What has happened to congregational singing in the church? Has Satan been successful in his attempt to rob Christians of their joy of the Lord? Has congregational singing been replaced as an accommodation to a performance crazed culture? Have we come to believe that only recording artists are allowed to sing out loud?

We all know the music industry has become huge. According to the Recording Industry Association, last year (2003) Americans bought 798,400,000 music recordings at a total cost of $11,854,000,000.00! Just this week, 21,000 would-be "Idols" converged on Washing DC's Convention Center - some camping out for two days to get a chance to have their voice heard, with high hopes of being chosen for the "America's Idol" show. That was in addition to the more than 8,000 singers who tried out in Cleveland and 6,000 who had already auditioned in St. Louis.

It can also be pointed out that last year, religious music (which includes Christian, Gospel, Inspirational, Religious, and Spiritual), represented 5.8% of total music purchases. That means that $687,532,000.00 was spent for religious music, mostly for CDs. In fact while other types of music (Pop and Classical) declined during the previous three years, Religious music has slowly increased since year 2000 when sales represented 4.8% of the market.

Perhaps we have allowed performance for applause, and/or economic reward, to replace music for worship and ministry.

In his little letter to the first century church in Ephesus, Paul made a brief comment about this matter of worship in song, "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Ephesians 5:19,20)

First please notice the context of these remarks.

Paul is here writing to Christians whom he identifies as "children of light" (v.8) - they live wisely (v.15), make the most of opportunities, i.e., they are not wasteful of time, the only non-renewable resource (v.16), and they understand the will of God (v.17). One application of this wisdom and understanding is that Christians, renouncing "fruitless deeds of darkness" and "foolishness" (vs.11,17), replace drunkenness with Spirit filled living (v.18).

The question then comes, "What is the evidence that the Christian is filled with the Sprit rather than alcohol?" The answer to this question is found in this short instruction about singing praises to God. The first readers of this Epistle certainly understood it in light of the pagan festivals all around them - drunks sing, so should Christians.

Bible Commentator William Burkitt wrote, "Their Bacchanalia, or feasts dedicated to Bacchus the god of wine, were usually concluded with excessive drunkenness and uncleanness. In these drunken feasts they had their drunken hymns, which they sung to their drunken deity, in praise of him whom they called the god of wine." ("William Burkitt Notes on the New Testament")

This was part of the very popular first century cult of Dionysus which included devotion to this god of wine, Bacchus. Incidentally, in addition to drinking wine, the followers of this Dionysus cult ate the bloody flesh of a newly slaughtered bull in order to partake of the life of their god. Then they participated in a wild ecstatic dance during which they were supposedly possessed by the spirit of the god.

After saying that singing for the Christian is part of their spiritual worship to God, Paul went on to suggest three classifications of songs: psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Although Bible students are not sure about the distinctions between these words, it at least points out that Christian worship in song contains a variety of music expressions.

"Psalms" may represent the actual chanting or singing poems right out of the book of Psalms. The Greek word suggests that these were songs sung to a harp or other stringed instrument.

"Hymns" are devotional poems written in praise of God and set to music. This word was used in the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament) for various Hebrew words meaning "songs praising God." The word "hymn" may be a variant of "hymenaios" which was a "wedding song," named after Hymen, the Greek god of marriage.

"Spiritual songs" suggest special inspiration such as is mentioned in I Corinthians 14:15 - "I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind."

When we review the history of church singing during the past half a millennium, we find that the first collection of 8 hymns was published in 1524, four of them written by Martin Luther. Even Luther's opponents admitted that he won more converts through his encouragement of singing than through his forceful preaching. They said, "The people are singing themselves into his doctrines!" On the other hand, around the same time, John Calvin felt that congregational singing should only employ the Psalms, and he opposed the use of the organ and harmony, saying it was too much like the Roman church.

In the Seventeenth Century, during the Pietistic movement, hymns emphasized man's personal relationship with God. During this time there was a transition from singing just the Psalms, to the singing of Hymns. First came the free phrasing of Psalms; then a gradual use of other Scriptures; and finally, any devotional music could be used. These were called, “Hymns of Human Composure."

In America, the very first book published in the Colonies was the "Bay Psalm Book". Early settlers believed God would be insulted if they offered Him any Hymns other than those He had dictated in the Scriptures. Then followed what was called "Lining Out," when a qualified Deacon would first "Line Out" the words from a Psalm, and the congregation would imitate - any type of lively music was thought to be of the devil, and the pump organ was, by many, called the "Devil's Box of Whistles"!

When the Eighteenth Century rolled around, Isaac Watts became concerned with the deplorable state to which congregational singing had fallen and wrote nearly 500 hymns, some of which we still sing today: "O God, Our Help in Ages Past," "Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed?," "I Sing the Mighty Power of God," "Jesus Shall Reign," "Joy to the World," "Marching to Zion," and "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross."

Many of these early hymns were first written, not to be sung, but to be read by the minister at the conclusion of the sermon - the musical settings were added later.

Then came the "Great Awakening" with George Whitefield and the Wesleys. Between John and Charles Wesley, 6,500 hymns were written and translated; they were used to emphasize the unlimited efficacy of Christ's atonement and the free will of man. The Wesleys' practice was to "Seize upon any song of the theater or the street, the moment it became popular, and make it carry some newly-written text into the homes of the people." (Silas H. Paine - "Stories of the Great Hymns of the Church")

Also during the Eighteenth Century, John Newton and William Cowper put together a hymnal, with 280 hymns written by Newton, and 68 by Cowper. These were specifically prepared for Newton's congregation in Olney, England. John Newton, a converted Slave Ship owner, will always be best remembered because of his hymn "Amazing Grace", which he first named "Faith's Review and Expectation", based on I Chronicles 17:16,17.

The Nineteenth Century is known as the "Romantic Age" which influenced hymn writers to give more attention to literary quality and to improve musical standards. By the year 1800, 1/4 of England had separated from the Anglican Church, and hymns began to represent more spiritual vitality. In America, there were several important developments during this time:

Lowell Mason, the first to introduce music into the public schools of Boston, said, "The moral power of music is essential for the well-being of children."

The Sunday School movement brought a desire to write simple religious songs that children would enjoy, but which would also teach important spiritual truth.

One of the greatest American revivals, with its interdenominational noon-time prayer meetings, always included enthusiastic congregational singing.

The "Missions" movement called for writers to provide hymns that would challenge Christian youth to take up foreign missionary service.

The climax of the development of Gospel songs came with the crusade ministries of D.L. Moody who was interested in using music to reach people with the Gospel. Moody wrote: "I feel sure that the great majority of people do like singing. It helps to build up an audience - even if you preach a dry sermon. If you have singing that reaches the heart, it will fill the church every time. There is more said in the Bible about praise than prayer, and music and song have not only accompanied all Scriptural revivals, but are essential in deepening spiritual life. Singing does at least as much as preaching to impress the Word of God upon people's minds. Ever since God first called me, the importance of praise expressed in song has grown upon me."

Returning to Paul's comments in Ephesians 5, we also want to notice that just before this short list of types of music used in worship, the verse clearly states that when singing, members of the church are singing to each other as well as to the Lord. As for the first part, singing to each other, this may at first have consisted of a kind of "responsive chanting." During the first century, a governor by the name of Pliny reporting to the emperor, Trajan, wrote: "They are wont on a fixed day to meet before daylight and to recite a hymn among themselves by turns, to Christ, as if being God."

Regardless of the actual methodology, the singing was meant to be participatory - everyone sang - and the purpose included the edification for the members of the worshipping congregation. However, while we may sing to encourage one another, not impress or entertain, we do present our songs "to the Lord" - we are the choir, and He is the audience, an "Audience of One."

Many years ago we were moving into a rented home in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. The landlord had given permission for us to do some painting, and a brother from the church had come to help. As we began to brush and roll, Sam began to sing. After a bit, he stopped and said, "I hope you don't mind my singing as I work. I know I don't have a very good voice, but it was God that gave it to me, and it's to Him that I sing, so I guess He'll just have to put up with it."

There are three more aspects of Paul's instruction concerning worship:

1. He also wanted to make sure they understood that worship music was to come from the heart.

I think we all understand, it's not just about saying the right words, there must be conviction with what we sing, we must be sincere in our praise and worship. Perhaps this is what the Prophet Isaiah deplored when he said, "The Lord says: 'These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.'" (Isaiah 29:13)

2. Our singing of praise is to be inspired by the giving of thanks.

In the same sentence with "make music in your heart to the Lord," Paul says, "always giving thanks." This of course means that there is never a time when thanksgiving is not appropriate: in good times and bad times; in the beauty of the morning, in the dark of night; in times of plenty and poverty; when we're well and when we're ill; when we're blessed, and when we're stressed. But of all possible times for giving thanks, when we worship God in the congregation it should always be a time for remembering and giving thanks to ". . . the LORD in the land of the living." (Psalm 27:13)

Too many people only come to the Lord, or come to church, for that matter, because they need or want something from God. Ten lepers came to Jesus to be healed, only one came back to thank him. It was Luke who made the startling observation, that the one thankful man was a Samaritan, the most irreligious of the lot. Could it be true that many people practice their religion only in order to get something from God? What about the religion of giving thanks?

3. This worship in song is distinctly Christian, it is done in the name of Jesus.

One morning, during the time I served on the faculty of Trinity Bible College, following the chapel service, a colleague stopped by at my office for a chat. Commenting about the music sung during the morning chapel service, he said, "It seems we have lost our proper focus on Jesus in our music. During today's chapel worship service, not one time was the name of Jesus mentioned in the lyrics of any of the choruses we sang."

This is no doubt what prompted contemporary song writer Paul Oakley to write the now familiar tune, "Jesus Lover Of My Soul," with it's line, " I'm coming back to the heart of worship, cuz it's all about you, it's all about you Jesus."

Following the tradition of Eighteenth Century Pastors, I'd like to end this sermon with a song. It's a song which came to mind as I was meditating on this message while I was walking yesterday. The song, "His Eye is on the Sparrow," was made popular by singer Ethel Waters who loved the song so much that she used its name as the title for her autobiography. It was based on the words of Jesus, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father… So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:29-31)

When this song came to mind, my initial reaction was, "Well, that's a great song for people who are happy. But what about those who are living with sorrow and pain?

You'd be interested to know that the words to this song were not inspired by someone who always lived on the sunny side of life. Mrs. Civilla D. Martin (1866-1948) wrote the lyrics in 1905 after she and her husband visited friends by the name of Mr. and Mrs. Doolittle in Elmira, New York. These were true saints; Mrs. Doolittle had been bedridden for nearly twenty years, and her husband was an incurable cripple who had to propel himself to and from his business in a wheel chair. Dr. and Mrs. Martin noticed that de­spite their afflictions, the Doolittles lived happy Christian lives, bringing inspiration and comfort to all who knew them. One day while with the Doolittles, Dr. Martin commented to his wife about their bright hopefulness, so they asked them for the secret of it. Mrs. Doolittle’s reply was simple: “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.” The beauty of this simple ex­press­ion of boundless faith gripped the hearts and fired the imagination of Dr. Martin and his wife. The hymn “His Eye Is on the Sparrow” was the outcome of that experience - the poem was written that very night and sent the next day to Charles Gab­ri­el who put the words to music.

1. What are some of the reasons people are not in church at the beginning of the Sunday service?

2. If Americans listen to music much more than sing it, why is this so?

3. According to Ephesians 5:15-18, what are some of the characteristics of the "children of light"?

4. What comparisons can be made between drunken songs and Christian songs?

5. Three types of worship music are mentioned in Ephesians 5:19. What are they, and what are the possible distinctions between them?

6. Why are Christians often judgmental concerning the kinds of music enjoyed by other Christians?

7. Of whose hymns was it said, "The people are singing themselves into his doctrines!" 8. Why did John Calvin, as well as early settlers in America believe that only Biblical Psalms could be used in worship services?

9. Which musical instrument was called the "Devil's Box of Whistles"?

10. What Eighteenth Century hymn-writer gave us "I Sing the Mighty Power of God," and what familiar Christmas hymn was also written by him?

11. What great Nineteenth Century revivalist said, "Singing does at least as much as preaching to impress the Word of God upon people's minds"?

12. Who listens to Christians as they sing, and what is the anticipated outcome?

13. If congregational music is to be heartfelt, inspired by thanks, and focused on Jesus, what can be done to keep it that way?