“Worship Matters” – Why do we sing? ~ Ephesians 5:15-20

“Worship Matters” – Why do we sing? ~ Ephesians 5:15-20

“What is at stake when the people of God sing?” What are we doing when we sing and how might it accomplish what Paul argues it does – actually being instrumental in “filling us with the Spirit”?

 

       1.      When we sing, we declare that we were made for beauty and that truth is a beautiful thing.

·         When we sing we remember that we are not a religion of “just the facts” or “just say no” but that we have a faith that is cinematic and orchestral, melodious and gorgeous, that is beautiful and inspiring, that plays with words, that frolics with metaphors, that thrills our hearts and imaginations rather than simply satisfying our heads.

·         Singing reminds us that God created us as beautiful and imaginative beings and that imagination is a stealthy way into people’s souls – so that we can learn the truth as well as be consoled or encouraged by it.

       2.      When we sing as a church we are reminded how we believe.

·         One the one hand, we sing individually – in different registers, with different emphasis and breathing, and with different recognitions and associations

·         On the other hand, we sing together – sharing words, rhythms, etc. We are expressing both our individual personalities as well as our solidarity.

·         When I sing I am declaring my own personal faith even as I remember that I am not alone - that my faith does not solely rest on my own feeble belief. This is why Paul encourages us to sing to one another.

      3.      Third, when we sing as a church we remember that we are Spirit-filled instruments.

·         We acknowledge that our bodies are spiritual things, and that faith is a life to be lived in and through our bodies.

·         I asked my daughter Emma why she thought that Christians were admonished to sing and she said, “Singing is the most full bodied response we can give to a God we cannot hug.”

·         It reminds us that worship and the Christian life is more than what we think. Singing aims our hearts as well as our heads – thus being “filled with the Spirit” is not some mental arrangement, not some intellectual assent, nor some condition of individual self-satisfaction but a full bodied “yes” to the One who created our minds, voices, hands, and feet.