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First Parish
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Perfect Harmony |
Linda B. Hirst
Colossians 3:12-17
One of my favorite verses - use it all the time
at weddings - not as popular as Paul’s 1st letter to the Corinthians though I’m
working on it - whenever I meet with a couple to talk about the scripture for
the service they say well the last wedding we went to they read from Paul’s
letter - what is it? 1st Corinthians....13, I think. Oh yes, I say, that’s very
familiar - love is patient, love is kind, and now faith, hope and love, abide
but the greatest of these is love - but everyone uses that - why not try this
one, also from Paul. As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves
with love - because I love the visual of clothing oneself with something,
putting something on - clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility,
but above all, clothe yourselves with love - and this is my favorite part -
which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
And I watch as the couple slowly lets the
words sink in, as they feel the beauty of this passage, and I smile as they
slowly nods their heads in agreement, yes, it is a beautiful scripture, yes, we
would like that for our ceremony. Excellent choice, I say, sounding more like a
waiter than a minister, and with that they have picked a very meaningful and
beautiful piece of scripture and I am one step closer to my goal of making
Colossians 3:12-17 the most popular wedding passage of all time.
Because it is that good.
It is that beautiful.
It is that true.
I’ve said before, that the apostle Paul was a
passionate man, his life had been so drastically changed by knowing Christ, by
knowing God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, that he wanted others to know had
much their lives could be changed to - the churches he wrote to were new
churches, new communities of faith - people who were still trying to figure out
how to be the church, how to live as Christians - and there were always a group
amongst them or nearby causing problems - threatening them with different
teachings or divisiveness.
Paul’s letters are alternately filled with
words of warning against these people and these different ways of doing things,
lists of things they should definitely not be doing as well as those things
they should be doing because they are now Christians - they’re filled with
Christ - Christ is dwelling in their hearts so they have the ability, the power
to be different….and his letters are filled with words of encouragement and
hope: Hang in there. You can do this. I have faith in you. God has faith in
you. You can do it.
In this passage to the Colossians he is
offering words of encouragement about life together, how grand and wonderful
life can be: if you clothe yourselves with these things....kindness, and
humility, forgiveness and compassion, if you bear with one another, and are
patient with each other, and above all if you clothe yourselves with love - it
will bind everything together in perfect harmony. It just will, I promise. Try
it and see.
Paul, if you haven’t guessed it already, was
an idealist - he dreamed the impossible dream, he believed that good triumphed
over evil and love does indeed conquer all - all you have to do is believe and
give it a go. God will be there to help.
The thing about idealists, of course, is you
either love them or they make you crazy, depending on where you, yourself are
on the idealism scale.
If you’re one of them you hear Paul’s words
and say, Yes, I agree, it’s possible, anything’s possible. We can all get along
if we just do what he says - and there will be joy and peace and happiness like
we’ve never known before - perfect harmony is attainable.
And if you’re on the other end of the scale -
a realist with a healthy dose of cynicism you hear Paul’s words and think, what
is he crazy? That stuff doesn’t work. Try it on my neighbor, my mother-in-law,
my mother and see. Clothe yourselves with whatever you want - perfect harmony
between people is not possible. Get your head out of the clouds and start
living in my world for a while and then we’ll talk.
And yet, most idealists are idealists because
they’ve experienced the things they talk about - the ideals they profess and
proclaim to others.
Paul could speak so freely and passionately
about love and forgiveness and compassion and what they could do because he
himself had experienced them. And they had changed his life.
It began with his conversion from being Saul,
whose one purpose in life was to persecute, imprison and if necessary, kill
Christians to becoming Paul the apostle, who upon hearing Jesus’ voice once
night out of nowhere, telling him he had other things for him to do, became his
most earnest and enthusiastic follower. He had seen what God’s love and Jesus
could do in the people he met, in the new church communities he helped form, he
had heard about it from faithful disciples, he had felt it himself again and
again; what life could be like when you lived it filled with God and Jesus and
the Holy Spirit. Peace, joy, happiness, love, new life - it was like a blend of
many voices or musical instruments - all different, all rich, all on key - it
was like beautiful music - perfect harmony.
Now let me say just for a moment what I know about
harmony - I know that when you hear it - when you really hear it, you find
yourself lifted up, touched, moved, often to tears because it is so beautiful.
There is nothing quite like perfect harmony.
I’ve heard it many times - and I know you have too - most of them here - from
the Bow Tie Guys, the Sanctuary Choir, Wendell, Gina and Todd, our many
soloists, our children and youth choir. Perfect harmony is an amazing thing to
hear.
I also know that to achieve perfect harmony -
to get to that point where voices or instruments blend seamlessly together, it
takes lots of practice. I have heard our choir work at it and work and work
some more - twice a week they practice and then again on Sunday mornings. And
when their voices are in harmony - the altos, the tenors, sopranos and basses -
the look on Wendell’s face is one of supreme joy. And when their voices are off
- just the tiniest bit - well. I’ve only seen Wendell look disappointed a time
or two but when he does...you can only imagine.
Perfect harmony takes practice, lots and lots
of it and it helps to be led by someone who knows what she or he is doing.
I also know that when singing harmony it
helps to find a few people who are singing what you’re singing - to find a
friendly voice or two to offer encouragement and help keep you in tune.
Have you ever been to a Messiah Sing Along
during the season of Advent? If you haven’t been it’s wonderful and I suggest
you go - Handel’s Messiah is a musical composition for orchestra and chorus
based on scripture proclaiming the coming, crucifixion, resurrection of Christ
and the proclamation of the gospel by the disciples. (Did I get that right?)
When Wendell and his friends present it here in December there are fabulous
musicians and superb soloists singing the solo parts and the congregation is
invited to sing a long at the chorus. This is where it gets tricky.
The congregation, to better help them sing,
is divided into four sections: sopranos sit over there, tenors over there, altos
there, basses there. Because singing the Messiah is really, really hard - even
if you can read music - it’s very difficult to know your part or where or when
to come in if you’re singing by yourself. The best way, the only way really, to
sing the Messiah, if you’re just your average person, no real talent or
experience, only desire, the best way is to sit down in your section, cozy up
to the person next to you and sing with them. Sopranos with sopranos, altos
with altos, so on and so forth. First time I tried the sing along I made the
mistake of sitting with the sopranos and I was lost. When I finally made my way
to where the altos were sitting I did much better. And we harmonized pretty
well, too, we altos. In music, like in life, if we find people to help us, who
are singing what we’re singing, we’ll be o.k.
One more thing I know about harmony - when
you get lots of people singing it - it produces a sound like none other. We
could get three people up here and sing "Glorify Thy Name" in harmony
and it would sound beautiful, but get the whole congregation to sing it and it
sounds completely different and quite amazing.
Perfect harmony - it is good and beautiful -
there’s nothing quite like it.
In music it’s the right blend of many
different voices. In life, it’s the right blend of many different people, who
are clothing themselves with the things of life; the things they need to get
along, love, compassion, humility, kindness, forgiveness - the things needed to
live a new life together in Christ - perfect harmony.
This is what the apostle Paul knew to be
true, this was what he was striving for. This was why he kept preaching and
encouraging and working and proclaiming the gospel. He knew lives could be
changed, he knew God could make a difference, he knew love could make a
difference. He was an idealist.
Thankfully, the world is filled with
idealists.
Like Mother Theresa who continued to care for
the poor, the sick and the dying even though the need and the poverty was
overwhelming. She kept going because she believed people, when filled with
love, could make a difference. And this poem is attributed to her. I saw it on
the back of a t -shirt on one of the kids who was on the mission trip.
People are often unreasonable, illogical and
self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of
selfish, ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful you win some false
friends and some true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat
you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could
destroy overnight...
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may
be jealous...
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often
forget tomorrow
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may
never be enough
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between
you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.
Anne Frank was an idealist - Anne Frank - the
young Jewish girl who hit in an attic with her family during Nazi Germany,
keeping a diary of her life and all that she witnessed and was subjected to
during that time: She said. "How lovely to think that no one need wait a
moment, we can start now, start slowly changing the world!"
My mother is an idealist. At first I thought
she was just an optimist - one of those people who always saw the glass as half
full, the silver living in every cloud, only the good in people - even when
they made me crazy, who was happy when whatever game I was playing would end in
a time because then everyone would win, everyone would be happy.
But I’ve come to realize over the years that
she’s not just an optimist, she’s also an idealist - it’s not in what she says,
it’s in how she lives her life, and for most it, the church has been at it’s
center. A lot of it has to do with the fellowship, the church suppers, the
choir in which she sings, but I also think the church is such an important part
of her life because it is there she, and others like her, can see a glimpse of
the world as God intends it to be.
A place where people actually are a little
kinder to each other, show forgiveness a little more when it’s needed, are a
little more caring, a place to follow Jesus - another idealist - who believed
with God anything was possible. A place to help bring about the kingdom of
heaven here on earth. Plus, my mom was a music major and used to teach
children’s choir, so I think she knew a little something about perfect harmony,
too.
The world is full of idealists - but we can
always use more. Who are they in your life and are you one of them?
Nothing less than perfect harmony is what
we’re looking for - what we’re striving for - and if we are to believe Paul, which
I do, it can be done, so as you head out to work, to play, to your home, to a
meeting, to a church meeting, clothe yourselves with the things of our great
God - compassion, humility and forgiveness. Above all, clothe yourselves with
love. And then listen for the music. I promise you’ll hear it.
Let’s pray: O God, give us what we need, we
pray, to be your instruments - to blend together our different voices and
talents - to serve you and love you all our days. We trust in your ability to
use us for your glory. In your holy name we pray. Amen.