Public reaction to the death of Michael Jackson has been remarkable throughout the world. It pushed almost every other thing off the cable television news channels. Some skeptics will say this reaction is mostly because of his image as a lost-soul celebrity. Some will argue that his musical genius explains the reaction to his death. I don’t know if he was a lost soul or not. Clearly, he was not a conventional man. His well-documented life was filled with what appeared to be self-destructive behavior. I’m not quite sure what to make of all of this. However, it has set me to pondering the power of music to stir the soul.

     Karl Barth, great 20th-Century, Swiss, Protestant theologian was once asked to summarize his massive, twelve-volume works on church dogmatics. He simply responded with these words from the children’s song: “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”

     Parents have long understood the power of music to help shape the lives of their children. This is what makes the Detroit News report about singer Barbara Mandrell’s story amusing. She said she repeatedly sang songs to her infant son, Nathan. She sang “Jesus Loves Me,” “This is the Day that the Lord Has Made,” and “Jesus Loves the Little Children.” Barbara wondered which song he would sing first on his own. It turned out that the first song off his lips was: “All My Ex’s Live in Texas.”

     Country and Bluegrass music is legendary for appealing to the heart. It tells stories of life, love, loss and the wisdom of returning to time-honored faith and values. One of my favorite such songs is, “The Halfway Home Café,” written by Paul Overstreet. It is an account of a waiter overhearing conversations over the tables in a café. In each case, a diner is interrupted in the eating to explain a hurtful detour in life, but now he or she is going home. The story is told. Then the teller marvels that family’s still waiting with love and forgiveness despite the bitterness he or she has sown. But now‘s the time for going home. The stories, of course, recall to mind the classic biblical parable of the prodigal son. I don’t have the space nor the permission to share the lyrics here. But I wish y’all would google Ricky Skaggs’ version on the internet and then buy a copy for yourself. Why? Because, each of us is, in our own way, not yet fully home. We have our own seats in the Halfway Home Café. And as the last line of the chorus says, “Heaven knows I’ve been away too long. So now I’m going home.” Just listening to the music makes one want to be made whole—that’s the power of music.

     Once, as pastor of a very large, urban church, I welcomed into the membership an older woman who had grown up in a very isolated rural village. Her tiny home church was very unlike the big church she now enjoyed. She had only experienced the informality of the small congregation. Now she was exposed to a large, liturgically formal style of worship. A few months after she joined us, we presented Handel’s “Messiah” with an accompanying orchestra. When we came to the “Hallelujah Chorus,” she exploded with emotion! She jumped to her feet, shouted loudly, waved her arms and clapped her hands. She had never heard anything like that! It transformed that moment into an experience of ecstasy for her. She loved it. Soon we learned that she had a personal gift for music. She sang old, old songs from that little church in the country—songs we had never heard. And we loved it!

     The power of music is a spiritual mystery. Music has the power to bring people together. It also has the power to push people apart. Sometimes churches become divided over the issue of styles of music in worship. That always saddens me. I love all kinds of music. Some styles are more powerful for me than others. But I am never in doubt about the power of music to affect us profoundly. The reaction of his fans to Michael Jackson’s death is a case in point.

• Back to Archive
• Back to Media Gallery