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SERMON
SECOND
PRESBYTERIAN
CHURCH
460 East Main Street
Lexington, Kentucky 40507
Our Faith in Hymn
September 8, 2013
Psalm 149; Ephesians 5:6-20
Rev. Dr. Daniel T. Hans
A power struggle was going on between the pastor and the music director in a church where
the practice was for the music director to choose the hymn to be sung following the sermon.
One Sunday the pastor preached on “moving out of the pews into the world to serve” and the
music director chose to sing the hymn I Shall Not Be Moved. The next Sunday the pastor
preached on “giving” and the music director led the congregation in singing Jesus Paid It All.
Before long the choir teamed up with the music director in “putting it to the pastor.”
Understandably, the pastor was getting irritated; but the worship attendance was increasing
as people came to witness this worship boxing match. The following Sunday, after the pastor
preached on “the sin of gossiping” would you believe the music director chose: I Love to Tell
the Story? Next Sunday, during his sermon, the pastor announced he would resign unless
things changed. The music director led the congregation in singing Why Not Tonight? No
one was surprised when the pastor resigned a week later declaring in his sermon that Jesus,
who had led him there to that church, was now leading him away from there to somewhere
else. At the music director’s insistence, the congregation sang What a Friend We Have in
Jesus.
I
Congregational hymn singing is both an ancient and modern but not an intermediate
expression of worship. From antiquity hymn singing was common among the Israelites.
After Moses led the people to freedom from Egypt, the former Hebrew slaves sang a song of
praise to God recorded in Exodus 15. The biblical Psalms were the hymnal for worship in
the second temple in Jerusalem rebuilt in 515 BC. In the early church, hymns were central to
Christian worship as Ephesians declares: sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among
yourselves making melody to the Lord in your hearts.
However, congregational singing all but vanished for 1000 years as worship became centered
upon the role of the clergy. Throughout the Middle Ages, vocal music in church was the sole
right and responsibility of the choir composed solely of monks. When England’s King
Henry VIII and Archbishop Cranmer broke from the Roman Catholic Church in the early
1500s, they executed the monks thus eliminating the church choirs. (That’s one way to keep
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music directors and choirs in their place!) Since the average Englishman could not read,
congregational singing was out of the question. In writing up an order of worship for the
new Church of England, Archbishop Cranmer omitted all hymn and anthem singing.
Later in the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, a resurgence of congregational singing
occurred. However, the biblical Psalms were the only songs permitted. Some churches set
the Psalms to popular melodies of the day, claiming that those secular tunes were “too good
for the devil.” Our opening hymn, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, is an example. Martin
Luther wrote that hymn based on Psalm 46 and used a popular beer hall melody as the tune bringing together the best of both worlds.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, hymns as we know them emerged from many sectors of the
church. Today, those who are critical of contemporary Christian music must recognize that
the church’s oldest and most traditional hymns were once “contemporary Christian music”
and were frowned upon by those who thought only the Psalms should be sung. These “new”
17th and 18th century hymns reflected the historical tensions of the day as the church
addressed its faith to the current context. Every Christian hymn, old and new, has a context –
some theological, personal, social or political setting in which the song arose. I believe it’s
helpful to know the foundations upon which our hymns were built as we lift our voices to the
rafters in singing them.
II
With this background in mind, I address three groups of hymns we sing: hymns of the mind,
hymns of the heart and hymns of the will. One of the early hymn writers of the 17th century
was the English Puritan poet John Milton of Paradise Lost fame. At age 15 Milton wrote a
hymn that calls us to engage our minds in worshipful reflection upon the sovereign
faithfulness of our God. Listen as the choir sings Let Us, with a Gladsome Mind.
Throughout its history, the church has used hymns as a means of engaging the mind in deep
theological reflection. Hymns have been a vehicle to teach basic Christian beliefs. An
example is the hymn Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty! It draws attention to one of the
most mind-boggling yet foundational of all Christian beliefs – the Trinity – the one God
existing as three co-equal and co-eternal persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As we sing
verses 1 & 3, listen to the church’s attempt to define the nature of this mysterious and triune
God of ours. This hymn is too majestic to remain seated so let’s stand and sing.
III
Important as “hymns of the mind” are for the church, they can become a stumbling block to
vibrant faith if the songs’ messages remain in the critical caverns of the cerebrum, never
hitting the hatches of the heart and failing to fuel the feelings of faith. One hymn that has
long tugged at the hearts of people of faith and one of the most beloved Christian songs of
the past 200 years is the song our choir will sing as the offertory this morning. But, did you
know that had the mind won out over the heart, this song might have slipped into oblivion?
John Newton, the former slave ship captain who wrote this song, first titled it Faith’s Review
and Expectation. Fortunately, someone along the way changed the title to Amazing Grace,
How Sweet the Sound. That title continues to speak to our hearts today.
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A favorite “hymn of the heart” is O Love That Will Not Let Me Go. Its author, George
Matheson, troubled with poor eyesight from early childhood, went blind by age 18. Despite
his hardship, he proved to be a brilliant student, graduating from college at age 19 with a
degree in philosophy. He then entered the ministry. Though the possessor of a great mind,
he knew well the ways of the heart and the pains of the soul. In his late teens, he was in love
with a girl he wanted to marry but she jilted him when he went blind. The pain of that
rejection caused him never to marry.
20 years later, on the eve of his sister’s wedding, he sat alone reflecting upon what could
have been in his own life. His somber reflection produced this song about God’s unfailing
love for him. Keep those circumstances in heart as we listen to the choir sing.
A similar story lies behind What a Friend We Have in Jesus. Its author, Joseph Scriven,
knew firsthand the griefs and pain we bear. The day before his wedding, his fiancée
drowned. Later, he devoted his life to serving the poor and needy, becoming known as “the
man who saws wood for poor widows and sick people who are unable to pay.” He claimed
to have written What a Friend We Have in Jesus for his mother to comfort her in a time of
personal sorrow. Feel the words, as we remain seated to sing verse 1 & 3.
Recalling the stories behind some of our hymns and knowing the hope and trust that poured
forth from hearts despite the circumstances can give us a spiritual lift when we are weak and
heavy ladden.
IV
Weekly in worship, we typically sing one of each of the three categories of hymns I am
describing. We sing a hymn that engages our minds to declare the glorious nature and actions
of God. We sing a hymn that embraces our hearts to feel the loving presence of God. And
we sing a hymn that empowers our wills to go forth in service to God.
This morning, we end with the hymns of the will that call for an active commitment of our
will in pursuit of God’s will. Psalm 149 begins with a call to praise God and ends with a call
to seek the justice of God in the world. Hymns can prompt the movement of God’s Holy
Spirit within us to lead us toward just and righteous action for God’s Kingdom.
Washington Gladden was a pastor in the late 1800s. He believed that the message of Jesus
Christ and the social problems of his day could not be separated. Many critics labeled
Gladden a meddler in politics especially when he preached about better relations between
labor and management.
Ignoring this criticism which claimed that “the business of a minister is to save souls not
regulate business,” he continued to preach on the need for cooperation between labor and
management His hymn O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee reflects his conviction that faith in
Jesus Christ leads us to address social wrongs as well as spiritual wrongs. Listen as the choir
sings verses 1 & 3.
Taking this same passion for care and justice from the floors of the factory to the slums of the
city was Frank North, a pastor in New York City in the early 1900s. While politicians today
speak about the decay of the inner cities, over 100 years ago North addressed the same social
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decay in his hymn Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life. Though written over a century
ago, its words are painfully fresh and powerfully challenging today.
As my sermon’s concluding hymn and as our calling hymn of service to God, we will stand
and sing Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life.
Jesus calls us to love God with all whole selves – heart, soul, mind and strength. By singing
and by living Our Faith in Hymn through these songs of the mind, heart and will, we can do
as Jesus calls us to do as we sing to the Lord a new song about our timeless and timely faith.
Sources:
The Gospel in Hymns – A.E. Bailey, Scribners’ Sons
Dictionary-Handbook to “Hymns for the Living Church” Donald Hustadt, Hope Pub. Co.
The Faith We Sing – Paul Schilling, Westminster Press