James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary
1 Corinthians 14:26
WORDS TO THE LAITY
‘How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things he done unto edifying.’
I wish to speak to you about the necessity of keeping up certain simple religious forms and observances if we wish to preserve any reality, vitality, and vigour in our religious life.
The idea of the Reformers was to give the congregation as much to do in the service as they could.
I. The service.—There was a bad time in days of deadness when there was a duet between minister and clerk; but the sole performance by priest and choir, except in vast cathedral churches, is to my mind as bad, as unscriptural, as destructive of the rights and interests of the laity. Wherever you worship, I ask you to insist upon it that, whatever may be the case in the antiphonal parts, verses and responses, the general parts should neither be intoned nor monotoned, but left entirely to the congregation to say in their own natural voice. I mean such parts as the General Confession, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Creed. Do not underrate your power in these things. A strong body of laymen in a congregation, who have clear ideas in their heads, and who are determined in all Christian firmness and humility to execute their privileges as full members of Christ’s Church, will in most cases be met with attention and acquiescence. Here I would ask you to see to it, according to the utmost exercise of your influence, that the singing should be simple and congregational. We are greatly indebted to our choirs; but the chief grace of a choir is to remember that the choir exists for the congregation, not the congregation for the choir. Of course an anthem beautifully sung, if the words are known previously by the congregation, has in all cases a profoundly emotional or pathetic effect; but in parish churches I have no hesitation in saying that all other musical portions of the service should be of the most popular character, and such that their greatest glory and success should be that the congregation joined heartily in every part.
II. Again, as to sermons.—Sermons will be very largely what you make them. If the preacher fires them off over your head, and you take no notice of them, and never let him know whether you agree or disagree, whether you understand or were puzzled, whether you were moved or remained cold, what can he do? He knows nothing of what you are thinking and feeling. If you want sermons to be a reality and a living sympathetic help, you must let the preacher know your doubts and difficulties; you must tell him what kind of effect his discourses have had; you must suggest subjects which you wish to hear treated; you must encourage him without reserve to be practical, effective, useful, and suggestive; bringing the light of the Gospel of Christ into every department of human life. He will be greatly indebted to you on his side; and you will find the interest of the weekly exhortation or discussion so growing and increasing that you will never wish to be absent from it. You have lost your right of free speech in the Christian assembly by reason of ancient disorders; but in this way you can still exercise its equivalent. It is in your own power to make the pulpit as vigorous, effective, real, and pertinent for every aspiration of your heart, and every inquiry of your mind, as it was in its most powerful and popular days.
III. There is another religious observance which I must urge very strongly upon you, and ask you to do your utmost to restore its regular recognition amongst your friends. That is, participation in the memorial feast of the sacrifice, death, passion, and atonement of Christ. In early days no Christian ever thought of being absent, still less of not communicating if present. If a man was absent three successive Sundays he was ipso facto excommunicated. The Prayer Book, by using words from St. Paul about eating and drinking condemnation which applied to a time when the Corinthians made an unseemly picnic of the Lord’s Supper, and some even got drunk at it, has, by being misunderstood, frightened thousands of steady Christian men from taking part in what seemed so alarming and repelling a rite. But it is really the nearest, most delightful, most real means of meeting the God of Love, and of reviving our spiritual life. And all that is required of us is to examine ourselves, to see whether we truly repent us of our former sins; to have a lively faith in God’s mercy through Christ; and to be in love and charity with all men.
IV. Family prayers.—I earnestly beseech you, for the sake of your own souls, for the sake of your families and households, to keep up this united daily recognition of God as a family. It can bring nothing but happiness and blessing on you and your work. Let me urge you to do your utmost to see it established in every working man’s house or rooms wherever you have any influence. In Scotland, except amongst the crowded populations of the great cities like Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Dundee, it is almost universal; and Burns’s matchless poem of the ‘Cotter’s Saturday Night’ is still as true as ever. There is a passage from Washington Irving which illustrates this: ‘The dullest observer must be sensible of the order and serenity prevalent in those households where the exercise of a beautiful form of worship in the morning gives, as it were, the keynote to every temper for the day, and attunes every spirit to harmony.’
V. There are three more short recommendations which I should like to give you.
(a) One is to encourage the habit of mental daily prayers.
(b) Another is, not to neglect the good old English habit of grace at meals, and to make a solemn reality of it, not a mere spell or charm.
(c) The last is to attend personally to the moral and religious training of your children.
It is by constant attention to small details that in these things, as in everything else, we achieve great results. God grant that we may all serve Him more truly, really, earnestly, and effectively!
—Archdeacon W. M. Sinclair.
Illustration
‘As one in days of old would fly
To some protecting shrine,
From dread pursuers threatening nigh,
And panting there recline—
Lord, to Thy dwelling I repair,
And cling around Thy altar there!
‘Or, as the swallow, chased away
From cruel man’s abode,
Beneath Thy sacred wall will lay
Her cherished young, O God!
So there I oft that peace obtain
Which elsewhere I have sought in vain.
‘When sheltered safe, well pleased we hear
The waves and tempests roar;
And raging winds without endear
The warmth within Thee more;
O then I feel from peril free
Retired within Thy sanctuary!’