Singing Alleluia at the Grave

OK, so I've thought it's really strange that the Episcopal Church has such a rich reputation and heritage of fine, high-church music, but has so very few resources for congregation. I mean there's no music publishing house except for the hymnals and supplements, no instruction, or training to raise up musicians. But we have the Book of Common Prayer, and that book directs our worship. I only recently realized how much the liturgy of the church has become imprinted on my soul.

An Episcopal funeral is an Easter liturgy. It's a "smells and bells" service - a celebration of the promise of our own resurrection. It can be somber, but as Episcopalians are known for a quirky sense of what is reverent and what is not, they can be, well, interesting. In Lent, all the Alleluias are removed from the liturgy. Lent is a period of waiting and anticipation. Holy Week is filled with remembrances of the impending crucifixion and the three days that God the Son was dead. And with Easter, the return of the Savior is celebrated in grand fashion. We get extra Alleluias to make up for the ones we missed. The cry at the end of the service is "Thanks Be To God. Alleluia!! Alleluia!!"

My Aunt Connie died last month, and her funeral was a nice celebration. It was a good Baptist service with some of her favorite music, and the plan of salvation all laid out for everyone who was there. The occasion was sad, but the service was not. It was a celebration of her life in the service of her family and her church. All the usual word of comfort were there, but for me, something was missing. I needed the liturgy that gives me words when I have no words. I needed the ebb and flow, the give and take, the call and response that is in our liturgy. I needed the alleluias at the grave.

I was thinking these things during the service and listening to the couple who provided the special music singing,"Just A Closer Walk With Thee", and I began to listen around me. I could hear an occasional sniffle, but I heard more than that. I began to hear people humming along softly and singing in snatches very quietly. And I realized that what I had been thinking about for weeks was true.

We all have liturgy. In non-liturgical churches, music and song become liturgy. The hymnal becomes the prayer book. I have often laughed as I sang my way through the 1956 Ed. of the Baptist Hymnal that I was praying my way through the hymnal, but I was being honest. In that simple connection to "Just A Closer Walk", the Baptists and Methodists around me were joined in a simple ritual that reflected the truth of God. It provided words when there were none.

And while it may not have been the words, "All of us go down to the dust;' yet even at the grave we make our song: Alleluia, alleluia, Alleluia." It was liturgy nontheless. And I was comforted.

Thanks be to God. Alleluia. Alleluia.

anything but typical

Just A Closer Walk With Thee - unknown

I am weak, but Thou art strong;
Jesus, keep me from all wrong;
I’ll be satisfied as long
As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.

Refrain

Just a closer walk with Thee,
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

Through this world of toil and snares,
If I falter, Lord, who cares?
Who with me my burden shares?
None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.

Refrain

When my feeble life is o’er,
Time for me will be no more;
Guide me gently, safely o’er
To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore.

Refrain