What makes music "sacred"?

I've done a lot of thinking and talking about music lately. I have noticed that when I use the word "contemporary" in the same sentence with "Christian" and "music", I usually get a very visceral response; something like, "I hate that stuff". It seems that to a lot of my sisters and brothers in the Episcopal Church "sacred" music is traditional Anglican hymnody, and nothing else. Made me pause and go "hmmm". I have since stopped using the word "contemporary". It causes too much confusion. What I mean by it and what people envision when they hear it seem to be two very distinctly different things.

This made me think, "what makes music sacred"? You know, Bach wrote his music "sola Deo gloria" (I think that's spelled right) - for God alone the glory. Was Bach the last person to write music "sola Deo gloria"? I don't think so. Bach wrote "contemporary" music for his time, and for which he apparently took some criticism. So again, "what makes music sacred"?

I think the genre of the music is less important than the intent of the ones who write it, play it, and sing it. We had a Jazz Mass at Nativity last November. The genre was Jazz; the music was definitely sacred. I have heard children sing sacred music in Vacation Bible School. I have heard rock-n-roll, celtic, folk, country and blues music that has struck me as distinctly "sacred".

One moment of worship at Nativity sticks in my mind. I had preached a sermon in which I made reference to Martin Luther King, Jr. and our music minister spontaneously started playing "We Shall Overcome" on the piano during communion. People sang, that day, from their hearts - even as they walked up to the communion rail. They were caught up in the music. Obviously, the music minister had touched on a song that was in the hearts of many people that day. I believe we all have a song in our heart; I think the music in church can bring forth that song. I believe that a song written for God's people and for the glory of God and sung from the heart is "SACRED". It doesn't matter what genre or era it comes form.

So I think I will use the term "Neo-Sacred" to refer to sacred music that may not be in the 1982 Hymnal; for all that music that is contemporary, emerging, or non-traditional. We have room for it in our church. In fact, we must make room for it and embrace it in our church. We must make the effort to reach the song in the hearts of a wider circle of people. We must do music "sola Deo gloria" and not for our own comfort and tradition.

What are your thoughts? What is the song in your heart?