Make a Joyful Noise to the Lord
Becky Wareham’s 20th Anniversary as Music Director
Psalm 98; Colossians 3:16
Gettysburg Presbyterian Church
Harry G. Winsheimer
October 26, 2008

I confess to breaking the tenth commandment.  I covet the blessing of musical talent which God has given to Becky Wareham.  I have no musical ability.  When I sing in church, I am so embarrassed that I am very careful not to let people hear me unless I know the song well.  Before the elders invited me up front, I sat in the second or third pew.  Why there?  One reason was that usually no one sat in front of me, so I felt free to sing.  It is embarrassing when people in front of me are convulsed with laughter. I used to sing in the shower, until I could not stand Charlotte's laughter any longer. I used to sing in the car.  While driving through the parking lot of a shopping center with the windows closed, I was singing to myself.  A man bellowed at me from twenty yards away, “Hey, you!”  I turned to see who called.  Shaking his finger at me, he screamed: “I saw you talking about me.  You do that again and I’ll give you a fat lip.”  That taught me that my singing is so terrible that a drunk cannot tell that it is singing.

The church always has sung, and the Hebrew worshippers before the church.

"The living spirit of any religion shines through most clearly in the hymns by which its adherents bring before God their troubles and fears, their hopes, aspirations, and reasons for confidence." NRSV introduction to Psalms So, in our Bible is a hymnbook.  What is its name? The Psalms.  How many are there?  150 Psalms or hymns.

The New Testament church sang: Ephesians 5:19 "Be filled with the Spirit as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts...." 

Music is very meaningful in worship.  It expresses God's message to us.  It voices our response to God.  It bonds us together as a church family.

When I talk with new member classes about worship, I describe worship as communication.  I ask, “Who communicates with whom?”  Using the bulletin, we go through the Order of Service, asking, “Who is communicating with whom?” In the Scripture, who is communicating to whom?  God to us.  In the sermon, who is communicating with whom?  God through the personality of the preacher to us.  In the hymns, who communicates with whom?  Communication flows in all directions.  In music we listen to God’s message, and we voice our feelings to God.  Further, music communicates with each other.

For all time, music has expressed God's regard for us
             #304, "Jesus Loves Me!" 
            One of the early songs which I learned, and still is profound theology to me, is: "Jesus Loves Me!  This I know, for the Bible tells me so...."  The text was written by Anna Bartlett Warner for a novel (c. 1859).  The main characters of the novel were a dying child Johnny Fax and his Sunday school teacher John Linden.  Toward the end of the book, Linden carries the child and sings to him what has now become the familiar children's hymn.  It may be a children's hymn, but no hymn encapsulates more profound theology and emotional meaning in a few words than: "Jesus loves me!  This I know for the Bible tells me so...."   

Music is so important because we hear God's message through it.

II. For all time, music has expressed our regard for God.

Read the Psalms.  Many times worshippers are urged to sing or play instruments. Psalm 33:2 is an example: 
            Praise the Lord with the lyre;
            make melody to him with the harp of ten strings
            Sing to him a new song;
            play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

In the New Testament, the Apostle urged the church in Colossae: with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.  Colossians 3:16
           
A hymn which comes to mind is "A Mighty Fortress," based upon Psalm 46.

            Psalm 46, "A Mighty Fortress," #260
            The ancient hymn reads in English: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear....  In 1529, Martin Luther rewrote the words and set them to tune, which in English we know so well: "A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing....  Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also; the body they may kill, God's truth abideth still, His kingdom is forever."

God is like a fortress, an eternal fortress.  We hear God’s regard, God’s message, for us. We sing it in reverence and gratitude to God.

When I interviewed Becky Wareham for this issue of Parson to Person in the newsletter, I asked how she related theology and music.  She replied that in music she glorifed God.  Others glorify God with words, but music is her medium.

In worship God is the center.  In worship we do glorify God.  In worship we listen to God.  In worship we thank God.  In worship we submit to God.

The danger is that we worship for our own glory.  The purpose is to praise God, not to seek praise.  God is the primary audience, not the congregation.  I recall years ago approaching Pittsburgh prior to a Billy Graham Evangelistic Crusade in Pitt Stadium.  On the hillside was a huge sign: "Billy Graham Crusade."  The sign annoyed me.  Why?  The focus was on Billy Graham, not on Jesus Christ!  I respect Mr. Graham very highly, but the point is to lift up Jesus Christ.  Mr. Graham is the servant, not the Lord.  I am sure that he would be the first to say that.

An old story is of a preacher who stepped into the pulpit for the first time and discovered a sign permanently mounted for only the preacher to see: "Preacher, we would see Jesus!" The preacher who draws attention to him/herself has violated one of the basic values of being a preacher, namely that through the preacher people see Jesus Christ.

Do you watch professional wrestlers?  They wear outlandish costumes to draw attention to themselves.  Stars work very hard to draw people to themselves.  For the world of entertainment, such self-glorification seems appropriate. 

It is out of place in worship!  Here the musicians and preacher are of lesser importance.  We are to point beyond ourselves to God.  We come not to be worshipped but to worship.

This is why we need to be aware of what we do during worship.  But, the concern is that we bring the star-world of entertainment into worship, and that we change the room dedicated to prayer into a concert hall, and God is shoved aside.  We just have to keep aware that this is not a performance hall.  What we do here is worship.

This is not only a temptation for preacher, soloist, instrumentalist and choir, but for people in the pews.  Have you evaluated a worship service by saying: "What did I get out of it?"  I have.  If so, then we did not worship!  We were the focus of our thoughts; God is supposed to be.  An accompanying, more important question -- which brings balance to worship -- is: "What did God get from me?"  I urge you to ask that question of every worship service: What did God get from me?

Music is so important in worship, because through it we express our feelings to God.

III.  For all time, we have moved each other through music.

Music sends vibes among us.  We catch the mood of the congregation or the theme of the service from music. 

In setting mood, the accompanist is key.  During my student pastorate, I led worship for two country churches.  The pianist of West Lebanon was Mrs. Paterson.  She was in her eighties, and had volunteered for decades.  She gladly would have yielded her seat on the piano stool, except no one else in the congregation could do it.  She was slow.  We had breathing problems singing with her.  We had to take a good breath to hold the notes long enough for her to get to the next one.  From there I drove four miles to Elders Ridge where Mrs. Baker played the organ or piano.  We took a deep, deep breath before a hymn because she allowed no time to breath again until we finished.  The service could be exactly the same, but it took about three minutes less time when Mrs. Baker played.  The accompanist set the mood, in the first case, very serious; in the second case, very bright.  A good accompanist is a great help in worship.  Thank you, Becky, for accompanying us and the choirs.  Thank you directing the bells, and using your talent to enhance our lives.  We thank you for sharing your gift with us.

Music sends vibes among us.  One of the attractions of the Contemporary Service is the high energy and volume of the music, providing an invigorating feel.  One of the attractions of the 8:15 service is the musical mood is quieter, offering a more soothing and meditative feel.  The 11:00 service feels somewhere in-between.

The hymn "Blest Be the Tie That Binds" illustrates the human communication. #438
It was written by John Fawcett, who wrote 166 hymns.  Isn't that incredible?  That is a whole hymnbook!  He composed "Bless Be the Tie," as most of the others, to be read after a sermon.  The bond of Christian love is very significant to me.  As a child and teenager, our family was like some of your families.  We spent much time with the church people.  The church was one of my extended families.  The fellowship bond so enriching for me was voiced in the hymn: "Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love: the fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above.  We share our mutual woes, our mutual burdens bear.  And often for each other flows the sympathizing tear."

The words are meaningful.  How much more meaningful when we sing them together!  Joining in music bonds us as a congregation.  Music sets the tone of the congregation.

Conclusion:  The ancient singers composed the biblical book of Psalms.  The New Testament church sang psalms, hymns and spirituals.  Through music we hear God's regard for us.  Through music we express our regard for God.  Through music we bond as a congregation.  Through music we worship.

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