Pastor Andreas Albers, Our Saviour, Wartburg
On the 4th of August, the annual Mission and Song Festival for the region of southern KZN took place at the Our Saviour congregation in Wartburg. Present were choir and congregation members from Our Saviour, Durban-Westville, Pietermaritzburg and Greytown, as well as other guests. Inge Binding (Durban-Westville) conducted the choir and Angelika Ringelmann (Durban-Westville) accompanied on the organ. The service was bookended by choir performances both at the beginning and end of the service. The choir also accompanied the sung prayer of the church with a sung “Kyrie Eleison” response after every petition.
Missionary Peter Weber held a wonderful sermon, based on Luke’s account of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, in which he spoke both about singing and mission. He started out by bursting our bubble and bringing us down to earth, when he said: “God doesn’t need our singing. If we were silent, God would make the stones of the church building sing.” Indeed, God doesn’t need us as much as we might think. Luther begins his explanations of four Lord’s Prayer petitions by stating that these things are accomplished “without our prayer”. God is sovereign. God doesn’t need our voices to accomplish his mission. If we were silent, he would find other means. However, even though God doesn’t need our song, he wants our song. His Word is full of commands like “rejoice”, “bless”, “thank him”, “make a joyful noise”, “sing”, “make music for the Lord”. Indeed, it is good, right, and salutary, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to him. Therefore with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify his glorious name. Singing is salutary for us. It is beneficial for us. We need singing more than God does, because we are replaceable by stones. God isn’t. So let us keep singing. Let us join in with all creation, in a world that does not know its creator. We are his singing disciples. We are witnesses of his truth and his gospel. In the end, God does not burst our bubble – he is the air that inflates us. God does not ground us – he lifts us to heaven, to live with him. And while we are here below, we have the privilege of singing his praises and witnessing to the world that he is our Saviour.
After the fellowship around God’s spiritual gifts of word and song, the fellowship continued around God’s bodily gifts in the hall with a bring & share brunch. It was a blessed festival. Thanks to all who participated. Above all, thanks be to God for his blessings. Jubilate Deo. Alleluia.
