Worship and the Glory of God

When I was in college studying music, I worked for a while in the choral department of a large music store. The manager of the choral dept. was as secular and ungodly a man as they come, yet he was an expert on sacred choral music-- I didn't think much about it at the time, because I wasn't a Christian then. But on thinking back on it years later, I thought how sad that was.

You've probably known others as well for whom sacred music was merely an area of specialization, a field of expertise in which their interest was merely academic or aesthetic-- talk about missing the forest for the trees! If I may reverently paraphrase the apostle Paul: "If we have
focused on sacred music in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied!"

Two years ago I attended an excellent one-day seminar on choral vocal technique sponsored by a well-known music school. It quickly became apparent, however, that perhaps the overriding value of that teacher and that institution was the production of beautiful, pure vowel sounds-- that, regardless of whether the literature was secular or sacred, the ultimate goal was to achieve vowels of true excellence. And I thought, how tragic-- this is really what they live and work for! They groom the trees so carefully and never step back and see the forest in all of its grandeur.

But, before we get too smug, let us admit that all too often we can get caught up in the details of church music ministry and forget about what should be the true focus of our endeavor-- not to the absolute sense that these men I've mentioned have done, but nevertheless it can be a very real problem for us.

In fact, that was my first inclination when I first started thinking about this talk. Hence the original title: Worship Trends, Traits, and Troubles. My projected subject matter would have to do with very important, but decidedly second-level, concerns.

In the months since choosing the title, I have come to the decision to head in a little bit different direction in this talk. Rather than just deliver a sort of "State of the Union" address on worship in the church, I would like to try to cast a vision for you of the immensity and grandeur of worship, the centrality of worship to all of life and to all that we are and do as Christians. I'd like to share a little of my own personal pilgrimage in this regard, and relate how God has enlarged my view of and
appreciation for worship.

I. THE BOTTOM LINE

A. The Goal of Worship

We must never, ever forget that church music is a means to an end; indeed, the most glorious of ends at that: the worship of Almighty God. That is the forest which give all of the trees their meaning. That's why Don Hustad calls church music a "functional art." The ultimate goal of our ministry is not to make great music, it's not beautiful tone or perfect balance, not pure vowels; our goal isn't even excellence. Our goal is to encourage and facilitate and enhance the worship of the people of God. And while we cannot make that happen by our own efforts, yet if it is not happening it doesn't really matter how good the choir's balance or vowels are-- we're just
specializing in sacred music.

I would like us to focus for these minutes this afternoon-- in the midst, I should hasten to add, of a day of very good and very practical seminars which I hope we will all benefit from-- I would like us
to focus right now on some very foundational issues which underlie--which MUST underlie--everything that we do in church music if it's to be more than just an area of specialization for us.

I'd like us to consider the fundamental importance of worship in our ministries-- but also have us take several steps back so that we can take in the wider horizon, and see the fundamental importance of worship in the whole life of the church and in our whole lives as individuals.

B. Where I Started

As a jumping off point I'd like to get autobiographical for a moment. I was brought to my present church by a pastor who was looking for a man with theological as well as musical training; he also had a real desire to see worship as a vibrant part of the church's life. Well, I had the training in music and the training in theology, but the twain had never met, had never been integrated or related to each other in any way for me or by me. When I came to Memphis, I didn't have a clue about worship: I didn't have an appreciation for it, didn't have a philosophy of it, didn't have a strategy for trying to revive and reform it at First Evangelical Church. God graciously has caused us to grow together as a congregation in our understanding of and appreciation for worship.

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