How Exalted Is Your Name in All the World!
A Sermon by the Reverend Shearon Sykes Williams on the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost (B), October 3, 2021.
Genesis 2:18-24; Psalm 8; Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12; Mark 10:2-16
O Lord our God, how exalted is your name in all the world.. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the starts that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?” Psalm 8
This is such a glorious and historic day! Today after the (10:30) service, our long-awaited pipe organ arrives. This is the culmination of a dream that began 10 years ago. And through a lot of hard work, perseverance and amazing generosity, that dream is finally becoming a reality. So, today is a good time to think about the “why” of all of that. And the “why” all centers on worship of God and creating a space where our hearts and minds can be united with God’s.
In the first creation story in Genesis, we hear how God spoke creation into existence. “God said, let there be light. And there was light.” With the sound of God’s voice, everything came into being. When we come together each Sunday, we listen for God’s voice so that we can participate in God’s continual re-creation of the world. We lift our voices in praise and thanksgiving in order to worship God and to put ourselves in a space where we can be reminded of our role as co-creators with God. And beautiful sounds are an important part of that experience. The aesthetics of worship matter. Genesis describes how God came over the formless void, and created beauty out of nothingness, and soon the formless void of the organ chamber will have a beautiful organ in it. We will see it taking shape over the next few weeks. The organ is a means of glorifying God and lifting our hearts so that we can better serve God in the world. It is part of a rich liturgical tradition that is centuries old and is very much alive today.
And the artistry and engineering that goes into organ building is truly astounding. Although he is far too modest to say so himself, Martin Pasi is one of the finest organ builders working today. We are tremendously blessed to be getting one of his instruments. Ours is his 28th creation. His organs are carefully voiced for the space they are in. He works with a team of fine craftsmen to create instruments that have a full, rich sound, without being too loud or overpowering. And its clear from listening to Martin, that he really considers his work a work of co-creation, using his gifts to the glory of God to build an instrument that in turn enables us to glorify God.
And long before Martin, there was Ctesibius of Alexandria, an engineer in the 3rd century B.C.E. who invented the forerunner to the organ called the hydraulis. The organ developed and became much more sophisticated over the next few centuries and by the 10th century A.D. organs were being used in worship services. It is meant to lead our singing. The Benedictine monastic order had a lot to do with establishing the organ as an instrument for Christian worship. During the 9th and 1oth centuries, they were the leaders in the development of literacy, scholarship, musical notation and the very existence of Western music. The Benedictines are still stewards of this tradition today. And interestingly, Martin just finished constructing an organ for St John’s (Benedictine) Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota.
The organ is considered the “King of Instruments”. There are pipes that represent different instruments, strings, wind instruments and bells. When you look at the psalms, you’ll see that under the heading of many of them, there is a notation that shows how it is meant to be accompanied. Our psalm for today is Psalm 8 and it says that it is to be played according to the “Gittith” which is thought to have been a stringed instrument used in temple worship. Psalm 8 is a sung prayer that praises God for bringing everything into being and helps us to understand ourselves as stewards of creation. God is both the Source and the goal of life. We come from God, we return to God, and God with us throughout this life. The psalmist is speaking for everyone gathered for worship, marveling at God’s artistry in bringing the heavens and earth into being and the psalmist gives voice to our sense of being humbled by our place as stewards of creation.
Stewardship is at the heart of Christian faith. Stewardship is about giving thanks in a very concrete way. We are meant to be oversee and protect all that we have been given. We are to care for creation. We are to give thanks for the rich liturgical tradition that we have inherited. We are called to support the vibrant communal life here at Saint George’s. Today is the beginning of our fall stewardship season. Over the next few weeks, we will be having Ministry Minutes from leaders involved in children and youth, social justice, music ministry and other aspects of our parish life. And they will paint a picture of the amazing work of God’s ongoing creation and re-creation of us here at Saint George’s. We have all been through so much in the last 18 months. It has been a trying time globally, nationally, and individually. But we have not only survived, we are thriving, thanks be to God! There are so many signs of new life, vitality, resilience and we are blessed, blessed beyond words. And we lift our voices with the psalmist today as we sing, “O Lord our God, how exalted is your name in all the world!”