Jump Start # 3434

Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you; with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

We are in the midst of a special singing workshop this week in our congregation. We have brought in one of the best to help both our song leaders and the whole congregation step it up a few notches in our singing to the Lord.

I’m glad we are doing this because this puts a major reminder before our eyes of how important singing is.  The modern church has given up on congregational singing. They don’t want to hear it. Instead, rock bands are hired to perform before the audience. Rather than singing praises to God, a concert to entertain the crowd is where many are today. And, once again, trying to please the masses rather than the Master, they have failed to see the value and importance of singing.

Outside of worship, just think about how important songs are. Before ballgames begin, the crowd stands, and our country’s national anthem is played. Hand goes on hearts, and hats come off of heads, as respect is shown. Every high school and college has their own fight song. The first few beats of those songs and the crowd shouts in joy. Music plays a major role in movies. Without the music, the movies would not be as exciting. And, for many of us, we learn our ABC’s, the books of the Bible, the names of the apostles all through singing.

And, whenever this topic comes up, some always has to ask, “What’s wrong with using an instrument,” or, “God never said we couldn’t.” And, those that keep pushing that button do not know history or Biblical authority. I have looked through countless books about the history of music and there is a consistent understanding that the early church did not use instrumental music. These are books used in colleges to teach music majors. Running through the N.T., one will find nine verses about music and the church and each time, every time, it’s singing. Then when one understands the parallels to the O.T. it makes even more sense. In the O.T., there was physical temple. Today, the church is the temple. In the O.T. there were physical sacrifices. Today, we are living sacrifices. In the O.T. physical instruments were used to praise God. Today, we are the instruments. We are what praises God.

Now, some other thoughts:

First, singing is something we all can do in worship. Not everyone can preach. Not all can lead a prayer. But all of us can sing. Little ones and big ones can sing. Old ones and new ones can sing. Those hymns remind us, teach us, encourage us and help us.

Second, one doesn’t have to have good quality to sing. One doesn’t have to understand notes or music to sing. And, just about all of us have a favorite hymn or two that we really like. That hymn may remind us of something long ago. That hymn may have been sung at a funeral of a loved one.

Third, hymns is something that one can take with him and one really does not need anything else to help. If you want to listen to a sermon, you need to get to a website, YouTube, have a phone, tablet or a computer. But it’s not that way with singing. You can sing by yourself. You can sing in your car. You can sing quietly. You can have some people over and sing. Anywhere you go, you can sing.

Fourth, singing in worship illustrates unity. We are singing together. We are singing the same song. Together we are praising the Lord. The booming voices and the quiet voices, all blended together. All lifting up the Lord.

And, singing is something that God likes. This is not something that we came up with. We are following His plan and His blueprint and that included singing. Think about the music of nature. The sound of a creek rushing over rocks. The sound of a waterfall. The sound of rain coming down. The different song birds. A rooster in the morning. A cow calling out. The sound of a dog. The purr of a cat. We may call this the sounds of nature, but it’s truly God’s own orchestra. It is His music.

And, think how many times the words of a hymn have helped you.  Safe in the arms of Jesus. Does Jesus care? Faith is the victory that overcomes the world. Farther alone we’ll know all about it. Because He lives I can face tomorrow. It is well with my soul. We’re marching to Zion. This world is not my home. Thank you, Lord.

We can sing these hymns in our car on the way to worship. We can silently sing these songs as we have treatments. We can be encouraged by these hymns. They can bolster our faith and keep us going when the storm clouds build on the horizon. These hymns remind us. These hymns ask probing questions. These hymns honor God.

Singing to the Lord. What a wonderful way to express our faith and teach others the beauty of God.

Thanks to Tim Stevens for reminding us of the joy of singing.

Roger