Sermon for November 2, 2003
21st Sunday after
Pentecost
It Happens When You Sing!
Ps 146; Mk 12: 28-34
It was just before
lunch time as I sat down in the Poquoson Middle School bleachers that
brisk fall morning a little over two years ago. It was a few days after
Sept. 11 and the school principle had called for a day of remembrance
after the tragic terrorist attacks. The entire city was invited. I was
there in response to that invitation but also because my 7th grade
daughter attended the school and would be a part of the program. The band
played, the mayor spoke, then the entire student body formed the outline
of a giant map of the United States on the football field. That was a
very meaningful experience. But as the fire department’s hook and ladder
truck slowly raised that huge American flag above the field, we all began
to sing. We sang “God bless America.” As we were singing, it happened.
Somehow the anguish of grief and loss we all felt found most appropriate
expression in a spirit of unity and resolve as American citizens. As I
looked across that vast throng who were raising their voices in song that
day I knew it was happening right before my eyes: we are all Americans.
We may have our disagreements with one another, there may be a gap in the
generations, there may be a rift between those who have lived in Poquoson
all their lives and those who have recently moved there, but in that
moment, right then, we were all one. When we sang, it happened!
I experienced there
what the church has always known to be true--it happens when you sing!
The Psalm you shared
this morning is a song. With it you not only described what it is you
have come to do today—you did it!
Praise the Lord! Praise the
Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing
praises to my God all my life long.
Psalm 146:1-2
If you have come today to take
seriously what Jesus describes as the greatest commandment of all, that
is, to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, you did
that in everything you sang this morning. It happens when you sing!
Singing is a very
interesting human experience. When you really put your attention to it,
it involves your whole being. Ask any member of our vocal choirs this
morning and they will tell you—when they sing it’s never simply a matter
of producing a technically accurate sound. You ask any professional
vocalist and they will tell you the same thing. Singing involves all that
you are. It is not just the accuracy of the notes or the precision of the
dynamics that make for good singing. There is a way in which meaning,
feeling, and even commitment can come through to our present reality by
singing more than any other experience we can know. The people of God
have known this through the ages. The church has known this so well that
singing has always been an integral and vital part of our worship of God.
You see, you ought to
sing. If you sing relatively on pitch, can keep up with the proper
rhythm, and are able to learn, you have already received the invitation
your church has extended to you to join one of our vocal choirs. As a
matter of fact the chances are very good that one of your fellow church
members has already passed your name onto us with the hopeful prayer that
you will consider singing to God’s glory in the leadership of worship.
Your pastor certainly encourages you to do so as we seek to grow our vocal
choirs just now.
There are many ways
persons sing. I will never forget the experience I had at an Annual
Conference a few years ago when the congregation included many who were
deaf. Now, how do the deaf sing? WITH THEIR HANDS! As we sang the hymn
and their hands and arms were raised in graceful movement that morning,
well, it happened as I had never experienced it before. The Rev. Rob
Vaughn, a college buddy of mine, is an interpreter for the deaf. Now Rob
is a hearing person and loves to sing the great hymns of the church.
Unfortunately Rob just can’t sing the tune quite right. I deeply admire
his gift of leading the deaf in the signing of the hymns. But I also joke
with him that that is the only way we let Rob sing! Well, if you are like
Rob, hear the message of the Gospel today. You, too, ought to sing—maybe
not in the choir, but you ought to sing!
John Wesley had some
direction for all of us in this regard:
DIRECTIONS FOR SINGING
III.
Sing all. See that you join with the congregation as frequently
as you can. Let not a slight degree of weakness or weariness hinder
you. If it is a cross to you, take it up, and you will find it a
blessing.
IV. Sing
lustily and with a good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half
dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more
afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, than when
you sung the songs of Satan.
VIIa Above all sing spiritually. Have
an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing him more than
yourself, or any other creature.
From John Wesley’s Select Hymns,
1761, UMH vii.
You see, the one who founded the
movement over 200 years ago that became our United Methodist Church says
you ought to sing. It happens when you sing!
There is no better way for our
children to come to know the experience of the love of God in the
community of faith than singing. Children so enjoy singing. It will not
surprise you today that I believe every child related to the church ought
to have the experience of singing for God. That is why we are so anxious
to grow our Hosanna and Cherub Choirs. When we hear the children sing
there is something that happens to them and to us in the church that goes
far beyond either or our own pride in their accomplishment or our own
enjoyment of their presentation. You see, it happens when you sing. When
they sing:
“I am the church, you are the church,
we are the church together. All who follow Jesus all around the world,
Yes! We’re the church together”
refrain, Avery and Marsh, 1972,
UMH 558
It happens! No matter what may be
going on in your life or in the life of the church or even in the world in
that moment, we are one in Christ right then—it happens!
At Christmastime when
we sing “Joy to the World” the Lord does come in that moment of singing.
At Easter the church experiences the resurrection when we sing “Vainly
they watch his bed, Jesus my Savior; vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my
Lord! Up from the grave he arose!” In a memorial service why do we so
often sing “How Great Thou Art?”—because in the singing of that hymn all
of our grief, memories, comfort, and hope well up in us by the healing
grace of God. When the children lead us in their most favorite song of
all we know without a doubt that “Jesus Loves Me, this I know.” Brothers
and sisters, it happens when you sing!
Hear the call of God
today to sing. If you feel the tug of your heartstrings at God’s urging
for you to help take leadership in our worship by singing in our vocal
choirs, come join us! If your children or grandchildren knows the songs
on the radio, or in commercials, or in videogames better than they know
the songs of the church for goodness sake let them sing for God! Even if
you can’t carry a tune in a bucket and would never even consider joining a
choir, don’t you ever stop singing to God’s glory as the church lifts up
praise in song.
By the God’s love we
are given such a wonderful means of grace when we sing. Don’t ever hold
back. Don’t ever let somebody else do your singing for you. Let’s all
experience together what it’s like when we truly join with the Psalmist
who proclaims
Praise the Lord! Praise the
Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing
praises to my God all my life long!
William G. Davidson
South Roanoke United Methodist Church
