“Back to the Well:  Refreshed by Music”

Rev. Corey Fields

March 25, 2007

            We’re going through a series in our “Back to the Well” theme.  We’re looking at ways that our spirits can be refreshed.  Last week, Matt talked about being refreshed by study.  The week before, Joe talked about being refreshed by scripture.  Today, the topic is music.

Psalm 150

            You’re at a red light.  This happens a lot in Topeka.  Imagine you’re at a red light.  Nobody’s quite sure what to do at a red light.  Do you stare straight ahead, do you fiddle with your CD’s, do you wash your windshield?  If you’re like me, you often try to discretely glance at the people in the cars around you (I’m a people watcher).  There are three kinds of people at a red light.  1) The person who is staring straight ahead, and you keep watching to see if they go at the green light because they look like they’re dead.  2) The yappers – either on their phone or with the passengers.  Usually, they’re either arguing or laughing – nothing in between.  3)  The person who is listening to his/her favorite song.  And they look just as zoned out as the other people, but in a different way.  They are performing!  They’re bee-bopping, they’re going to town…they’re in a different place.

            A lot of us do this.  Your favorite song comes on the radio, or you’re listening to your favorite CD – and it just takes you to another place.  I’m constantly doing this in my car with my music…I keep it on the down-low though; I play my steering wheel down near my legs and I always keep my air guitar below the window level.  But music does this.  It takes us to a different place.  Think about the power music has.  A favorite song has the power to take you back in time, put you at ease, make you dance, and even make you laugh or cry.  Think about the power of music in things like movies.  Music sets the mood.  Music determines the mood.

            Why does jazz have a different effect on us than Mozart?  Why does rock music elicit a different response than a piano ballad?  It’s the power of music.  And think about what music is.  Vibrations that hit the eardrum.  That’s it.  You get lower pitches by slower vibrations, high pitches by faster vibrations.  And the way something sounds simply depends on its structural make-up.  Here’s how Webster’s dictionary defines music:  “the science or art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination, and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity.”  You see, this is often the case with things that are gifts from God.  Music is a gift from God.  Like many other of God’s natural gifts, music can be explained in technical terms.  You can define it….but, you can’t explain it.  There’s just something about music that can add so much to any text.

For example, take this text:

Be strong, be strong, Be strong in the Lord

And be of good courage, for He is your guide

Be strong, be strong, Be strong in the Lord

And rejoice for the victory is yours.

            That text sounds a little repetitive by itself, and it’s also worded really funny.  But when you put music to it, you get one of my favorite hymns….

            But here’s the thing about music.  Just like many other of God’s natural gifts, it can be misused, and it can be given a higher status than what it deserves.  You see, when God gives us gifts – gifts like music, nature, love – these gifts are supposed to nudge us toward God.  Music, nature, and love are a means to an end…a wonderful gift from God that should be enjoyed, and that should nudge us closer to him.  Music was created by God to be able to nudge us closer to God.  But music can be given a higher status than what it deserves.  Music can become an idol…music can become our god.

            This is what the psalmist is saying:  Psalm 150.  No matter what instrument we’re playing, no matter what musical style we’re using, whether or not we can carry a tune…”let everything that has breath praise the Lord.”  I am absolutely astounded at the number of people I talk to who still seem to have the assumption that God pays attention to what kind of music we’re using.  People hear a song in a style they don’t like, and they sneer and say, “That’s not worship music!”  Wasn’t it God who said to Samuel, “The LORD does not look at the things human beings look at…the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7).  Do we really believe this or not?

An example.  Pretty much everyone knows “Amazing Grace.”  It is the hymn of all hymns, and it has nudged people closer to God for more than a century.  But has it become more?  Have we idolized the tune?  Have we idolized the style?  Sing the 1^st verse with me:

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me

I once was lost, but now am found

Was blind but now I see.

            But what if I went over here and picked up a different instrument.  (same tune on guitar).  There are some who would say that I just desecrated “Amazing Grace.”  And then others would say, “Man, I like it better on guitar.”  But may I venture to say that both groups missed the point?  God could care less what instrument it’s played on.  You could have a rock band with mohawks, tattoos and body piercings play the song at a tempo of 280, and that in itself wouldn’t offend God.  What offends God is when we idolize tunes and melodies instead of letting the music nudge us closer to him.  What offends God is when we sing out of tradition instead of having a deep joy in our heart that wants to tell the world, “I once was lost but now I’m found!”

One reason we are wise to guard against idolizing music is because some of our beloved songs have roots that we might not be so proud of.  Did you know that the tunes of some the most popular Baptist hymns started out as drinking songs?  Look it up!  A similar criticism could be leveled against what is often called “praise & worship music.”  The basic instrumentation and common chord progression of those songs had their roots in the immorality of the sixties.

Yet another reason to guard against idolizing tunes is because of the trouble we run into with the instruments that the Bible mentions.  Some will say, “We should only use instruments that the Bible mentions.”  Well, the first problem there is that that would rule out the organ.  There are many instruments we use today that the Bible doesn’t mention.  You know why?  I’ve done a lot of research and labored many hours to find the answer, and I have it.  You know why the Bible doesn’t mention instruments like the guitar, the drumset, or the organ?  They weren’t invented yet.

Sarcasm aside…music is a wonderful gift.  It’s a gift that God wants us to enjoy.  And it’s gift that has its proper use in worship when it is a means to an end…when it nudges us closer to God.  You know what I mean.  Aren’t there songs that just nudge you closer to God?  And you see, not only can music nudge us closer to God, but I think it can also teach us a little something about what it means to know Him.  You see, there are people who love and appreciate music and know a good song when they hear it, but they can’t tell you the first thing about scales or pitch or timbre or harmony.  But they love music.  And then there are those who know all there is to know about music theory.  They can name any chord and they can define every musical term, but also this knowledge keeps them from enjoying the sheer beauty of a tune.  In the same way, there are people who deeply love God but can’t quote very many Bible verses and they don’t know much about the church or its history.  And then there are those who know the Bible very well and have lots of head knowledge, but it’s evident that they don’t really love God.

God created music for a reason.  It’s a gift straight from His heart, it’s an expression of Himself.  And this gift was meant to nudge us closer to the presence of God.  We can get pretty uptight about our music.  Music is supposed to bring us to our knees, but too often it puts our noses up in the air.  One of my favorite songs is by a band called Evanescence.  The song is called “Bring Me to Life” and even though its not a hymn or a praise and worship song or even a song published by a Christian record company, it nudges me into the presence of God every time I hear it.  It’s a song that brings me to my knees every time.  I think part of the reason it has this effect on me is because, when you hear the lyrics, you can tell that the songwriter herself is on her knees before God.

Wake me up inside

Wake me up inside

Call my name and save me from the dark

Bid my blood to run

Before I come undone

Save me from the nothing I’ve become

            That’s a prayer.  To me, that’s a heart-wrenching, God-seeking, genuine prayer from someone who’s hurting.  I’ve felt this way.  I’ve felt spiritually dead.  And I didn’t know how to wake up.  This is a prayer.  It reminds me of that short parable Jesus told:  Luke 18:10-14.

            We are refreshed by music when it nudges us into the presence of God.  And it is in the presence of God that we realize who we are and who we are not.  There is one more song I’d like to share with you.  It’s another song that always nudges me into the presence of God.  And it’s a song that served as a powerful reminder to me as I was growing up of what God wants from me.

When the music fades, and all is stripped away

And I simply come

Longing just to bring something that’s of worth

That will bless Your heart

I’ll bring You more than a song

For a song in itself

Is not what You have required

You search much deeper within

Through the way things appear

You’re looking into my heart

I’m coming back to the heart of worship

And it’s all about You, all about You, Jesus

I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it

When it’s all about You, all about You, Jesus.