Sermons (Page 147)

I think I’ve turned into a Christmas Grinch. Yeah, it might not good form for a pastor to admit this openly. This year I’ve struggled more than most wondering why in the world do we bother with this stressful, emotional, and exhausting month.

Music. We sing throughout our worship service, we sing in the car, and we sing carols during the holidays. It all makes me wonder: “why did humans start making music?” Some say it could have been some sort of mating call. Others think it might have been a way to scare off predators. Yet a recent study of songs from around the world came to an interesting conclusion. Co-author Thomas Currie says, “The results show that the most common features seen in music around the world relate to things that allow people to coordinate their actions, and suggests that the main function of music is to bring people together and bond social groups. It can be a kind of social glue.”[1] To me, that “social glue” makes sense. At a Childish Gambino or Madonna concert perhaps we can be drawn in to others. When we sing in church we acknowledge our collective participation in the work of God. Yet, songs also function to incite something in us.