At a casual glance, this congregation may not seem very diverse. Although we are very blessed to have a growing number of Asians, African Americans, and Hispanics, the majority of us are white, middle class European Americans. But beneath the surface of these obvious similarities, are a number of distinct differences which make us a much more eclectic church family than one might first imagine. Consider the fact that we are young, middle-aged and elderly; we are conservative, moderate and liberal. Some grew up in a rural environment, some in suburbia, and some in an urban setting. Some identify themselves with the North, some with the South, and some do not identify with either. Some have struggled most of their lives to make ends meet, some struggled early in life but now live comfortably, and some have never really known what it is to go without. Some of us grew up in loving families, some in families with constant strife, and some in divorced and blended families. Some of us came of age during the depression and World War II, others during Viet Nam and Watergate, and still others during the emergence of the Internet and the ongoing impact of the sexual revolution.
Fewer than half of us grew up Presbyterian. We are comprised of former Methodists, Lutherans, Baptists, Episcopalians, Roman Catholics, Congregationalists, and a host of others.
That initial glance which suspects that we are all pretty much alike belies the significant differences which exist among us. And these differences shape the manner in which we view life, the opinions we form, and the tastes that we develop. One of those tastes which touches us deeply is music. Some in our church family listen to country western while some favor jazz; some turn up the rock while others prefer folk; some choose the big band sound while others listen to classical. Within our church family there exists a variety of opinions, beliefs and musical tastes.
I have heard it said many times, "If you want to start a real church fight, focus your attention on the music sung in worship. Ask every person's opinion of what we should sing on Sunday morning. Better yet, choose a new hymnal and then watch the fur fly." Music can be a contentious subject because we do not all like the same thing.
I am very grateful that our church family was able to make the transition to the new Presbyterian Hymnal several years ago with a minimum of resistance. I am aware that not everyone was pleased. There was some grumbling because some people lost a few of their favorites. But the blue hymnal has also provided us with some new hymns that have become favorites of many - I Danced in the Morning, Seek Ye First and Here I am, Lord - to name only three.
This morning, we decided - perhaps I should be honest and say I begrudgingly relented - to sing some of the songs that people remember singing in the past, but which we rarely sing in worship these days. The idea began many months ago when a member of the Worship Committee asked why we never sing any of the "old favorite hymns." A number of others nodded in agreement. That led to a discussion of : What are the old favorite hymns? And many were surprised to learn that there was a fair amount of disagreement among the members of the committee as to what hymns comprised the old favorites. I can remember someone saying, "You know, such and such hymn." And some people nodded in agreement, while others rolled their eyes. We soon learned that not everyone had the same old favorites in mind. Eventually each member of the committee put together his/her list of favorites, and we made a master list. We dropped from the list those hymns which do not appear in our hymnal and those hymns which we already sing on a regular basis. That left us with a list of about thirty hymns, and from that list, we selected the ones for this morning.
At one point we discussed singing hymns from different eras and which represented a wide variety of styles, but in the end we decided to sing hymns which are basically from one genre - what some have called "gospel hymns." I suspect that your reaction to these hymns will vary from, "Oh I love that hymn, let's sing it more often," to "Please let me know when we decide to sing that one again so I can be out of town."
If hymns were judged strictly according to their musical quality, our hymnal would be much smaller. Many of the hymns we currently sing will not pass the test of time and will eventually fade out of existence. But hymns are not judged solely on their musical quality. They must also be singable, and most importantly, they must be meaningful. Hymns are intended to express religious truth in meaningful terms for a particular community of faith.
But the variety of our musical tastes and the differences in our life experiences insure that people will find meaning in different hymns. We have to keep in mind that some of us grew up singing The Old Rugged Cross, while some of us grew up chanting Latin, while still others of us grew up singing songs from Jesus Christ, Superstar. It is not possible for us to reach a consensus on the most meaningful music for our worship. So whenever your reaction to a particular hymn is "How could anyone want to sing that?" please remember that there are others asking the same thing about one of your favorites. This morning's hymns are clearly not my favorites, but I know that some of the hymns I choose rankle some of you.
The most important thing for us to keep in mind is the reason we sing hymns in the first place. Hymns should pull us out of ourselves and prompt us to gaze not at the temporal, but the eternal. Hymns are not simply for our own edification, but rather a way for us to focus our hearts and minds on God.
© 1999 Gregory Knox Jones, all rights reserved