Enjoy the Music

Bible Passage:

Colossians 3:15-17

Pastor:

Pastor Mike

Download:

1025web.mp3

Sermon Date:

2009-10-24

Most of us are missing out on the biggest part of our worship services. That’s true even if you are engaged in the sermon and focused in prayer. If you are taking notes, following along, and making eye contact with the preacher, you still might be missing the biggest part of the service. Most of us are missing out! Want proof? Tell me what we just sang about. What was the last song teaching us about God? What was our first hymn today? Was I right? You see, if you miss the music here in church, you miss the biggest part. Add up the hymns and psalms and songs of the liturgy and you’ll find that we often spend the most time not in prayer, not in lessons, not in sermon, but in song.

As we wrap up our series on “the ways of worship”, we’re going to discuss what gets in the way of enjoying the music we sing here at church. And then we’ll turn to God’s Word so he can shape us and we can truly enjoy every note.

So what gets in the way? Why do we drone our way through some songs? Why do some people look like their puppy just died when the organ starts playing? In my experience, there are three “sicknesses” that get in the way of enjoying church music. The first is called “Great-Grandma Syndrome”. Some believe that, like great-grandma, most church songs are too old, too slow, and seem to go on and on and on. Those are the hymns where you forget if you’re on verse 9 or verse 13. They were written before the Y1K scare and must have been composed by guys who just got dumped by their girlfriends. Ever sung a hymn like that? “Enjoyable” probably isn’t the first adjective you’d pick to describe it. The second sickness is “Stylistic Differences Condition”. Symptoms include an aversion to anything you’d hear on Christian radio or a dislike of anything you can’t tap your toes to. Sufferers can be identified by the arms that cross when drums drive the song or when the organist explores the range of her instrument. This condition sometimes causes people to look for a new church that’s more their “style.” The final sickness is “It’s-My-Day-Off-Disease”. You may be infected if you say things like, “This hymn is hard! It has big words. It makes me think too much. Don’t you know it’s Sunday? I don’t work on my day off and you’re making me work! Can’t we just sing “Jesus Loves Me” four times and call it a day?” Three very different illnesses, but one common result: We don’t enjoy the music.

We may laugh at those examples, but they are the off-pitch notes that can ruin the melody of our mission to “grow in Jesus” and “tell of his love”. Here’s why—If we only have 60 minutes together here in church and we are checking out for the 20 minutes of music, we’re missing a great opportunity to grow. And if the music is awful and no one is singing, who’s going to want to tell a friend to come and hear about Jesus’ love? Who wants to have to warn their guest, “Now it’s going to be pretty awkward for about 20 minutes, but I think you’ll really love the other 40,”? You become embarrassed of your church instead of proud of it.

So does God have any answers for our issues? You bet. In Colossians 3, the Apostle Paul writes, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.” Isn’t that just like God to say something like that? He doesn’t start with organ or piano, traditional or contemporary, AM hymns or FM praise. Instead, he starts with Jesus. He starts with peace. He starts with the gospel. An enjoyable discussion about church music must start in that same place. Its first measure must be repentance and grace. First, we give an honest confession, “God, we can be so moody, so selfish, so critical, so lazy, so pouty, so proud when it comes to music. Forgive us for sinning against others and sinning against you.” And then God responds. And his response makes us want to sing.

Most scholars believe they know what hymn Jesus sang on the night we was betrayed and arrested: Psalm 118. As Jesus went out that fateful night, he sang these words, “The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? The LORD is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies.” In triumph. Jesus sang about his victory. He nailed our enemies—pride and selfishness and sin—to the cross. He sang about it before he did it and now we sing about it to thank him for doing it. That’s where this all must start. Our songs come out of the peace Jesus gives. Our music is born out of knowing God loves us in spite of our sins. That gospel is what makes us want to burst into song like we’re in a musical and can’t think of anything to do but sing!

That gospel calls us to give up the solo act and join the choir. Paul mentions this togetherness when he writes, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” Be thankful that we are members of this one body of believers. Those other members can teach you something you may not have found on your own. Has anyone ever introduced you to a new style of music you thought you hated? When I was 15 my friend Brian told me about Christian music. I had never listened to it before, but he was all about it. He gave me a CD by a band named DC Talk and I got hooked. Within two years I was wearing their T-shirts and getting body passed at a concert in Minnesota. My friend Randy had a similar experience. He hated country music. But then his daughter kept leaving the country station on in his car. And with every song about a broken truck or a faithful dog, his attitude changed and he started to enjoy the music.

Could the same thing happen here among the “members of this body”? Within our unity of faith, could we come to appreciate the variety of tastes among us? Could we learn something from those who say, “These ancient hymns are so rich in theology. And all six stanzas tell such a beautiful story together. Let’s not lose them!”? Absolutely. And could we learn something from those who say, “I connect with so many of those psalms that are about personal experience. Could we sing more songs like that?” Absolutely. As brothers and sisters, we can, as Paul writes, “be thankful” for the different styles and tastes among us and be humble enough to enjoy seeing other people enjoying a hymn. The peace of the gospel can be the umpire that keeps us kind and loving and willing to sing a different style for the sake of others who benefit from it. In other words, if you run into a hymn that isn’t on your top 10, sing it anyway and be thankful that other brothers and sisters in the faith are growing through that song.

But music’s greatest gift goes beyond style. Paul hints at this in v.16, “¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” Psalms, hymns, and songs are done best when the “word of Christ dwells in us richly.” But that’s easier said than done. Let’s try this exercise—Turn to a neighbor and quickly tell them your favorite Christian song/hymn. Got it? Now turn back to your neighbor and recite the first verse of that song. How did you do? I bet many of you found out that music can be dangerous. Music has this way of grabbing our attention and making the lyrics sing back up. That’s why your kids may look at you and say, “Mom, you seriously like this song? ‘Yummy, yummy, yummy, I got love in my tummy.” The tune got you, didn’t it?! But Paul encourages us to “let the word of Christ dwell” in us richly, not the tempo and tune. That takes focus. It takes work. It makes Sunday morning a day you don’t have “off” of thinking.

But you will be blessed if these words dwell in you. One of the gigantic blessings of the Lutheran church is its music. Based on the passage “faith comes from hearing the message,” Lutheran music has always placed a high value on the message contained in its songs. Sometimes, we could pick better tunes, but it’s hard to beat our texts. Picture the mother, filled with worry about her family and her future, singing Luther’s 500 year old hymn, “Though devils all the world should fill, all eager to devour us, we tremble not, we fear no ill; they shall not overpower us. This world’s prince may still scowl fierce as he will; he can harm us none! He’s judged; the deed is done! One little word can fell him!” Picture the teenager, struggling with so much temptation, singing the 20^th century text, “I see my heart’s condition now, my heart’s diverse affections. Why do I love the things God loathes, I’m torn in two directions: Now prodigal, now Pharisee, O God, be merciful to me! Who else but you can help me?” Picture the man finally freed from the guilt of his childhood religion blasting the 2002 hit, “In Christ alone my hope is found, he is my light, my strength, my song; this cornerstone, this solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought and storm. What heights of love, what depth of peace, when fears are stilled, when strivings cease! My comforter, my all in all, here in the love of Christ I stand.” Lutherans work in their music. They think, ponder, and teach in song. They don’t judge a song by its age, but by its message. One of the best simple improvements you could make to enjoy your time here is to arrive 5 minutes early and read through the hymns. Read the texts and figure out how they fit with the focus of the day. And, by God’s grace and design, the music will cement that message in your minds.

God’s answers can help shape our answers. As we move forward into another year, perhaps the turn of the calendar can be a positive turn for our music here at Eastside. We were delighted to hear in a recent congregational survey that 93% of our people enjoy our church services. We were also challenged by the fact that our people thought “worship” should be receive more emphasis in future planning. Perhaps that leaves us all with some work to do. I will challenge myself and our worship committee to think more carefully about our music selection so God’s people can understand and enjoy what they sing. I will challenge you to focus on the lyrics, be flexible as we choose music, and put your heart into every song and style. And the entire time, God, through ancient hymns and recent releases, will use the gift of music to connect us to his Son. That’s something we can all enjoy. Amen.

Blessing: “¹⁷And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”