Sing to the King! What an interesting sermon title today given the fact that singing can lead to the spread of the coronavirus.
I can’t tell you how many times over the past several months that I have read about a church spreading the virus in their congregation mainly because they allowed for there to be congregational singing or choir anthems during in-person worship. That’s why it’s so important to wear a mask in fighting the spread of this virus. It protects others in case we may have it, especially since there are a lot of people who don’t even know they have it because they are asymptomatic.
One of the strengths of our church is in our music ministry and our partnership with the OU School of Music. Our the past several months, we have missed our choir and their inspiring anthems on Sunday mornings. I have also missed the many choral concerts that we would have hosted this fall season.
[Ohio University School of Music Concerts @ Athens First UMC]
On this Christ the King Sunday, the psalm reading for today tells us to make a joyful noise to to the Lord and to come into his presence with singing. But what do you do when you are still in the midst of a global pandemic. How do you sing then?
It’s hard to believe but the last time the choir sang for us was way back on March 1st when they presented the anthem, “O Lamb of God.” When we are finally able to get past this global pandemic, I think it will be the singing that will stand out for us the most. Singing is such an important component of our faith and today’s psalmist would agree.
[Athens First UMC Chancel Choir]
“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing.”
But how do you come into the Lord’s presence with singing during this time of social distancing in helping to stop the spread of the virus?
We may not be able to sing out-loud during these months, but maybe this gives all of us an opportunity to think more about why we sing and what we are singing. Notice that the Psalmist doesn’t just tell us to sing. The psalmist is telling us to sing “to the Lord.”
Sometimes we forget that our singing has an audience and that audience is God. “We give thanks to him, and bless his name,” the psalmist goes on to say.
Who is this one to whom we direct our singing and joyful noise? The Lord. Our creator, redeemer, and sustainer; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And more specifically on this Christ the King Sunday, we are reminded that we sing to the King, Jesus the king of kings and the lord of lords.
Remembering to whom we sing is why those early Methodists were known as “shouting Methodists.” They couldn’t help but to shout their faith for all to hear because they wanted to share how the Lord was active in their lives. They wanted to share how they had an assurance in their faith that they were claimed by God. They wanted to share how God’s forgiving love had taken away their sins. They wanted to share how they were growing in their faith and trusting in the Lord everyday.
It was their joy, their sense of peace, their gratitude for what God had done in their lives that led them to sing out for all to hear. They weren’t bashful in expressing what their faith meant to them. Singing to the King is the natural byproduct of a person and a congregation who have what John Wesley called, “warm hearts.” Hearts that have been warmed by the saving and redeeming love of Jesus Christ.
And actually, before John Wesley had his heart-warming experience, it was a group of Christians singing that helped him to experience the joy of his faith. He was on a ship returning to England from America when a storm on the Atlantic caused him to have great fear for his life. On that same ship, he noticed a group of Christians, known as the Moravians. Even during the storm, they were singing and praising God together. Wesley realized that he was missing something in his faith.
And when Wesley arrived back in London, he was walking past St. Paul’s Cathedral when he heard a choir singing an anthem that stirred his soul. It would be later that day that he would have his famous heart-warming experience.
No wonder that singing has always been an important part of our faith as Methodists. John Wesley’s brother, Charles wrote six thousand hymns to help those early Methodists sing their faith.
Singing our faith is what helps us to offer our praise and worship to God. This is why we sing to the king. The psalmist ends his psalm by saying, “For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”
It’s now been eight months since we have sung a hymn together, eight months since we heard a choir anthem here in our sanctuary. How can we sing to the King when we are in the middle of a global pandemic?
This past summer, we purchased new camera equipment to upgrade our online worship services. This has allowed us to record the entire service in one recording so instead of several videos for one service we now have just one video because of all of the editing we can do.
This also made it easier for us to include Jeff to accompany the hymns. We weren’t sure how this would go over since there would be no singing, just the words of the hymn on the screen.
On the first Sunday we tried this, I was skeptical if the lyrics of the hymns with Jeff playing would be enough to keep our attention especially since we’re so used to hearing people sing out loud. Even without the singing of the hymns during that first week of recording the worship service, I discovered that those familiar hymns became even more alive for me.
I was forced to give my entire focus on thinking about the words of the hymns as I listened to Jeff play them. Now, don’t get me wrong because I would prefer singing over not singing, but I was drawn to those hymns in a new way.
The hymn that really got to me during that first week of recording was the hymn, “God Be With You Till We Meet Again.” A very familiar hymn to many of us, I was taken aback by verse 3, “God be with you till we meet again; when life’s perils thick confound you, put his arms unfailing round you; God be with you till we meet again.”
It was like God entered the sanctuary and was speaking directly to all of us as we followed those words on our sanctuary screen. “When life’s perils thick confound you.” This pandemic has confounded us. We find it difficult to make decisions that are helpful when we don’t know what the future holds. Schools trying to decide if students should return. Churches deciding if it’s safe to have “in-person” worship. People deciding if they should wear a mask or if they should find a different job. So many things are confounding us. That hymn was speaking to what we were experiencing especially in that moment.
But then that verse says, “Put his arms unfailing round you.” And I was reminded of how God has been surrounding us during this difficult time. And of course, the words, “God be with you till we meet again,” gave me the hope and the assurance I needed that we will meet again. We’ll get through this. And when we meet again, we will be able to sing all of these great hymns of faith together. We will be able to sing to the king. I guess you can say that as the preacher was in the middle of recording a worship service, he had a powerful God moment.
What I’m trying to say is, even though we may not be able to sing together now, we can still sing to the king. In this long season of not being able to sing, we at least have the words of our hymns of faith that bring us closer to the heart of God. And with the guidance of our Athens County Health Commissioner, we believe it is safe to at least have song leaders who are wearing masks and from a safe social distance provide the singing for us. I want to thank the music ministry of our church for leading us in the singing of our hymns of faith.
Several years ago at a church I was serving as pastor, I was asked to officiate at a funeral. It was my first year as pastor of that congregation so I was still getting to know the congregation as well as my staff members.
The funeral was for a very faithful church member. I met with the family to prepare for the service and they told me that they wanted one of our church staff members to sing, “How Great Thou Art.”
When they mentioned this, I was taken by surprise because I had no idea this staff member was known for his singing. And so I called him and told him the hymn they wanted him to sing. The service was at the funeral home, so he said he would bring his own sound system. And I remember thinking, “wow, he really is a singer because he has all of his own equipment.”
The funeral home was packed with people the day of the service. I led the service and gave the message. When I was done speaking, I said, “John is now going to sing for us, “How Great Thou Art.”
Little did I know that I was about to be transported into heaven. John started singing that well known hymn. “O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder consider all the world thy hands have made, I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, thy power throughout the universe displayed.” He then sang that beautiful chorus, “Then sings my souls; my Savior God to thee…”
And then he sings verse two. “When through the woods and forest glades I wander.”
And then he gets to verse 3 and takes it up a notch. “And when I think that God, his Son not sparing, sent him to die, I scarce can take it in; that on the cross, my burden gladly bearing, he bled and died to take away my sin.”
I was starting to get these holy goose bumps because John is singing like it’s the last song he’s ever going to sing. And this whole thing is taking me by surprise which by the way, God likes to do to us sometimes. Take us by surprise.
And then John gets to the last verse and he took us all to heaven with him. “When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart. Then I shall bow in humble adoration, and there proclaim, my God, how great thou art!” It was like God walked into that room during that last verse.
He sang in a way that showed that he believed it, like he wrote the lyrics himself. It wasn’t a performance which is sadly what I was expecting. It was a song of faith. That old hymn all of the sudden came alive in a new way.
And then he brought it home with that closing chorus again, “Then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee; how great thou art, how great thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee; how great thou art, how great thou art.”
When it was over I could barely offer the closing prayer and benediction.
On this Christ the King Sunday, this week of Thanksgiving, the psalmist invites us to sing to the king, this king who is good and whose steadfast love endures forever.
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