Sermon for September 22nd, 2024
Thessalonians 5:4-11
4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; 5 for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. 6 So, then, let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober, 7 for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober and put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.
Soli Deo Gloria: The Music & Message of Johann Sebastian Bach - Part I
Would it surprise you if I said that we just started a sermon series on the Music and Message of Johann Sebastian Bach with a piece that definitely was not written by Bach? I'll come back to that in a minuet. I mean, in a minute. (that was a joke!).
But first, I'd like to explain why, from time to time, we do this sermon series on Music and Message. The scriptures teach us, in Psalm 150, that we should praise God, not only with our words, but also with the trumpet, the lute and the harp, with the tambourine and strings, and pipes, even with loud clashing cymbals. In other words, music IS a way of speaking OTHER than with words. Music has a way of speaking directly to our hearts--it has the power to proclaim God's message and God's love, to teach and instruct us just as powerfully as any story in the bible. And in every age, God has gifted people with the skill and talent to speak to our hearts in exactly this way.
In 2019, the editors of BBC Music Magazine asked 174 of the world's best composers living today, who THEY thought was the greatest composer of all time. They asked them to choose on the basis of originality, impact, craftsmanship and enjoyability. When the votes were tallied, Johann Sebastian Bach was number one, ahead of Beethoven, Mozart, and composers from every era and every corner of the world. Bach is the musical composer that musical composers love best. And I find it fascinating (but not surprising!) that the greatest composer also happened to be one of the most devout and faithful Christians in that list--Albert Schweitzer once called Bach "the fifth evangelist" after Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And of course, Bach signed most of his compositions with his personal motto: Soli Deo Gloria, which is Latin for "Glory to God alone."
