Today the Christian community continues to worship and sing. That’s something to give us pause and ponder.
After everything that’s happened...just since many of us last saw each other --
Most pressing on this congregation's mind is the death of dear Lois Hellberg. Her memorial service was yesterday, we continue to give thanks for her life, mourn her death, and try to joyfully release her to God’s everlasting arms, even as we grieve. That’s a big thing that’s happened. Our family went on vacation for a week, many of you have been traveling. Great adventures to share with one another later. (Story of quilt today.) Our news headlines all filled up with coverage on the 2016 campaigns and election. The Republican debates are well underway, the Democrats are firing their fair share of attacks as well. It’s heating up in lots of ways, isn’t it? Fires. The Chargers beat the Cowboys, Matt Kemp hit for the cycle. A lot has happened, since we last saw each other.
And yet we continue, the Christian community today continues to gather, to worship and sing.
Ephesians instructs us to be wise and not foolish, making the most of our time, for the days are evil. And then Ephesians says don’t get drunk, and I want to stop there.
This is obviously good literal advice -- for all sorts of reasons. But this is more than a finger wag for temperance.
I’d like to invite you to look at getting drunk as a metaphor this morning. What happens when a person gets drunk? ...
They stumble, say things they don’t want to say, slur their words. A person who is drunk misses the details.
They miss the expressions and emotions of others (which aren’t too hard see otherwise) because they’re too caught up with saying or doing what they want to say or do. A drunk person is reckless, God forbid, driving off the road, causing accidents and terrible consequences. Blacking out. And waking up later not even knowing what all they’ve done.
Consider of all these disturbing images as metaphors.
A person may never even touch alcohol, but live his/her life in a way that is reckless, self-centered and loud. Stumbling along, only interested in themselves, not realizing what they’ve done, and causing all kinds of accidents in the process.
But Ephesians warns us against that, calls it “debauchery” in this translation. Other words that are derived from that Greek word are “wasteful”, “reckless abandon”. When we get drunk, metaphorically, we’re not just wasted, we’re wasteful.
So, all those images help instruct us and call us into images for how we are to be in the world. Basically the opposite -- but Ephesians envisions that as singing, being filled with the Holy Spirit. Fascinating! It’s not the image to which one might oppose drunkenness. One might think drunkenness would be opposed with solemn sobriety, right? Imagine that in metaphorical terms. Sitting proper, stoic, serious, studious.
That’s really the interesting part of this text, the opposite of drunkenness is actually singing together -- hymns, psalms, and spiritual songs...a whole variety of songs that’s very intentionally listed here. Sing all kinds of things, but sing together.
One of the many reasons I love going to baseball games is because we sing together -- it’s one of the only public places where that happens anymore. I love it -- singing the National Anthem, singing God Bless America, and of course Take Me Out to the Ballgame. (Singing in Ireland)
Something happens when people sing together -- not one person with an awesome voice on the microphone, but no mics, everyone singing together. We do this all the time, and it’s what you’re supposed to do in church. And it can be very powerful then...when it happens out of the normal context it’s incredibly powerful (subway in DC). We are filled with something when we lift our voices in song. We transcend barriers and boundaries, and you really have to just experience it to understand it. We become aware of being part of something larger, and part of something hopeful.
Lois Hellberg loved singing, that was reinforced even more after all the stories of Lois yesterday. She knew the power of singing. And the song that she loved and we sang and heard sung was “How Can I Keep from Singing.”
Sisters and brothers in Christ, even after all that’s happened, we continue to come together to sing. To worship God with a grateful heart. Even after all that’s happened in our lives and in our world, we continue to sing God’s praises, with old songs and new songs.
At the Pentecost event when God’s people were singing they were accused of being drunk. But they weren’t drunk, they were filled with the Holy Spirit. And they were deeply aware of what was going on around them. They were deeply aware of the pain and the suffering that needed their attention and care. They were deeply aware of each other, and interested and concerned about the other -- the stranger, the widow, the orphan. They were not stumbling around, slurring their words, blacking out. They were walking and singing together in unison, deeply aware. Lifting one another up, holding one another in their pain. God made us to be like that too -- not drunk but singing!
After everything that has happened, the Christian community continues to sing. Thanks you God, for giving us the stamina, the faith, the voices and the hope to keep singing today. AMEN.
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