Break Down Walls, Musically!

If you want to get to know someone really well, talk to them about the types of music they listen to. Maybe they like jazz, or hip hop, or classic rock, or 10th century Gregorian chant. Whenever I put my music on shuffle it can be a wild ride through music history and well, my mood! Last stop classical music, next stop heavy metal. Then it’s off to folk music before ending at City Pop (70s/80s music from Japan). There is always a song or a piece of music that is the perfect soundtrack to what I’m feeling at the time. Which makes me wonder, if music has the ability to make me feel happy, does it also have the ability to make me feel negative about myself and the world around me?

We might all know that anything humans invent has the potential for good but also harm. The greater for one, the greater for the other. This is true for music as well. But when does music do harm? Is one person’s good intentions another person’s harm? You might know the story from the Bible book of Joshua about the destruction of the walls of Jericho. It talked of people carrying trumpets of rams’ horns creating sounds of a “long blast” on these trumpets. If you’ve ever been near any sort of brass instrument, you know the power these instruments have. Now add that with a big group of people also giving “a loud shout”. The music that was created here was so strong, so powerful, that “the wall of the city [collapsed]. That’s some heavy metal right there! 

Now, I’m not a Biblical scholar, or a Minister, so I won’t go into details on why they broke down the walls of Jericho and what went on after that, but what I will focus on is that music was used to destroy the walls of Jericho. Was that a good or bad thing? That’s the exact question I asked the former Rev of St. Andrews, Jim Tenford, when I was asking him for advice on writing this sermon. His answer: “Depends on which side of the walls you’re on. Tough reading you’re thinking of using!” Thanks Jim, no pressure haha. And it is a tough reading because that’s the thing, was music used here for good or bad? Were the trumpets used as weapons of destruction, or tools of peace? I don’t know, and I’m not here to tell you who was right or wrong. I’m here to say that although music has the ability to heal, it also has the ability to destroy. And because of that we must be careful with how we use it. There are historical accounts that music was used to torture those captured in Auschwitz by playing a popular polka song over and over when prisoners returned to the camp from a day of hard labor, mocking their suffering. Music was used as a destructive tool by some Norwegian Black Metal groups in the early 90s to inspire the burning down of several Churches. Music is used as a tool in North America by “White Power” groups that seek to spread hate. So you see, if you’re using music to spread a message of hate and evil, then like rotten fruit, the music has become spoiled and no longer good to consume.

I choose to use music as a tool of healing to restore my soul and the souls around me. I choose to stand on the side of the wall where music is used as a cry for justice and peace. I choose to allow music to break down the barriers that divide. Because music can connect us if we allow it. We all might come from different backgrounds, belief systems, fashion styles, but one thing is universal that connects us together: music. God has given us music to help break down the very things that divide us, and it feels like there are so many things that can divide us today. However, I choose to allow music to break down the walls of division around my stone heart. Let the walls shatter, fall down, and see that when the dust settles, the people behind those walls are just as human as we are.