Thought for Today
Psalm 96:1 O sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.
Isaiah 42:10 Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise from the end of the earth! Let the sea roar and all that fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants.
Luke 22:20 And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
Hebrews 9:15 For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, because a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant.
Those of you who read These Days will find today’s devotional encourages us to break out of our old habits and traditions, to ‘sing a new song.’ The author notes our proclivity for only wanting to sing familiar hymns, what he refers to as “old chestnuts.” I do keep a record of the hymns we sing in worship; and, we do frequently repeat a relatively small number of hymns. Of course, I am the one who chooses the hymns we sing each week . . . so, I guess this one is on me.
Each week I attempt to pair the hymns with the Bible passage. I do solicit the input of our music director and do consider any suggestions he offers. I also consult several resources, both print and online. Both our music director and I try to intertwine the scriptures and the music so that they mutually support each other.
What bothers me about that devotional I read, however, is the implication that new is somehow better than old. Admittedly, when I was young, I might have made that same suggestion to my father about the secular music each of us preferred. Then, I believed that rock and roll was far superior to big band swing or jazz.
But, the implication in that devotional went far beyond music. The author even referenced a challenge from a Roman Catholic Pope, “to new songs, to new ways to meet the cultural realities of new generations.” As a child of the Protestant Reformation, I do remember the basic principle of that Protestant Reformation, “ecclesia reformata sed semper reformanda (Lat. ‘the church reformed, but always being reformed’)” (Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms, pg. 85)
I do believe the Church, Christendom, must continually adapt and change. We would be foolish to ignore all of the advances in technology rather than to adapt them to our use. Most would agree that computer technology for virtual meetings helped us all get through the pandemic. Email and text messages are marvelous ways to communicate, especially to reach large numbers of people. Reverting to the era of scribes hand copying manuscripts by candlelight would be nonsensical.
That being said, I also believe we must be very careful what we discard and what we put in its place. Several adages from my past come to mind, “Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater,” or maybe, “You have to dance with the girl who brought you.” There is a reason why people prefer to sing those “old chestnuts.” There is a reason why they have stayed favorites for so long.
Sometimes new is required and necessary. Long ago, the prophet Jeremiah wrote about a new covenant. “31:33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” God’s people had not kept the old covenant. The commandments were inscribed on stone tablets carried down from Sinai by Moses. The new covenant of Jeremiah was to be written on the hearts of God’s covenant people.
Like that author this morning wrote, “we get stuck in old traditions and old habits.” It is true. Sometimes, however, the old traditions and old habits are useful and good. One of my own favorite adages is “All progress requires change . . . but not all change is progress.”
I concur with ecclesia reformata sed semper reformanda, but I want to be very careful of my reforming. Change for the sake of change alone is not beneficial. Change for the sake of better advancing the Kingdom of God is always beneficial. New ideas, technologies, even new songs that advance us along our journey toward God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven are all good. But, let’s not randomly abandon all of those “old chestnuts.”
Stay safe, find the value in both old and new, trust God,
Pastor Ray