Paul Name
Notes and reflections from Spring Harvest 2021 : UNRIVALLED
The Regent Honeyeater bird is a threatened species, said Nick Drake, and it has started to lose its song. Numbers are so low that birds often cannot hear others singing, and their song has started to change. They no longer have their own distinctive song, but are starting to sound like something else.
As Christians, we must not lose our song, our confidence in worship. The song of the Regent Honeyeater distinguished it from other birds, and our song distinguishes us. Our tune tells others what we care about …who we care about!
Remember the pre-COVID days of eating out in a restaurant and hearing a group starting to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ – all eyes would turn to look and see the person who the song was about. Jesus stands at the centre of our song, and as we sing we help to direct others’ attention to him, as they look to see who the song is about.
In the Bible, salvation moments are highlighted with song. Moses and Miriam sang and celebrated as the Israelites exited Egypt and crossed through the Red Sea. The Temple era of Jewish history was saturated with David’s Psalms. With the news of Jesus’ immanent incarnation, Mary’s ‘Magnificat’ was a song of salvation. In Revelation resounds with the refrain of heaven in chapters 4,5 and 12. There is a song to be sung!
Ephesians 5:18-20 make a connection between the activity of the Holy Spirit and the people’s song:
Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Why does this matter? One reason is that the world needs our distinctive song. Psalm 96 begins with these words:
Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.
Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day.
Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods.
Finally, let us be clear that our ‘song’ is so much more then just our singing. Our entire lives are our song of worship. When people encounter patience, compassion, grace, generosity, goodness and so on in in our lives, they are hearing refrains of the great song that we sing. And when the hear our lyrics then they can appreciate who is the focus of our life’s song.
