Sing A New Song

And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”  He answered, “I tell you, if they were silent, the very stones would cry out.” - Luke 19:39-40

This coming Sunday is Palm Sunday, and then of course Easter follows.  This time of year happens to be one of my favorites.  The sun is shining, temperatures are warming, the mornings are peppered with bird song, and nature bursts into color.

All of it is a testimony to the fact that we we serve a God who is very much alive!

I grew up as a Seminary kid.  We spent 8 years between both of my parent's Masters degrees at Southern Theological Seminary.  I remember that time of my life more than any other, it is such a huge part of my childhood memories.  I sat in on theological classes, learned more about doctrine than any eight year old would want to know, and got to watch my Mom perform some of the most beautiful sacred music.  But my absolute favorite was when Mom took us along to her choir rehearsals.  The Seminary Choir was amazing, I remember thinking they sounded like angels from heaven, all blending in perfect harmony.  I would lay in the pews in the massive balcony and listen to them sing, learning all the lyrics and harmonies right alongside them.  Mom would often laugh as Jenni and I would sing all her songs back to her in Italian and German, we had heard them so often!  I still remember the foreign lyrics to these songs all these years later.

One song that has stuck with me all these years is a song called "Then Will the Very Rocks Cry Out". It was sung at Easter time, and Easter was always very special at our house.  Not because of the easter eggs, or baskets, or ham dinner.  But because of the music.  I remember driving to church on Easter morning at the crack of dawn for the sunrise service, foam curlers in my hair, listening to my parents sing at the top of their lungs.  Easter for me is "Then Will the Very Rocks Cry Out".  It is "He Takes Away the Sins of the World".  It is "Easter Song".  It is "Was it a Morning Like This".

We would crank up the stereo on our dark Easter morning drive and sing loudly with praise, "hear the bells ringing, they're singing, Christ is risen from the dead!"  We were joyful, and as a kid I understood the source of that joy was Jesus Christ. 

As we grow and get older it is easy to lose that joyful innocence that childhood lends.  There is a lot of hurt and suffering in the world, we begin to understand and resonate with the suffering that thursday and friday before Easter represent.  The cross is suffering, and we understand the gravity of what Christ chose to do for us.  There is a time to mourn.  There is a time for grieving and sadness.

But let us never lose our joy!  Because on Sunday He defeated every ounce of suffering that the world will ever throw at us.  He is alive and the wonder of that still makes me want to break out in song every morning.  It is easy for the suffering, pain and even the regular routines of life to silence us.  Maybe for only a season, maybe longer.  But our silence does not mean that there is not a reason for joy.

The song the seminary choir sang on Palm Sunday is taken from the bible verse above, Luke 10:39-40.  In it is the lyric "If we keep our voices silent all creation will rise and shout.  If we fail to praise you Father, then will the very rocks cry out!"

Do you see the incredible things Jesus just said?  If we are not singing his praises then the very rocks of the Earth would cry out his praises, He is that deserving!  And that is why I love this time of year.  Because every bird song, every flower bursting into bloom, is creation singing the praises of its creator.  He is alive!  He rose from the dead and overcame the world so that one day we will sing his praises in Heaven, forever.  And until then, let us never grow weary of singing him a new song.  Through the pain, the long days, the worries and fears, let us cling to the promise of Easter.  We have a God who was not content to leave us in our mess and chose to not only meet us in it, but take it on as his own.  Because of that we have hope, forgiveness, new life...joy.

In our house at Easter we do the normal Easter things.  We paint eggs, we stuff Easter baskets, we go through the Resurrection Eggs.  But I hope that our kids remember the joy.  The joy of Christ and his resurrection shining in us.  When Mom and Dad run through the house singing "He is Risen, Hallelujah!" at the top of our lungs I hope they won't just think we're weird or funny (which we totally are), but that they'll know the reason why we want to sing.

Asher, Laurel, Zachary- I pray your lives are filled with music and the joy of praising Jesus, at Easter and always.