God So Loved the World: Singing Stainer's John 3:16-17

Some pieces of music you sing because they are on the lectionary schedule. Others you sing because you love them. For me, Sir John Stainer’s God So Loved the World is one of the second kind, a setting of the most famous verse in the Bible that never gets old, no matter how many times I sing it.

Two Verses, Not Just One

Most of us can recite John 3:16 from memory. What I love about Stainer’s anthem is that he does not stop there. He keeps going into the next verse:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

John 3:16-17 (KJV)

Verse 17 is the reason to believe. God did not send Jesus to condemn us but to save us. John 3:16 tells us what God did; John 3:17 tells us why. That is the heart of the Gospel, and it is the heart of what we Lutherans mean by grace: salvation is God’s gift, not a verdict we have to earn our way out of.

From The Crucifixion

Stainer was organist at St Paul’s Cathedral in London, and he wrote God So Loved the World as part of his 1887 oratorio The Crucifixion. The anthem quickly took on a life of its own and is sung by church choirs around the world, especially during Lent and Holy Week.

Challenging and Rewarding

The arrangement is for four unaccompanied voices, soprano, alto, tenor, and bass (SATB). With no organ to lean on, every part has to hold its own pitch while blending with the others, and the whole choir has to breathe and shape each phrase together.

It is challenging, but rewarding for the singers and the listeners alike. When it comes together, you are not just hearing harmony. You are hearing two verses of Scripture prayed out loud, in four parts at once.

Listen to Tenebrae, conducted by Nigel Short, in the video above. If you enjoy it, you may also like my reflection on Tallis’s If Ye Love Me, another a cappella setting of words from John’s Gospel.

Come Sing With Us

At Triumphant Cross Lutheran Church in Dothan, music is one of the ways we share the good news that God sent his Son not to condemn the world, but to save it. Whether you sing or simply love to listen, you are welcome here.