The other day, I found myself humming “O Holy Night” in the shower (one of my favourite carols) But of course, I wasn’t humming “O Holy Night”; I was humming “Hmm Hm Hm Hmmm”. And as I did, it occurred to me that humming a song is a bit like the relationship between good works and the gospel.

 

Good works are not unrelated to the gospel, just as a tune is not unrelated to lyrics. They belong together. Indeed, there's nothing better than beautiful lyrics matched with a beautiful melody. When our neighbours see how the Lordship of Jesus transforms our lives, they find themselves drawn to the words we speak. Good works adorn the gospel, and may go a long way to earworming the gospel into people's hearts! But again, we must never confuse good works and the gospel. The gospel is the power of God for salvation. Good works are ambiguous and powerless to save.

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This is what's wrong with the quote that is often associated with St Francis of Assisi: “Always preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words” The gospel is spoken in words, namely: “Jesus is Lord” And this cannot be worked out by merely beholding someone’s good works, any more than someone might work out the lyrics to “O Holy Night” by listening to my humming. Wordless evangelism is not evangelism, and it is powerless to save. The gospel must be declared, explained, and defended. And people must be called to repent and put their trust in the Lord to be saved.

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There may be something more sinister about the acceptance of St Francis' quotation. Christians are afraid to sing. When performed in silence, it's hard to see how anyone might object to a good deed. But when accompanied by gospel proclamation, even the best deeds draw people’s fury. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, draws attention to the connection between good deeds and the gospel in his speech to the Sanhedrin,

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“Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.” (Acts 4:8-11)

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Like Peter, let's hum, but more than that, let's sing! Like Peter, the Holy Spirit has been given to all of us, and he helps us to sing the praises of him who called us out of darkness to be his ambassadors in the world. So let's not be content merely to hum the praises of our Lord. For as O Holy Night puts it: “Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever! His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!”