As we celebrated the first Sunday of Pentecost, members and friends of Pasadena Presbyterian Church also gave thanks for the ministry of music in our congregation. We are grateful for all the ways that God uses the ministry of music in our communion together. On this Sunday, Robert Thomas, Mary Mellema, and Renee Roederer gave the sermon together, each discussing why we sing.
Acts 2:1-21
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each one of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. . .
On the second Sunday of June each year, we celebrate the vibrant ministry of music at Pasadena Presbyterian Church. For most of this church’s 136-year history, music has played an indispensible part of our ministry to this congregation and the community, and never has that been more true than in 2010 and 2011.
If you look on the slip sheet of today’s bulletin, you can see the names of hundreds of people who are directly involved in some aspect of our music ministry in all three language groups. We sing in many different choirs and play instruments that range from our magnificent pipe organ to piano, handbells to all sorts of brass, percussion to acoustic guitars. Moreover, YOU are a part of this ministry, as well — several times each week in worship you join with us as we raise our voices in song.
Why do we sing? One answer comes from the first question of the Shorter Catechism, one of 11 Confessions in the Book of Confessions of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Our chief end, says the answer to that answer, is to glorify God and enjoy God forever.
Music and worship are two of the very special ways we glorify God. In fact says The Reverend Dr. Scott Nesbitt, music is hired-wired into the very fiber of our being. What do you remember about your childhood?, says Dr. Nesbitt. We remember stories and we remember songs. Musical vibrations resonate through our bodies in unique ways that we cannot clearly understand but can surely feel. Moreover, music can touch emotions and bring meaning that words alone cannot do.
Second, making music at PPC involves dozens of small groups, and we live out our faith uniquely through small-group ministries. Whether it’s singing in the Kirk Choir or the Trinity Choir, ringing in the Van Etten Handbell Choir, serving on the Music Committee or volunteering in many other ways, we’re connected with one another, not just in music but in fellowship and caring. Somehow, it works because we all know that we’ve got each other’s backs and that God will somehow make the whole better than the sum of our parts.
Third, making music is a constant learning and transforming experience. Gustavo Dudamel, music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, emphasizes this over and over when he speaks of working with the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles and of his background growing up with “El Sistema” in his native Venezuela. What he says goes for everyone, adults and kids alike. Everyone in a musical ensemble learns about discipline, about sublimating one’s self for the good of the whole, about foreign languages (we’re better at some than others, as you’ll shortly find out). We also learn math and reading skills.
Through music — especially when singing in a choir — we’re immersed in and challenged by God’s word for us, interpreted uniquely in wonderful texts. Look closely at the hymns and responses in today’s service. Some of the texts are familiar; others may be new to you. Read the texts carefully, not merely for what they say about music but, equally important, what they say about the Day of Pentecost and how we today are challenged anew by God’s call to us.
That’s why we sing.
-Robert Thomas, member of Session and chair of the Personnel and Music committees
When I was asked to talk a bit about “Why I Sing,” my first thought was “I’ve always sung”…I was blessed to be born into a singing family… (Dad was a pastor, Mom choir director, organist, soprano soloist and voice teacher). We sang at home, in the car, in Sunday School, children’s choirs, and in worship. Then there were school choirs, and by age 14 I was singing in the local community chorus in my home town of Anchorage, Alaska. In college I chose to major in music, where I kept singing and even conducted a daily chapel choir. When I came to California with my husband Joel, I sang at UCLA with Roger Wagner and in the Los Angeles Master Chorale for many years.
So…being who I am, my choice of churches has always had a lot to do with the style and quality of the music program. PPC, of course, had a well-deserved reputation for excellence in its music. When we came here in 1989, both the children’s choir (then led by the gifted Rebecca Thompson) and the Kirk Choir led by Steve Pilkington offered the kind of singing experiences our family not only wanted but needed.
Why does that “excellence” matter to me? On one level, it’s a choice to use a God-given talent in the best way I know to worship, serve, enjoy and share the beauty of music. But excellent choral singing is a multidimensional experience -- a lot of work -- a major time commitment. The act of singing in a choir is one in which we can lose ourselves and become part of something greater than any one of us. Whether sharing a profound text, a tight complex rhythm, a lush harmony that gels at just the right moment, or blending our voices into a clean unison sound that is so perfectly tuned it almost gives you goose-bumps -- there’s nothing quite like it.
Singing is different from playing an instrument, because the instrument is you. When it works, it’s a wholistic thing—your breath, energy, physical discipline, concentration, heart, mind and soul are all involved. Working together and eventually singing a beautiful piece well (particularly one with words that touch the heart) pulls you into a unique relationship with fellow singers and listeners as well. In a choir when it’s at its best, there is mutual dependence, shared responsibility, and a unique kind of unity with each person doing his or her part. The talented leaders by whom we have been blessed at PPC over the years have known how to make this happen.
So singing at PPC for me is many things. It’s a calling, a responsibility, a physical and mental challenge. It’s a source of joy and spiritual enrichment both through the beauty of music and the message of text. It’s an outlet for feelings that I cannot express in other ways. It is sometimes tiring, but also comforting, refreshing, exhilarating, and cathartic. It’s a way I connect with a wonderful group of people in the church community – the choir really does become a caring support group. It’s a welcome reminder and sustainer of a long and wonderful tradition, in the words and tunes of beloved hymns, anthems, and major choral works. And it’s a chance for growth as we explore and perform new music and new texts that carry the message of God’s love in language that fits today’s world.
I am often amazed by the way singing brings people together. I can worship in an established Christian church in almost any part of the English-speaking world, and at least a few of the songs will be familiar. People everywhere sing when words alone are not enough. Love songs, work songs, songs of faith, protest songs, patriotic songs, songs of celebration are part of all of our lives. Young children respond to happy songs and lullabies before they can speak. And the very old will be moved by the songs they learned in their youth even when they can no longer speak. For me, to sing is one of the best parts of being human. I simply cannot imagine not singing.
-Mary Mellema, member of the Board of Trustees
"When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place."
That's how it starts, doesn't it? That is how our scripture lesson from this morning begins, but beyond the beginning a passage, that's truly how it starts, doesn't it? A communion, a fellowship, a family of faith - even this family of faith - is gathered in one place waiting. And then, in unexpected ways, the Spirit comes. The Holy Spirit comes and quickens, enlivens, gives energy and vision, and that simple gathering becomes anything but simple. That gathering of people is made new and commissioned to act and communicate. That gathering of people is equipped to add all their voices together, voices rising, swirling, praying, questioning, discussing, singing, encouraging, speaking truth - and that gathering of people is sent out to live and serve in witness together, bringing even more voices to the conversation, especially voices of people long silenced.
That's how it starts, doesn't it?
That's how it happened long ago on the Day of Pentecost. The disciples were gathered in one place. And in so many ways, that's how it happens here too.
I can't picture fully - or for that matter, comprehend fully - what the Pentecost moment must have been like for the earliest disciples of Jesus. We're far distanced from those disciples in time and culture, but when we enter this sanctuary on a Sunday morning, we too encounter the Spirit here as well, sometimes in ways that we don't always expect at all. And often we leave this place renewed and different because we were gathered together and because God the Holy Spirit has transformed us.
That transformation happens in words - in the scriptures we read, in the prayers we voice, in the sermons we hear. That transformation happens in sacraments - in our holy meal of communion with one another, in the sacred act of baptism. That transformation happens in relationships - in human emotions and conversation and touch. And that transformation happens in and through music.
As Mary and Bob have already voiced this morning, music has been a vital part of this congregation's identity together for 136 years. It's amazing to think that every member and friend of this church - for 136 years - has been participating in music together. That's been happening for more than a century. Whether trained musicians or not, each person who has worshipped with us has participated in something that the Holy Spirit is doing here, right in this place. It's incredible to think that as we gather together - as we come and put ourselves in the place of waiting on the Holy Spirit - we are part of a community larger than ourselves. We are part of a singing community, united even with those who have gone before us. Wow
We're all grateful for the ministry of each of the musical ensembles which are a part of our church. We're hearing the music and ministry of our handbell ensemble and all our choirs this morning. We give thanks for each member of these ensembles, for the ways that they lift our spirits and call us to action. We're thankful for all the ways they voice our faith in song. Thank you.
At the same time, it's important to remind all of us today, that the entire church - you, me, your neighbors, the people across the sanctuary, and if we can be so bold, the ones who have been a part of this sanctuary in years past and even centuries past - all of us, together, are the sacred choir of this congregation. Now some you may say, "Wait a minute! I couldn't carry a tune if my life depended on it!" Some of us are trained musicians, and let's be honest. Some of us are not. But singing is a human endeavor, and for us, it's an act of worship. We're all adding our voices to those sacred voices of Pentecost. We're all bringing human emotions and longings to God when we're together in worship.
We're all the sacred choir of this church, and when we sing, we pray. I like how the Presbyterian Book of Worship says it: "Song is a response which engages the whole self in prayer. Song unites the faithful in common prayer wherever they gather for worship whether in church, home, or other special place. The covenant people have always used the gift of song to offer prayer."
The covenant people. That's us! When we add our voices in song, the Holy Spirit uses the language of music and continues to communicate - somehow miraculously through us! - to call this world to faith and to heal those who are hurting. So here we are. . . gathered in one place. May the Holy Spirit show up in unexpected ways. Amen.
And in that Spirit, let us raise our voices together right now, as we sing our affirmation of faith. . .
