Sermon preached on 27 May, 2007 at 7.30am

At The Church of the Divine Patience, Madurai

SACRED MUSIC SUNDAY  

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Thy sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen

One of the most significant events of the renaissance was the religious movement of the sixteenth century. This milestone, known as the protestant Reformation, was the most serious upheaval in the Christian church since the introduction of Christianity into Europe.

The movement in Germany was probably the most influential and extensive of the Sixteenth Century revolts against the Catholic Church. The German Reformation was directed by a man of genius and energy, Martin Luther.

Apart from Luther there were other reformers worth noting. They were John Calvin and Zwingli, two prominent Swiss reformers.

Now, each of the leading reformers was faced with such questions as: What about singing in the Church? and what is there for the people to sing? Remember the type of questions.

 Each reformer solved the problem in his own way.

Let us look into the background or the reason for them to be faced with such questions about singing in the Church.

From all accounts that have come down to us there was in the early centuries of the Christian Church no lack of hymns and for about three centuries the common people had the right to sing them in their worship sessions.

Then the night began to set in.

The synod of Laodicea in the year 363 decreed that

a)  “Psalms composed by private men” must not be used in the Church.

b) “None but appointed singers shall sing in Church”.

Eventually these two rules became virtually the law in both branches of the Catholic Church.

Therefore we find the congregation, both before and at the time of the Reformation, as passive spectators in any worship service. Hence the questions about singing by the congregation in the Church.

Calvin used only the Psalms; also he banished the organ from the Church. He did not approve of singing in harmony and insisted that the singing be in unison.

Zwingli dealt drastically with the problem of Church hymnody; he ruled out all singing in his Church at Zurich – even the singing of the Psalms! Strangely enough, this able and zealous leader contented that preaching and hearing are the only proper worship and he allowed little else than that.

 Martin Luther who was the best equipped to cope with problems of music in the Church retained the good music of the Catholic Church and also added the easy-to-sing German hymns.

 Luther was not the founder of congregational singing as some believe, but there is no doubt that Luther established the practice of congregational singing of the Mass as a regular means of worship. However, he wished to retain the richness and drama of the Roman Mass.

Luther strongly believed that the congregation should actively participate in the worship service.

 Thus we see the significance of Martin Luther with regard to singing in the Church.

For our meditation we take up the five pivotal understandings of music or the  five “paradigms of praise” of Martin Luther.

The five pivotal understandings or the five "paradigms of praise" or the Five models for our theoretical understanding of music in the Church are:

(1) music as God's creation and gift;

(2) music as proclamation and praise;

(3) music as liturgical song;

(4) music as the song of royal priests; and

(5) music as a sign of continuity with the whole church.

1.    MUSIC AS GOD'S CREATION AND GIFT

This is the first paradigm. It is the basis of understanding music in the life and worship of God's people, - music as creation and gift of God.

Luther's own words make this point again and again.

I would certainly like to praise music with all my heart as the excellent gift of God, which it is, and to commend it to everyone....

And you, my young friend, let this noble, wholesome, and cheerful creation of God be commended to you.... At the same time you may by this creation accustom yourself to recognize and praise the Creator.¹⁰

To disregard music as God's creation and gift is, for Luther, to call into question one's humanity. Such a person is no more a human being.

Luther in his "Table Talk" holds up music as God's gift that should be taught to the youth, especially in contrast to the fanatics who thought otherwise.

“Music is an outstanding gift of God and next to theology..... And youth should be taught this art; for it makes fine, skillful people.”¹⁴

Luther also commented that music's power had often stirred him to preach. "Music is God's greatest gift. It has often so stimulated and stirred me that I felt the desire to preach.¹⁶

So it was Luther's view that the most highly developed musical forms of his day-Gregorian chant and polyphony-should be taught to the youth and sung in the churches, together with the simpler congregational songs.

2.     MUSIC AS PROCLAMATION AND PRAISE

Music, as God's creation and gift, was given to humanity with the intent that it be used for a specific purpose. That purpose was, in Luther's view, the praising and glorifying of the Creator, especially through the proclamation of His Word.

For Luther, music's chief function in worship as well as throughout the Christian life was, therefore, doxological proclamation: doxology or praise to the Creator, the "God from whom all blessings flow," and proclamation in grateful thanks for the redemption won for the world in Jesus Christ.

No one spoke as clearly and forthrightly as Luther about the union of word and music to the end that God might be praised and His Word proclaimed to the whole world.

Luther summarizes his thoughts regarding worship, praise, and singing in two succinct comments, the first from his commentary on Psalm 147, the second from his lecture on Isaiah 42:10.

God does not demand great sacrifices or precious treasures of great price for His blessings. No, he asks for the easiest work of all, namely to sing and praise.²⁹

The worship of the New Testament ... is nothing else than song, praise, and thanksgiving. This is a unique song. God does not care for our sacrifices and works. He is satisfied with the sacrifice of praise.³⁰

To be silent about God's grace in Jesus Christ is no longer an option for the Christian. For believers to refuse to sing and speak about the faith that is within them is to show that they do not believe.

3.     MUSIC AS LITURGICAL SONG

Luther understood music in corporate worship as functioning within the context of the historic liturgy.

His conservative principle for liturgical reform is well known. The principle is that the historic liturgy of the church should be retained except at those points where it conflicted with his understanding of the Gospel. In a comment in his Latin Mass of 1523, Luther points out:

“It is not now nor ever has been our intention to abolish the liturgical service of God.”³⁶

There should be an order of worship and it shall be sung.

This attitude clearly included the music that had traditionally been associated with the celebration of the Mass.

Let the old practice continue. Let the mass be celebrated with consecrated vestments, with chants and all the usual ceremonies, (in Latin), recognizing the fact that these are mere external matters which do not endanger the consciences of men.³⁸

A similar comment appears in Luther's writing "Concerning the Order of Public Worship" (1523).

Let the chants in the Sunday masses and Vespers be retained; they are quite good and are taken from Scripture.³⁹

As for hymnody, it is a commonplace to observe that a great contribution of the Lutheran Reformation was the restoration of congregational singing. But what is usually less noted is that Luther's desire for the active participation of the congregation through hymnody was a result of his concern that the people participate actively in the singing of the liturgy.

For much of Protestantism today hymns may best be described as general Christian songs loosely attached to worship, but for Luther the congregational hymn was a vehicle for involving the faithful in the singing of the liturgy.

4.     MUSIC AS THE SONG OF ROYAL PRIESTS

Luther understood active congregational participation in worship as a necessary consequence of the doctrine of the royal priesthood of all believers.

This teaching, already set forth in the Old Testament⁴⁶ was given its classical definition in the New.

You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.^{47  (I Peter 2:9)}

In Luther's view, this doctrine was to be a spiritual force and power that expressed itself in every phase of the Christian's life, including worship.

Writing in "The Babylonian Captivity of the Church," Luther stated the point clearly.

Let everyone, therefore, who knows himself to be a Christian, be assured of this, that we are all equally priests.⁴⁹

Praise, proclamation, and adoration were not to be the sole province of priests, choirs, and leaders of worship but were to involve the whole people of God.

Since all were royal priests, each participant in worship had a crucial role to play in this sacrifice of praise and prayer.

This understanding, placed the people of God, the congregation assembled at a specific place, at the center of the liturgical and musical activity. The chorale-the Reformation congregational hymn-became the central generating force. All were encouraged-whatever the individual level of musical ability might be-to join in the common praise.

He wants to hear the throngs and not me or you alone, or a single isolated Pharisee. Therefore sing with the congregation and you will sing well. Even if your singing is not melodious, it will be swallowed up by the crowd. But if you sing alone you will have your critics.⁵⁴

. His understanding of the choir as a part of the gathered congregation, was yet another example of the doctrine of the royal priesthood in action.

5.     MUSIC AS A SIGN OF CONTINUITY WITH THE WHOLE CHURCH

Luther viewed continuity with the practice of the whole church to be an important factor in shaping the music and worship of God's people.

The more radical reformers, such as Zwingli and Calvin, sought to establish their identity by emphasizing their differences from the church catholic, denouncing everything that might remind them of popish vanity.

The result - the so-called "cleansing" of the churches in 1524, when Zwingli and his colleagues entered the churches and disposed of relics; whitewashed paintings; carted away statues, vestments, and splendidly bound service books; and closed or dismantled the organs.

"No music of any kind would resound in the churches again: the people were to give ear to the Word of God alone.”⁵⁵

Luther's view of the Reformation as a confessing and reforming movement within the church catholic (not outside the Catholic church) clearly attests to the importance he gave to the matter of continuity with the whole church.

Luther did not try to wipe the slate clean and start afresh in matters of liturgy, worship practices, and music as if nothing had happened since the time of the New Testament or the early church.  

Rather, his principle of liturgical reform was to retain all that in good conscience could be retained, revising or eliminating only those texts and practices that conflicted with his understanding of the Gospel.

In his "Order of Mass and Communion for the Church at Wittenberg" (1523) he stated:

We therefore first assert: It is not now nor ever has been our intention to abolish the liturgical service of God completely, but rather to purify the one that is now in use from the wretched accretions which corrupt it and to point out an evangelical use.⁵⁸

Luther clearly understood that the Mass with its accompanying music and various ceremonies had often been perverted into a good work.

Alas, the word "service of God" has nowadays taken on so strange a meaning and usage that whoever hears it thinks not of these works of God, but rather of the ringing of bells, the wood and stone of churches, the incense pot, the flicker of candles, the mumbling in the churches, the gold, silver, and precious stones in the vestments of choirboys and celebrants, of chalices and monstrances, of organs and images, processions and churchgoing, and, most of all, the babbling of lips and the rattling of rosaries.⁶⁰

Yet his anger, it should be clearly noted, was directed at those who saw these elements of worship as a means of earning righteousness, who saw them as a way of becoming "pious through good works."

What great fools they all are who want to become pious through works,...ringing of bells, burning of candles, singing, making noise on the organ, and reciting prayers with all their external performances.

(Coming to church – making your offerings – singing and participating actively in the service.)         

For certainly, Luther avowed, "Christians do not become righteous by doing righteous works; but once they have been justified by faith in Christ, they do righteous works.⁶²

Luther then talks specifically of commitment to the traditional practices.⁶⁶

To reject the gift of the tradition was, for Luther, to go it alone and to be cut off from the mutual edification of the whole company of saints.

To accept those gifts of tradition was, for Luther, to be linked with Christians of other times and places and to be reminded in a unique way that the church of his day was indeed part of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic company of saints. Much music of pre-Reformation composers was still useful in the Reformation church.

We have indeed a rich legacy in our hymnbook. Our hymnal contains a cross section of the best in sacred verse that sanctified and talented men have written.

Catholics as well as Protestants are represented among our hymn writers.

Luther's attitude toward the church's song of earlier times has a particular warmth and appreciation.

Luther pointed out that as we sing the Psalter, we are joined with all who have sung it before us.

Thus the psalms occupy a very important place in the music of the church. By singing psalms we claim our birthright as singing Christians, and take part in a community of singing Christians going back to the earliest church, and even beyond that, to Jewish and Israelite worship and extending into the future as well.

A hymn may pass away, but the church will always have the Bible, so it will always have the psalms. May they always be sung. 

CONCLUSION

God’s people are a singing people. In Ephesians 5:19 St. Paul writes: “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.”

Music is important for us and important in the life of the church. Today we have meditated upon the five paradigms of music as given by Martin Luther: music as God’s creation and gift to us; as vehicle for proclaiming the Good news and praising God; as our liturgical song; music as the song of the royal priesthood of the laity; and music as a sign of continuity with the whole church. 

The Five “paradigms of praise” of Martin Luther provides the answer to the two questions raised by the Protestant Reformation leaders.

What about singing in the church?

What is there for the people to sing?

The Lutheran answer is: What about singing in the church? Yes we must sing.

What is there for us to sing? We have the Psalms, Hymns and songs of praise to sing.

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