NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
Readings:
*Epistle texts for the 19th and the 20th Sundays after Trinity have been switched in accordance with the themes of each Sunday.
Key Verses (using the World English Bible):
Eph. 4:29, 5:18b-19: “Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but only what is good for building others up…, that it may give grace to those who hear… [B]e filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; singing, and making melody in your heart to the Lord.”
Matt. 9:2b, 6b-7: “Jesus… said to the paralytic, ‘Son, cheer up! Your sins are forgiven you… Get up, and take up your mat, and go up to your house.’ He arose and departed to his house.”
Reflection
“If there’s one sin that humankind needs to repent of, it’s misusing the gift of music.”
I know there are worse sins that the human race needs to worry about, but I still couldn’t escape this thought while I was in church last week, listening to the soaring music, singing and absorbing its wonderful poetry. This past year, I’ve been in a kind of “musical transition”, slowly moving away from the shallowness of commercial pop music, and looking for something deeper. Don’t get me wrong: I still love pop, and I know that we need entertainment and distraction, moments that are not to be taken too seriously. But there’s only so much I can take of songs about dancing at the club, getting drunk, getting lucky, or getting rejected. I’m ready to start singing about more substantive things like hope, selflessness, and faith.
We underestimate the powerful, yet subtle, ways that music can communicate with us. Ancient Greco-Roman culture ascribed this power to the inspiration of the gods, namely the Muses, hence the word “music.” They weren’t alone in making the connection between music and the Divine. The Book of Psalms, which one might call Israel’s “hymnal”, has long been a centerpiece in the musical worship of God. Early Christians eagerly embraced their musical heritage, as we read in today’s Letter to the Ephesians, which evolved into Orthodox and Gregorian chant, Reformation hymns, all the way down to Contemporary Christian Music.
The Church devotes this Sunday to the union of dejection, recalling that this passion is more recognizable to us today as “sadness” or even “depression.” It’s the feeling that led Peter to ask Jesus to go away from him. God’s grace had made Peter worthy to receive God’s Son, but Peter couldn’t overcome the feeling of unworthiness, and had it not been for Jesus’ call, Peter might’ve remained paralyzed in that state of limbo, unable to move up into God’s purpose and goodness.
So what do we do with dejection? How do we enfold it into ourselves and then bring it with us into union with God? Says the Epistle writer, “be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; singing, and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” Music has the power to uplift the soul, and that’s the kind of language we’re encouraged to use. When God becomes the focus of our singing, then our thoughts and our feelings have no choice but to be directed upwards, lifting our spirits up in the process. We learn to “sing a new song”, songs of compassion, cheer, and hope; songs that build up and encourage one another. If seven weeks ago, we were reminded that we are “a letter of Christ”, then now we become a song—a song that leaves no room for vulgar, “corrupt speech”, only for God’s grace that flows through us and out towards others.
St. Augustine once said, “The one who sings, prays twice.” Bach adds, “The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of soul.” Singing to God—or about God—is not only a prayer to be raised up of the paralysis of Peter’s dejection, but also to be lifted up into the joy of a new life in God. I think that’s why the story of Jesus’ healing of the paralytic was chosen to complement the Epistle. Jesus heals others by saying things like “Be made clean” or “Be it done to you according to your faith”, but to the paralytic he says, “cheer up!” He commands him to “arise”—the same word that will later describe Jesus’ resurrection—and to go up to his house. Today, we’re invited to take whatever brings us down and lift it up to God, lifting ourselves and others in the process, up into the very presence of God, who is the source of our cheer, and our true home.
Prayer of the Day
O Lord, we pray you,
make us subject to you with a ready will,
and ever stir up our wills to entreat you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.
—Original Collect for Trinity 19 from the 6th-century Gregorian Sacramentary.
O Lord, we pray you,
make us to obey your commandments,
from which all prosperous things come to us,
and thus may follow you,
who are the Author of all life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
—Collect #2 for Trinity 19 in the 5th-century Gelasian Sacramentary; translated and adapted from Latin by Joseph A. Soltero, 2015
Hymn: “Joyful, joyful, we adore you”
(Words: Henry Van Dyke, 1852-1933; adapted by Joseph A. Soltero, 2015
Tune: ‘Hymn to Joy’, Ludwig van Beethoven, 1770-1827; adapted by Edward Hodges, 1796-1867)
Joyful, joyful, we adore you,
God of glory, Lord of love.
Hearts unfold like flowers before you,
Praising you, their sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness,
Drive the dark of doubt away.
Giver of immortal gladness,
Fill us with the light of day.
All your works with joy surround you,
Earth and heav’n reflect your rays,
Stars and angels sing around you,
Center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain,
Blooming meadow, flashing sea,
Chanting bird, and flowing fountain
Call us to you joyfully.
You are giving and forgiving,
Ever blessing, ever blest,
Wellspring of the joy of living,
Ocean-depth of happy rest!
You our Father, Christ our Brother,
Yours are all who live in love.
Teach us how to love each other,
Lift us to the joy above.
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