Devotional 3-24-15

Holy Cow!

What is holy? A synonym for “sacred,” holy means worthy of worship. As the third stanza of that great Trinitarian hymn reminds us, only God is holy. But we often use “holy” and “sacred” to describe things that are capable of bringing about an experience of the presence of God. For instance, we might refer to sacred space, a sacred text, or sacred music when they are designed to lead people to experience the divine. But it is important to remember that it is not the space, text, or music that is sacred.

Or is it?

Consider, for example, our sacred space. Your and my idea of sacred space may look more like a courthouse to someone not familiar with church. Think about it…in addition to the high ceiling and balcony, there is a gallery (nave), a separated, raised platform (chancel), a bench (pulpit), a witness stand (lectern), and a jury box (choir loft). There’s even a judge in a robe! Would we ever consider changing the architecture to be more inviting to those who find it to be a barrier?

Next, consider sacred music. A friend’s recent Facebook post referred to the connection between the wonderful Passion hymn O Sacred Head Now Wounded and Paul Simon’s American Tune, which you can listen to it here. Even though I had heard American Tune many times, I never made the link, which is so obvious to me now, to the hymn. “Wow,” I wrote in a message to another Facebook friend, “wouldn’t it be great to hear someone sing O Sacred Head Now Wounded to Paul Simon’s setting of the tune?”

“NNOOOOOOOOOOoooooo!!!!!!!” was the initial response. Then he got negative. How many synonyms for “no” can you think of? I learned some new ones from his response. He concluded, “Holy cow. Do I need to call for medics?”

 “O never mind,” I replied, and let it drop. But “Holy cow?” Ha! The irony was not lost on me.

We use the expression “sacred cow” derogatorily to describe those things that have become so accepted that no one would dare even suggest changing them. Although I know my friend had used “holy cow” as an exclamation of surprise, a “minced oath” the crossword puzzle writers would call it, he had unwittingly made my point. The familiar, traditional tune and style of O Sacred Head Now Wounded has become so venerated and accepted that I should not have even suggested doing something different with it. It is a sacred cow.

It’s too bad, really, for anyone my friend might have an opportunity to influence. While I have absolutely no doubt that many people over the centuries have been stirred by O Sacred Head Now Wounded in its familiar, traditional style, the moving words will not be heard and experienced by some who cannot appreciate a Bach chorale. It may be shocking, even blasphemy, to some reading this, but there really are people who cannot appreciate a Bach chorale. But, that’s ok, we think. Maybe because they are not in church.

A further irony is that the tune and harmonization that are so familiar to the in-church crowd are based on a secular love song written by German composer Hans L. Hasler in 1601, more than eighty years before Bach’s birth. With lyrics such as the following, it’s little wonder it has been referred to as a 16^th Century version of “All Shook Up.”

My mind’s confused within me, made thus by a tender maiden.

I am utterly astray. My heart hurts badly.

I have no rest day and night. I ever lament.

I keep sighing and crying, in sorrow almost despairing.

So I wasn’t the first person to blur the secular/sacred line. If any of Bach’s contemporaries had exclaimed, “Holy cow, J.S.! Have your lost your bleeping mind?” you can be thankful he continued undeterred.

In many churches we have sacred cows. We seem to hang on to traditions that go back, not necessarily to the original Christian church, but to particular times in Christian history. Maybe it is the heyday of the 1950’s or the Classical Period or even the Dark Ages. We, the insiders, seem to find some zone of comfort, and in the midst of churches that are steadily declining, we blissfully maintain that our traditions stand the test of time. But do they really? I fully believe the words often repeated in the baptismal covenant that “the church is of God, and will be preserved until the end of time,” yet I further believe that God’s church will not be confined to a particular building or a particular style. Will we die trying to so confine it?

What are our sacred cows? The building? The time for worship? The space for worship? The style of worship? The music? The instruments? The way we do something the way we’ve always done it because we’ve always done it that way? When someone suggests something new, do we squelch their enthusiasm? “Holy cow! Are you crazy?” When our own tradition becomes a sacred cow, who are we excluding from the life of the church?

Only God is holy. Do we aim to share the good news of Jesus with others? Or to teach them to appreciate Bach chorales?

Jeff Taylor