This is the third of three columns I’ve written about the music of Bono and the Irish band called U2, widely recognized as one of the greatest rock and roll bands. One can enjoy this band’s music without closely considering the lyrics, but as writer Christian Scharen says “you would miss how, again and again, U2 is pointing beyond themselves to a deeper dimension of life, the dimension of the soul, where one meets face to face with, in Bono’s words, ‘a force of love and logic behind the universe.’”
The deeper dimension of life that U2 speaks of is centered on the idea of grace: God’s undeserved love, forgiveness and mercy, connected to Jesus Christ’s death on the cross and freely given to those who will receive it.
In the tune entitled Grace, Bono imagines grace as an idea and as a name for a girl: “Grace, she takes the blame/she covers the shame/removes the stain/ Grace/It’s a name for a girl/It’s also a thought that changed the world.”
Later in the song, Bono hints at the powerful way a person can be changed by grace: “What once was hurt/ What once was friction/What left a mark/No longer stings/ Because grace makes beauty/ Out of ugly things.”
Bono speaks passionately and overtly about his understanding of grace in an interview in which he contrasts grace with karma—the idea that our relationship with God depends on our own efforts, as in “if you do good, God gives good to you.”
Bono said, “I’d be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge. I’d be in deep s**t. It doesn’t excuse my mistakes, but I’m holding out for Grace. I’m holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don’t have to depend on my own religiosity.
“I love the idea of the Sacrificial Lamb. I love the idea that God says, ‘Look, you cretins, there are certain results to the way we are, to selfishness, and there’s mortality as part of your very sinful nature, and let’s face it, you’re not living a very good life, are you? There are consequences to actions.’
“The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. That’s the point. It should keep us humbled. It’s not our own good works that get us through the gates of heaven.”
Other U2 songs that touch on the significance of grace through Christ’s death include the well-known song I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.
Bono sings: “I believe in the Kingdom Come/Then all the colors will bleed into one/ Bleed into one./But yes, I’m still running./You broke the bonds/ And you loosed the chains/ Carried the cross of my shame/ Of my shame, you know I believe it.”
Recognizing that the “kingdom come” has not yet arrived, Bono expresses a sense of longing for God’s promised future as he sings: “but I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.”
Scharen adds, “While we await the return of Jesus and a healing of the nations, we are not surprised by the suffering of the world, but we are not satisfied to allow suffering to continue either, for we have had a glimpse of God’s promised future.” Certainly this is a hopeful approach to life which also recognizes the difficult realities humans face.
I have enjoyed the opportunity to dig deeper into the music and message of U2 with the help of Christian Scharen’s book: One Step Closer: Why U2 Matters to Those Seeking God. My hope is that others will be drawn closer to the One who offers grace and mercy, as I have been!
Each month a member of the Cook County Ministerium will offer Spiritual Reflections. This week our contributor is Pastor Deborah Lunde, who has served as pastor of Zoar Lutheran Church in Tofte since July of 2008.
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