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Servant King

by wade baynham

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1.
Servant King 03:34
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Lyrics: Wade Baynham Music: Irish traditional melody Star of the County Down In Bethlehem town in Herod’s land the morning of Christmastide He was born in a cave, with no room in the inn and animals laying nigh And shepherds came to see this boy of whom angels had come to sing Such a lowly way to begin his reign, surely like no other king From Moscow all the way to Capetown, from Washington to Beijing He’s the Prince of Peace, the Lord of Life, He is our Servant King Soon his family fled, a price on his head, to the shelter of Egypt land As Herod killed male children under three, with a wave of his cruel hand When he did return we are told he was learned in God’s heart and healing ways ‘Til he was ready one day to announce to the world the dawn of a brand new day And as prophets all go, you surely know, he offended those with power and might His friends did not belong, He sang the wrong songs, to the downtrodden’s pure delight And after false arrest and a sham of a trial, on a cross they killed him there Yet after three days, He rose to new life, hope for all of us everywhere
2.
When I Survey-God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen Medley 04:20
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3.
Waiting with You 06:18
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Lyrics and Music: Wade Baynham I remember the heartache in the waiting And wondering if you would be alright We both sat watching the sunset turn to the darkness of the night But we couldn’t see a single star-- clouds were blocking the light We kept our distance from the others There was nothing else that we could do We kept asking for some answers-- and did not even get a one Waiting all night in the ER, hoping for help to come We waited with no promises-- we waited with heavy hearts Had control taken from us-- the pain trying to push us apart Through hours of soulless tv shows the night crept towards the day With our questions still unanswered and our strength fading away We had joked after the sunset Seeing the sunrise would break our hearts And when colors began to appear-- in the dawn of the morning sky The weight of all that waiting made us both just want to cry Then I had to leave you there alone To take care of a few things back at home I waved at you through the window-- you waiting by yourself I had to tear myself away-- with all my fear about your health we wait for death we wait for new life we wait in all our fears The hurt searing through our souls God, we do so much waiting We feel so frozen in time It never gets any easier With our lives on the line So they finally found you a bed And we could finally get some rest We kept waiting on the doctors-- and I squeezed your hand tight Hoping we’d finally get help -- and that you would be alright We wait without promises, we wait with heavy hearts With control taken from us and pain trying to keep us apart We suffer and we all wait as day turns night back to day Our questions still unanswered-- is our help on the way
4.
The First Noel 03:48
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about

I’ve worked on this group of songs while facing, like most of us, significant challenges this year-- painful waiting, overwhelming messes, true storms and a scary lack of control. And so I’ve tried again, as so many artists before me, to set up my musical canvas in the eye of the storm.

It’s not unusual for me to feel a bit lost and adrift for periods in my creative process. In the past several months, I’ve certainly felt very real fear, as well as anger and frustration. But I’ve felt gratitude and hope as well. And, over the course of recording these songs, a number of things have changed-- some things have been repaired, some things have healed, some things have been lost, and some things will never be the same. Joy and struggle continue. We all continue to live, as people throughout history have lived, in uncertain times.

In my previous recording, Free, I explored some of the personal and cultural challenges and collisions that I’ve witnessed and experienced during the last tumultuous year of the former president, along with this worldwide pandemic. Many of those themes and experiences have continued to inform this group of songs as well, if in a slightly different framing, as Advent has approached.

For me, the season of Advent asks any of us who are willing to particularly consider the very real person of Jesus the Messiah-- His birth, life, and death and rising to new life-- and what He means for me and for all of humanity, as well as for all of creation. I don’t mean we should ‘consider’ Advent with pontification and intellectualizing. The Jesus I read about in the gospels walked this earth; he shares and absolutely knows our humanity. He was born and lived under the boot of a cruel emperor and a corrupt king and his family had to flee for their lives. He lived and taught with his community experiencing the effects of religious, economic and political cruelty, as well as all types of disease and storms. And, in all of this, Jesus prayed something revolutionary-- for God’s Kingdom to come and for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven. God’s Kingdom-- the way God lives and does things… to come here to earth. God’s will-- God’s loving and fulfilling purpose for humans and creation, to be done here on earth as in Heaven-- God’s space.

I do want to note here that the ‘Kingdom of God’ Jesus refers to does not refer to elitism, white supremacy, christian nationalism or any kind of ‘prosperity gospel.’ These all-to-popular, but extremely deadly and dangerous ideas are creation-destroying, dehumanizing and perpetrator-based. Period. I find absolutely no support for them in the life and teachings of Jesus the Messiah. Whether it is through his mother Mary’s song, the Sermon on the Mount, the parable of the sheep and the goats, the two cleansings of the temple, or in his very death and resurrection, he teaches and lives a counter-narrative to the common cultural narratives of power, wealth, empire, competition and scarcity. And Jesus is also not talking about some Ever-After called Heaven where souls go when they die. That is, among other things, disembodied pagan and Platonic thinking, that Jesus never taught.

Jesus specifically teaches that the Kingdom of God is upside down and breaking into our lives now, in places where the last are first, and the first are last-- where the broken are being and will be healed, and the crushed, battered and bruised are being, and will be, raised up. And most importantly, he’s asking us-- those of us with ears to hear, eyes to see, and a desire to follow Him-- to be the ones that bring His humility, His healing and His care to a very broken and upside down world, in anticipation that He will one day come and join us, and visibly live among us again on this earth. He wants to use our hands, feet and minds to be His hands, feet and mind right here, right now. And He teaches in the gospels that there currently is new life bursting from the old life full of death and decay, and looks forward to when risen from the dead, reborn, whole human beings will live and co-create together in a renewed world, free from the ravages of evil, cruelty, sin and death. Many people calling themselves ‘christian’ don’t live like this, and frankly don’t want a world like this. But here I would submit that Jesus is simply not our kind of king, and isn’t teaching about our kinds of kingdoms.

Jesus was born and lived more than two thousand years ago, and during His life He confronted the great evil powers by living a life of love, healing, truth-telling, forgiveness and humble service. As they are want to do, the evil powers of the day came together and killed him by doing their worst to Him, but He rose from the dead, into a reborn body and new life-- and through His Spirit, he asks to partner with us to live, to die, and then be reborn the same way. He was and is our Servant King, who said He would be with us right through to the end.

Jesus also never forces His hand or His way on any of us, so of course, we are free to follow, or not. Yet He offers freedom from slavery, and a way to life itself, free from the effects of corruption, sin and death. If we are willing to follow Him and live into His kingdom, we will wait and struggle, we will stumble and fall, we will love and care, we will teach and sing, and we will pray and hope, we will forgive and humbly continue to ask to know our part-- the way we can individually and together participate in this upside down kingdom of God that is now and not yet.

I hope this music can be an encouragement to any and all of us on this journey.

credits

released November 25, 2021

Created, mixed and mastered by Wade Baynham at The Second Story
Durham, NC
2020-21

Cover Design by Denise Baynham

I am so thankful for Denise's willingness to hear my ramblings over our meals together, while walking and while sitting around in the evening, as we share about our days. It helps me keep some thoughts straight long enough to try to craft them into lyrics and music. She boldly encourages me the whole way through this challenging and rewarding creative process.

We have enjoyed a number of Advents together, and usually find the season to be one of the highlights of our year. Some of this particular music is personally drawn from our life together, and we hope it can be of encouragement to you.

I want to thank Doug Bunnell and Lisa Lord for our conversations about waiting that influenced 'Waiting with You.'

The hurdy gurdy on a couple of these recording was beautifully crafted by Claire Dugue.

I also want to thank Robin and Jack.


You may be unaware that you can click on the song titles above and go to individual pages for each song. You can read more about each one, and my original songs also show the lyrics.

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