09-21-08 Sermon Review

A Song We Must Sing
John 4:19-24

In our last sermon, we saw what God's Word taught on true worship. We noticed from God's Word that true worship is living life according to God's Word. Worship is not simply singing, it's being saved and striving after Jesus' image. But if that is the case, why do Christians sing so much? Why does singing have a prominent place in our gatherings? What's so great about music? After pondering on it for awhile, I thought of four good reasons why we sing.

Singing is a perfect medium for praise. - Isaiah 43:21 states that God formed His own people with the purpose of having them give Him praise. He delights in the praises of His people. But why sing? Praise does not necessarily have to be singing.

Singing is an interesting phenomenon. It is a universal language (anywhere you go, you will find people express through singing). It is beautiful (People find pleasure in listening to songs). It is emotionally powerful (People relate to songs). It is propositional (People state things in songs). Singing therefore, is a unique, universal medium that engages both our minds and our hearts. It is the perfect medium for giving praise to a God of all peoples who demands worship that is both in spirit and in truth (John 4:24).

God's people have always responded to His grace with singing. - From Genesis to revelations, we find God's people singing. Before the world began, God received praise from the angels. The Israelites sang when God delivered them out of Egypt (Exodus 15). An entire book of the Bible is dedicated to the songs that were sang to God. Paul and Silas were singing hymns together in a prison (Acts 16:25). We see that throughout history, all God's people sang.

Singing edifies one another. - Not only is singing upward to God, it is edifying to one another. In Ephesians 5:18, 19, Paul tells us that one of the results of being filled by the spirit is that we sing psalms and spiritual songs to each other. Though Paul does not state explicitly that singing is edifying, considering the context of Ephesians, it is assumed that Paul sees singing as edifying to Christians. We find similar words in Colossians 3:16. In this case, singing is practiced in order to admonish one another.

Singing is our business for the rest of eternity. - Finally, what we see of heaven in the revelation that John received is the myriads of myriads singing to Jesus. John paints a picture of the heavenly scene in Revelation chapter 5: "And they sang a new song, saying ' Worthy are you to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.'" One day we will join them, and when we do, we will not be silent.

With this said, we can draw two conclusions: First, we have an obligation and reason to sing. Second, we ought to be mindful of what we sing.

John Piper writes, "Thirteen years ago we asked: What should be the defining sound of corporate worship at Bethlehem, besides the voice of biblical preaching? We meant: Should it be pipe organ, piano, guitar, drums, choir, worship team, orchestra, etc. The answer we gave was 'The people of Bethlehem singing.'" The church ought to sing. We should not be shy about it. God's people have never been ashamed to declare His praise. I pray the defining sound of our church music is the people of Living Word Korean Baptist Church singing.

But it's not hard finding people who sing. The Scientologists sing. The atheists sing. The Mormons sing. What makes Christian singing different? Sadly in the state of the American Church, nothing. A Comedy Central show once made a parody of Christian music where the characters on the show made a Christian band. They made their songs simply by changing the lyrics to secular music, and the only words they changed was "Baby" into "Jesus." What is extremely sad is that this really happens. A "worship" leader took the song "You Spin Me Right Round" a popular in 80's song, and made it into a worship song. Interestingly, the only word that was changed was "Baby" into "Jesus."

It is sad to see that Christians care very little about what they sing. I remember when a famous rap artist came out with a song "Jesus Walks." Because of its popularity among Christians, I decided to check the lyrics recently. I almost wept when I saw the lyrics. Why would any right-minded Christian ever sing a long to such a song that portrays Jesus as nothing more than a talkshow host? Why would he be so ecstatic about such a song? This is simply unacceptable.

I pray that our people will think twice about the music they sing and the music they listen to. I pray that the filthy music of our generation will no longer be on the lips of our people. Beloved, there is a better song to sing than what the world offers. There's a song that we must sing. There's a song that rightly engages our hearts and our minds. There's a song that lifts God to His rightful place. There's a song that brings heaven to our soul. There's a song that builds us up. Let us raise our voices with such a song as we join the heavenly chorus. No other song should satisfy these voices of ours. Stay strong and God bless!