Wrong anthem

As I sit here on Sunday morning, Sept. 28, 2025, listening to my local classical music radio station, which plays music reflecting the day’s Common Lectionary (selection of scripture passages used in many churches), I just heard “Poor Man Lazarus,” with its refrain:

I’m tormented in the flame!
I’m tormented in the flame!
Dip your finger in the water;
come and cool my tongue,
’cause I’m tormented in the flame!

It is based on the parable Jesus tells in Luke 16:19-31, one of today’s readings.

Some years ago, when this same passage was also used, a small choir of which I was a member, sang a song recounting John 11:1-44, in which Jesus is said to raise his friend Lazarus, brother of Mary and Martha, from the dead. Same name, but one was a character in a story Jesus fashioned, the other real person. Different stories, serving different purposes.

I didn’t realize we had prepared an anthem about the wrong Lazarus until I heard the day’s scripture read that Sunday morning. Our director, bless his heart, had seen the name Lazarus and then had chosen the song.

I sent a group email that afternoon pointing out the faux pas. The director admitted it was embarrassing. Another member, though, who as I do, holds a Master of Divinity degree, somehow found a way to see it as OK.

Why did/does it matter to me? Well, besides my OCD tendencies, I think that the more the music and liturgy directly support the day’s scripture, the more meaningful the worship experience can be.