No real
mysteries here, based upon the words that this preacher/teacher/publisher used
in three verses. Tillit Sydney Teddlie made it pretty clear in “Oft We Come
Together” what his motivation was when he penned the words and wrote the
accompanying music in 1944, most likely while living in Texas. Some people say
this part of the worship service, which Tillit seemed to be addressing, is the
centerpiece of Christendom and a proper Sunday morning worship. Trays pass in
front of people, and the main point is to remember and appreciate His gift, and
reciprocate. This kind of commemoration, as Tillit saw it, was not intended for
one-timers, but for believers who habitually and faithfully took time on a
first day of the week for such a ceremony. That’s the reason for the first word
he wrote – oft. It was a short little word that might have summed up Tillet
Teddlie, a man who did a lot of good things regularly.
He had
been a Christian for a pretty long time in 1944, and would continue on for
several more decades, continuing to do the things that defined his life. Tillit
Teddlie was close to 60 years old when he penned “Oft We Come Together”, a
statement he probably had thought about and paraphrased from the pulpit he so
often occupied. Though many in his family were musicians, Tillit reportedly did
not take up writing most of the approximately 100 songs accredited to him and
seriously teaching music until he was in his early 30s, continuing in this for
some 60 years. Besides writing, Teddlie published over a dozen hymnals and
served as a preacher and an evangelist in multiple places. So, for how many
Sunday worship services or other events the other six days of the week had
Tillit been present by 1944? Thousands, no doubt, perhaps something he’d
contemplated as he considered what to say in three verses about something
variously called ‘Communion’, the ‘Lord’s Supper’, or Eucharist. That time is
special, even central to the Christian’s faith, so Tillit evidently wanted to vocalize
and be certain he and his fellow believers did not take for granted what they
did routinely. As one looks at the order of the verses Tillit wrote, you might
ask ‘aren’t the thoughts a bit backwards in priority?’ ‘..we bring our offering’,
Tillit says in verse 1, but we all know that normally comes third, after we’ve
honored the Lord’s command to eat and drink of his body and blood. Right? So, what
was Teddlie thinking?! Was it in fact the monetary offering? Or, maybe Tillit
was thinking of the offering of worship in our hearts and minds, something that,
after all, is necessary before one takes a bite out of that cracker and drinks
a bit of juice (vv.2-3). We might imagine that Tillit addressed this issue with
his hearers; when your offering of worship is right-minded, then you really don’t
need to urge worshippers to give a physical offering – it comes naturally, as
we contact the Divine spirit and sense His love. The refrain tells us that
Tillit was in fact reminding his brethren that to worship ‘in truth and spirit’
was accomplished when we ask Him to ‘Help us…’.
So, Tillit
had some very simple advice for the worship service in which he had
participated thousands of times. He undoubtedly had felt moved many times during
that point in worship, and knew what – or, in fact, Who – made that moment special.
He didn’t put God in the third person in his poetry, but spoke directly to Him.
‘Help us Lord’, he urges all of us to say. God is personal, so speak like you
believe He’s present to hear your love song sung back to Him. Edify one another
with that devotional message to Him who has saved you. Try thinking of it that
way the next time you’re sitting there with the trays coming by and the sounds
of people’s voices wafting through the room. Then, see how you feel. Do it
again, and again -- 'oft', as Tillit said. Then, perhaps you and I will appreciate what he had
discovered.
See brief
biography of the author here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/t/e/d/teddlie_ts.htm
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