Musings on the Daily Lectionary

Sing aloud to God our strength;
shout for joy to the God of Jacob.
Raise a song, sound the tambourine,
the sweet lyre with the harp.
Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
at the full moon, on our festal day.

So say the opening verses of Psalm 81. Let's see; the Psalm mentions tambourine, lyre, harp, and trumpet, but no mention of organ or piano. Of course that's not really surprising when you remember that these instruments had not yet been invented.

Most would be so bold (or arrogant?), but I've heard people state that the organ is the only musical instrument truly appropriate for Christian worship. That of course begs the question of how the Church survived all those centuries before there were organs.

There seems to be a human tendency to connect the way we do it with how God prefers it. Personally I love a big pipe organ playing a hymn, but that hardly means that worship without hymn and pipe organ is somehow deficient and displeasing to God.

Back in the heyday of the missionary movement into Africa, missionaries were quick to push out traditional, indigenous instruments in favor of pianos or small organs. And they insisted on singing western hymns, as well as requiring pastors to wear black robes in sweltering conditions. Apparently these missionaries presumed local culture was pagan as opposed to their own Christian, Western culture. Only their culture would do. And we wonder why Christianity became linked with Western imperialism.

But questions about what sort of church is pleasing to God are hardly relegated to the past. Some present day congregations serve more as museums to a dying church culture of 50 years ago than they do as communities reaching out to share God's love in Jesus, as places where new disciples can learn a faith that is intelligible in their culture. There is rarely any malice or evil intent at work here, just that old assumption the way we do it is somehow required for a true church to exist.

At this time in history when the culture around us is changing rapidly, we need to rediscover how to translate church to those who are not from a church culture. This is an enterprise not unlike what went on when a First Century, Jewish, messianic movement was translated into the Greco-Roman culture of that day. It is an enterprise that requires us to discern what of our tradition is essential, and what is simply a part of the surrounding culture of a previous time. May God guide us in this task.

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