Was he undecided at first, and then later thought the title should be self-evident? Chris Rice was apparently working as a youth and young adult worship leader in the early 2000s, when he spelled out a simple message to this age group – Jesus. “Come to Jesus”, Chris said, although the song’s primary title was “Untitled Hymn”. It’s a curious title…what’s it mean to sing an ‘Untitled Hymn’? However, once you hear the poetry and the music, the song will undoubtedly be memorable for you. It's about the life cycle of a Christian – from birth, thru mid-life and its various ups and downs, and then to the end of mortal life, where there’s a re-birth because of Jesus. That’s something we can all celebrate, even now. Wherever you are on the timeline, Chris said that the God-Son is the one to whom you can turn.
Perhaps the title of the album on which the ‘Untitled Hymn’ was released helps decipher Chris’ thinking at the time when it was written; or, we might just have to ask him when we meet him, whereupon he just might say ‘see the parentheses’! ‘Untitled…’ is part of the Run the Earth…Watch the Sky album recorded and released in 2003. What this 41-year-old advised was that any person’s earthly life has a beginning and an apparent end, and some ups and downs in between. Two of his song’s verses suggest that the person in the midst of a mortal struggle should gaze upward – watch the sky. ‘Raise your head…’ (v.1) and ‘Fly…’ (v.6), because that is where you will capture a vision of Jesus, he says. There’s lots more that those two verses bookend, and if you happen to be reading a bible and focusing on the subject of life, you might detect some parallel thoughts in Chris’ musical creation. Was this, more or less, what Chris Rice was up to when he penned his six verses? It would be interesting to know if Chris shared his idea for a six-verse song with his music publisher, and what they thought of such an enterprise. After all, most contemporary Christian music has just a few verses and perhaps a memorable chorus. But, as any bible student, even a casual one, might observe, life cannot really be described in just a few verses. ‘Life’ is a common biblical word (no surprise), used most often in Genesis, Psalms, Proverbs, Job, John’s gospel, Romans, and Revelation. Life begins and ends quickly and ignominiously for most humans in Genesis, but a few like Noah and others ‘raised (their) head(s)’ (v. 1) and were saved. The newborn Christian feels his ‘burden’s lifted’ (v.2), because God has given him a path to life. Rice’s next two verses tell of the valleys, not unlike what one might read in Psalms, Proverbs, and Job. I can ‘fall’ (v.3) and ‘cry’ (v.4), but the solution in both circumstances is Jesus. In John’s biographic sketch of Jesus, and Paul’s treatise for the Romans, a Christian can ‘dance’ (v.5 of Chris’ song) theologically because of the eternal life in Jesus that these apostles help you and me understand and celebrate. Finally, John’s Revelation tells me of the culmination of it all, when I will ‘fly’ (v.6) toward Jesus and experience the book of life, the water of life, and the tree of life, though I will have my ‘final heartbeat’ here on earth.
Where are you and me on the timeline? How would you title or sum up your life’s experience up to this point? That’s what you might imagine Chris Rice was challenging some young people to mull over, as he told them the one-word answer that even the despondent could use. Don’t hesitate to ‘come’, ‘sing’, ‘fall’, ‘cry’, ‘dance’, and ‘fly’. They’re all action verbs, so no sitting will be effective in acquiring the life that Jesus wants you and me to have. That’s another way to encapsulate the message that Chris Rice would have spoken for you some 20 years ago. It’s also one your bible would speak to you. Dust off that cover and see for yourself.
See biography on the author here: https://chrisrice.com/
See more on the author here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Rice#:~:text=Chris%20Rice%2C%20a%20native%20of%20Clinton%2C%20Maryland%2C%20grew,his%20early%20work%20with%20youth%20and%20college%20students.
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