Singing our way into unbelief. . .

The loss of hymnal and hymnody is not something minor.  It is a profound loss.  One where the repercussions are already being felt but which will come back to haunt us in the next generations as we forget our soundtrack in favor of generic, contemporary Christian music or a purely secular one.  I have been at any number of Christian, even Lutheran, events when it was spontaneously announced to sing a common hymn only to find that the assembly of Christians (and Lutherans) could not even recall the full words of the first stanza.  And the hymns we were asked to sing were as blandly Protestant as Amazing Grace or Lutheran as A Mighty Fortress.

This is not simply a loss in progress but a loss already felt among the faithful.  Even Pastors do not know or memorize hymns to the point where they are not dependent upon the hymnal.  Sure, I will admit that a few of the wording changes going from TLH to LW to LSB cause we to stutter once in a while but the kernel of hymns that has been our core identity through all three hymnals remains solidly in my memory.  Growing up singing I Come, O Savior, to Thy Table all the way through and then repeated if necessary due to many communicants means I can even make my way through the many stanzas of that long hymn.  I do not say this out of pride.  My memory of these hymns was not created purely by intent but simply by the repeated singing of those hymns 3-5 times a week in the Divine Services and evening services of the regular Church Year (plus funerals).  Participation provides its own fruits with the learning of what you sing until it becomes a part of you.

We give out a hymnal to our confirmands, along with their Catechism and Bible.  These are the essential library of books that every Christian and every home is not to be without.  Sadly, the Catechism seems to be optional (I routinely purchase Small Catechisms at used book sites so that I have plenty to give out to prospective members and most of them look as if they have never been opened!).  The hymnal is largely missing in the mix either because we no longer have that playlist in our hearts or that we grew up in one of those congregations without hymnals (either projected on the screen or only contemporary Christian music was used).  This is a detriment to the faith.  Our Lutheran hymns are treasures not simply of devotional character but as teachers of the faith and of the doctrine we say we confess.  It is a package deal -- Bible, Catechism, and Hymnal.  They work hand in hand to make sure the faith we say we confess is believed, confessed, and taught among us.

After reading these on another blog, I decided to give testimony here.  Listen to these words from A. W. Tozer, hardly a Lutheran, but still fully aware of how what we sing connects with what we believe.  Though he might not agree with what hymns we sing, he knows what Luther and the Reformers knew and we used to practice:

“The hymnal connects us with our Christian heritage, a legacy that should not be denied to this generation of Christians.”

"My heart aches to see [the Christian hymnal] increasingly being neglected by congregations. The Christian hymnal is one of the great depositories of the Christian life and experiences…. Pushing the hymnal aside… is to forfeit one of the great spiritual treasures of the Christian church."

And:

"Show me the condition of your Bible and your hymnal and I will accurately predict the condition of your soul. Our souls need to be nurtured and cultivated, and nothing does that better than the Christian hymnal. Hardly a morning passes when I don’t kneel down with an open Bible and a hymnal and sing comfortably off-key the great hymns of the church…. I often counsel young Christians after they have their Bible and their Bible reading established, to get a hymnal."