Singing Your Life

A Sermon Based Upon Colossians 3: 16; Luke 12: 4-7; 22-31

By Rev. Dr. Charles J. Tomlin, DMin

Flat Rock-Zion Baptist Partnership

Pentecost 8c, July 14, 2012

“And with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. (Col 3:16 NRS).

“He who sings, prays twice.”     ----Saint Augustine

In the German Baptist congregation where I was once pastor, the first class you are asked to take after becoming a new member is ‘music’---either learning to read music, play the flute, or to learn how to sing in church.   In that church, every Christian and every member is expected to take some part in the musical ministry of the church.   Members are not only expected to bring their Bible, but they also purchase and bring their own hymnbook, which they use at home, as well as, at church.  Christians are supposed to make it ‘natural’ to find a way to ‘sing their lives’.

But it’s not just Christians who sing.   The music industry was the first to take advantage of digital technology and last year revenue from music was over 16.5 billion dollars.  Whether or not we agree with all the music on the airways or not, you cannot dispute the face that most all of us are greatly influence by ‘music’.   What day goes by in your own life that you don’t hear or hum a tune?  Being human is an invitation to sing.  Being Christian invites music into our souls and releases music from our souls, and as a follower of Jesus, one of the greatest witness to our faith is to be able to ‘sing’ our lives, whether we can actually stay on pitch or not.

ACKNOWLEDGING THE GIFT

Most of you have watched the reality TV shows like American Idol, The Voice, or the former acappella competition, Sing Off.  Each of them have their own way to introduce and develop new and raw singing talent to their audiences, and to the world.  What is certainly clear in these shows is the contrast between those who can sing well, those who think they can, but can’t, and those who and those have natural, exceptional, world-class talent.   But in most cases we see, the contrast is between those who ‘have it’ and those who ‘don’t’.  The ability to sing like some of these people can, is something that is ‘gifted’.  It can be developed when you have the gift, but it cannot be developed when you don’t.   In this way the gift of music should remind us of the gift of God’s grace.  It is not something we can develop on our own.   It is a gift---a gift from God, as it is a gift from beyond ourselves.      

When we have been given a ‘gift’ of life, that we have not earned, accomplished, or developed on our own, we too have a ‘gift’ to acknowledge.  This is what is meant, first of all, when we speak of ‘singing’ our lives.  Our lives have been given to us as notes on a page, which we did not compose.  Now what we must do is bring that tune into reality, to sing it, to share it, to live it and of course, to acknowledge that we are the singer, but not the author of the song.    This is exactly what Paul means when he writes that his readers should ‘sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God’  with ‘gratitude’.    Just as a bird sets on a ledge and sings for no apparent reason other than pure gratitude, we too, as God’s people, are called to sing our lives with that same kind of gratitude.  Gratitude that is felt in the heart needs to be expressed on the lips and with our lives, in a response of appreciation and thankfulness.   It is something we do with all our being, just like music moves throughout our body and soul.  It is the ‘sound of music’ from our souls that acknowledges all we have been given as a gift.

Speaking of ‘The Sound of Music’, that is the title of one of the most enjoyable musicals of all time.   It was based upon a real singing family, the Von Trap family singers who escaped Austria during the Nazi times.  The person who taught them to sing through that terrible time, was a Nun named Maria, who was so free spirited and joyful that she did not belong in the Nunnery, but she needed to be a teacher who taught children to face, grow, and to claim the fullness of their lives with song.   It was out of those majestic Alpine hills that a ‘sound of music’ challenged the darkness, as this family sang for all people their joy to be alive and to have survived the terrors of War and to still be able to claim the gift of life with song and joy.

Of all people, Christians should have a ‘song’ to sing; a song, which as they old gospel song, “holy angels cannot sing”; the song not only of a thankfulness for life; but also a thankfulness for the redemption of our lives that can overcome darkness, sin, suffering, and pain.   The core message of the gospel is to have been given the gift of singing ‘a new song’.   But how do we get to singing that song of our life with great joy---joy that brings gladness, fullness, completeness and contentment into our lives.  Where does such a song come from?  You might a bit surprise to find the answer.

ACCEPTING OUR LIMITS 

If I were to ask you when has your life been most filled with feelings of a song for life, what you answer?  We’ve all had special moments, high moments, mountain-top moments.   My guess is that most of us, however, would point the moment right after a close brush with death, a close call, a misdiagnosis, or some other moment of relief or release as some of the greatest moments of elation and joy in our lives.   I’ve been there and so have most of you.  You came close to getting killed in an accident.   You recovered from some sickness.  You went to the doctor and he or she gave you a clean bill of health, when you thought it was otherwise, and you were most glad to be alive.  

In my German church, years ago, we asked for testimonies.  I was hoping for some grand testimony about someone having a deep encounter with God or something.  One elderly lady stood up and said she was simply thankful to be there.  Only a couple of days before was nearly killed in a car accident and she went on to describe what happened.  I was sitting there thinking, is this all she has to share from her life of faith?

But as I rethink her testimony, it really makes sense.  When we have a close encounter with death it is most always a time we are most glad to be alive, feel most alive, and understand the gift of life we’ve been given.   We seldom feel the full joy and gift of life when everything is wide open and limitless or when we have ‘life by the tail” or everything under control.   But it is when we feel limited, restricted, threatened or for some reason or other, are contemplating our ‘end’ that we know the joy of life.

What all this means is that we human seem to do better with life and with finding meaning, joy, and hope in life when things are not so wide open.  When we have limits, responsibilities, duties, obligations and commitments.   This is one of the reason it’s so important that young people, young adults know responsibilities as well as opportunities.  If our life is not much more than doing what we want, we can lose the passion and joy of life.  But when we have things to do, jobs to complete, tasks to finish, and people to care for, then we seem to find the greatest peace and happiness.  Happiness and joy is not what you go looking for, but it’s something that you find when you accept ‘who you are’ and ‘who you aren’t’, and you get each up each day, glad to face the day with what’s been handed to you, knowing your song of joy is found in doing what needs to be done.  

When I was a child, some of the most interesting music were not songs about having freedom, but songs about hoping for and dreaming of freedom.  They were songs you whistled while you worked.  “I’ve been working on the railroad, all the live long day….I’ve been working on the railroad, just to pass the time away….”   These were songs of prisoners, having to do some of the dirtiest work, but in that work, they still were thankful to be alive and found a song to sing.   This kind of hope and joy was found not only in work songs, but protest songs, spirituals, folk and country songs.   Songs like “John Henry” was both a ‘work song’ and a ‘protest song’, singing, “That Hammer's gonna be the death of me, Lord, Lord."

Other songs, spiritual and protest songs, were sung in the face of the horrors of slavery.   And as bad as slavery was, and still is as is, there was found some of the highest faith and sweetest earthly joy in dreaming, hoping, and be glad to make it through another day.   One of the greatest spirituals of all time is entitled, “There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole. There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul. One of these mornings bright and fair,  I’m gonna lay down my heavy load.  Gonna kick my wings and cleave the air,  I’m gonna lay down my heavy load.”   Spirituals are some of the greatest songs, because they come from the struggle of a soul under the weight of life and death.   It is in this place we learn to sing our greatest songs.

Thinking about the source of ‘spiritual songs’, brings me our gospel text where Jesus teaches his disciples how to ‘sing’ their lives.   You might call this chapter the ‘bird’ chapter, because Jesus uses both sparrows and ravens to illustrate God’s care for his children.   Here, Jesus speaks intimately to his disciples, though crowds are all around him.  He is warns them about trouble that is brewing, “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, but after that can do nothing more.  But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell.  Yes, I tell you, fear him!  Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies?  Yet not one of them is forgotten God’s sight.  But even the hairs of your head are all counted.  Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.”  (Luke 12:4-7).   

Jesus’ point is that his disciples can face the hard things in life because God cares and ultimately God is the only one who has the power over our eternal destiny.   Thus, we need not fear.   This conversation about the God’s care, as seen even in ‘birds’ reaches a climax in verses 22-31, as Jesus encourages his disciples to ‘not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear.  For life is more than food and the body more than clothing.  Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn and yet God feeds them.  Of how much more value are you than the birds!  And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?.... Strive for the Kingdom and these things will be given to you! (22-25, 31).

What do ‘birds’ have to do with singing our lives?  The music of birds is some of the sweetest songs on our planet.  Science tells us that birds sing primarily to attract mates and to claim their territory.  But did you know that a Winter Wren only weighs one third of an once, but can sing 10 times the sound of a crowing rooster?  Did you know that a Brown Thrasher can sing up to 2000 distinct songs?  In North America we primarily hear male birds singing, but in deep, dark and wet Rain Forests, male and female birds often sing in duet.  Most birds sing during the day-time when perched, but there are birds that sing in flight, and the elusive African-European Nightingale is one of the few birds that sings at night. 

No matter what happens, in various ways, birds sing their way through life.  When we learn to acknowledge and accept the life God has given us, even under difficult circumstances, we can best sing our lives as an expression of faith, hope and love.   Several years ago, the church where I pastored had a ministry at the local prison.  It was our responsibility to go to that prison once a year, feed the prisoners, encourage them, share our witness and share a worship service together.   Normally we would plan special music and I would preach a brief message.  But often our worship service would be taken over by the inmates.  We came to be a blessing to them and then ended up blessing our lives.  It’s amazing how people learn to worship when they know they are a ‘captive’ audience.   There was something about these men who could go nowhere else, who knew how to offer up their lives to God.  If they could do that in their circumstances, surely we can still sing through ours.

APPREHENDING THE PROMISE 

We are only able to sing like this, even in and against the darkness that comes in our lives, when we let God’s love and truth challenge and lay hold of us.   Again, our in this text from Colossians,  we sing our lives as we “let the Word of Christ fully dwell in us,” as we “admonish one another in all wisdom” and as we actively, ‘with gratitude in (our) hearts, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.”  The is the context of the music for our lives.   See how Paul puts the Word of Christ on one side, along with singing spiritual songs on the other, and then ‘admonishing one another’ in the middle’.    The Common English Version captures his thought best: “The word of Christ must live in you richly. Teach and warn each other with all wisdom by singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.  Sing to God with gratitude in your hearts. (Col 3:16 CEB).    This reminds us that the song God has put in our hearts is a tool for challenging, sharpening, and giving shape to our Christian lives.  When we sing our lives we take hold of all that God has for us.

King Duncan tells of a Mother who received a Walt Disney video and Cinderella.   They watched it non-stop for three days.   Since it was warm outside, the family kept their windows open. Their neighbors were having their roof re-shingled by three burly men.  As the Mom went out to get the mail one afternoon, she heard a roofer singing, “. . . put it together and what do you get?”   From the other side of the house came a chorus of two more husky voices: “Bibbidi bobbidi, bibbidi bobbidi, bibbidi, bobbidi boo!”   If a child’s tune can shape the voices and ideas of these men, think what God’s music can do, if we will listen, sing, and join in the chorus.  (As told by King Duncan in a sermon at www.sermons.com).

Anne Lamott recounts her experience in the little African-American church she attends in California, the church that led her to conversion as an adult.  She says, “Of all the things I loved about that church . . . it was the singing that pulled me in and split me wide open. Has singing ever done that to you?” she asks. She continues, “The singing enveloped me. It was furry and resonant, coming from everyone’s very heart . . . Something inside me that was stiff and rotting would feel soft and tender. Somehow the singing wore down all the boundaries and distinctions that kept me so isolated. Sitting there, standing with them to sing, sometimes so shaky and sick that I felt like I might tip over, I felt bigger than myself, like I was being taken care of, tricked into coming back to life. But I had to leave before the sermon. (One day), she writes, I went . . . to church . . . so hung over that I couldn’t stand up for the songs, and this time I stayed for the sermon, which I just thought was so ridiculous . . . but the last song was so deep and raw and pure that I could not escape. It was as if the people were singing in between the notes, weeping and joyful at the same time, and I felt like their voices or something was rocking me in its bosom, holding me like a scared kid, and I opened up to that feeling‑-and it washed over me.”  (From Anne Lamott, in Traveling Mercies (Pantheon, 1998), pp. 47‑50).

Maybe music has done something like that to you.  Maybe God’s music can still do something like that in you?   Music can do amazing things for the human soul, but even more amazing what the soul can do, when we God’s song enables us to sing our way through life.   Amen.