What is a hymnal? It’s much more than a songbook!
What really is a hymnal? Is it just a songbook that we handle frequently but perhaps with little understanding of its rich contents? Why should we still produce hymnals? In this electronic media age these are appropriate and relevant questions to raise. In a day when some segments of the church may consider the hymnal obsolete or passé, we need to take a fresh and comprehensive look to recover a new appreciation of and affection for this remarkable resource. The hymnal is the repository of a rich treasury of Christian experience, theology, and prayers. What follows here are some of the unique dimensions of this remarkable treasure.
The historic voice of the church. The hymnal connects us with the historic church of past centuries and is the memory of the church. It gives us a oneness with the communion of saints as we sing. This is a connection to the church “universal” and the church “triumphant,” people of faith from many centuries ago who sang the very hymns we now sing. It is an encyclopedia of the church’s confession over 20 centuries, an archive of the rich diversity of Christian witness over the ages. As I carry a hymnal with me, I am, in a sense, carrying the church and demonstrating the timelessness of the faith experience.
The hymnal contains the literature of our faith. Some theological and creedal statements or expositions on scripture are contained in the hymnal. There is also the personal witness and the spiritual journeys of brothers and sisters in Christ over many centuries who wrote our hymns: St. Francis of Assisi, St. Ambrose, Thomas á Kempis, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Paul Gerhardt, Brian Wren, Isaac Watts, Charles Wesley, John Newton, Fanny Crosby, Carl Daw, and Michael Joncas. Many hymns come from the intimate life experiences of a believer and are the fruit of suffering and affliction.
The layperson’s book of theology. The basic beliefs and doctrinal understanding of most Christians have been shaped more by the hymns they have learned than, perhaps, by the preaching they have heard or the Bible studies attended. A seminary professor friend shared with me once: “Music has shaped my faith in childhood songs, tunes and texts from…hymnody of every time and place…I have sung my way into faith…” Themes of atonement, incarnation, sanctification, witness and outreach, personal holiness, stewardship, discipleship, social justice, and more are clearly proclaimed in our hymns. The preface to the United Methodist Hymnalstates, “Next to the Bible, our hymnals have been our most formative resource.”
The hymnal immerses us in biblical language and message. Scripture is the raw material of good hymns. An effective and enduring hymn must be faithful to the revealed truth about God and God’s mighty acts as recorded in scripture. The great hymns of our faith are a rich tapestry of scripture and reveal a vast, profound, and comprehensive knowledge by the hymn writers. Hymns may quote directly from, paraphrase, or allude to biblical passages. Hymnals often include scripture indexes for ease in selecting hymns for private and corporate life.
The center of corporate worship. It is the primary book of worship and liturgical resources for the Body of Christ, particularly in non-liturgical churches. The hymnal gives a script for worshiping God and unifies us as we sing together. The hymnal gives us a way to respond to God’s revelation and word to us, which is part of the dialogical nature of worship. As a worship resource the hymnal contains an extensive psalter, affirmations of faith, creedal statements, prayers of praise, petition, intercession, thanksgiving, and prayers for marriage, baptism, funerals and memorial services.
The hymnal is a vast repository of the church’s diverse music styles. You can find everything from plainsong, reformation chorales, Victorian tunes, African American spirituals, folk songs, Anglican chants, Taize music, contemporary praise songs, evangelical gospel songs, Scandinavian folk tunes, psalter tunes, Israeli melodies, early American tunes, medieval carols, core ecumenical hymn tunes, and music derived from classical composers (e.g., Beethoven, Bach, Grieg, Brahms, Mozart, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Sibelius). Even a hymn tune by jazz pianist Dave Brubeck!
A book of proclamation and witness. It is an outer expression of an inner faith and commitment, and a resource for the ministries of mission and outreach. It has been said that one can tell more about what Christians believe by what they sing than by what is said. Martin Luther was typically blunt about this: “If any would not sing about what Christ has wrought for us, he shows thereby that he does not believe!” Isaac Watts was similarly direct: “Let those refuse to sing who never knew our God.” That is the only reason for not singing, according to Watts—not knowing God! Let us sing what we believe and believe what we sing!
An important teaching tool. Hymns are an invaluable resource in Christian education and influential in spiritual formation. Paul writes to the Colossians, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as you teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” (3:16). Hymns may be the primary transmitter of faith from one generation to another. Christian educators and Sunday school teachers would do well to use the hymnal as a teaching resource. Think of the potential of a graded hymn curriculum whereby children learn from memory two or three age-appropriate standard songs each year as they advance! But the hymnal also has valuable educational potential for all ages.
A prayer book. It is a vast collection of prayers, expressing all aspects of the Christian life and experience. The hymns give us the power of the right word at the right time: “I didn’t think up these words and phrases of prayer, but it is exactly what I mean to say.” The hymnal is a wonderful personal devotional book that helps us meditate and reflect on spiritual truths with Christians throughout the ages. Have your own personal hymnal and put it on the nightstand next to your Bible!
The hymnal is an invaluable resource in times of crisis and trial. It is a source of comfort and encouragement. Paul and Silas, while imprisoned, sang hymns of praise to God—a Christian response to trouble! Dietrich Bonhoeffer, imprisoned by the Nazi regime, was sustained by the hymns of Paul Gerhardt. Many a Christian in the dark night of the soul has found solace, peace, and healing through the hymns of the church. How comforting it is to have these words tucked inside your spirit when undergoing times of suffering: “Be still, my soul! The Lord is on thy side; bear patiently the cross of grief or pain; leave to thy God to order and provide; in every change he faithful will remain.”
Hymns help forge our convictions and strengthen our resolve. They can be a motivating force that can compel us to action: “God of grace and God of glory…grant us wisdom, grant us courage for the facing of this hour…shame our wanton, selfish gladness, rich in things and poor in soul.” Or, “Come, all Christians, be committed to the service of the Lord…be transformed with life anew.” Spiritual lethargy lurks near us all. Hymns of courage and resolve can help us in that battle.
Broadly ecumenical. As we sing hymns in common with all denominations and fellowships who confess Jesus as Lord. In an age where the church seems so fractured with divergent views on doctrine, the sanctity of life, human sexuality, moral values, issues of war and peace, poverty and hunger, our hymnody can be our common bond. Our singing together can strengthen our oneness in Christ in the midst of differing theological, political and social views.
The hymnal reminds us that we are part of a universal church. The hymnal pulls us away from a provincial thinking that limits us to savor >only our own song and place and tradition. The hymnal unites us with brothers and sisters of the faith in every land—different cultures and different musics but the same Lord. Our hymnals are beginning to reflect what heaven will be like, where “saints from every tribe and language and people and nation will gather around the throne of God,” as we read in Revelation 5.
One of the most global, multicultural products of humankind. The hymnal brings together texts and music from many different places, times, and cultures. It is not only for one time, one place, or one people—it is for everybody of all times and all places. The church takes flesh in many different cultures and ethnicities and sings in many different idioms and musical styles. Today’s hymnals more and more reflect a global hymnody with many flavors of ethnic music and different cultures. The global hymnal is a witness to us that God, the creator of the universe, took mortal flesh among us, for “God so loved the world.”
“In Christ there is no east or west, in him no south or north;
but one great fellowship of love throughout the whole wide earth.”
In conclusion, the great virtue of hymnody is to give witness to how the worship of God draws Christians closer together through their singing, overlooking their differences by affirming that there can be unity of the Spirit. Good hymns should draw the singer away from a self-centered sentimentalism to focus on adoring God and loving neighbor. This view of hymnody is not likely to appeal to contemporary pop culture with its tendency toward individualism. (Perhaps the theme song of that culture should be Frank Sinatra’s “I Did it My Way.”) There are the hymns we like but there also are the hymns we need. There are hymns that challenge us and stretch us to reflect the demands of the gospel, the daily walk of living with Christ, but not to mirror that which is already comfortable.
The hymnal is a handbook for the Christian, a companion to the Bible, an encyclopedia of Christian doctrine and biblical truth, a collection of spiritual experience and personal witness over the centuries, a compendium of religious poetry, a wonderful prayer book and a rich resource for private devotion over many centuries. Make it your spiritual companion for the journey. Faith lives in song, and song nurtures faith.