- A Musical Reflection
By LIM SWEE HONG
HAVING created a new tune for
the Lord's Prayer at the request of a member of our community
at Trinity Theological College as she found that Malotte's version
of the Lord's Prayer rather unforgiving for those with limited
vocal range, I forwarded it to my Indonesian liturgics scholar
friend for her comments.
Being an accomplished Asian worship scholar in her own right,
she observed that I had created a tune that did not "peak"
at the phrase "Thine be the kingdom, power, and glory …
" She wanted to know what my rationale or theological thought
was behind this interesting approach of the melodic line. Would
it not be appropriate for me to let the music soar as it lifts
up our prayerful praise for God's kingdom, power and glory?
This got me thinking about what it means for us to pray, "For
Thine be the kingdom, and the power, and the glory." What
is it that we are asking God to do? Might it be that when we ask
God to establish His kingdom here on earth, we are asking God
to transform us? In so doing, is it not true that God's kingdom
is not like earthly kingdoms, the concept of divine power as manifested
in Jesus' life unlike earthly power, His glory radically different
from our humanistic expression?
This brings me back to Jesus' incarnation. He emptied Himself
to be like one of us (Philippians 2:6-8). Might this not be said
about the difference between God's understanding of power and
our human understanding when we think along God's ways, in particular
the manifestation of God's kingdom? (Matthew 5:3-ff., Luke 6:20-ff).
Were not the disciples disciplined for wrangling about who would
sit on the right or left of the throne when Jesus spoke about
the kingdom of God? They were told instead to be like little children
if they hope to be the greatest in the kingdom of God (Matthew
18:1-4, Luke 9:46-48).
The implication of Jesus' challenge to be like children must be
viewed through the cultural landscape of His time. Children were
not coddled as they are in our present time. Rather, they were
without rights and privileges. When they were young, they were
seen as a burden, another mouth that needed to be fed. A little
older, they had a utilitarian function - another pair of hands
to help the household survive economically. There was no outcry
of "sweatshop" treatment of children that is prevalent
today.
Offering
our praises through singing
The Lord's Prayer
Having sojourned in the United States for several years, I have
observed the natural desire of many US-based Christian groups
wanting to have a say in the political life of their country and
to ultimately shape it to be God's country or the "New Israel".
Yet, I am reminded that Scripture calls members of Christ's body
(the ecclesia) to be in the world but not of it. If we were to
take this call as found in John 17:14-16 seriously, to what extent
then should the Church seek to acquire power and influence over
society?
A quick look at church history
seems to show that when the Church seeks, obtains and holds earthly
power over a long period, power has a built-in tendency of corrupting
the Church that ultimately leads to its ineffectiveness as God's
instrument in proclaiming the kingdom of God. Indeed, Lord Acton,
a British historian of the late 19th and early 20th century, wrote
that a person's sense of morality lessens as his or her power
increases.
When writing to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887, he offered this unforgettable line, "Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely."
On the contrary, when the Church is persecuted by the world, it
seems to have the opposite effect of creating church growth. Indeed
as the Rt Rev Dr David Zac Niringiye, Assistant Bishop of Kampala
in the Church of Uganda, puts it, "God very often is working
most powerfully far from the centre ... In Acts, we read that
the cross-cultural missionary thrust did not begin in Jerusalem.
It began in Antioch, on the periphery, the margins."
Likewise, I believe the Church can only be authentic in its prophetic
ministry when it remains consistently at the margin, seeking to
be that voice for the widows, orphans and aliens of the land.
Only when we seek to appreciate the "upside down" nature
of God's kingdom, power and glory can the Church fulfil its true
calling as being the light and salt of the world.
It is with this understanding, I believe, that our Lord's prayer
ought to be prayed - by all of us who are willing to accept the
sidelined life, a life lived in humility rather than clamouring
needlessly for and being goaded into becoming advocates for the
Church to dominate public life by strength, power, and glory (fame
or reputation). For when we choose to live our lives in accordance
with God's call for each of us, we truly usher in the kingdom
of God on earth. With that, I think it might be appropriate that
the prayer that Jesus taught us can be set in a musical approach
that better reflects our understanding of the Church.
Theological reflection aside, but for a practical reason, this
approach also helps make the singing of the Lord's Prayer less
of an embarrassment for members of our faith community who may
have limited vocal capability and rather do their singing in the
bathroom than publicly. With that, let us unite our lively voices
and join the Ecclesia throughout the ages, past, present and future,
to offer our unique praise to our God through the prayer that
our Lord Jesus taught us.
Lim Swee Hong is Lecturer in Church Music and Liturgics at Trinity Theological College.