Agnus Dei -- Michael W. Smith

 

He had read about a vision, and he wanted to share this sight, because it was too awesome to keep to himself. That’s what one might conclude when investigating what brought “Agnus Dei” from inside Michael W. Smith in 1990. There’s this mass of people, too numerous to count – ‘a great multitude’- and they are worshipping. Was Michael seeing in his mind something like this, reflecting on what John saw, when he wrote about the Lamb in Revelation (19:6)? (See 15^th Century artwork of Jan van Eyck, called “Adoration of the Mystic Lamb”, which is giving its lifeblood into a cup.) It’s not a song of very many words, but then, how many do you believe you’ll be able to vocalize when you participate in this episode-yet-to-come? Perhaps Michael reminds us of all the words you and I will need.

 

Lamb of God. That’s one phrase that all probably all Christians have heard used to describe Jesus Christ. And yet, it’s not really used that often by anyone in biblical times. Just one very unusual fellow named John recognized Him this way (John 1:29, 36), until another John saw Him described in a vision as a Lamb (Revelation, chapters 5, 7, 14, 15, 19, 21, and 22). So, when Michael Smith borrowed this name for a song, he must have thought it carried something intrinsically special. Roman Catholic, Anglican/Episcopal, and Lutheran liturgies use this special name to call out in worship to God the Savior. Perhaps Michael – who has been associated with Protestant churches, and was friends with Billy Graham, perhaps the most well-know evangelical preacher in America in the mid-to-late 20^th Century – was especially moved by the Revelation accounts of the Lamb. Additionally, perhaps it was one or more communion services in a church that underscored for Michael that Jesus was a perfect lamb that was sacrificed on a Jewish Passover, a time when Jews also partake of a slain lamb. Singing about a lamb in Latin is a way to cover lots of bases among people of faith. This song was part of Michael’s 1990 album Go West Young Man, which was a notable success in the American secular music market. So, Agnus Dei might conceivably have reached some people’s ears who may have not taken notice of this deified lamb otherwise. Agnus Dei is like an invitation, therefore, to all people to stop for a moment and acknowledge what John saw in Revelation. Call out to a Holy One, John says that multitude cried, and it was thunderous and like rushing water to hear that many voices shouting in exaltation. Even if you don’t count yourself a believer, get that picture and that sound in your head, if you can. When’s the last time you had goosebumps at something you saw and heard? That vision that John had has now endured for two millennia. You might want to reconsider its value, if you haven’t yet done so.    

 

Agnus Dei takes this lamb and us to another plane, doesn’t it? Michael’s song is an offer for you to lose yourself in imagination, but not just that. We get a foretaste of a coming feast, for John says there will be a wedding supper (Rev. 19:9) after the singing. Keep singing with your friends in the faith what Smith’s song words provide. That’s what you might notice when you watch renditions of Michael’s song in concert, that audiences don’t want to let that time end; they don’t seem to grow weary of shouting ‘Alleluia’ to Him. Singing to the Agnus Dei is a way to keep anchored, keeping that amazing vision of Revelation undimmed. It’s a God-guaranteed epoch, and it’ll be worth the wait of a lifetime.

 

 

See here for information on the term “Agnus Dei”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnus_Dei

 

See here for song story reference: https://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/michael-w-smith

 

See here for author-songwriter biography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_W._Smith

 

See here for information on of Lamb of God: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamb_of_God

 

Watch a rendition of the song performed by the author in concert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPBmFwBSGb0

Just As I Am-O Holy Lamb -- Jeff Nelson

 

Do you think that this author was reading, perhaps something from a vision that some guy named John had some 20 centuries earlier, when he wrote some poetry for a song? Take a look at what Jeff Nelson penned in 1993 (when he was most likely somewhere in his native Texas), evidently as he admired a classic old hymn, and how he merged his thoughts with an ancient apostle’s words and this classic 19^th Century hymn to create “Just As I Am-O Holy Lamb”. How do you and I compare to what the Holy Lamb represents in Eternity? That just might be a question to ask oneself after reading the three verses that Jeff crafted, in juxtaposition to a single verse that he borrows for the conclusion of his composition. Is it OK to be ‘just’ yourself when meeting the ‘just’ God?

 

Jeff Nelson has been involved in music in a Christian context for some time, including in the early 1990s when he was writing some verses to match the tune in the Charlotte Elliot hymn “Just As I Am”. I’ll allow Jeff to share in his own words here:

I love to plan a journey of worship around a specific theme or book from the Bible where songs and text readings are woven together.  I was working on a worship experience using the book of Revelation. I first read the whole book of the Revelation and pulled the scriptures together that were full of descriptive worship. I found slides of images that depicted much of what is described in the book. I found songs that brought much of the text to life already written, but I could find little on one of my favorite passages, Revelation 4&5. I also wanted to stay with familiar songs so the worship experience would have everyone involved as participants. My idea was to take those great worship passages that became the verses you now see, and find a familiar tune to match, so they would be easily singable. I was driving on a trip at the time and was working on the feel and the flow of the Revelation worship experience. I just kept humming familiar hymn tunes, trying to match the basic content of these verses. When I started humming Just As I Am, the words very easily fell into place.  That was a holy moment for me because I felt like the Lord honored my quest to match some of His most beautiful worship words in scripture to a beautiful, familiar hymn. I sang those verses over and over the rest of the way home. I have led that Revelation worship experience many times. It is a powerful experience and people, including myself, are very moved when we sing those verses. I believe that God created the marriage of the Word with music to be one of the most powerful ways we experience his living presence.     

 

Amen, Jeff! Thanks for sharing from your heart and experience, and letting the rest of us join in. Someday, it won’t be just a mountaintop experience that we occasionally enjoy. It’ll fill us forevermore. Imagine that, and aim – even right now -- to be there with Him and the rest of us!  

 

 

The story of the song was acquired via e:mail contact with the author on September 19, 2020.

 

See here for a picture of the author: http://highlandchurch.org/staff/member-detail/1528227/