For the last two weeks, the adult Sunday School class at Gary UMC in Wheaton IL has held a class on Sacred Jazz led by Deanna Witkowski, an amazing Jazz pianist. The classes have been wonderful, but I am always struck by the idea of “Sacred vs Secular” when it comes to things. Is there really such a thing as sacred things and secular things? I don’t think so.
Theologically, when we look at the biblical evidence, our clear example is found in the story of creation. God creates and calls it good. Actually at the end of creation (of all things) God calls it VERY GOOD! In other words, all of creation is sacred, created by God in goodness. Following the fall, in which we could get into an extended discussion – it is at that point that we, as humans, seem to separate good things from bad things — but you will need to convince me that God is doing that separation. Creation is still good, how we use it may at times manifest itself as “bad”. But even then, I would not say that Sacred equals good and Seculars equals bad, the sacred is as prone to evil as is the secular (just look at the “Christian Nationalist movement today).
Right now, playing on my radio is Jackson Browne singing Rock Me on the Water, is that by definition secular music or can God speak through it? For me, I find the love and comfort of God in the music of Radio Margaritaville more than I do on any “contemporary Christian radio station”. Is it just me, or have we miss identified sacred?
I think the problem is we use “sacred” to refer to "liturgical" music, but I would suggest that there is a big difference. Liturgical means music that is used in a worship setting. But even in that sense, what we call liturgical is much broader that the box we tend to create. I know that when I was pastor of Celebration Church and Ridge UMC, we often used music that would not fit into that box, particularly in our more contemporary service. I used Eric Clapton’s Tears in Heaven, and In My Father’s Eyes, as well as SuperTramp’s Take The Long Way Home, Van Morrison’s Whenever God Shines His Light, and even Blind Faith’s Waisted and I Can’t Find My Way Home. I could throw in some Jimmy Buffett and Bruce Cockburn as well, but I think you get my point. It isn’t the “music” or even the “words” that make a song sacred or secular — it is how we use them and if they lead us toward God or away from God.
Whenever I worked on my sermons I always had a playlist of jazz music, none of which would be commonly called sacred, but it was music that opened my spirit up to God and helped the words flow to the paper as I wrote.
I am looking forward to the service tomorrow as Ms Witkowski will lead us with her interpretations in our liturgy. I know that some will be moved, others will build walls and cannot hear the music — as I know some people did when the band at one of my churches played their interpretation of a rock song during worship. Sacred or secular — it is in the eye of the beholder. I love what Wendell Barry wrote: “There are no unsacred places, there are only sacred places and desecrated places.” I would say the same about music (or poetry . . . ). May God speak to you in new ways this week.
Ahh, Van Morrison, So Quiet in Here just came on the radio. This must be what Paradise is like, it's so peaceful in here!
