Why do we sing?

Mark 1:9-15

“O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth.” Psalm 96:1

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.” Colossians 3:16

Some of my earliest memories have to do with singing.

Listening to tapes and singing with my family – especially when drying dishes which was me and my siblings’ job in the days before dishwashers.

And so we’d sing together and I remember that made the work a lot more fun.

Sunday evening Bible studies were something my family enjoyed hosting even before we moved to Acworth.  And they’d always begin in song – my Dad playing mandolin or guitar and we’d sing songs like “Joy is a Flag Flown High” and “Surely Goodness and Mercy Will Follow Me” among others.

I remember learning Bible verses as they were put to song.

And I remember singing hymns.

I remember my Dad would always sing the bass part loudly

And as I learned to read music and found out that I was tenor, I began learning to sing the tenor part.

Music has always been a big part of how I expressed myself –

What Kind of Power?

Mark 1:21-28

There was something about Jesus’s teaching in the synagogue.

We read that “They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”

The word used here, the word for authority is a word that in Greek, exousia, literally means power,

The English word used here, “authority” makes us think of another word like “expert”

Both these words are used in the news to support some interpretation of the events that have happened.

“Experts say that the economy is etc.”

There is a kind of power in having this status – expert.

But I don’t think this is the kind of power that Jesus was showing.

And so I don’t know if “authority” is the best word

I think it gets us thinking about experts,

those people who really know what they’re talking about versus the rest of us

who just have to take their word for it.

Now I do think we need people who are trained in a very specific field.

I think this is a necessity in our modern world.

But so often “experts” are used to intimidate rather than instruct.