Sing a new song - Or an old one

To some people’s delight, and to other’s consternation we’ve been changing the music around here. We’ve brought back some old favorites, like the “Old Rugged Cross,” and “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” and we’ve brought in some new ones, like the Taizé “Alleluia” we just sang, and “All That We Have” which we’ll sing in a few moments.

Regardless of whether you love them, or you’re ready to run me out of town on a rail – Christians sing. We always have, and we always will. We’re singing people.

And, as singing people, there are times when we learn new songs – or write new songs – or rediscover old songs – and there are times we belt out our favorites.

Every song was sung for the first time at one time or another. A German priest was stuck on Christmas Eve once with a broken organ. What was he going to do? The throngs of people were going to descend upon his church to celebrate the birth of Christ, and he had no musical instrument to play – well, yes he did. He whipped out his guitar, and he whipped out some lyrics and a tune, and there on one of the most important nights of the church year he sang a new song on a guitar. That song’s name is “Silent Night.”

Oh, I’m sure there were some people who didn’t like all this new music stuff – why couldn’t that priest just play one of the old tunes? But, a new song was born, and it wouldn’t be Christmas today without it.

A slave trader in the 1800’s was riding his slave ship, and he had a change of heart. Maybe this slave business wasn’t the right thing to do after all. So, with a contrite heart he sat down and wrote a poem, later put to music. One Sunday in a church in England that song was sung for the first time. O, they could have sung one of the old familiars, but then that song wouldn’t have had it’s birth: The song? Amazing Grace.

We’re singing people. Some of us sing well. Some of us don’t. But, regardless, the singing of hymns and carols is infectious. Maybe you’re like me and you walk around much of the week humming and singing the chorus of hymns we sing in church. I can’t get “All That We Have” out of my head sometimes!

Singing hymns has a way of grafting our faith into our hearts and souls. It embodies our faith with power, urgency, and powerful emotion – and it lets us experience our faith over and over again whenever the organ (or piano) strikes up.

We’re singing people, we Christians. And we always have been.

In the very, very early Church, back even before much of the New Testament was written, Christians were gathering together to read the scriptures, pray, break bread. . . and sing.

One such hymn of the early church is in today’s epistle lesson from Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Paul inserts part of the hymn to help him make a point, and to reinforce his point by letting his Philippian friends know that a hymn that they already knew and loved contained that point.

It’s a hymn about Jesus – his existence – his birth – his life on earth – his death – and his exaltation.
The hymn goes like this: Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Doesn’t exactly trip off the tongue in modern English – but it was a hymn. It was sung by our fathers and mothers of the Christian faith. Isn’t it neat that we have a little piece of a hymnal from 2,000 years ago?

The hymn says two important things. First, it says that it wasn’t just on the cross that Christ sacrificed himself. It says that his birth into our world, his becoming human, and his life of obedience was all sacrificial. He emptied himself. He took the form of a slave and was born in human likeness. He became obedient to the point of death.

At one time he was in heaven, as God, reigning over the universe in glory and splendor – and he gave all that up to become like us, for no other reason than his love for us.

Second, it says that that Jesus is the most important thing in the universe. Everything that has life and breath is created to praise him, and live for him.

So, this hymn is about Jesus. It’s about his incarnation, and it’s about his divine status.

But, the startling thing about this hymn is how Paul uses it in his letter. He adds a little piece into the first verse of the hymn: Have the same mind in you.

Paul quotes this hymn as saying how much Jesus sacrificed, and humbled himself, and became obedient to God – and then Paul says that we’re to be just like that.

For Paul, the life of Jesus is the standard for all humanity. We’re to live like him, and be like him, and love like him, and be obedient like him. Paul always judges his own life against the example of Jesus, and that’s what he wants from all of us.

The really powerful thing is that when Paul was writing this letter, Paul wasn’t sitting comfortably in some throne somewhere being fed grapes. Paul was in jail, and he was heading for certain death by execution. Paul was living the life of emptying, he was exemplifying what it mean to be a slave of his Master God, and he was demonstrating by his life what obedience really was.

We don’t know what the tune to this hymn sounded like. Was it as good as “Amazing Grace?” “Silent Night?” “All that we Have?”

Regardless though, I’m sure it was grafted into the hearts of the Philippians through years of singing, and I’m sure it was grafted into their hearts by Paul’s use of it, his reframing of it, and his example.

For us singing people, it’s all about Jesus. And it’s all about being like him, in his life, his obedience, and his willingness to sacrifice.

In the words of Paul then, let us be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Let us do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than ourselves. Let each of us look not to our own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in us that was in Christ Jesus.