Oft We Come Together -- Tillit S. Teddlie

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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tillit_Sidney_Teddlie

https://hymnary.org/person/Teddlie_Tillit

Grace Greater Than Our Sin -- Julia H. Johnston

She took after her mother and grandmother when she lifted up her pen, perhaps early in the 20^th Century and probably while she was living in Peoria, Illinois (and perhaps occasionally gazing upon Peoria’s waterfront that looked something like this period photograph from 1909). Julia Johnston’s father, who was a Presbyterian minister, also must have stimulated her with many a sermon that guided her thoughts about “Grace Greater Than Our Sin” that she voiced and saw published by 1911, near the end of her life. No doubt, her life’s work as a Sunday school teacher and director also helped spur her writing, and was this a reflection of what she thought students in the bible classrooms should be learning? What she expressed is a fundamental concept of Christian faith, so was she trying to ensure that young minds – or even adults’ attentions—did not miss this pillar of belief?

Julia Johnston’s life by the time she wrote ‘Grace…’ included decades of effort to educate and inspire those in her classrooms and anyone who picked up one of the four books in which her works were circulated. Her upbringing also must have paid dividends by the time the adult Julia wrote in the early 20^th Century. Forty years as an educator must have meant that probably thousands of students were directly or indirectly touched by Julia’s influence. She was also a lifelong poet and hymnist, with reportedly over 500 texts attributed to her. Additionally, she was president of the Presbyterian Missionary Society for a time, so she would have been thinking about this grace extending probably much further than the borders of the Peoria area. Thus, she had a platform. But, the foundation upon which she first stood and grew was most likely the key to Julia some 40-50 years later – the adult influences in her childhood cannot be exaggerated. Her matriarchal and patriarchal models say much about Julia Johnston. One can imagine Julia as the young child or young adult sharing with her mother the poetry she wrote, episodes in which she was coached and affirmed, fine-tuning the art form she knew the older women in her life had practiced. Her grandmother, who while perhaps not present during most of Julia’s childhood, must have had some impact on Julia through the poetry her mother could have shared with the child. Woven into this tapestry was the ministry she watched her father exercise. How often had Pastor Robert Johnston preached on the subject of grace? We could say at least once, right? Multiple times is a better guess, since Julia decided as an adult to write a poem devoted wholly to this one idea, perhaps decades after her father had planted that seed.

Julia was not a rose-colored glasses-wearing poet because she wrote about a free gift. No, Julia was evidently in touch with why she stood in need of this most significant ‘G’-word. Verses 1, 2 and 3 contain many words that show she knew about ‘sin’, ‘guilt’ (v.1); ‘despair’, and ‘infinite loss’ (v.2); and a ‘dark stain’ (v.3). ‘Grace…exceeds’ all of those (v.1), she exults. Accordingly, she uses this word no less than 38 times in her four verses and the refrain, a reminder that Grace stands tall, despite various challenges to its power. Julia would have faced numerous grace-needy moments by the time she wrote about it, so as her life progressed perhaps Julia felt increasingly the urge to cling to God and His promise of clemency that He offers to all wrongdoers. Shouldn’t we all!   

  

See more information on the song story in these sources: The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs by William J. Petersen and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, 2006; and Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1990.  

Also see this link, showing all three original verses: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/g/r/a/g/gragreat.htm  

Also see these links for author’s biography: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/j/o/h/n/s/t/johnston_jh.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_H._Johnston

Mighty to Save -- Reuben Morgan and Ben Fielding

It may be impossible for these two writers to say just how many people’s circumstances in a church in 2006 helped spur the poetry they wrote over a several-month stretch of time. Ben Fielding and Reuben Morgan were in Sydney, Australia and thinking of the body of believers there, and hearing many of their stories as they worked on “Mighty to Save”. Ben’s recollection of that time suggests these authors think of their own surroundings first when they mull over the words that eventually travel far and wide among other believers, a phenomenon that underscores the common needs and emotions of people across the planet. Their work habits further indicate they access the deep truths of ancient texts for inspiration, another cohesive element that gives their creation such widespread reception.

The local church of which Ben and Reuben were thinking in 2006 was the Hillsong Church in Sydney, a place where not only people but also biblical teaching has impact on songwriters like these two. Ben shared in an interview years after ‘Mighty to Save’ was published that restoration of hurting people at the church was a recurring theme that made the song’s emergence so natural. ‘Compassion’, ‘love’, ‘mercy’, ‘forgiveness’, and ‘kindness’ were not just convenient words for their composition (v.1), but acts that Ben and Reuben saw regularly at Hillsong. These demonstrations of a godly influence imprinted on their imaginations as they sat and thought about what they wanted to write that could resonate with these people. Though it was an immediate impact that Fielding and Morgan saw the first night the song was sung by the church, the journey to get there was nevertheless anything but a speedy one. Many months lay between the first time they experimented with word phrases, the music, and the final product. Ben also quotes three different scriptures (Luke 6:45; Zephaniah 3:17; and Romans 10:9) as he related the development of their thoughts and the special care they took in fine-tuning what they wanted to say. That biblical precision and inspiration they emphasized as part of the songwriting adventure was a key element, along with their collaborative spirit, Ben says. He concludes that ultimately, what made ‘Mighty to Save’ effective was how it intersected God’s truth and spirit with human life in all its reality.  

Fielding and Morgan can be expected to collaborate on future musical projects. They’ve been teaming up since they were in their mid-teens, but surprisingly, ‘Mighty to Save’ was the first one Ben says they completed together. Perhaps that was a result of the Hillsong influence that helped incubate the song. Reuben’s life has taken him to the Hillsong church in the United Kingdom, but he and Ben have continued their music-writing adventures, including at least a dozen other songs they’ve co-written since 2006. Evidently, that spirit they used in ‘Mighty to Save’ is still at work. That’s not a surprise, is it? Just where does that Spirit originate, and is He musical Himself? Check out 1 Samuel 13:14 and Acts 13:22, think about that poetic character, and then see what you think.          

See here for information about the song: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mighty_to_Save_(song)

See the authors’ story of the song’s development here: https://worshipleader.com/music/mighty-to-save/