What comes to mind when you think of worship? It might be a large hall filled with people singing along to a contemporary song performed by a polished band of singers with guitars and keyboards and drums, with a big amped sound. Really pumped, lots of energy with lots of waving and dancing.
But what about the words?
What are they singing about? What is the teaching in the songs and hymns?
Some of us will remember the beach missions of a few years ago; long summer holidays spent camping at some of Australia’s magnificent beaches was quite a thing.
Parents of any faith (or none at all) were happy to have a couple of hours of peace and quiet while their kids joined other youngsters on the beach for a great time of entertainment: there were games and stories about Jesus, and there was always a song session.
Recently I saw a photo of one such session. The songleader was standing on a mound of sand, singing a song with gusto and demonstrating the actions to an enthusiastic bunch of kids.
The song?
It may seem a bit outdated in 2022 but it is a chorus written by Charles A. Miles in 1914.
Wide, wide as the ocean, high as the heaven above
deep, deep as the deepest sea is my Saviour's love
I, though so unworthy, still am a child of his care
for his word teaches me that his love reaches me ev-ery-where.
What is the song saying?
It’s obvious what this song teaches: God’s love is limitless and reaches from the highest heights to the deepest depths, and then some.
In sharp contrast to the exuberance of beach mission songs is an old English hymn from around 1830. Our ministry team usually selects hymns that match the season and the lectionary readings set for the day.
The 6-week season of Lent before Easter is a time for prayerful worship and personal repentance, when we reflect on Christ’s sacrifice for us and remember the days leading up to his death and resurrection. In our readings and sermons and songs we are reminded of God’s boundless love for his creation.
Frederick Faber’s hymn ‘There’s a wideness in God’s mercy’ was written at a time of great change in the church. There was an increasing enthusiasm for congregational singing and there were many hymn-writers whose words are still sung today. Wesley, Luther, Alexander, Parry, Williams, Sankey are just a few.
Many of their hymns and choruses are still relevant today, with sound doctrine, albeit expressed in an older-style language.
New missions and church communities were being set up all over the country. Hymns were a way to teach about the Christian faith and to encourage believers as well as to praise God.
In his hymn Frederick Faber reminds us of the ‘wideness of God’s mercy…’ He says that the ‘love of God is broader than the measure of man’s mind.’
Beyond our imagining indeed!
However the hymn chides us for the limitations we place on God’s love and mercy and even though this was written in the 1830s it still resonates in 2022.
But we make his love too narrow
by false limits of our own
and we magnify his strictness
with a zeal he will not own.
If our love were but more simple,
we should take him at his word;
and our lives would be illumined
by the goodness of our Lord.
Whenever and whatever we are singing, let’s pay attention to the words and not just get carried away by that ‘feel-good’ hype and sound of the moment.