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The
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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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