August 2017

Jottings...

I find myself thinking about music a lot lately. Some of that has to do with the choir taking July off which gives us the chance to explore some new sources of special music in the church as we plan the service. Of course I think about music every week as I plan our worship services. As I consider various hymns and contemporary songs I consider not just the words but if the congregation likely knows the tune and if it will be a struggle to sing the tune. Some weeks we sing well and others we do indeed struggle.

We don’t give up on our music, though. It is central to our life and faith as Christians. In fact it is the way God made us. Military units have bands to inspire the troops. Hollywood puts a lot of time and effort into the music in a movie because they know it stirs us on a deep level. A certain tune can come on the radio and suddenly I am transported back to my high school days. I tap my fingers and feet to the beat because I not only hear but feel the music (especially if I have the bass turned up!).

Many of the Psalms were designed to be sung – some of them as part of holy festivals and pilgrimages to Jerusalem. These are what are termed “Songs of Ascents.” (e.g. Psalm 134) The apostle Paul says in Ephesians 5:19 “speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,” as a means of offering praise and thanksgiving to God and to encourage one another. For early Methodists and even today much of the content of what we believe is in our hymns and not just the Book of Discipline.

Not all of us can sing well. I understand that. You would not want me doing a solo for example. When we sing publicly we want to sing well and if we fear we might not then we sing timidly or just mouth the words and let others carry the tune. I am all for singing well but I am even more for singing from the heart. What is important is the praise we are offering to God and the encouragement to one another by singing together – not the quality of our individual effort.

Listen to quality music and let it enrich your soul as God intended. Sing full throated – not just in the shower but in the Christian gatherings and worship. Let the words and the music and the harmony wash over us and teach us and draw us closer to God and to one another. - Pastor Brian