A sermon preached in Newport Minster 14th June 2026
‘You received without payment, give without payment’ (Matthew 9:8)
One of the great delights of living in Newport this summer is the wonderful ‘Art on our doorstep’ project, which has brought some reproductions of the most beautiful and striking paintings from London’s National Gallery to our town. They are here till October, so go out and enjoy them! My favourite is Holbein’s Christina, Princess of Denmark which hangs in Cockram’s Yard. It is a beautiful and haunting portrayal of the Princess who was being lined up to be Henry VIII’s fourth wife until negotiations failed. This disappointed the King who, when he saw the painting, was so delighted he asked his musicians to play all day, and kept it with him till his death. As for the Princess, widowed at just 16, but wise beyond her years, she was just fine about the outcome! She reportedly said “If I had two heads, one should be at the King of England’s disposal, but I don’t, so no thanks!.’
However, the painting I want to talk about today hangs in Sea St on the side wall of the Holyrood Hotel. It is of Calliope, mother of muses, painted by Cosimo Tura in the mid 15th C. The muses, figures from Greek mythology, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, were believed to possess all knowledge, and artists traditionally invoked them to spark creativity and divine inspiration. The word music comes from the Greek mousike techne – art of the muses. So, music was believed to come from the gods and a musician who is inspired has allowed the muse to touch him/her.
But of course we don’t believe in ‘the gods’ but in the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. St Paul, who was born a Jew in a Greek city and steeped in Greek mythology as well as the Hebrew Bible, also believed in a power that was of divine origin, and completely unmerited. As we read in our first reading: ‘Therefore, since we are justified (put right with) God by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand.’ (Rom 5:1-2) Grace is Paul’s equivalent of the muse, a gift coming out of the blue, just as it did to him on the road to Damascus, but with two important differences. First, no Greek would think he could have a relationship with a Muse to help on all circumstances, but we can with God. Secondly, the free gift of God has come to us at a price, the death of Jesus on the cross.
Today we celebrate the gift of music. Music, like all art, is mixture of flashes of inspiration and a great deal of hard work and collaboration . We can see that in the life of musicians and composers themselves. Think of two of the great songwriters of the 1960s and their most famous songs. Bob Dylan wrote Blowin in the wind in a a NYC coffee house in 1962, in 10 mins, bringing together an old anti-slavery tune with questions arising out the contemporary struggle for justice. This flash of inspiration was immediately picked up by other singers and very quickly became an anthem for the Civil Rights movement. Paul McCartney woke up one morning in 1965 with the tune to Yesterday in his head fully formed but without the words, initially calling it ‘Scrambled eggs’ He then took it to John Lennon who helped him with the words and producer George Martin who suggested a string quartet, quite unusual for pop music at the time, and it became his most famous and most covered song, all from a dream. Such direct inspiration, the muse, is mirrored in the lives of classical composers, such as boy wonder WA Mozart and many others.
Yet for others the music came and still comes through the discipline of everyday work. JS Bach’s muse came through the regular cantatas and other choral works he was contracted to produce as Organist and Choirmaster for St Thomas’ Church, Leipzig in the early 18th C, yet the net result was far from routine, leading to works of genius like the St Matthew Passion and Jesus Joy of Man’s desiring . Much the same could be said of the great composers of English church music from the time of Elizabeth I which choirs such as ours still sing. Other works of genius, such as Beethoven’s 9th Symphony took years of blood, sweat and tears to realise, as he gradually lost more and more of his hearing, being completely deaf at its first performance. (It is said that. Having conducted the piece, he was turned round by the leader of the orchestra to see the audience on their feet cheering) . His final chorus spoke of ‘Joy, lovely divine spark’ despite the immense struggle endured in completing the work.
All of these inspired geniuses needed musicians to collaborate with and put their visions into reality. It seems to me that Jesus’ words from today’s Gospel, ‘You received without payment, give without payment’ (‘Freely you have received, freely give’) (Matthew 9:8) apply well to us singers, conductors and musicians. Those who perform great music are participating in a divine event for which we should be grateful, and want to give back, even if some of it is very difficult and requires lots of practising! (Can I say as a choir member that I have never been worked so hard by any choir master as we regularly are by Steve!)
This applies to all kinds of music. Some of you know that, as well as singing in the choir, I sing and play with a variety of rock and folk musicians, as I will this very afternoon. Since starting a few years ago, I have notice 2 things about this. 1) how wonderful it is to play in a band or ensemble where everyone has their part and can blend together in harmony and 2) How generous many serious musicians are in playing with those like myself who are enthusiastic amateurs! They want to give, which I find very humbling.
Having said that about music in general, there is something unique for a Christian about sacred music, sung and performed as an offering back to God the giver. Whether that’s in raising the church roof in congregational hymn singing, praying quietly while the choir sings an anthem, or moving our bodies to the beat of a worship or gospel song, it doesn’t matter. In words traditionally ascribed to St Augustine: ‘Whoever sings, prays twice!’
Today we give thanks for the work of the RSCM which has encouraged and enabled church music for nearly 100 years.
‘Freely you have received, freely give.’ Of course these words weren’t originally spoken about music, but about the gifts of healing Jesus gave to his disciples. There are a number of passages in the NT that speak of the gifts that God has given to his disciples, not just dramatic ones like that but more down-to-earth ones like administration and the gift of love which Paul describes as the ‘most excellent way.’ A good church is one where those gifts work together like an orchestra, not a one man band!
But today it’s about music. With the world full of so many hideous things at the moment , it seems right to take a step back, at this service of Eucharist, which means thanksgiving in Greek, to thank God for the amazing variety of music he has blessed the human race with. I’d like to end by quoting from a song which may not please everyone – including Steve. IT is a bit cheesy maybe but it touches a nerve with me (not a massive ABBA fan) and many others. It’s not clear who these thanks are due to in the song, but for me, it feels like a prayer to God the giver of all gifts. As we hear it, or sing along to it in our hearts, let’s think of some particular music that we love, whatever it is, and just spend a moment to offer it back.
So I say thank you for the music, the song we’re singing
Thanks for all the joy it’s bringing.
Who could live without it? I ask in all honesty
What would life be?
Without a song and a dance what are we? So I say thank you for the music, for giving it to me.
Hugh's Views 