Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor's Page
Dear Friends in Christ,
If you’ve been reading the newsletter the past several months, you’ll know that we’ve been addressing some questions/concerns/complaints that people occasionally raise about our worship and practices. This article is a necessary continuation of that. This month we’ll discuss our hymns and music. Here again is a subject that’s greatly misunderstood.
Someone recently complained to me that Zion has “Slow mundane music that puts me to sleep.” I’ll admit that sometimes the tempo of our hymns could speed up a bit. But here’s a question to ask: “Even if the music is slower than you like, are you seriously paying attention to the words?” For me, personally, when I focus on the words, my mind is drawn to the deep, Biblical truths in our hymns. They bring out the richness of the Gospel in a poetic manner, matched with music that leaves a lasting impression. That’s something we can be proud of with our LC-MS hymns.
One of my Seminary professors once said, “Hymns are homily-helpers.” That is to say, the words of our hymns reinforce the words of the Scriptures we hear and God’s truth which is proclaimed in the sermon. If you find that “mundane” and it puts you to sleep, might I suggest that the problem is with you and not the hymns? Look, there are all kinds of things that can distract us in worship. How do you overcome those other things? You force yourself to focus your mind when a baby cries or a young child fusses (or an older person falls asleep ahead of you). Then how about forcing your mind to focus on the words if the music being played is a distraction?
A related question is: “Why does Pastor insist on singing all the stanzas of a hymn, especially when there are 7, 8 or even 10?” I can answer that two different ways. First, my parents’ Pastor told them years ago, “If you want to get to heaven, you need to sing through to the last verse.” He was right. Almost without exception, the stanzas build to the final one where the promise of paradise in heaven is proclaimed. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to miss out on that good news. But what about the other stanzas? Can’t we trim some of them out? Okay, fine. However, you’ll have to tell me which ones. If all of them are intended by the composer to build towards the last one, where do you cut without damaging the intended message? To prove my point, here’s a little challenge for you. The next time you’re in church, open to hymn #677, “For All The Saints” or #361, “O Little Town of Bethlehem” or #461, “I Know That My Redeemer Lives.” In an effort to speed things up in the service, which stanza or stanzas would you suggest we trim? I guarantee that someone will be upset with your choice. So, perhaps it’s safest AND wisest to just leave the hymn as is and joyfully sing it as the composer intended it.
Ah, but what I suspect is behind much of these complaints is a matter of genre. When we really dig down, we find the argument is about “contemporary” versus “traditional” songs or hymns. As if contemporary is superior simply because it’s newer. We could discuss this ad nauseum but a few points will suffice here. First off, we need to come up with a definition of what “contemporary” means. Does it mean a song that was composed 6 months, 1 year, 5 years, or 20 years ago? There are hymns in our hymnal that were written more recently than some older “contemporary” songs that are still being sung in some congregations. And secondly, I would point you back to what I said earlier. Seriously take the time to analyze the words of many or most of those contemporary songs compared to our hymns. You’ll find shallow, emotion-evoking lyrics versus what our hymns present which is the deep, spiritual truths of God’s Word.
And one last issue related to music and musical “style” in the church. Far too many people don’t understand why there is the “chanting” in our worship. Actually, there is a simple answer to that. For centuries the Christian Church chanted the responses back and forth in the liturgy. But somewhere along the way in the later 19th and early 20th century it fell out of use. Most likely because of the shortage of Pastors and musicians and church buildings out on the new frontier of America. By the 1940’s, when TLH (The Lutheran Hymnal) came out, only the congregational responses were set to music. But in 1980, when the new LW (Lutheran Worship) hymnal came out, the chanting by both Pastor and congregation was reintroduced. Our Pastor back in Omaha had a great explanation for this change. He said, “If the congregation is expected to sing their part, then shouldn’t the Pastor sing his part also?” The answer, of course, is yes. Keep in mind that the whole of our liturgy is based on Scripture. So once again, you are encouraged to focus on the words and not so much the tune. Besides, when David and others wrote the Psalms thousands of years ago, they were intended to be sung. And those Psalms were a major part of ancient worship.
I’ll close with that. I’m happy to discuss any of this even further if you choose. Contact me or better yet, come to Adult Bible Class on Sundays and we can have an informative, lively discussion on it.
May God bless us all with a deeper appreciation for what Christ has done for us, especially now as we enter the Advent season so that we may worship the Lord with our whole heart, soul, and mind.
In Christ,
Pastor Meyer
