In Greek mythology the Sirens Song was an enchanting melody of mythical creatures on an island of the sea. When sailors heard their voices they were lured to shipwreck on the rocky coast of the island. Supposedly various commanders had their men drown out the sound by stuffing their ears with beeswax or by playing even more beautiful music even more loudly.

I think this has been a tool of the enemy from the beginning. Make evil so beautiful and beguiling and attractive and set it to music – well, how could anything so wonderful possibly be wrong?

I saw recently that the movie version of Bohemian Rhapsody is coming out. This takes me back. I was in the seventh grade. I kept hearing this British band on the radio. Queen was new to me and the song was a hugely overdone rock opera. I listened and decided this was an album I wanted.

My parents had no clue when I brought home A Night at the Opera. To be honest, I didn’t either.

I was drawn to it because of the amazing vocals, musical complexity and the rock and roll. It was perhaps the most creative thing I had ever heard. It was captivating. Enchanting.

I knew the lyrics. This was at a time when many people said, “Oh, I don’t listen to the words. I just like the beat.” Not me. I listened to every word. I read the lyrics on the album liner (remember those?) and I tried to figure out what the artists were trying to say.

This is what makes Bohemian Rhapsody really hard. It is a confusing and perhaps meaningless collection of words. Nihilistic, fatalistic, and downright confusing – Freddie Mercury never revealed the true meaning behind the words. He suggested it was open to interpretation.

“nothing really matters. Nothing really matters to me… Anyway the wind blows.”

Yet as a thirteen year old I was not prepared for the reality of Freddie’s lyrics or his lifestyle. At the time he wrote the song he was first coming out as a homosexual. He died of AIDS in 1991. His was an enormous talent. Yet in the end I think that no matter what his lyrics said his life really did matter.

It’s easy to suggest that nothing really matters. The implication is that we can do what we want and live however we want. Perhaps if we really were just animals without a soul then this would be true. But it isn’t. God has given meaning to our lives. Our ideas, our words and our actions have meaning and consequence.

One day we will leave this life. Psalm 90 contrasts the eternal God with finite man. We are here for 70 years or if we are strong 80 years. But then the reality of life and death steps in and we are returned to the dust. It was true for Moses and it was true for Freddie. It is true for you and me as well.

We are created as a living soul. We are going to live somewhere forever. What we do in this life matters because this is our opportunity to come to know the living God and to be forgiven of every sin and to have eternal life. The alternative is to live for the pleasure and pain that the world gives and then to die without Christ. It really would be better to have never been born. It means an eternity without God and without hope. It means punishment for our sin and unbelief.

But God has done everything so that we don’t have to endure that. He Himself went to Calvary and died as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. He has done all. Just believe. Turn from your sin and your self and your own efforts to be somebody and something. Quit trying to do it yourself. Surrender.

Now let me be specific. What condemns any soul to hell is not the particular brand of sexual immorality which we subscribe to. You can be straight as an arrow and go straight to hell. What condemns a man is unbelief. “How will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3a, CSB)

The Hebrews writer continues, “Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through his death he might destroy the one holding the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death.” (Hebrews 2:14–15, CSB)

I won’t be going to the movie. I’m sure it will be amazingly done. I’m sure the power of the song will still be there. But for me that is a part of my life I can never go back to. My music was my life. When I came to know Jesus I still had a great love for music (and I still do) but the power in my life today is so much greater than anything Queen could offer me.

So don’t get caught up listening to the siren’s song – the voices of the singers and minstrels and bohemians who wander across the landscape singing that nothing really matters. That is the fantasy. It is a lie and a trap.

This is the real life and someone really does love you. Jesus has already destroyed the devil’s power and He is ready to set you free. Receive Him today.

Your Pastor,

Bro. Tim Hobbs

 

“Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, since he always lives to intercede for them.” (Hebrews 7:25, CSB)