What Good Music Can Do For You
Sermon
A Long Time Coming
Cycle A First Lesson Sermons for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany
Object:
It is a scientific fact that when the music of Mozart is played in a henhouse, chickens lay more eggs. This particular sermon was written to the tune of Mozart's piano concertos, so if it seems to have a lot of "strut" and "cluck," you'll know why! Seriously, if music can do that for hens, what can good music do for you?
Isaiah predicted that when God redeems a people they become singers! Music begins to flow from their lips! "And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing" (35:10). And certainly the Christmas season of the year proves this to be true!
Judaism and Christianity are two of the only major world religions that have a hymnal. That's because in Christ we have something to sing about!
In Acts 16:25 there is an entertaining tale about music. "... but about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening," offers a clue as to the role music played in the lives of the early Christians. And you can be sure music today offers the same ministries to you.
Composure, Comfort
One of the first roles music played in Paul's life was to give composure, relaxation, and a sense of serenity. Paul, the gallant spiritual warrior, and Silas, his traveling companion, had become embroiled in conflict. They had been publically stripped and beaten and thrown into the stockade. Life had crashed in upon them. The future was clouded with despair. So Paul and Silas began to sing. From deep within their soul a melody surfaced and found its voice in a hymn. Note carefully what is going on here! Two men in a disharmonious world are with their voices imposing a bit of harmony on their situation.
A clue to the nature and importance of music is found in the fact that music is first mentioned in Genesis, chapter four, of the Bible. In Genesis, chapter two, we are told of the harmony in the Eden paradise. In chapter three that harmony is destroyed by sin and judgment. And then music appears! Genesis 4:21 introduces Jubal, the father of all those who make music. It is as if God is giving the human race a balm for this cacophonous world we must live in. It's as if he knew we'd be homesick for Eden's orderliness, so God gave us music, a human habit of imposing order and harmony on the noisy world. And the result of making music is to gain a deeper sense of peace, a deeper sense of what the world was in Eden and shall be in the kingdom when it comes. And it is to be comforted.
This is what Paul and Silas were reaching for when they were imprisoned. And this is what they found in music.
It is said that Martin Luther, the church reformer of the 1500s, used to get terribly spent and depressed with his efforts. And it was at such times that he would say to those around him, "Let's go sing Psalm 96!" And the sounds of "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" would fill the room. In my own life I know of the value such good music can play. I constantly see the disharmony of broken marriages, the clash of different theologies and tastes and races, the pain of grief. And many a day I come home weary with it all. That's when I turn on the music of Vivaldi. And after letting his music sweep over my soul in wave after wave of splendid harmony, I feel like there is hope and meaning in life once again. He reaches inside me and puts everything back in its place. And I am comforted. That's what good music can do for you!
Worship
The second gift of music is worship. Music can help you worship God.
Paul and Silas began to pray and sing a hymn about midnight. They were worshiping Christ and using a hymn to do it.
A clear principle of scripture is that God acts and the people flee the realm of prose to music in order to respond. When Moses crossed the Red Sea and the pursuing Egyptians were destroyed, Moses broke into song, "I will sing unto the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously, the horse and rider he has thrown into the sea" (Exodus 15:11). When Mary was told she would mother the Christ child she broke into a hymn, "My soul doth magnify the Lord ..." (Luke 1:46). The phenomena is there throughout the Bible -- God acts and his people sing it!
Christianity is one of the only major religions in the world that has a hymn book. The simple fact of the matter is we've got something to sing about! God has acted! In Jesus Christ's life, death, and resurrection God has acted! And our response down through the ages has been the music of psalms, doxologies, Gregorian chants, hymns, requiems, and cantatas.
Karl Barth put it so well when he said, "Words are hostile to the genuine miracle of Christmas: detrimental, always powerless to justify it. How fortunate that when we are disturbed and oppressed by the problem of words we can flee to the realm of music ... music is the true and legitimate bearer of the message of Christmas." And so it is!
But did you know that humans are not the only part of creation to make music? The Bible tells us that the birds and trees and winds and brooks all sing the praises of God (Isaiah 55:12). The book of Revelation tells us that the angels in heaven sing to God (Revelation 4:10-11). When Jesus entered Jerusalem triumphantly, the people met him with hosanna songs of joy! And the pharisees said, "Master, rebuke your followers for such praises!" But Jesus answered, "I tell you, if these were silent the very stones would cry out!" Nature sings! Angels sing! And when we sing, we join in a great cosmic choir that has praised God endlessly from all creation! (This would make an interesting discussion the next time someone asks how big a choir you sing in!)
In western Virginia there is a church building right next to a prison. And on Sunday morning people in both places worship God. The singing in the church is dull and half-hearted. But the singing in the prison fellowship is loud and joyful. "Preacher," the man is often asked, "how do you explain the difference?" And the truth is that God has acted in Christ for those prisoners. And they are responding with musical joy. But for the church members? Well, perhaps they've been too busy, too self-contented, to feel any need for God. Whatever, I tell you, there is something very wrong with a person who does not sing. Why, if you don't have to praise God, you haven't met him yet! That's what good music will do to you!
Inspiration
A third role music can play in our lives is inspiration. Paul and Silas were in a low spot in their lives. They were helpless, hurting, and in prison. And it is a natural human tendency to allow the environment to dictate our mood. Why, one in Paul's predicament could easily be expected to get depressed. And so it was that Paul fled to the realm of music to bolster both his and Silas' morale.
Have you ever noticed how the military uses band music to give morale to its troops? The rousing music of John Philip Sousa is worth an entire battalion when it comes to its effect on the men.
Franz Joseph Haydn in a letter to a friend said that when he wrote music, the voice of God within him whispered, "There are but few contented and happy people here below. Everywhere grief and care prevail. Perhaps your labor may one day be the source from which the weary and worn, or the person burdened with affairs, may derive a few moments of rest and refreshment." And he has left us symphonies, any one of which can do much to inspire you, lift your morale, and give you courage to conquer!
Notice with me in 1 Samuel 16:14-26 how young David used the music of stringed instruments to soothe a very troubled King Saul.
Notice in Matthew 26:30 how Christ sang a hymn with his disciples just after the Last Supper. Was it partly to lift his morale on the way to the garden and the trial and the cross?
I tell you, these principles of music are as ancient as the Old Testament. And the world is onto them! Hitler used Sousa marches in World War II. Notice how they play inspiring music in a dental office, a shopping mall, and even in an office! And it's high time we Christians realize what good music can do, as well!
Witness
So, what can good music do for you? It can comfort you, help you worship, and inspire you. And now a final principle. Music can help you witness.
Paul and Silas were in jail, and they were not alone. The jailer was nearby. Other inmates were about. And when Paul and Silas began to vocalize their faith with music, the others listened and questioned in their hearts, "Why are they singing? What does this mean? Who is this Christ? How can they have joy in this lousy jail?"
How often we are tongue-tied when it comes to expressing our deepest convictions. But when words fail, music can speak!
In Mexico a bashful lover can hire a small band with singers to serenade his true love. A popular American love song a few years back said "Every time I try to say I love you the words just come out wrong, so I have to say I love you in a song."
Yes, music can witness to our deepest convictions.
A few years ago I had a particularly hard day. I was suffering with a chronic backache. Several severe disappointments had come my way in people. My wife had wrecked the car. A thief had stolen my lawn mower and bicycles. There was a mountain of laundry waiting at the newly repaired washing machine. And three preschool children seemed to have more energy than they deserved. And, oh boy! Was I ever grouchy! I sulked. I fussed. I slammed doors. I stomped around the house barking orders. Wow! I was breaking every single rule I ever wrote or preached about! (Feel better now?) Well, I finally ended up glowering on the back porch steps while my wife kept a safe distance in the kitchen where she was washing dishes. And do you know what she was doing? She was singing! "Fairest Lord Jesus," "Victory In Jesus," "This is My Father's World," and "Glorious Things Of Thee Are Spoken" all came floating out the window to me. And as the music washed over me I began to soften, to relax, and to become more receptive to the Lord's work within my life. Again, the value of good music proved its ability to witness, to penetrate despair with the good news that Jesus is the Christ.
And isn't that what happened as Paul and Silas sang of Jesus? The jailer heard and began to consider God.
Note, too, that the Bible says, "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord" (Psalm 100). It doesn't tell us we have to sing well. It just says be noisy and joyful! And that's how Paul and Silas must have sounded, because there was an earthquake at the sound of their music. And, well, one thing led to another and the jailer and his household became Christians.
That's what good music can do for you!
Are You Deaf?
Did you hear about the university professor of music who retired and went to Africa to prove his theory that music soothes the savage beast? He set up his cello in a clearing and began to make music. Soon a zebra and a gorilla stood watching. Next came the antelope, a lion, several tigers, and a monkey. They all stood listening, fascinated. But suddenly a panther came bounding out of the jungle, leaped upon the man, and ate him. Angrily the lion demanded, "What did you do that for?" To which the panther turned his deaf ear and said, "How's that again?"
Too many of us Christians have been deaf when it comes to good music. Oh, we listen to bad music or only country music, or no music at all. And we miss out on the fact that what music did for Paul and Silas it can still do for us today, if we but open up to it.
Paul had no stereo. He had no portable radio, no cassette tape player in his car. He did not have the advantages we do of Isaac Watts or Johann Sebastian Bach, or of the piano, the French horn, or the violin, or of contemporary Christian music. And still music ministered powerfully in his life comforting, aiding in worship, inspiring, and witnessing. And how much more can it accomplish in us today?
We have it on the good authority of Dorothy Parker that life is a banquet, and yet some of us poor suckers are starving to death! Well, no more! In Jesus Christ we have something to sing about! And I challenge you from God's Word today to let music work its ministry in your life! Then shall the prophecy of Isaiah 35:10 be further fulfilled: "And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing."
Isaiah predicted that when God redeems a people they become singers! Music begins to flow from their lips! "And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing" (35:10). And certainly the Christmas season of the year proves this to be true!
Judaism and Christianity are two of the only major world religions that have a hymnal. That's because in Christ we have something to sing about!
In Acts 16:25 there is an entertaining tale about music. "... but about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening," offers a clue as to the role music played in the lives of the early Christians. And you can be sure music today offers the same ministries to you.
Composure, Comfort
One of the first roles music played in Paul's life was to give composure, relaxation, and a sense of serenity. Paul, the gallant spiritual warrior, and Silas, his traveling companion, had become embroiled in conflict. They had been publically stripped and beaten and thrown into the stockade. Life had crashed in upon them. The future was clouded with despair. So Paul and Silas began to sing. From deep within their soul a melody surfaced and found its voice in a hymn. Note carefully what is going on here! Two men in a disharmonious world are with their voices imposing a bit of harmony on their situation.
A clue to the nature and importance of music is found in the fact that music is first mentioned in Genesis, chapter four, of the Bible. In Genesis, chapter two, we are told of the harmony in the Eden paradise. In chapter three that harmony is destroyed by sin and judgment. And then music appears! Genesis 4:21 introduces Jubal, the father of all those who make music. It is as if God is giving the human race a balm for this cacophonous world we must live in. It's as if he knew we'd be homesick for Eden's orderliness, so God gave us music, a human habit of imposing order and harmony on the noisy world. And the result of making music is to gain a deeper sense of peace, a deeper sense of what the world was in Eden and shall be in the kingdom when it comes. And it is to be comforted.
This is what Paul and Silas were reaching for when they were imprisoned. And this is what they found in music.
It is said that Martin Luther, the church reformer of the 1500s, used to get terribly spent and depressed with his efforts. And it was at such times that he would say to those around him, "Let's go sing Psalm 96!" And the sounds of "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" would fill the room. In my own life I know of the value such good music can play. I constantly see the disharmony of broken marriages, the clash of different theologies and tastes and races, the pain of grief. And many a day I come home weary with it all. That's when I turn on the music of Vivaldi. And after letting his music sweep over my soul in wave after wave of splendid harmony, I feel like there is hope and meaning in life once again. He reaches inside me and puts everything back in its place. And I am comforted. That's what good music can do for you!
Worship
The second gift of music is worship. Music can help you worship God.
Paul and Silas began to pray and sing a hymn about midnight. They were worshiping Christ and using a hymn to do it.
A clear principle of scripture is that God acts and the people flee the realm of prose to music in order to respond. When Moses crossed the Red Sea and the pursuing Egyptians were destroyed, Moses broke into song, "I will sing unto the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously, the horse and rider he has thrown into the sea" (Exodus 15:11). When Mary was told she would mother the Christ child she broke into a hymn, "My soul doth magnify the Lord ..." (Luke 1:46). The phenomena is there throughout the Bible -- God acts and his people sing it!
Christianity is one of the only major religions in the world that has a hymn book. The simple fact of the matter is we've got something to sing about! God has acted! In Jesus Christ's life, death, and resurrection God has acted! And our response down through the ages has been the music of psalms, doxologies, Gregorian chants, hymns, requiems, and cantatas.
Karl Barth put it so well when he said, "Words are hostile to the genuine miracle of Christmas: detrimental, always powerless to justify it. How fortunate that when we are disturbed and oppressed by the problem of words we can flee to the realm of music ... music is the true and legitimate bearer of the message of Christmas." And so it is!
But did you know that humans are not the only part of creation to make music? The Bible tells us that the birds and trees and winds and brooks all sing the praises of God (Isaiah 55:12). The book of Revelation tells us that the angels in heaven sing to God (Revelation 4:10-11). When Jesus entered Jerusalem triumphantly, the people met him with hosanna songs of joy! And the pharisees said, "Master, rebuke your followers for such praises!" But Jesus answered, "I tell you, if these were silent the very stones would cry out!" Nature sings! Angels sing! And when we sing, we join in a great cosmic choir that has praised God endlessly from all creation! (This would make an interesting discussion the next time someone asks how big a choir you sing in!)
In western Virginia there is a church building right next to a prison. And on Sunday morning people in both places worship God. The singing in the church is dull and half-hearted. But the singing in the prison fellowship is loud and joyful. "Preacher," the man is often asked, "how do you explain the difference?" And the truth is that God has acted in Christ for those prisoners. And they are responding with musical joy. But for the church members? Well, perhaps they've been too busy, too self-contented, to feel any need for God. Whatever, I tell you, there is something very wrong with a person who does not sing. Why, if you don't have to praise God, you haven't met him yet! That's what good music will do to you!
Inspiration
A third role music can play in our lives is inspiration. Paul and Silas were in a low spot in their lives. They were helpless, hurting, and in prison. And it is a natural human tendency to allow the environment to dictate our mood. Why, one in Paul's predicament could easily be expected to get depressed. And so it was that Paul fled to the realm of music to bolster both his and Silas' morale.
Have you ever noticed how the military uses band music to give morale to its troops? The rousing music of John Philip Sousa is worth an entire battalion when it comes to its effect on the men.
Franz Joseph Haydn in a letter to a friend said that when he wrote music, the voice of God within him whispered, "There are but few contented and happy people here below. Everywhere grief and care prevail. Perhaps your labor may one day be the source from which the weary and worn, or the person burdened with affairs, may derive a few moments of rest and refreshment." And he has left us symphonies, any one of which can do much to inspire you, lift your morale, and give you courage to conquer!
Notice with me in 1 Samuel 16:14-26 how young David used the music of stringed instruments to soothe a very troubled King Saul.
Notice in Matthew 26:30 how Christ sang a hymn with his disciples just after the Last Supper. Was it partly to lift his morale on the way to the garden and the trial and the cross?
I tell you, these principles of music are as ancient as the Old Testament. And the world is onto them! Hitler used Sousa marches in World War II. Notice how they play inspiring music in a dental office, a shopping mall, and even in an office! And it's high time we Christians realize what good music can do, as well!
Witness
So, what can good music do for you? It can comfort you, help you worship, and inspire you. And now a final principle. Music can help you witness.
Paul and Silas were in jail, and they were not alone. The jailer was nearby. Other inmates were about. And when Paul and Silas began to vocalize their faith with music, the others listened and questioned in their hearts, "Why are they singing? What does this mean? Who is this Christ? How can they have joy in this lousy jail?"
How often we are tongue-tied when it comes to expressing our deepest convictions. But when words fail, music can speak!
In Mexico a bashful lover can hire a small band with singers to serenade his true love. A popular American love song a few years back said "Every time I try to say I love you the words just come out wrong, so I have to say I love you in a song."
Yes, music can witness to our deepest convictions.
A few years ago I had a particularly hard day. I was suffering with a chronic backache. Several severe disappointments had come my way in people. My wife had wrecked the car. A thief had stolen my lawn mower and bicycles. There was a mountain of laundry waiting at the newly repaired washing machine. And three preschool children seemed to have more energy than they deserved. And, oh boy! Was I ever grouchy! I sulked. I fussed. I slammed doors. I stomped around the house barking orders. Wow! I was breaking every single rule I ever wrote or preached about! (Feel better now?) Well, I finally ended up glowering on the back porch steps while my wife kept a safe distance in the kitchen where she was washing dishes. And do you know what she was doing? She was singing! "Fairest Lord Jesus," "Victory In Jesus," "This is My Father's World," and "Glorious Things Of Thee Are Spoken" all came floating out the window to me. And as the music washed over me I began to soften, to relax, and to become more receptive to the Lord's work within my life. Again, the value of good music proved its ability to witness, to penetrate despair with the good news that Jesus is the Christ.
And isn't that what happened as Paul and Silas sang of Jesus? The jailer heard and began to consider God.
Note, too, that the Bible says, "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord" (Psalm 100). It doesn't tell us we have to sing well. It just says be noisy and joyful! And that's how Paul and Silas must have sounded, because there was an earthquake at the sound of their music. And, well, one thing led to another and the jailer and his household became Christians.
That's what good music can do for you!
Are You Deaf?
Did you hear about the university professor of music who retired and went to Africa to prove his theory that music soothes the savage beast? He set up his cello in a clearing and began to make music. Soon a zebra and a gorilla stood watching. Next came the antelope, a lion, several tigers, and a monkey. They all stood listening, fascinated. But suddenly a panther came bounding out of the jungle, leaped upon the man, and ate him. Angrily the lion demanded, "What did you do that for?" To which the panther turned his deaf ear and said, "How's that again?"
Too many of us Christians have been deaf when it comes to good music. Oh, we listen to bad music or only country music, or no music at all. And we miss out on the fact that what music did for Paul and Silas it can still do for us today, if we but open up to it.
Paul had no stereo. He had no portable radio, no cassette tape player in his car. He did not have the advantages we do of Isaac Watts or Johann Sebastian Bach, or of the piano, the French horn, or the violin, or of contemporary Christian music. And still music ministered powerfully in his life comforting, aiding in worship, inspiring, and witnessing. And how much more can it accomplish in us today?
We have it on the good authority of Dorothy Parker that life is a banquet, and yet some of us poor suckers are starving to death! Well, no more! In Jesus Christ we have something to sing about! And I challenge you from God's Word today to let music work its ministry in your life! Then shall the prophecy of Isaiah 35:10 be further fulfilled: "And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing."
