Selected Scriptures

January 31, 2021

Lord’s Day Worship

Sean Higgins

The sermon starts around 19:20 in the audio file.

Or, When Hearts Overflow with Thanksgiving

Series: Our Worship #5

Introduction

I get the impression that most professing Christians in the United States make their decision about which church they prefer based on the style of songs sung during corporate services. The number of things we could pick at in such a practice would be like picking a long road rash scab; where do you want to start?

We probably ought to sympathize a bit more with our Christian brothers, and sisters, in such a mindset. Remember that most worship services offer very few ways for Christians to participate, and feel like or be convinced that it’s true, other than singing. Even in those churches where worship isn’t defined as the singing compared to any other part of the service, singing still bears most of the burden for an attendees active contribution. So it makes sense that in light of the longing to worship, if worship means singing, then the singing parts are the more crucial parts for a Christian deciding where to worship.

This certainly can include a more consumer-like attitude more than intent for consecration. There is also a heavy performance, concert-like mentality which in some ways makes style even more significant. This also may allow an attendee to hide a bit, and not just because the lights are low, but because the volume through the speakers is so high. His neighbor in the pew might have a hard time knowing whether his heart is engaged or not. There are also churches with minimal liturgy for the assembly that emphasize preaching so much that, even without explicitly saying so, the Really Mature (RM) in the congregation know that singing is just for the weak who can’t get their minds into fifth-learning gear without at least some strumming on a guitar.

As usual, there are about as many ways to mess up worship in song as there are chorus repeats in a Chris Tomlin song, which means, a lot.

What is really a reason to praise the Lord at TEC is that you need very little rebuke. In fact, by God’s grace, you are to be commended for your interest and eagerness and understanding and skillfulness in our worship in song. As a church we have matured in our grasp of the battering ram of corporate singing, and we have strengthened our affections for singing and by singing together.

Nine years ago I preached a message titled “Sing and Shout” to a different group of people. Some of the people have the same names and faces, but not the same hearts and minds, and ears. At that time we had begun to expand our arsenal of songs by trying to recover some of the older volumes in the library, and I mean older than early 90’s music from the Maranatha catalog. I mean psalms and hymns, as in actual and full Psalms from the inspired 150 as well as various hymns produced in church history, especially during and since the 16th century Reformation.

We moved, on purpose, away from the more sentimental, away from the more folksy, away from the more effeminate, away from only unison, toward more of the militantly celebratory, masculine, melody with harmony. We maintained an interest lyrical orthodoxy, but we attempted to develop an interest in lyrical history and musicality.

Nine years ago we lost a few families who were not impressed with the direction. Here we are nine years later and, if we listened to the loudest minority today, we might hear that we’ve still not made it far enough down the road since we’ve not yet decided to sing nothing but Psalms.

Still and overall, we have much thanks to give to God. And because our songs are part of a Christ-honoring liturgy that belongs with a Christ-honoring culture, it’s worth reminding ourselves of what we’re aiming for when it comes to our worship in song.

You know, right, that there is no command to sing in the Ne[...]