{"id":8702,"date":"2018-09-20T23:27:20","date_gmt":"2018-09-21T03:27:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emsdev.clayshowalter.com\/?p=8702"},"modified":"2019-03-06T10:44:40","modified_gmt":"2019-03-06T15:44:40","slug":"why-we-sing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/es\/2018\/09\/why-we-sing\/","title":{"rendered":"Why we sing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note: At the beginning of each school year, and periodically during the year, Jared Stuzman, music teacher and choral director, shares his philosophy of why we sing at Eastern Mennonite School. Addressing one of the first chapel gatherings of the year, Jared Stutzman, he shares:<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"Under your seat, there is a blue hymnal. There is one every other seat, so you and your neighbor will need to share. Inside that hymnal, there is a song called “Guide My Feet.” It\u2019s #546. We sing this song pretty often; it\u2019s one of our favorites. In fact, I think Kendal Bauman has turned it into a cheer that EMS fans sing from the soccer field sideline. Other schools have a marching band and cheerleaders\u2026 we sing hymns.<\/p>\n

This song means a lot to us because it\u2019s a prayer, from us to God; we\u2019re asking God to guide us. It talks about running a race, and that\u2019s a little bit of what we\u2019re doing here as we start the school year. We\u2019re going to run a race together. \u2026 and we\u2019re saying, God, guide me. If you look to the bottom of the page, you see other words, to: God, hold my hand. God, stand by me.<\/p>\n

If you are new to our school, if you haven\u2019t really sung from a hymnal before, if you don\u2019t know what all the little black dots and lines mean, that\u2019s okay. Don\u2019t worry about it. Just look at the words, listen, follow along, and you\u2019ll catch on to the song pretty quickly.<\/p>\n

Why do we sing together?<\/h3>\n

We sing because, we believe God speaks to us through each other.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I learn about God from you, and you learn about God from me. We read God\u2019s word together, we sing together, we work and eat and talk and live together, and we are God\u2019s voice to each other. This is the Mennonite idea. This is the Anabaptist idea, but it\u2019s something that can make sense for “everyone,” no matter what your church background is. God speaks to us through each other.<\/p>\n

Back in the Middle Ages 1,000 years ago, the priest would say, \u201cI will read God\u2019s word for you, I will tell you what it says, and I will tell you how to understand it, and the monks will sing for you. Ordinary people didn\u2019t read the Bible and ordinary people didn\u2019t sing. It was only for monks and priests. Martin Luther came along 500 years ago and said \u201cNo, that\u2019s wrong. Ordinary people need to read the Bible for themselves, and ordinary people need to sing for themselves. The monk can\u2019t praise God for you. You need to praise God for yourself. You need read the Bible for yourself, and you need to sing for yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

So Martin Luther printed Bibles, and he also printed hymnals. Read the Bible for yourself, sing for yourself. The Anabaptists \u2013 the Mennonites \u2013 followed Luther, but they went one step further. They said \u201cWe read the Bible and we sing, not for ourselves, but for each other.\u201d The priest 1,000 years ago said \u2013 \u201cYou just sit there. I\u2019ll read for you, and I\u2019ll sing for you.\u201d Martin Luther said, \u201cNo, you need to read and sing for yourself. Here, have a Bible. Here, have a hymnal.\u201d And the early Mennonites agreed, and said \u201cHave a Bible, have a hymnal, read and sing \u2013 but for each other \u2013 not just for yourself.”<\/p>\n

We sing for each other. You are God\u2019s voice to me, and I am God\u2019s voice to you.<\/strong><\/p>\n

So that means\u2026every voice matters. If you are God\u2019s voice to me, then I need to hear what you have to say. There is a perspective that only you can offer. You are here in our circle at Eastern Mennonite School for a reason, even if you don\u2019t know what it is yet. There is a sound only your voice can make, and God designed your voice, God likes the way you sound, and God put you here, and God gave you that voice for us. You belong. Every voice belongs. You are here for a reason. Your voice isn\u2019t just for you. It\u2019s for us.<\/p>\n

You never know quite how your voice is going to affect someone else. It doesn\u2019t matter if you don\u2019t sing in tune. My grandmother\u2019s voice was not beautiful. Her harmonica-playing wasn\u2019t going to win any awards. But I can still hear her, and I\u2019ll carry her songs with me forever. There\u2019s a sound only you can make that someone needs to hear. Someone out there needs to hear your voice. Someone in here needs to hear your voice.<\/p>\n

That is why we sing together. Sing for each other. Sing for the people next to you. It doesn\u2019t matter whether or not you know how to sing\u2026your voice is important, and your voice matters. When we sing, sing for the people sitting around you. Sing for that one person who needs to hear God\u2019s voice speaking through you, speaking through your singing voice, even though you might never find out about it.<\/p>\n

The next song [#307, “Will you let me be your servant?”] is another one we sing a lot at EMS. It\u2019s one of our favorites because it talks about serving each other. It talks about that idea of being God\u2019s voice to each other. It says, let me be as Christ to you \u2013 I will be there for you \u2013 when you are afraid, I will speak God\u2019s voice of calm. When you are crying, when you are laughing, I\u2019m going to be there for you, we are showing the image of God to each other. And that\u2019s our prayer for what our community here is, that\u2019s who we want to be. I\u2019ll be there for you, I\u2019ll be Jesus to you.<\/p>\n

“Amazing Grace” is one of the most familiar songs of all time. It’s sung by followers of Jesus everywhere, all over the world, in dozens of languages. You can go to almost any church, anywhere, and people will know this song. The reason it\u2019s so well-known and loved is because it\u2019s a message of grace, of God\u2019s love for me, of God reaching out and loving me even when I am not very loveable.<\/p>\n

Why do we sing “those” songs?<\/h3>\n

I talk about why we sing, and why we sing the songs that we do, partly for those of you who are new, in case you are wondering, but also because parents and students wonder about this, too. You know why we sing\u2026but I am sometimes asked why we sing “these” songs, often in the context of contemporary music. \u201cIt\u2019s 2018 \u2013 where is your contemporary praise and worship team? Let\u2019s pump the kids up! We need to be cool!\u201d We\u2019re not against that at all. We include it sometimes. But we want our song choices to reflect the reasons that we sing, so our criteria are a little different, our focus is a little different.<\/p>\n

We choose songs that are singable and inclusive for a group. We care about the vocal range. We care about male voices as well as female. We care about how complicated or difficult a song is.<\/p>\n

We sing in a way that de-emphasizes the leader(s). Since we are God\u2019s word to each other and every voice matters, it\u2019s important that our music doesn\u2019t highlight people at the front. One of the reasons Mennonites have valued harmony is because of the way it includes many different sounds in unity. Other faith traditions might prefer a single voice, a single approach to truth, a strong leader\u2019s voice. But for us, the many different voices coming together, each adding our own sound in our own range, high voices, low voices \u2013 that\u2019s a beautiful picture of who we are.<\/p>\n