Homily Delivered by The Rev. Dr. Harold T. Lewis

HOMILY DELIVERED BY THE REVEREND DR. HAROLD T. LEWIS, RECTOR CALVARY EPISCOPAL CHURCH, PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA AT AN EVENSONG WELCOMING THE REGION III GATHERING OF THE ASSOCIATION OF ANGLICAN MUSICIANS ON THE LAST SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY 18 FEBRUARY 2007


"You have drawn near to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, to myriads of angels in festal gathering." (Hebrews 12:22)

I am happy to add my word of welcome to that of my cousin Alan to the members of AAM who are meeting here at Calvary. For the past decade, Alan has with ingeniously and creatively built on the foundations of Harvey Gaul of blessed memory, and Don Wilkins, who is with us here tonight, whose ministries of music in this place spanned all but fourteen years of the twentieth century! (Note to self: organists have far longer tenures than rectors!) In celebrating the contributions that you all make to edifying the church through your own ministries as church musicians, I ask that you meditate with me this afternoon on a verse from the Epistle to the Hebrews: "You have drawn near to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, to myriads of angels in festal gathering."

The author of the Epistle presents us with a stark contrast, between Mount Sinai and Mount Zion, which is to say, between the old dispensation and the new, between vengeance and mercy, between Law and Gospel, between earth and heaven. In describing Mount Sinai, he draws on images from Exodus and Deuteronomy. The mountain was so charged with the holiness of the God who manifested himself there that for man or beast to touch it meant sudden death. Mount Sinai, too, was wrapped in smoke, not, mind you, in the words of a great hymn, "in wreaths of incense cloud," but with the smoke which was the result of the Lord's having descended upon it as fire. Sinai was a scary and terrifying place, which caused even Moses to quake. And there was a serious communication problem there. Those who heard the voice of God refused to hear it any more. And it will interest you to know that the only music to be heard on Mount Sinai was the blast of a trumpet, all but drowned out by thunder, which, alas, was a sign of God's final manifestation.

The epistle contrasts this place of doom and gloom with Mount Zion, where a living God dwells and reigns. And with God are not the terrified souls found on Mount Sinai, but the ekklesia, the community called out by God, "the first born who are enrolled in heaven." This is the Church Triumphant, a favored subject of hymn writers: This is "Jerusalem the golden, with milk and honey blessed." This is a place of "endless Sabbaths the blessed ones see." This is the place inhabited by those "blessed souls at rest" who can at last "behold the Savior's face." This is the place whose inhabitants can sing "It is well, it is well, with my soul."

Yes, there will be much music on Mount Zion. How do we know? Because of the myriads of angels of whom the epistler writes. My reading of Scripture would suggest that one or two angels do such things as interpret dreams or make momentous pronouncements, but angels in a group always constitute a choir, as they did on the occasion of our Lord's Nativity. And angelic choirs always have enough tenors, and are always bereft of divas who believe that choirs exist to accompany their solo voice. A wonderful hymn in that great musical compendium, Hymns Ancient and Modern (or as a friend of mine used to describe it, "Hymns More Ancient than Modern," put it this way: Angel-voices ever singing, round thy Throne of might, Angel-harps forever singing, rest not day or night. Thousands only live to bless thee and confess thee Lord of might.

It is the church's role, through her worship, to provide the faithful with a glimpse of the heavenly Jerusalem. But not every parish has received the memo. There are too many congregations and dioceses who are happily ensconced on Mount Sinai. Doom and gloom is their meat day and night. Fire and brimstone emanate from their pulpits, where preachers preach a gospel of exclusion and not inclusion. And Lord knows they have a serious communication problem, casting aspersions and hurling epithets at their fellow Christians. For them, church is not ekklesia, a community called together, but a community hand-picked, chosen for their theological monotony (I speak musically, of course). Unable to harmonize with others, they are ill prepared for heaven, where, our Lord assures us, are "many mansions" where "all sorts and conditions" of men and women can find a happy home. They understand the church, as Hooker is reputed to have said, more like a cramped cottage for a few members of the family than a commodious inn where all can be received. Perhaps they should read the parable of the dragnet, in which Jesus makes it clear that the sorting of the catch should be done by the angels at the end of the age.

You, of course, play a pivotal role in making the church a place where there can be a glimpse of the heavenly Jerusalem. You must make every effort to ensure that church doesn't become as ordinary and as mundane as the lives of worshippers. They have come to church --- they have dared to draw near to Mount Zion --- to have their spirits raised and their thirsts assuaged. They have come, their Sunday finery notwithstanding, often with the weight of the world on their shoulders. They want to be assured that there is indeed a balm in Gilead. They want to be assured that "earth hath no sorrow heaven cannot cure." To accomplish this, you must work assiduously with clergy and other worship leaders, to find the right mix, the right balance, for your place of worship. You must strive for the Anglican mean between providing music that doe nothing to enhance the liturgy of the parish and performing Sunday morning concerts for which the liturgy serves as a backdrop. My prayer tonight is that God, aided by the intercessions of Cecilia, Ambrose and Gregory, will continue to bless and enrich your ministries. And remember, no one ever left church humming a sermon!

Let us pray: So has the Church, in liturgy and song, In faith and love, through centuries of wrong, Borne witness to the truth in every tongue, Alleluia.
Hymn 419, The Hymnal 1982.