Making Melody to the Lord

in Our Hearts
August 16, 2009

A sermon by

The Rev. Dr. Alan Kelchner

          Last week, I shared with you a soulful song called, “My Lord Did Trouble Me” by Susan Werner.  The Gathering Prayer was based on it, and then we played it during children’s time.  Many of you said how much you enjoyed it; and some of you, I know, went right out and bought the CD - which is called “Gospel Truth.”  And my hunch is that, if you did, you were surprised to get something that is quite unlike contemporary Christian music!   So, in the interest of full disclosure, before anybody else buys a Susan Werner album, I thought I’d better let you know what you are in for!

          You see, this may have been the first time you’ve ever heard of Susan Werner, but, she is a favorite in our family.  We listen to her music all the time.  In fact, my wife and I drove up to Santa Rosa last fall to hear her perform at the Center for the Arts.  And we were not disappointed!  She is delightful in person:  funny and engaging, and, a masterful musician.

          Susan Werner may never be a big commercial success, but she is greatly admired by those who do know her.  The Chicago Tribune calls her music “innovative, intelligent, and sophisticated.”  And the New Yorker says that “She brings literacy and wit back to popular song.”             

          Susan Werner grew up in the Midwest, intending to be an opera singer.  She is a classically-trained singer and pianist, with a master’s degree in performance.  But then, one day, she picked up the guitar and started writing songs - and she has never looked back.

          So, while that song that I shared last week is sincere and faith-filled -  the rest of the album, is mostly skeptical, lively, and funny.  In fact, Susan Werner herself calls this CD the world’s first agnostic gospel album!  And she calls herself an evangelical - evangelical agnostic, that is.  She says, “We’re a small group - we evangelical agnostics - but we’re very passionate: passionately ambivalent.”

          Actually, I find her work to be quite spiritual; and my hunch is that she is not agnostic so much as she is disillusioned, by the church. 

          So, you see, this makes Susan Werner a perfect fit on this Sunday when we are desacralizing a building - because, she is all about desacralizing religion!  And she has plenty of material to work with, with all the hypocrisy and false piety around today. 

          For instance, her “Gospel Truth” album starts off with a song that is toe-tapping, country-western-style gospel music - except that the refrain is: “If God is great and God is good, then why is your heaven so small?”

          Another fun song is her new, revised version of the Lord’s Prayer.  And instead of trying to explain it, I’ve just asked Eileen to play part of it for us.   And you’re welcome to join in on the chorus. (Play song).......    

          But the album also contains more wistful and heart-wrenching songs, like one called, “Sunday Morning.”  Here are the lyrics: 

“It’s Sunday morning,

And there’s someplace that I'm supposed to be.

It keeps returning - the feeling keeps coming over me,

Just like music, or like sunlight on a distant memory...

Sunday morning.  Sunday morning....

My mother choosing what to wear.

My father combs his jet-black hair.

We are their little prizes, in our Mary Janes and clip-on ties.

We hurry down the aisle; the neighbors smile,

Because we're late again. 

On Sunday morning, there is someplace that I’m supposed to be ...

I went back the other day, closed my eyes, and tried to pray.

But a voice spoke loud and clear: "You ask too many questions, dear"

And I said, "You ask too few."

That's why I still don't know quite what to do

on Sunday mornings ...”            

          Now, this is Susan Werner’s first religious album.  She mostly does folk music, about love and loss, and songs that are filled with yearning for a better world.  However, the struggle over faith is a not a new topic for her. Several years ago, she recorded a song with the intriguing title, “Sorry about Jesus.”  It’s funny, and it’s sad, and very real....  The song tells the story of a woman who runs into a friend she hasn’t seen since high school. After they exchange some pleasantries, she says,

“By the way, I’m sure you remember that I was weird in school. 

I’m sorry about Jesus and all that, you know. 

When I memorized the Bible I went overboard. 

And I prayed for your soul, and you were saved, you said,

And I was glad to tears you wouldn't go to hell, with everybody else.

Oh, I was weird in school...  I'm sorry about Jesus and all that you know.

I try to just forget about it all.

“So how’s your mom?  Yeah she was funny; she made me laugh.

And she smoked Camels - I remember that.

She drinks a lot?  Oh yeah, I guess she does. 

I guess she always did....

“Yeah, my dad's all right.  He's got the house out by the reservoir.

I only see him maybe once a year.

My mom's in Tulsa with her husband Bill, who doesn't beat her up.    

“And by the way,

I'm sure that you remember I was weird in school.

I'm sorry about Jesus and all that, you know.

I'm hardly like the person that I was back then.

I never read the Bible.....

I don't pray to God.....

I'm not real sure he listens, you know what I mean,

But I really hoped he did when I was seventeen.”

          One of my favorite pieces on the “Gospel Truth” album is a bouncy, jazz-piano piece called “Probably Not” - which could serve as an anthem for agnostics.  But then, that’s balanced by another song entitled, “Don't explain it away”:  “When the moment mystifies you, don't explain it away.”

          And here’s one last song I want to share with you today.  It’s called, “After All of This.”  (Play song.)

          Now, I share this music with you, dear friends, because I believe that honest seeking for God, and yearning for Truth, is perhaps even more valuable than a well-defined set of beliefs that are unexamined and untested.  The essence of our response to the Unknown, the Sacred Mysteries, is not blind faith, but humility, and an awareness of how much we do not know, and do not understand. 

          And you see, for this reason, I believe that you and I are called, not so much to a set of doctrines as to a set of practices.  We are called to prayer and meditation, to Bible study and reading and reflection.  We are called to be open to the movement of the Spirit.  Above all, you and I are called to seek the Sacred in the midst of our lives:  to listen for the voice of the still-speaking God.

          Today’s scripture readings emphasize wisdom and humility.  Judy told us the story of young King Solomon, who was humbled by the responsibility thrust upon him as the successor to his father, the great King David.  And so, Solomon asked God for nothing except the wisdom to be a good leader for his people.

          God was pleased by this, and gave Solomon a wise and discerning mind.  And thus, the wisdom of Solomon became legendary.         

          The Apostle Paul, writing to the Ephesians, said that followers of Christ must likewise be wise.  We must take care do not be unwise, and not do foolish things, like getting drunk on wine, or other forms of debauchery. 

          But Paul didn’t mean we should be dour and overly solemn, either.  We must take care that we don’t take ourselves too seriously. 

          Instead, Paul encourages us to be light, and full of joy and gratitude, and have a song in our hearts:  verse 19, Paul says that we should “make melody to the Lord in our hearts.” 

          Now, that’s a kind of faith that makes sense to me - faith that is not about specific doctrine or a set of beliefs; rather, faith that is a kind of lightness of being; faith as an approach to life that is joyful and deeply spiritual. 

          Dear friends, may God save you and me from hypocrisy and shallow piety.  May we be wise enough to be truly humble.  And may we be humble enough to not take ourselves too seriously, nor our beliefs. 

          Instead, may we sing freely and laugh often, and thus make melody to the Lord in our hearts.  For Jesus sake.  Amen.