YOU ARE NOT THE FIRST FACE [Intro] Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, DESPISING THE SHAME. [Silence] Before Tamar. Before Peter. Before your face ever learned to look down— LOOK UNTO JESUS. [Verse 1] They spit upon him. They stripped him. They mocked him. And when shame did everything shame knows how to do— He endured the cross, DESPISING THE SHAME. You are not following a Lord who never stood where faces fall. He went before you. [Chorus] YOU ARE NOT THE FIRST FACE THAT HAD TO LIFT. They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed. YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN THE HIDING PLACE. The Book has seen faces bowed before yours. And still the Book says— LOOK. [Verse 2] Tamar asked— And I, whither shall I cause my shame to go? [Silence] Ashes upon her head. The Book did not look away. He would not hearken unto her voice. What was done was done TO HER. So hear this, you who were hurt and then carried the dirt— Peter's guilt is not Tamar's story. What another did to you does not become your confession. Her question is still in the Book— WHITHER SHALL I CAUSE MY SHAME TO GO? [Verse 3] Then came a woman twelve years bleeding. Twelve years carrying a body that would not stop. She reached through the press. Then— fearing and trembling, she came and fell down before him and told him ALL THE TRUTH. [Silence] And Jesus said— DAUGHTER. Not plague. Not unclean. DAUGHTER. Thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace. You who hide what your body has carried— she trembled there before you. [Chorus] YOU ARE NOT THE FIRST FACE THAT HAD TO LIFT. Ashes. Trembling. Eyes to the ground. Different wounds. Different rooms. NOT A CONTEST OF PAIN. These are witnesses. And still the Book says— LOOK. [Verse 4] Peter said he would never. Then— the cock. The Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly. [Silence] This one was different. Peter knew better. Peter denied Him. Peter had something to confess. Do not put Peter's guilt on Tamar. Do not put Tamar's wound on Peter. But you who DID fail— listen. The risen Lord came back to the man who wept. Lovest thou me? Feed my sheep. And after the failure— FOLLOW ME. Your failure can be faced without becoming your name. [Verse 5] Then came Mephibosheth. He fell on his face. And when the king looked at him, he called himself— A DEAD DOG. Look what shame had taught his own mouth to say. [Silence] But the king said— FEAR NOT. Thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. And there he ate— AS ONE OF THE KING'S SONS. Look what he called himself. Look what the king called him near. Dead dog was the name in his mouth. SON was the place at the table. [Silence] KEEP THE CHAIR. [Long Instrumental] [Bridge] Now count the witnesses. Jesus— DESPISING THE SHAME. Tamar— WHITHER SHALL I CAUSE MY SHAME TO GO? The trembling woman— DAUGHTER. Peter— FEED MY SHEEP. Mephibosheth— AT MY TABLE CONTINUALLY. [Silence] Five faces. Five roads. One Book. Not a contest of pain. A CLOUD OF WITNESSES that shame does not get the last word. [Build] I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth. [Silence] And what does the Book answer? FEAR NOT; FOR THOU SHALT NOT BE ASHAMED: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth. [Build] So where does the face go now? Where do the ashes go? Where do the trembling eyes look? Where does the disciple who failed look? Where does the dead dog at the king's table look? [Silence] LOOKING UNTO JESUS. [Final Chorus] YOU ARE NOT THE FIRST FACE THAT HAD TO LIFT! Tamar had ashes! A daughter came trembling! Peter wept bitterly! A man called himself a dead dog— AND THE KING GAVE HIM A TABLE! They are not your judges. THEY ARE WITNESSES. And above every one of them— JESUS. Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, DESPISING THE SHAME. So lift your face. Not because nothing happened. Not because you never sinned. Not because the wound didn't hurt. Lift it because the Book already knows every road that brought a face down. And the Book still says— THEY LOOKED UNTO HIM, AND WERE LIGHTENED: AND THEIR FACES WERE NOT ASHAMED. [Outro] If it was done to you— you are not alone. If your body made you hide— you are not alone. If you failed and wept— you are not alone. If shame became the name in your own mouth— you are not alone. [Silence] You are not the first face that had to lift. [Long Silence] LOOKING UNTO JESUS. [Silence] JESUS IS THE LORD.
