Sermons
A Message by the Rev. Harvey G. Throop
Palisades Presbyterian Church
San Diego, California
June 28, 2009
Praising God in Song!
(Psalm 98:4)
“ …break forth into joyous song and sing praises! ?”
(Psalm 98:4)
On this “Musician Appreciation Day” in our church, it seemed appropriate that I use my message as an opportunity to reflect upon and, hopefully, even increase our appreciation of the function and place of music in Christian worship.
As you know from reading the Bible, Christianity was born in song. The songs of Mary and of Elizabeth, of the angels and Simeon heralded the birth of Jesus. On that fateful evening when Jesus had his last supper with the disciples, they sang a hymn according to the Gospels, before going out to face the final encounter with betrayal and death. After Pentecost, the new converts to the faith praised God in song! Yes, throughout its history, the vigor of the church's life and of its renewal has been marked by Christians “singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among themselves, … giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. ” (Ephesians 5:19,20).
Why do Christians sing when they are together? Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the great German Christian theologian, answered that question best, I think, when he wrote, “Christians sing when they are together because in singing together, it is possible for them to speak the same word at the same time and, thus, unite in ‘The Word.'”
Bonhoeffer believed, “The more devotion and discipline and joy we put into our singing, the richer will be the blessings that will come to the whole life of the fellowship.”
“In a real sense,” he continued, “it is the voice of the Church that is heard in the singing of Christians together. It is not you that sings, nor me; it is the Church. And each of us -- as members of the Church – share together in its song! And so all of our singing together, when it is done right, should serve to broaden our spiritual horizon and to make us see ourselves as part of the great Christian Church and witness on earth.
With that understanding, I would invite us all to join now in the singing of a hymn that most everyone knows: “Come, Christians, Join to Sing!” (You may remain seated!)
There is no one set process, of course, by which a hymn or an anthem or a praise song becomes established. Surely, throughout the centuries, a vast variety of music has been incorporated into the Christian worship experience at one time or another. Some of it, of course, has survived for centuries, thrilling and uplifting the spirit of the Christian community as only great music can.
By the same token, some music, as we would expect, has fortunately found its way into the proverbial circular file after only a very brief and short-lived trial.
Music is written with different aims and intentions. Some music has been composed for a specific purpose, time or event. Sometimes, the words can be quickly dated. Sometimes, even though the words have grown out of date, the music has lived on.
Who is to say what gives a hymn permanence? Sometimes, it is the melody. Sometimes, it's the words. For example, contemporary songs that were sung enthusiastically and somewhat frequently twenty-five or thirty years ago, such as “They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love” and “Pass It On” are rarely heard today. By most standards, hymns have to survive for quite some time in order to pass any true test of permanence.
One kind of music that has seemed to find a place in the music of the church in the “spiritual.” This is a type of religious song made famous by African Americans in the Southern states. Most of these songs have a strong rhythm and are emotional. Interestingly, spirituals have been called the only truly American folk songs.
At this time, our Chancel Choir will sing the spiritual: "I'm Gonna Sing When the Spirit Says Sing" (arr: Helvey).
We all have our likes and our dislikes when it comes to singing. And every congregation is a grouping of individuals with such a wide variety of music tastes that it is highly unlikely that everyone will view any one Sunday's music with the same enthusiasm and liking. However, over the course of several Sundays, it is our hope and aim to include enough variety in our music selections – maintaining theological integrity in the process – so that everyone's tastes are met, at least some of the time.
There are some among us, for example, who like such classic composers as Bach, Mendelssohn, Handel and Beethoven and who enjoy majestic traditional classical music of the church. Our opening hymn today, “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee” is one such example.
The music to this hymn was written by Ludwig van Beethoven, and was later arranged from his “Ninth Symphony” as a hymn tune by Edward Hodges. The words to this hymn were written by Henry van Dyke, one of the most distinguished literary persons of his generation. According to his son's account of the hymn's origin, Henry van Dyke wrote the hymn during a preaching visit at Williams College. Coming down to breakfast one morning, he placed a manuscript of the hymn before President Garfield, saying, “Here is a hymn for you. Your mountains were my inspiration. It must be sung to the music of Beethoven's ‘Hymn to Joy'.”
Another kind of music that is favored by many is “Praise Music.” One of the more popular praise songs is one we have sung in worship a number of times, entitled, "Lord I lift Your Name on High" written by Rick Founds in 1989. Rick wrote this song during his morning devotions, while reading scripture on his computer monitor. Rick played the song as a worship leader in his church. It was soon picked up by Maranatha! and then Promise Keepers , who have the song in both English and Spanish.
Since the 1990s it has been one of the most popular Christian songs used in churches every year, and since 1997 has remained in the top ten. Let's sing it now.
The music used on Sundays is selected each week by Rob Gowing and the Praise Band. Much of the time, the music is selected to go along with the particular theme of the day. Sometimes, it is used to go with whatever season of the church year we happen to be celebrating.
Sometimes, there have been humorous incidents where the music did not quite fit. I remember hearing about a service where the pastor preached a sermon on Judges 4, the story of Jael taking a hammer in hand and driving a tent peg into the skull of Sisera, the commander of the Canaanite army. The closing hymn that was sung was “O Sacred Head Now Wounded,” which speaks of Christ's passion and atonement.
And we've heard about bulletins announcing a hymn such as “Stand Up, Stand Up For Jesus” with the notation “The congregation will remain seated.” Or the rather confusing service where the minister's sermon, “Thou Shalt Not Steal” was followed with “Steal Away, Steal Away To Jesus.”
There are also traditional evangelical-type songs that are inspirational to sing. One such hymn is “To God Be The Glory” which we will now sing.
Our aim in worship is to make every worship experience one of praise to God and both meaningful and relevant to the worshippers.
May our singing and our music in worship always be that which radiates our true joy and praise to God.
Let us conclude this service with the singing of a hymn that is among the all-time favorites: “How Great Thou Art!”
