Thinking About Harmony and Discord on Martin Luther King Day

Moody Bible Institute Symphonic Band at West Hill Baptist

Yesterday, the eve of Martin Luther King Day, our church, West Hill Baptist Church, hosted the Moody Bible Institute Symphonic Band under the direction of David Gauger II.  We were treated to 45 minutes of classical music from a variety of composers including Bach, Strauss, Haydn, and Wagner.  Early in the performance, the conductor introduced the audience to the unique musical quality of each instrument by having one student musician for each instrument play a few familiar bars.  Although it was a treat to listen as each artist highlighted their particular instrument, the beautiful symphonies we heard later in the evening were only possible because each artist and instrument within the various categories--strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion—contributed in harmony toward the whole.  Sister Joan Roccasalvo, a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph, Brentwood, NY, explains this relationship between the uniqueness of each individual artist and the beauty of the symphony that is produced when each artist is faithfully committed to the whole score.

Each instrument of the orchestra has its own voice but plays in harmony with the whole. Despite the size or power of an instrumental section, no one group lords it over the others. Each needs the other because no one group incarnates the full meaning of the composition.

As we listened to Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, BWV 1048, by Johann Sebastian Bach, the contribution of each instrument in seemingly perfect harmony touched the depths of my soul as if spiraling down from heaven itself.  I imagined how it might be if the Perfection and Glory of heaven were to descend to Earth and sweep away all of the present disharmony, disunity, and strife. Then, I was reminded that as an expression of Bach’s profession of faith, his aim was to give “Glory to God Alone” as signified by his practice of writing Soli Deo Gloria on his finished manuscripts.  My faith was renewed in God Who has gifted men like Bach and Handel to make it their purpose to bring glory to Him by their beautiful and moving musical compositions.

Steven Spielberg & Liam Neeson on set of "Schindler's List"

After completing the classical music portion of their concert, the Moody Symphonic Band provided another 45 minutes or so of sacred hymns and “contemporary hymns” including “In Christ Alone” by Keith Getty and Stuart Townsend.  However, the performance that spoke to me the most out of this second part of the concert was “Three Pieces from ‘Schindler’s List.”  As I listened, the sad beauty of the music reminded me of having watched the movie, Schindler’s List, the true story of Oskar Schindler who rescued over 1,000 Jews from Adolf Hitler’s gas chambers at Auschwitz.  As I thought of this horrible tragedy, born out of the sinful and deceitful heart of humankind, I wondered how men could take such divergent paths—some like Bach and Hayden who used their time, energy, and talent to bless our ears and hearts with heavens harmonies; whereas, others like Hitler and Stalin used their power to compose the dreadful discordant sound of feet marching to mass executions.

As I listened to the conclusion of “Three Pieces from ‘Schindler’s List,” I remembered the many parallels between the Nazi holocaust and the current “American holocaust” which has taken the lives of over 57 million unborn human beings since the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court ruling in 1973.  Truly, the abortion of these innocent lives is one of the greatest tragedies of human history.  However, I was encouraged by an experience I had had earlier on this Lord’s Day. 

A few hours earlier I had honored an earlier invitation of the Wayne-Holmes Right to Life (WHRTL) Chapter to attend an afternoon worship service in celebration of God’s gift of life as part of their annual Sanctity of Human Life Sunday program.  I was encouraged to hear Ohio Right to Life Trustee, Scott Wiggham relate the progress of the Pro-Life Movement in Ohio, and then to join with these folks in praying.   We prayed (in part) as follows:

Lord, have mercy!  We ask You, God, to hold these little ones in your arms.  Bless and protect them.  May they know love and contentment in Your presence.  Bless mothers who are with child; may they never resort to abortion.  Forgive those who have had, performed, or encouraged abortions.  Turn their hearts away from sin and help them to see the sanctity of ALL life that is created in your image.

Alone this morning, I reflected once again on the heavenly harmonies that were provided by the Moody Symphonic Band yesterday evening, and the harmony of Christian brothers and sisters who gathered yesterday afternoon to praise our Creator for the gift of life.  As has been my habit, I read the Psalm appointed for today, January 19, which was Psalm 139.  In it, David reflects on God’s omniscience, even to the point of knowing all about David while he was as yet unborn:

My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.  – Psalm  139: 15-16

My frame was not hidden from You, God

What an amazing revelation from Scripture: God sees us and knows us as a person even before we are fully formed by the expression of genes we obtained from our parents at conception.  Biology reveals to us what David didn’t know, but God knew because He designed the whole process; namely, soon after conception and as the tiny embryo of a new generation is implanted in the uterine lining, he or she produces and sends into the mother’s bloodstream a message in the form of a hormone (Chorionic Gonadotropin, or CG). 

The hormone, CG, is the tiny embryo’s way of making his or her first “cry” to mom, saying, “Mother, I am here.  I hope you won’t have your monthly period.  Instead, I want you to protect and nourish me while God’s wonderful plan works in harmony between us like a symphony to unfold in proper order each of my bodily systems.  Soon, my nervous system, and before a month is passed, then my heart will be beating.  Before you know it, you will feel me moving inside of you and I will begin to hear your voice and become acquainted with your movements.”

Do you see the Earth-shattering contrast between the harmony of God’s creation and the discord introduced by the fall of man in the Garden and the subsequent rebellion, pride, and violent acts?  The harmony, or Shalom, of God’s creation includes the development of a human life beginning at conception and leading through a seamless path forward toward birth like a symphony performed without flaw by an orchestra.  Yet, the sinful discord of abortion continues to interrupt this harmony in all too many instances like a meteor blast into an auditorium during symphony orchestra performance.

Marchers in Support of Sanctity of Human Life

Many of us deeply regret the Nazi holocaust while others find it hard to believe it could have even come about in a civilized world.  Likewise, many of us regret the American holocaust, and many are active in bringing it to an end.  But I wonder how many human tragedies like this it will take before we are humbled before God to realize that there is no hope for us without confession of our sins and surrendering to God’s forgiveness through the sacrifice of His sinless Son, Jesus Christ.  We have absolutely no reason to trust human reason apart from the searching light of God’s Word.  As Psalm 139, quoted above ends, David realizes his need for God to search his heart, try his thoughts, and lead him in the everlasting way.

M.L. King Jr. & niece, Alveda King, civil & Pro-Life leader

After meditating on Psalm 139 this morning, we were blessed to awaken our granddaughters Kiara Maetta and Della Rose who had spent the night in our home because their schools were closed to observe Martin Luther King Day.  After breakfast, Kiara and I watched a YouTube video recording of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream Speech.”  Once again, I was reminded of the contrast between the symphonic harmony and the discordant outcomes from sinful mankind.  Through His grace and mercy, God had provided a man with a vision to see past the discord of hate and racial discrimination to a day when God’s love and harmony would characterize life in America:

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.  – Martin Luther King, Jr.  (1963)

Prayer:   Father in Heaven, thank you for Your encouragement through the heavenly harmonies of a symphonic band and the blessed fellowship of fellow Christians praying on Sanctity of Life Sunday; and then today, to reflect on the efforts of Dr. King and the peaceful protests He led on behalf of human rights which contributed much to the progress in reconciliation among racial groups in America.  Remind me continually of my own double-mindedness.  You’ve made me walk with You in peace and to enjoy harmony all around me; but, my heart is deceitful and tends to promote discord.   Remind me of my constant need of repentance from sin and refilling with your Holy Spirit.  And would you also bring revival to America, a nation so capable of great accomplishments for good; but, like me, so prone to deception and discord.  Renew within me a commitment to do my part in sharing the Gospel of repentance, reconciliation and revival in an America—for her only hope lies in whether individuals and families will respond to Your call through your people full of the love of Christ and His Holy Spirit—the very Source of truth, justice, mercy—and harmony.   Amen.

Dominion 101 - Spheres of Responsibility

As the United States national election approaches, it is appropriate to share some thoughts on how the “dominion mandate” of Genesis 1 involves human responsibility in the context of societal structures that God has ordained on planet Earth. Christians are called to be salt and light in each of three spheres of responsibility (family, church, and government) that God has ordained to preserve the life of all creatures on Earth. Dominion as seen in this context is an outworking of the obedient submission to God with the result that family, church, government, and ultimately God’s creation can flourish (see Romans 13).

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was executed by the Nazis for his uncompromising stand as a Christian pastor, wrote much about human responsibility in these three spheres. Consider the following excerpt from the "Religion and Ethics" website*

"Bonhoeffer may be our contemporary after all, but in a rather different way than some have proposed. He saw, behind the specifics of the Nazi threat, a more general problem in modern life with which we live, too. Defeating the Nazis didn't solve the problem. Defeating the Soviets didn't either.

Bonhoeffer's response to the question of how we are to avoid this slide into the abyss has little to do with creating a church that will simply be a refuge from the world around us. It's much more a matter of addressing the world in each of the essential structures God has provided for the preservation of human life. This is an idea that goes back to Luther – the three "orders" of church, government, and family. Later theologians expanded the list and called them "orders of creation." Bonhoeffer preferred "orders of preservation" in his early theological lectures. In the ETHICS he calls them the "Divine Mandates." They are the specific places where we are able to hear the command of God. In ETHICS his list varies some, but he includes church, family, work, and government, sometimes culture, sometimes maybe even friendship.

Those trained in Catholic moral theology will hear in Bonhoeffer's language about mandates an echo -- sometimes a rather faint echo, to be sure -- of the natural law idea missing from historic German Protestantism. His Protestant colleagues who heard the echo weren't sure at all that it was a good idea, but Bonhoeffer realized that you can't get along without some version of it. Responsible action means being responsible in those specific places where life is shaped for the whole society. You can't just be responsible by yourself, and you can't be responsible just by being the church. As Bonhoeffer said when he was a leader in the Confessing Church, "Let the church be the church." But in the ETHICS he sees that we have to add, "But let family, government, and work be themselves, too."

As a parishioner it is my role to be a testimony of the Word of God to my fellow parishioners and to support the ministry of the church through prayer and acts of encouragement and service. But it is also my role to be politically informed and to vote in support of candidates that uphold biblical principles (sanctity of life, protection of the sanctity of marriage, exercise of individual freedom and industry, etc.). It follows that, in this 2008 election, we are about to choose between two imperfect candidates– yet, only one presidential candidate stands for the above principles of sanctity of life and the institution of biblical marriage and family. In sharp contrast, the other candidate has stated the following in the Illinois senate: [If we make it illegal to save babies who survive botched abortions,] "We're saying they are persons entitled to the kinds of protections provided to a child, a 9-month child delivered to term. I mean, it would essentially bar abortions, because the equal protection clause does not allow somebody to kill a child."**

Of late, the 2008 campaign has been mostly about “the economy.” May this time of decision be a time of deeper contemplation upon the ethical values that are the essential, biblical foundation of our society. These values such as the sanctity of human life and the sacredness of all of creation are essential for the continuance of human life and its flourishing. We demonstrate the importance of these values as we exercise dominion within the “economies” God has ordained– family, church, government, and ultimately the “Economy” God sustains in partnership with our dominion over planet Earth.

References:
* Bonhoeffer for the Twenty-first Century an essay by Robin W. Lovin, Professor of Ethics at Southern Methodist University.
**Illinois Federation for Right to Life News