The New American Hymnal [NAH] - Post 1

Let me be clear, first off, about my New American Hymnal posts.

I'm not a musician.  My hands inability to move in normal ways makes it very difficult to play anything.  I had two years of piano lessons through middle school, because I had a nice enough music teacher, but it's been too long and everything I had learned has gone away.  I can read music, some what, and remember which notes on a piano are what, but being able to play is something I'm no good at.  The same goes with guitar.  I self taught myself through the beginnings of a rather well written book, but my hands just don't work like I want them to, so I can't hold down strings hard enough or move finger quick enough.  On top of that, I can't play over a Medium setting in Guitar Hero.

That blue button is murder.


My 'New American Hymnal' posts are going to be about the creation of what a new hymnal is going to include.  About how worshipers and worship leaders should more involve themselves in the music selection for worship, instead of just picking songs everyone knows.  Maybe I'll post a hymn, or a prayer, from time to time, but as it stands right now, it's the concept of a hymnal.  The idea may bloom into something new, but as it starts out, it's a concept.  I want to push you to really think about worship in these posts, more than anything, but be able to tie them all along together.

So, onto the meat of this post!

I had the privilege to worship at a different church that I normally would.  There will probably be a lot of whispering and talking behind my back for such an action, but I think it's good for me.  To see something other than the bricks of a building and worship with others of Christ's church.  To really get to know what the Church (big C, remember that) is doing, I have to get out of the confines of my own church.  I have to travel, to see more of the Church, not just what comfortable.

Anyway, I was at a church, which will go unnamed for the sake of conversation, and their worship set seemed to be standard fare, but then something struck me.  A verse I remember hearing back when I was first reading on my own.  In Matthew, where Jesus gives us the Lord's Prayer, he says something right before it.

And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. -Matthew 6:7 (New King James Version)

This verse suddenly stuck out to me because their worship set was three songs and lasted about twenty minutes, give or take.  On top of that, there was only a total of maybe six different words song during these twenty minutes.

How did repetition become such a huge part of worship songs?  I understand that if you close your eyes, raise your hands, and just repeat the same words over and over, you seem like you're being moved so much closer to God, that His hand is on you, and that feeling is so real.

I'm going to tell you a story.  It has relivance, so just bear with me.

There was a young nineteen year old.  Usually you don't say 'young' and 'nineteen' in the same sentence, but he's a bit immature, and still hasn't done much with his life.  So, here he is, the head of a local pagan coven, with people he believes will watch his back, as he would theirs.  He teaches them what he believes to be truths, and they listen because he can make them.  He has a way with people, he can make them feel a certain way, he can bend words to make them believe whatever he tells them.  I digress.  So, here is that young boy, age of nineteen, and he's standing on the back deck of his parent's house, in the light of the full moon.  He pours some water into a metal bowl and puts it on a table, where the light hits directly.  He lights three candles, putting them around the bowl in a triangle.  He uses the candle at the apex, which is pointing north, and lights a ring of other candles around him on the deck.  He begins to chant "Bless this water, moon goddess" then raises the bowl and says it again.  He repeats this a few times, then puts two of the candles out in the water.  He then pours the water into a vial and caps it.  He then caps the bottle and pour the wax of the third candle, the one at the apex of the triangle over the cap.

You have just witnessed the first, and only, holy water ritual I did for one of my coven.  He had a spell that asked for holy water, and according to our rules only the head of a coven could create holy water.  How pagan's can call it holy is an entire different post, all together, but as coven master, I did so.

This imagery sticks with me because it was something well all still do.  We go through the motions, we say the right things, and then we think it's all alright, but it's not.

How is worship any different?  Just because we're worshiping God?

I say this: If Jesus didn't mind us chanting the same line over and over, he wouldn't have said it as he did.  He would have said "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do, but it's okay if it has a phat beat."  Worship is a form of prayer, so when you begin to just repeat the same set of words over and over, you're no different than that poor nineteen year old, on the back deck of his parents house.


The A-Typical song goes like this: Verse 1, Verse 2, Chorus, Verse 3, Chorus, Bridge, Chorus, (Key Change) Chorus, maybe the first half of Verse 1.  This, my friends, is your A-Typical worship song.  I have heard many (two different ones, this weekend) that had one verse, one line, sung over an over with a key change somewhere in there.

Is that what God wants from us? The same thing, over and over?  According to Jesus in Matthew 6:7, no.

God has a very high expectation of what He wants from us.  He doesn't want us to ramble over and over, on and on, just because it's for Him.  He expects us to use our minds, the ones He gave us, to use our hearts, the ones He gave us, and He does expect more from His worship leaders because they are His musicians.

Lord, lead us into the direction of how You want our worship, not how we think worship should be.  Give us the courage to carry out bold new ideas, and give us the strength to stand against those who can't see the greatness in them.  You gave us a heart for worship, and a mind to think, please show us how to use them both at the same time.

Grace and Peace,
Jesse