Music is an important part of the gathering of the Body of Christ around the words and gifts of Christ. We instinctively know this, as it would be hard for us to imagine a Divine Service without singing or music. Further, throughout the Scriptures, there is always music and singing when the people of God are in His presence.

Music can serve a variety of ends and purposes. In our every-day lives, we realize that music can accompany any number of emotions. This is why we listen to particular kinds of music that we associate with particular moods, or we listen to music to change our moods. So it is almost subconsciously that we associate certain music with certain places and times. When we hear certain songs, it is striking how we are transported to a particular place when we heard that song, or an emotion with which we associate it.

Not only do we realize that certain kinds of music fit with particular places and times and emotions, we also realize that certain kinds of music do not fit with particular places and times and emotions. So (most of the time!) we would find it strange to walk into a funeral home for a funeral and hear loud rock music. And (most of the time) we would find it strange to go to a stadium to hear a rock band [does anyone do that anymore?] and, instead, we hear quiet, instrumental music that hardly can be heard in the back rows.

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