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Tuesday, January 06, 2009

"Instant grace is gonna get you"

Sometimes when U2 covers a song, they "baptize"/convert/subvert the lyric in subtle but profound ways. Most recently, and delightfully, this was the case with their version of Greg Lake's "I Believe in Father Christmas (read all about it, and watch it here.

But it hit me that even though Bono has been very vocal about "I believe in grace; not karma," he didn't change much of the lyric in U2's cover of John Lennon's "Instant Karma."
But in a way his emphasis, lexicon, and perspective, changes everything.
It's almost akin to their "other song on Philippians (see and watch here).
It comes off as evangelistic commentary/midrash by way of Philippians 2:15:

  • "that you may become blameless and pure, children of God, without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you all shine on like stars in the universe"-Philipp, 2:15
  • "and we all shine on..like the moon, the stars and the sun" -Lennon

And maybe "instant karma" was Lennon's version of saying "eventual grace."
If "karma" is "instant"..that is now, and not in the next life, isn't that akin to what Scripture means by "reap what you sow.""

Maybe this is what Lennon meant all along?
Yeah, right. Next thing you'll tell me Lennon accepted Jesus via Oral Roberts and Pat Robertson..even calling the 700 Club Prayer Line, and wrote Christian praise songs..
...uh, read this.



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