Don Friesen
I recently read of a pastor, well-loved by his flock, who cannot sing! The congregation likes his preaching; they laugh at his jokes; they find his counsel encouraging; but he cannot sing! On one occasion he attempted to sing with the children when they came to the front, and when he announced that the choir would help him, there were many sighs of relief. When he began singing, however, the choir remained silent! He stopped, cast a puzzled look in the choir's direction, and the choir director explained, "We're still waiting for you to start singing."
Some pastors are tone-deaf and off-key, but when they're perceptive enough to realize it they can spare their congregations the agony of listening to them. I have the opposite problem. I sing all the time! Much to the chagrin of people in nearby offices! One Sunday morning I was at church early, and alone or so I thought and I began to belt out a Carole King tune:
The Bible's M-List: M Is not for Madness, or Malcontents
The biblical word I have chosen for today is the word, "music". There are many M-words in the Bible including nice words, like "magnanimous," "magnificence," "majestic," "marriage," "marvel," "maturity," "mercy," "merriment," "messiah," "miracles," "mirth," "moderation," "modesty," and "mystery".
The Bible's M-words include some neutral words like "money," and "manure" but there a lot of negative words, like "marriage" just kidding, Dorothy "madness," and all those mal-words: "malcontents," "malevolent," "malice," "malign," and "maltreat". The M-list includes "manacles,""maniac," "marauders," "massacre,""meanness," "meddle," "mediocre," "menace," "mercenary," "military," "mischief," "misery," as well as all the mis-words: "misfortune," "misguided," "misled," "misrepresented," "misspent," "misstep," "mistake," "mistreatment," and "misunderstood". The M-list also includes "mockery" not Colin; "molested," "money-hungry," "mongrel," "monster," "morbid," "murder," and "mutilate".
Let Those Refuse to Sing Who Never Knew our God
I chose the word, "music," and all its related words because music is inextricably linked with the biblical story, but I suppose one could designate "music" as a negative word, for it is the source of much agony. In some congregations arguments over music are known as worship wars! Thomas Long, a member of the Alban Institute, an ecumenical, interfaith organization founded to help the church through research, wrote a book entitled, Beyond the Worship Wars (2001); he writes, "Music is the nuclear reactor of congregational worship. It is where ... congregational meltdown is most likely to occur."
Some ministers who dare to wander into these skirmishes have to go into a witness protection program! Most ministers don't have the chutzpah to do it! My brother, however, once caught wind that the choir at his church was going to go on strike and when the time came for the choir anthem they were going to remain silent! Aware of their mutinous plan, my brother substituted a hymn, inviting the congregation to sing, "Come, We that Love the Lord," and inviting the choir to sing verse 2:
(Hymnal: A Worship Book, #14)
Musical skirmishes often happen around contemporary versus traditional church music. Some of us like the traditional hymnody of the Church. Some of us like contemporary musical expressions of our faith. A common complaint among the traditionalists is that much of the "new music" is wispy, lyrically insubstantial compared to the weightier hymns of our faith. Old music, however, isn't necessarily good music. We have no less than twenty hymns written by Isaac Watts (16741748) in our hymnal. His hymns are well-loved, including hymns like "Come, We that Love the Lord," as well as "I Sing the Mighty Power of God" (#46), "I'll Praise my Maker" (#166), "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" (259), and so on, but Isaac Watts also wrote some duds! Like this one:
Our faith, of course, is a serious thing, and we don't want music that waters down the faith or that romanticizes it by glossing over suffering in an incessantly upbeat way. Old songs, however, were also once new, and we have learned to love some of the new songs in our hymnal.
Our faith is a serious thing, but our Anabaptist forebears took it so seriously that they inhibited its musical expression. Conrad Grebel, for example, expressed his opposition to singing (1524) because he thought singing might cause either vexation or conceit. Another of our early leaders (Balthasar Hubmaier) was not opposed to singing, but cautioned that unless people sang with understanding and from the heart and with the Holy Spirit, God would not accept their songs. Another of the early Anabaptists (Peter Riedemann) said that singing for carnal pleasure (aus Fleisches Lust) or for the beauty of the sound is a serious sin. Menno Simons had little to say other than that hymns should not be sung thoughtlessly or frivolously. Others objected to those who sang hymns, all the while living unregenerate lives. (Mennonite Encyclopedia)
The collective wisdom of our forebears seems to have been: Sing, if you must! But try not to enjoy it! Nonetheless, the spirit of song could not be squelched, and we have developed a fine musical tradition, from the singing schools, to the publishing of the Harmonia Sacra (Joseph Funk, 1832), to the establishment of many college and university departments of music.
We Sing because We've Got Something to Sing about!
We sing because we've got something to sing about! Christians sing because music is a gift of God! It's not a uniquely Christian expression it's God's gift to humanity but Christians have used it to express the depth and passion and pageantry of their faith. The Church has cherished this gift and produced many musical masterpieces to express our praise and adoration and love of God.
Our reading from 1 Chronicles is an ancient example of faith-inspired musical pageantry. King David was preparing to move the Ark of the Covenant, something he planned to do most ceremoniously and with the use of many musicians. He employed all manner of "singers" and "musical instruments, ...harps and lyres and cymbals," and the whole procession was a thing of joy loud joy! (1 Chronicles 15:16) The musical aspect of the ceremony was so important that the musicians are named (15:17-21), including Chenaniah, the current Music Director. (15:22) The text tells us that Chenaniah, leader of the Levites in music, was to direct the music, for he understood it which makes you wonder about the calibre of the other musicians! Anyway, Chenaniah added a rack of trumpets (15:24) to this melee, and the whole thing turned into a most joyful occasion! (15:25) Everyone was decked out in their finest apparel, including the musicians (15:27), and the text tells us, "So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, to the sound of the horn, trumpets and cymbals, and made loud music on harps and lyres." (15:28) In fact, the king got so excited that he dropped all protocol and started leaping and dancing! (15:29) And as in any congregation, there was someone who objected at this abandonment to joy; we are told that one person who witnessed David's goings-on "was disgusted with him." (15:29)
We sing because we've got something to sing about! Ann Weems wrote a poem (1980) entitled, "Good News Music," saying:
The stone's rolled away!
... And why aren't we
... Sing!"
Music expresses our worship like mere words could never do. Music lifts our voices and hearts and emotions in concert to acknowledge God's majesty, God's holiness, God's grace, God's beauty, God's Spirit! Music touches us at a deep emotional level. You may leave this worship service not remembering a word I said in the sermon, but you may very well hum one of our hymn tunes later this week. You may listen to Scripture with a dispassionate spirit, but a hymn, depending on past associations, can easily move you to tears!
Many of us enjoy ending each Advent season by assembling up here and singing the "Hallelujah Chorus". This year, why don't we skip all the bother and commotion and I'll just read it:
The Spiritual Power of Music
Music is a powerful medium. It can express joy; it can convey infinite sadness; it can bring tears to our eyes, a shiver to our spine, and peace to our souls. Music comforts the mournful, soothes troubled hearts, and lifts sagging spirits. The power of music to evoke is extraordinary; a song can instantly transport us back to an experience of long, long ago. Few things have the power to pull at our hearts as effectively as music.
Unlike most of the other words I've identified in this series of sermons, music does not include an onerous sense of obligation; either you have a song in your heart, or you don't! Someone (Dennis Hamilton), referring to the miracle of music, writes:
Franklin grew up in the Mississippi Delta at a time when what he called "segregation in the raw" dominated the region. Lynchings and other forms of violence against African Americans were commonplace. A loving mother who demanded excellence, and the power of the black church community made him determined never to allow the hostility of others to silence him. He discovered his voice, entered the ministry, and over the course of four decades insisted his congregants lift their voices and sing! He was not a well-known civil rights leader, but he helped shape the messages of those who were, and his story is also the story of the coming-of-age of the black church as a significant force in the struggle for freedom and equality.
Music, especially church music, was at the centre of the civil rights movement. It was the music of Sunday worship that invigorated a people beaten down by discrimination the music of anthems like "We Shall Overcome" and "Lift Every Voice and Sing," giving marchers the courage to brave water cannons, attack dogs, and police batons. The organizing meetings for these marches started at seven, but people came hours ahead of time to find a seat, and as they waited they sang hymn after hymn after hymn. The music reminded them of who they were, whose they were, and who who is Lord and Saviour of all! Amen!
"You make me feel like a natural woman..."
I was not alone. A young woman, fairly new to our church who didn't know me well heard me, but much to her credit she still attends here!
"Let those refuse to sing who never knew our God..."
Sometimes a minister has to employ extreme cunning to lead a congregation. We are very fortunate, however, to have a choir that would never attempt such grandstanding!
"Let dogs delight to bark and bite,
That's what you might call doggerel!
For God hath made them so;
Let bears and lions growl and fight,
For tis their nature, too.
But, children, you should never let
such angry passions rise;
Your little hands were never made
To tear [out] each other's eyes."
"... Lord, you love us!
This is certainly the tone we hear in our reading from the New Testament book of Revelation Revelation 5:6-14), where the mother of all mass choirs has assembled to crown Christ Lord of lords! In a rising crescendo of praise!
Why aren't we shouting?
... Why aren't we singing?
Why aren't we dancing to your good news music?
... Why aren't the feet stomping
and the doves flying
and the bands marching
and the fingers snapping
and the tongues praising
and the hands clapping
and the trumpets blaring
and the choirs singing
and the cymbals clashing
and the children laughing?
crowning
Christ
Lord of lords?
"...Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
It's not the same, is it? The words are identical, but the music makes the words come alive! Music takes us beyond words, lifting us to a heavenly and harmonious place the place of the Divine!
...The kingdom of this world
Is become the Kingdom of our Lord
And of His Christ, and of His Christ;
And He shall reign for ever and ever.
And He shall reign for ever and ever.
And He shall reign for ever and ever.
And He shall reign for ever and ever.
...Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah...."
"... this miracle of music ...
Many of us know the soulful singing of Aretha Franklin; she too does a rousing rendition of "You make me feel like a natural woman". Aretha Franklin honed her soulful sound in the choir at Detroit's New Bethel Baptist Church, where her father, C.L. Franklin (1915-1984), was the pastor (1946-79). He is not as famous as his daughter, but no doubt he had an influence on her. His sermons have been called "masterful sacred performances," each built around a compelling message and delivered in a musical style. He once preached a sermon entitled, "Without a Song," a sermon based on Psalm 137, in which the Israelites, in Babylonian captivity, are asked to sing for their captors' amusement. In a lament that echoes down the millennia, the Israelites respond: "How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" Franklin lamented the Israelites' lament, saying that the Israelites should have sung, because "some things you can't say you can sing." He considered it important to nurture one's voice in a strange land, for it helped to counter the debilitating limits imposed by others. (Singing in a Strange Land: C. L. Franklin, the Black Church, and the Transformation of America, 2005, by Nick Salvatore)
...the ear, moving the heart,
(makes) hands clap, feet move,
whole troops of dancers, to sway,
to leap, to move as one.
... this miracle of the ear (moves) marchers to
sing songs of freedom, songs of courage...."
All quotations of Scripture, unless otherwise noted, are from the New Revised Standard Version.