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.

The full text of Handel’s Messiah can be found in this Interactive Edition. It includes a brief introduction to each part, as well as the biblical texts of Messiah and a link to a performance of that part on YouTube.

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.

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.

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]

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]

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]

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.

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