Colossians 3:12-17

Faith in God is expressed through silence, art, symbols, words, statements of faith, creeds, dance, and music.  Music is an expected part of public worship for us although there are worship traditions that have no music at all.
 
Through the centuries music has been one means for people to express their faith relationship with God and God's faithfulness to them.  Music has a long history and much of that history has been related in some way to religion, faith, and worship. 
           
Just a cursory reading of the Bible reveals numerous references to singing and musical instruments.  A closer examination of Scripture discloses many hymns.  Exploration of these hymns reveals that they record the activity of God with people and people with God.  Hymns naturally reflect the age and issues about which they were written and those that speak to perennial problems are shared from generation to generation.  Some of the hymns in the Bible give a quick history of Judaism and the early development of Christianity.  

A high moment for the nation Israel was the construction of the Temple in Jerusalem.  This occurred while Solomon was king, the third king of Israel.  The completion of the Temple symbolized the end of a long, wandering pilgrimage.  When the Israelites gathered to worship in the Temple they were heard singing this congregational hymn:
            Sing a new song to the Lord!
            Sing to the Lord, all the world!
            Sing to the Lord, and praise him!
            Proclaim every day the good news that God has saved us.
            Proclaim God’s glory to the nations,
            God’s mighty acts to all peoples. (Psalm 96)
           
With the construction of the Temple and the development of hymns such as the 96th Psalm, music became an avenue for expressing praise to God in public worship.  Such words as "Proclaim every day the good news that God has saved us," assisted worshipers in remembering the Exodus, the leadership of Deborah, the formation of a nation, and other events that signified the involvement of God in the lives of their ancestors. 
           
Not only do hymns and songs in Scripture record and proclaim events in the life of the nation Israel, but also they tell of events of a personal and individual nature.  For example,
           
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want . . .
           
Yea though I walk through valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. (Ps. 23)
By the first century of the Common Era much of Israel's worship had moved out of the Temple and into the synagogues.  There seemed to be a preference for worship in the synagogue over worship in the Temple, except for the three major festivals.  The early Christians worshiped in the synagogues and then later met in homes and secret meeting places for their worship.  Several passages in the New Testament have been identified as hymns the early Christians sang.  Luke records the personal song of Mary, attributed to her as her response to God when she received the news she would give birth to a child.
            My heart praises the Lord;
            My soul is glad because of God my Savior,
            For he has remembered me, his lowly servant!
            From now on all people will call me happy,
            Because of the great things the mighty God has done for me.  (Lk. 1:46-48)

As the followers of Christ were forged into a movement that became the church, several hymns developed.  Describing the self‑giving, outpouring attitude of Christ, Paul quoted the following hymn in his letter to the Philippians:
            He always had the nature of God,
             But he did not think that by force
          He should try to become equal with God.
            Instead of this, of his own free will
            He gave up all he had and took the nature of a servant.
            He became like a man and appeared in human likeness.
            He was humble and walked the path of obedience
          All the way to death‑‑his death on the cross.
            For this reason God raised him to the highest place
            Above and gave him the name that is greater
            Than any other name . . . (Phil. 2:8-11)

1 Corinthians 13, popularly identified as the Love Chapter, is considered by many to be a hymn that Paul quoted to express what genuine love in Christ means. 

The earliest hymns accepted and used by church leaders were Scripture texts that were set to music.  If the text was not a passage of Scripture, the hymn would not be considered for use in worship.  This was the rule for several centuries.

Ambrose is credited with unifying the church with music.  He embellished some of the antiphonal chants the Christians borrowed from the Jewish temple and composed many original hymns.  Two centuries later, Pope Gregory made his contribution to the hymnody of the church with the famous Gregorian chants.  These were difficult to sing and required special training.  Only trained choirs were permitted to sing them, but even the choirs had difficulty.  A monk named Guido d'Areszo finally came up with a technique to teach music by giving names to notes. Using the first syllable of each line of an old Latin hymn to John the Baptist, which he was trying to teach to his choir, he came up with the do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do system.  The words of that ancient hymn are: 

Grant that the unworthy lips of thy servant
may be gifted with due harmony.
Let the tones of my voice
Sing the praises of thy wonders.

Keep in mind the next time you vocalize up and down the do-re-mi scale that you are singing a bit of an ancient Latin hymn and participating in the development of church music. 

One of the early struggles regarding music in worship was the writing of non Scriptural texts.  A later struggle was the involvement of the congregation which came with the Protestant Reformation.  Martin Luther used hymns to catechize Scripture and doctrines.  Luther said he could see no reason why "the devil should have all the good tunes" so he borrowed melodies from the popular culture and wrote or adapted texts to them.  "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God," is probably Luther's best known hymn.  It is a wedding of the words from a Psalm with a popular German melody.

The Reformation coincided with the Baroque period in music.  The vast majority of hymns are Baroque, that is they are written in four parts.  The 6500 hymns of John Wesley were Baroque as was the choral and organ compositions of Bach, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Handel.

Bach came on the scene believing he had a God-given mission to beautify the Protestant worship service with colorful music.  He displayed his genius in writing music to follow the inflection of words.  If his text indicated descent from the cross, his music descended.  His melodies drew nuances from a text that words alone could not express. 

Bach's approach supports the insight and conclusion of Louis Ball, Professor of Music at Carson-Newman College.  "The single most important thing to know about using music in worship is how to read the text.  Be it congregational hymn, solo, anthem, or worship tool, what the text says must be considered first."

Of course, music in the church has not been without controversy.  Did you know that most of the music of Beethoven and Bach was forbidden to be used in the church during their lifetimes?  It was too "worldly," too lively.  John Calvin forbade music in the worship services he led because he said most of it "intoxicates rather than soothes."

One of the incidents in the quarrel over whether or not to have an organ in the church occurred in the 1870 North Indiana Annual Conference.  A mood of dignity and quiet awaited the opening worship service of the first session.  The presiding minister signaled the organist to begin the musical prelude.  He had hardly turned in his chair before the choir and the congregation were sneezing and coughing profusely.  Here was evidence for the anti-organ people that the use of the organ was disruptive and distracting to worship.  When the truth was known, it was discovered that the anti-organ people had filled the bellows of the organ with pepper.

A further word from Louis Ball, former professor of church music, is helpful.  "We select music to sing because it sounds good, or because everyone will participate, or because we know it better than another selection.  These considerations are important, but they are secondary to the meaning of the text and the appropriateness of the text for a particular moment of the worship service."
           
Music has been a significant part of the religious life of people throughout the world.  For many of us our earliest awareness of music came from music in church.  Music is a vital part of our religious heritage and a significant part of our congregational life.  I trust that music will continue to be a tool that assists us in expressing our faith and proclaiming the good news that God loves us.  Of course, various styles of music speak to and appeal to a variety of people.  We need to expose ourselves to the variety because God is disclosed through a variety of means and methods. 

Here is an example from the work and performance of the Robert Shaw Chorale.  After a performance in an industrial town in Tennessee of the Mozart Requiem, which the concert manager had requested the Chorale not perform because "it was too highbrow," a young woman waited for the autograph seekers to depart.  "I suppose," she told Shaw quietly, "there are two kinds of people who would understand the Mozart Requiem:  those sufficiently skilled in musical materials and literature to appreciate its technical mastery, and those who have lately experienced a deep personal tragedy.  I am no musician.  Thank you very much."

Music has become an effective tool to communicate the refreshment that people experience when they draw water from the wells of salvation.  Music is a universal language especially when it is expressed in the key of love.  One of the delightful parts of my two trips to what at the time was the Soviet Union was sharing in the worship music with the people in several republics.  On each trip the group I was with formed an ensemble and sang in the worship services in the churches we visited.  The tunes of some of the hymns were familiar to the people. The God about whom we sang was familiar to all the people in the churches where we were.  There we were, people from opposite ends of the world joined together to worship God, and music was our common language.      

We need to orchestrate our lives so that all areas of our lives blend in harmony.  Your musical skills may be limited as mine are, but that does not have to keep us from appreciating music or from permitting the tunes and texts of the church music to be one of the ways we express our faith.  An excellent choral presentation is the result of many voices blending as one.  Much rehearsal is required for the blending to occur.  We need to spend time and energy rehearsing our discipleship so that our lives blend as one in the worship of God and in our ministry in the name of Christ. 
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