(Meditation for Gayton Road Christian Church's Sunday Worship on January 1, 2017, Christmas I)
(With the help of the children and the youth)
“The Music of Heaven in All Things”
Who here has listened to a seashell before? I’m guessing most of you already have. In case you haven’t, I’ve brought one with me. Let’s take a listen. What do you hear?
The ocean! This seashell sings the song of the sea.
Now what about Peppermint Patties? Have you ever listened to one before? Here, take one, and break it in half close to your ear.
What do you hear?
Both the seashell and the Peppermint Pattie sing a song.
Nearly one thousand years ago, there was a woman leader in the church, Hildegard, who said that everything in the world is singing a song of praise to God. She said that she heard “the music of heaven in all things.”[1]
I bet if the person who wrote today’s scripture were here with us today, she would say the exact same thing. I imagine that she would be so excited to hear the seashell and the Peppermint Patties, that she herself would start to sing along, whooshing with the seashell and ppphhing with the Peppermint Patties.[2]
And then I imagine that her excitement would spill over, and she would begin to share with us all the other songs she had heard. That’s sort of what she does in today’s scripture. She listens to everything around her—the sky, the earth, the water, all the animals big and small—and she hears them singing praise to God. Here’s how she describes it. [Read Psalm 148]
What a song our writer hears! Everyone and everything is singing. The moon and the snow and the trees and the birds. All of creation.
Our writer lets us in on a secret that much of our world has forgot:
If you listen closely enough to something—anything—you will hear a beautiful song.
Hearing the Song in Christmas
I wonder if it’s not this song that we hear in the story of Christmas. Just like in today’s scripture, all of creation sings. Remember all the characters in the Christmas story? First we have angels in heaven praising God. Then we have a star in the sky, singing a song that captivates the wise men. And around the baby Jesus in the manger, there must have been cattle and sheep, singing their songs, “Moo…” and “Bahh….” And then we have all sorts of people praising God: the shepherds singing in the field, the old and faithful Simeon and Anna praying softly in wonder, the baby Jesus cooing and crying as all babies do. In the Christmas story, all of creation sings a beautiful song of praise to God.
And then we join that song ourselves, whenever we sing Christmas carols.
A Song of Life
Today’s scripture is a wonderful reminder that the song of Christmas never ends. Even as we take down the stockings and the lights and the ornaments, all of creation continues to sing a beautiful song of praise to God.
I’m not a great listener, but even I hear the song sometimes. Whenever I hear the song, it brings me new life. I hear the song in the sunrise and in my first cup of coffee. I hear it in other people as we share new ideas. Sometimes I hear the song when I play a board game with my family or good friends. I wonder: where do you hear the song? What brings you new life? (What do you do before you go to bed—read? play a game? eat a snack? Do you hear it then? Have you ever heard it in the stars? Or maybe when you’re standing on top of a mountain?)
According to our writer today, wherever we hear this song, we are not just an audience. We are invited to join the song—“young men and women alike, old and young together!” says our writer. This doesn’t necessarily mean we’re singing out loud. (Some of us do have beautiful voices, like Rob who sung for us today. Others of us, like my brother, couldn’t hit a note if you handed it to him.) I think singing means bringing life to the people around you. My brother does this by encouraging people when they’re down. Others might sing by doing something beautiful, painting a picture or telling a story. Others might sing simply by smiling or hugging or saying, “I think you’re great.”
How many of you have seen The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings? J.R.R. Tolkien, the man who wrote those stories, was a curious and creative Christ-follower. And when he told the story of Middle Earth, he said that all of life began with a song: a song that went out into the emptiness, so that there was no longer emptiness but life. That, I think, is a wonderful picture for what it means to sing the song of God. We bring life to our world.
“You’re Not Singing Anymore!”
A couple of years ago when I was in England, I went to several soccer games—what the British would call “football matches.” Watching a soccer game in England is a lot like watching a sports game in the United States, with one major difference.
Here, at a sports game, sometimes the fans sing a chant or a song. What songs or chants do they sing?
In England, the fans don’t just sing now and then. They’re singing all the time. And not only chants like, “Defense!” or “We will rock you,” but songs that they themselves created. And the fans wouldn’t just sing for their own team. They would sometime sing songs against the opposing fans. For example, if your team was losing and you were sad and you had stopped singing, the other fans would start singing at you, “You’re not singing, you’re not singing, you’re not singing anymore! You’re not singing anymore!” (All this to the tune of “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah,” no less.) It was very irritating to hear.
I wonder, though, if that’s true in life. Sometimes when life is tough, or when I’m feeling sad, I don’t feel like singing.
But according to our writer today, the song of God is not simply a victory song, a song that we sing after we’ve won. The song of God is much bigger than that. It’s a song that creation is always singing. Maybe you’ve noticed at times when you haven’t felt so good, when things have been difficult, that the sun still shines, the birds still sing, the wind still whispers, the stars still hum in the night sky, the seashell still whistles, the Peppermint Patties still ppphh. Our writer says that creation is always praising God, not only when things are good, but also when things are difficult. We might remember that the Christmas story came at a dark and difficult time in the history of Israel—but even then, the angels and the stars and the cattle and the shepherds sang, and what wonderful life came forth.
Maybe the Christmas story is our story too. I wonder if it’s not this very song that brings us back to life when we feel down, that gives us new life when everything around us has faded.
The Song Sings Out into the Emptiness
Today is the beginning of a new year. Much of the world is quiet. We can almost feel the emptiness of the days ahead, the days waiting to be filled with life. Some of these days will bring us happiness, and others sorrow. The good news of our scripture is that whatever the days bring, the song of God will always surround us; that if we listen closely enough, we can hear this beautiful song in anything—in everything. We can join it ourselves, not only when we’re winning but also when we’re losing. In fact, it’s especially important to sing then. Because the song of God brings life. Like Tolkien said: it sings out into the emptiness, and the emptiness cannot overcome it.
Prayer
God of new life,
Whose song we hear
In stars and seashells and everything in-between—
Open our ears
And loosen our tongues,
That we may hear your song in all creation
And join its life-giving chorus.
Amen.
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[1] Two quotes commonly attributed to Hildegard of Bingen are: “All of creation is a song of praise to God,” and, “There is the music of heaven in all things.”
[2] Nobody knows who wrote today’s scripture; it could have been a guy or a girl. I’m imagining a girl, because many of the girls I know are careful listeners, the kind who would hear these songs.
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