Hello,
Yesterday as I was driving my
25 miles over the ridge to First Lutheran Church of Greensburg, Pa…..I was
listening to “Sunday Baroque”, as I always do. The program was entirely works by Bach, because Sunday was
Bach’s birthday. (Bach, by the
way, I found out means “brook”….a tid bit that was part of his birthday
celebration). Bach spent his life
writing music, playing music, and directing orchestras and choirs. A great deal of his music was Christian
in content as he was the musical professional at several Lutheran churches.
I was enjoying the prancing of fingers along keyboards and zipping of
bowstrings across violins, when the announcer introduced a new piece. The piece was a selection from a
cantata that he wrote named, “Out of the depths I call to thee” (a verse from
the Bible). Along with naming the
selection, the announcer than told us listeners who was singing and playing it:
a Japanese Bach Society under the direction of a man named Suzuki. This should be interesting, I thought
to myself, as I began to listen to a orchestra of Japanese people, paired with
a choir of Japanese people, conducted by a Japanese man presenting a piece that
was written for a German orchestra, to be sung by a German Choir (in German),
and conducted by a German man.
Now, I am not well versed in classical music, so I cannot evaluate the
quality of the music I was listening to, but it sure seemed to me to be very
well done, and I giggled a bit as I thought of hearing German flowing from the
mouths of Japanese folks.
Some people say that music has the ability to bring people together, as
evidenced by the uniting of two very divergent cultures as I listened to
“Sunday Baroque”. It is true, of
course, that music can also be a way of dividing people, sharply dividing them
…. Punk, country/western, rap, classical…. But at its best, music can span many divides as it provides
a means for folks to experience the passions, the culture, and the history of
people quite unlike them.
The other interesting thing that I noted as I listened was the text that
was being sung….”Out of the depths I call to thee”. As I heard it (sung in German), it occurred to me that not
only do the notes of music bring people together, so does the text. Those singers may not have known what
those German words meant as they sung them, but I am certain that suffering and
pain that they spoke of most likely had come across their lips in their native
language, too.
Religion (although I would rather use the word “faith”) has often been
used in a way to divide people, as music has sometimes been used. However, when religion (faith) plants
its roots in the divine response to the pain and suffering that no one escapes,
it, too can unite people across deep chasms. “Out of the depths I call to thee.” What parent whose child is entrapped
with drug addiction hasn’t experienced the angst of the words of Bach’s
cantata? What person enshrouded in
endless loneliness hasn’t voiced them, too?
Rather than get tangled up in right and wrong….heaven and hell…I, as a
Christian, would rather speak the divine response to the cry from the depths that
I have heard from the Cross of Christ….a response that the Bible says has been
spoken to the world….”I do not run from your pain and suffering, I join you in
it, and will not let it take you from me.”
What will come of those words that echo through my mouth and life as
they land upon the ears and lives of those who hear them? I don’t know. But this I do know; the depth of hope that they bring
to my heart compels me to echo them to everyone who experiences the angst that
is found in the words, “Out of the depths I call to thee.” A commonly felt hope just might bring
us together.
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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