, yeah, I agree.You can’t get them not to agree because they agree with anything.And then I say, look, you are insulting me because you are denying that my beliefs are different from yours.I do not believe what you believe, and you are refusing to take what I am saying seriously.And that’s what Bono is doing.

Tom:

Dave, one final statement from this article.We need to try new expressions, if we don’t try to update and refresh our thinking we will die.

Dave:

The Bible doesn’t change.

Tom:

No, and I can understand these people being upset with the traditions and the culture the church has developed.

Dave:

Right.

Tom:

But let’s get back to the Word of God.

Dave:

Amen.