For almost 300 years, millions have participated in, listened to, or sung along with Handel’s Messiah. They’ve done it in churches, concert halls, school auditoriums, and theaters. While the lyrics are taken completely from Scripture, non-Christians have joined Christians in expressing a profound appreciation for Handel’s greatest oratorio. It’s considered to be one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral pieces in Western music.
So is that a good thing? It would seem to be, if evangelism were our only consideration. Or, if conversion came simply by way of proximity to biblical truth. But what does it mean when unbelievers hear and sing about themes of sin, judgment, prophecies given and then fulfilled, substitutionary atonement, and Christ’s return with no apparent conviction or awareness? How should we think about its enduring popularity? And how did such a Bible-saturated work become so famous in the first place? A little history review might help us answer those questions.
A Brief History of Handel’s Messiah
Handel received the libretto[1] for his masterpiece from a friend at a time when his career was struggling. As a devout Lutheran, Handel had a heart for the poor, but the Messiah wasn’t written for the church. Handel needed income. Fortunately, when it debuted in the Great Music Hall of Dublin, Ireland, in 1742, it was a sellout crowd, raising 400 pounds for a hospital and freeing 142 men from debtor’s prison. It was an undeniable success, commercially and philanthropically.
1. Libretto (“word book”) is the technical term for “the listing of the biblical texts used in the musical composition,” For further introduction to the music of Messiah, see Esther Crookshank, “The Scriptures in Handel’s Messiah: An Overview.” ↑
But not everyone gave it glowing reviews. When Messiah came to London, many Anglicans thought it indecent to sing biblical texts from a theater stage. Years later, in the spring of 1784, a lavish multi-day festival was held in London to commemorate Handel’s upcoming 100th birthday and the 25th anniversary of his death. Crowds feverishly flocked to Westminster Abbey to revel in a four hour Messiah presented by over 500 musicians. John Newton, renowned pastor and author of “Amazing Grace” was not happy.
So four months later, while hoping to “avoid administering fuel to the flame of angry controversy,” Newton started a fifty sermon series expositing the Scriptural texts in the Messiah.[2] Woven throughout his messages were biting criticisms, not of Handel or the Oratorio itself, but of how people heard it, who came to hear it, and where it was heard.
2. From the preface of John Newton’s 50 sermons, originally published on 15 April, 1786. See John Newton, The Works of John Newton, Vol. 3 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2015), 19. ↑
Newton knew many who attended the Messiah were more impressed with the music than the message it conveyed. In Sermon 1, he challenged this pervasive mindset, insisting, “true Christians, without the assistance of either vocal or instrumental music, may find greater pleasure in a humble contemplation on the words of the Messiah, than they can derive from the utmost efforts of musical genius.”[3]
3. Newton, “Sermon 1: The Consolation,” Messiah, 10. ↑
He also questioned the makeup of the audiences. Although Handel did sign off on the Oratorio with SDG, Soli Deo Gloria, this was no worship service intended to be heard only by Christians. It was written for entertainment (although not solely)[4], and by the time of the 1764 festival, promoted as such. In Sermon 50 he said, “If the far greater part of the people who frequent the Oratorio, are evidently unaffected by the Redeemer’s love, and uninfluenced by his commands, I am afraid, it is no better, than a profanation of the name and truths of God, a crucifying the Son of God afresh.”[5]
4. Calvin Stapert brings light to the morally beneficial component which was often understood to be a part of the “entertainment” in Handel’s day. See Calvin R. Stapert, Handel’s Messiah: Comfort for God’s People (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2010), 67–68. ↑
5. Newton, “Sermon 50: The Universal Chorus,” Messiah, 436. ↑
Newton was also troubled that the Messiah was written to be performed in secular venues. In his mind, concert halls and theaters represented the height of worldliness. As he put it in Sermon 22, “The sufferings of the Son of God are, by no means, a proper subject for the amusement of a vacant hour.”[6]
6. Newton, “Sermon 22: Messiah Unpitied and without Comforter,” Messiah, 201. ↑
Newton’s critiques can be difficult to assess apart from knowing his context. But his concerns aren’t irrelevant. As in Handel’s day, it’s not always clear whether the world’s celebration of Christian music is cause for rejoicing or discouragement. It isn’t always easy for artists to distinguish between wanting to be used by God and wanting to use God for our own ends, whether those be financial rewards or musical pleasure.
There’s no “one size fits all” when it comes to music and the church, but pastors and musicians should be aware of the potential consequences of their decisions. What can we learn from Newton’s reflections on Handel’s Messiah as one faithful pastor responded to the musical sensation of his day?[7] Quite a bit. To that end, here are five reflections that might help us in that process.
7. Further historical reflections on Handel’s Messiah in the eyes of John Newton can be found in Ben Purves’s essay, “Profane Sacrilege or Redeemer’s Praise: John Newton on The Messiah and the 1784 Commemoration of Handel.” ↑
When Bringing Sacred Music into Secular Spaces
1. While the success of sacred works doesn’t mean the gospel is advancing, we can pray God uses them to that end.
The text of the Messiah incorporates verses from seven Old Testament books and six New Testament books. In preparing for this article, I read through the libretto and was deeply edified as the story of redemption unfolded. And yet many (most?) people are unaffected by the words and see the Messiah as simply a great religious classical work. Nevertheless, God in his sovereignty may use those very words to raise a dead soul to life. They are his living and abiding words, and we should pray he grants resurrection to those who hear them (1 Pet. 1:23).
2. Music can be creative, relevant, and edifying without being distracting.
Handel chose the music for the Messiah because it was popular. Nevertheless, some Christians took issue with its complexity. The trills, vocal runs, and melismas (one syllable sung over multiple notes) tended to draw attention away from the meaning of the lyrics to the talents of the performer. Even apart from the venues it was performed in, it’s not hard to see why some saw it more as entertainment than edification.
Wise leaders and composers will carefully weigh how much technical virtuosity people can take in before artistry becomes the focus. It’s not that we can’t enjoy the beauty and genius of Messiah and other works. God is the one who gives and commands artistic and musical skill in the first place (Exod. 35:34–35; Ps. 33:3). But when people are consistently more aware of our creativity than the Creator, of our skill than the Savior, we’re tempting them to idolatry.
3. Production values should never overshadow or obscure our message.
If the word of Christ is going to dwell in people richly as we sing and play music (Col. 3:16), they need to hear and comprehend it. While we can’t control the relative effect of music versus lyrics on any given individual, people’s attention can be drawn to the music through over-production, exaggerated physical movement, music that is out of emotional sync with the words, and an overpowering accompaniment.
One author described the Messiah at Handel’s commemorative festival this way: “Inside the building soloists received storms of applause, while cheap theatrical effects rendered Handel’s solemn strains noisy and bombastic, and the thunder of chorus and kettledrums for four hours proved almost deafening.”[8] It sounds like at least that performance of the Messiah failed the test. We don’t need to fail it today.
8. Robert Manson Myers, Harvard Theological Review, Vol. XXXIX, Oct., 1946, “Fifty Sermons on Handel’s Messiah,” 218. ↑
4. Be aware that people often need help to understand the songs they’re hearing and singing.
The fact that people can listen to Messiah and miss what’s being said tells us that musical works on their own, no matter how inspired they might be, don’t always communicate what people need to hear. It’s not far removed from the people of Ezekiel’s day who likened his prophetic judgments to “one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well” (Ezek. 33:32). They heard his words but rather than taking them to heart and obeying them, they simply enjoyed them.
Knowing this, we want to pursue opportunities to draw attention to what songs are saying, trusting the Spirit of Truth to illumine the mind and quicken the heart. Those might include spoken comments, before, after, or during a performance or service, that provide direction, instruction, explanation, or inspiration. Our aim is to shepherd people’s souls as we apply the truths that are being sung to their hearts and lives.
5. Music should be led and performed in such a way that character, not gifting, receives the greater focus.
When we stand before the judgment seat of Christ on the last day (2 Cor. 5:10), no one will be applauded for their musical gifting, skill, or accomplishments. Those are gifts from God meant to draw attention to the Giver. What will elicit God’s praise is those who served him faithfully, endured suffering through faith, and boasted in the cross of Christ (Matt. 25:23; 1 Pet. 1:3–7; Gal. 6:14). For that reason, it’s contradictory when performers in a concert hall or musicians on a church platform sing songs about the glory of God and at the same time seek it for themselves.
Likewise, when unbelievers sing songs praising a Messiah they don’t know, we should be cautious about comments that focus solely on their art and ignore the condition of their hearts. Instead, we can see it as an opportunity to distinguish between the temporal benefits of music and the eternal benefits of repenting and believing in the One of whom they sing.
A Thankful Word of Caution
Should we be glad that the words of Scripture are being sung and listened to in concert halls throughout the world? Absolutely. Is that a sign that revival is around the corner? Hardly. Can God use Christian songs sung outside the church to awaken people to the power of the gospel? Certainly. Can people develop a false sense of assurance and closeness to God because they’re singing or listening to Christian songs? Undeniably. “Worship” is only taking place when those hearing or singing the Messiah are seeking to exalt and treasure Christ in their hearts and lives.
In the end, God will be glorified with or without our songs, no matter how magnificent they sound to us. They can serve God’s purposes for advancing the gospel, but he doesn’t need them. And as Newton pointed out in Sermon 1, Christians have something much better to look forward to:
They who love the Redeemer, and therefore delight to join in his praise, if they did not find it convenient, or think it expedient, to hear the Messiah at Westminster, may comfort themselves with the thought, that, in a little time, they shall be still more abundantly gratified. Ere long death shall rend the veil which hides eternal things from their view, and introduce them to that unceasing song and universal chorus, which are even now performing before the throne of God and the Lamb.[9]
9. Newton, “Sermon 1: The Consolation,” Messiah, 10. ↑
No matter how magnificent the orchestra and choir, Jesus himself will always be better than the music we use to praise him. As we look forward to that heavenly song in his presence with eager expectation, may God give us discernment, courage, and faithfulness to use music in a way that honors the One who alone is worthy of eternal praise.
