"Meditation On A Hymn-text In Prose, Anthems, And Congregational Song

Sermon Preached By Rev. Isaac Borocz - June 22, 2003

I Chronicles 16:8-34; Mark 14: 22-26

“Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.”  So wrote the Psalmist almost 3,000 years ago.  And just over 30 years ago, a Methodist pastor in England echoed those words when he wrote the poem that forms the basis of today’s special presentation.  Fred Pratt Green began his text this way: 

When in our music God is glorified,

And adoration leaves no room for pride,

It is as though the whole creation cried:  Alleluia!

Those who worship in spirit and in truth see God’s hand at work in all creation.  Those who serve the Lord hear God’s voice in the world his love created, a world filled with beauty and holiness.

CHOIR ANTHEM: RIVER IN JUDEA      --Jack Feldman, arr. John Leavitt

The ancients believed that the stars and planets, in fact the whole universe, as it fulfilled God’s will by shining and traveling through the sky, sang about God’s love.  A thousand years ago, Hildegard of Bingen wrote: “The music of heaven is in all things.  Until we sing, we have forgotten how to hear it.”  And so we sing of that love which made us, and has remade us in Jesus.

CONGREGATIONAL HYMN:  #144:  This Is My Father’s World, verses 1 & 3.

The universe itself proclaims God’s loving kindness and boundless mercy.  “There is no speech, no words, no voice, yet the message goes out to all the world, even to the ends of the earth.”  So wrote the Psalmist almost 3,000 years ago.  In 1971, Fred Pratt Green wrote:

How often, making music, we have found

A new dimension in the world of sound,

As worship moved us to a more profound alleluia!

Indeed, God’s goodness calls us to sing, to praise, to worship, to proclaim how blessed are we!

CHOIR ANTHEM: SING A MIGHTY SONG   --Daniel Gawthrop

How blest indeed!  The song of the righteous is a prayer unto God.  And the whole people of God join with the angels and the saints in praising the Lord Most High.

CONGREGATIONAL HYMN:  #158  Come, Christians, Join To Sing verses 1 & 3

But things are not always as they should be.  The Psalmist knew this 3,000 years ago.  And so do we.  And Fred Pratt Green knew it too.  He wrote:

So has the church in liturgy in song,

In faith and love, through centuries of wrong,

Borne witness to the truth in every tongue:  Alleluia!

Unfortunately, we know that people are not always loving, honest and giving.  Yet the Church continues to call us, and call us again, and call us evermore to be the people of God, searching for the truth, goodness and wonder that God has put all around us.

CHOIR ANTHEM:  KUM BA YA     --Spiritual, arr. Paul Sjolund

No matter what the circumstances, we know that God’s plan will prevail.  Whether oppressed by slavery or by persecution or by any other evil, Christians throughout the ages have borne witness again and again to the power of divine love.  And we, too, are part of that same march of grace down through the ages.

CONGREGATIONAL HYMN:  #710  Faith of Our Fathers, verses 1 & 3

Almost 3,000 years ago, the Psalmist wrote:  “When Israel went forth from Egypt, the sea fled, the Jordan turned back…Tremble, O earth, before the Lord, at the presence of God.”

And on the night of the Last Supper, Jesus and his apostles sang that same hymn which is still sung at Passover.  In 1971 Fred Pratt Green wrote:

And did not Jesus sing a psalm that night

When utmost evil strove against the light?

Then let us sing, for whom he won the fight:  Alleluia!

All the powers of death, of evil, and even of hell itself conspired to kill the Good Shepherd.  And yet, despite the death of the Prince of Peace, Jesus overcame every wickedness.  The struggle is won.  As we proclaim during our communion service:  Christ has died.  Christ is risen.  Christ will come again. 

CHOIR ANTHEM:  LORD, WE PRAISE YOUR GLORY  --Heinrich Schütz

We live as redeemed children of God, saved by the power of Jesus’ love, a love so awesome that death could not contain it, a love so immense that hell was not able to restrain it.

CONGREGATIONAL HYMN: 

#166  All Praise to Thee, for Thou, O King Divine, verses 1-5

Almost 3,000 years ago, the Psalmist wrote, “Praise God from the heavens.  Praise God in the heights.  Praise God, all you angels and all his hosts.  Praise God, sun and moon, and all you shining stars.  Let everything that has life and breath praise the Lord.”  And more than 30 years ago, Fred Pratt Green wrote:

Let every instrument be tuned for praise!

Let all rejoice who have a voice to raise!

And may God give us faith to sing always Alleluia!

God’s praise shall never cease.  Even in death we shall praise the Lord, for we will dwell in God’s house for evermore! 

CHOIR ANTHEM:  HOW GREAT THOU ART/MAJESTY!                    --Joel Raney

The Psalmist wrote: “Sing praises wisely.  Sing praise with joy.  Sing with all your heart.”  May God fill us with his Spirit and give us faith to sing always “Alleluia!”

CONGREGATIONAL HYMN:  #68  When In Our Music God Is Glorified  verses 1-5