A few years ago, Eric Whitacre, a famous classical composer, conducted a fun little experiment. He wrote a song and posted the sheet music on his blog inviting people around the world to sing the various harmonies. His idea was for individuals to sing into a camera and post their videos on YouTube. Using those posts, he created a master track where he joined the videos together like an orchestra. He hired a video recorder to weave all the videos together, the result was staggering: one perfect song that featured a virtual choir of 185 voices from 12 countries, flawlessly synced together. His completed video received more than one million hits. A year later he did it again and this time more than two thousand people participated, producing a masterpiece once again.
When one unknown person sings, such as myself, the results are usually quite underwhelming. I’m just one voice, singing one song, in one place, to an audience of one, me. But when many people come together and sing, particularly if they are all working toward the same goal, the results can be breathtaking. And when a large number of people sing the same song together, that one song can captivate millions. When groups of like-minded people gather around Kingdom causes, good things happen.
According to 1 Thess. 5:5, we are children of the light, meaning we belong to the realm of God.
Jesus … said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12. And again He said, “You are the light of the world.” Matt 5:14. And He commands us to, “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Matt 5:16. When we are doing that together, following the conducting of the Holy Spirit, a breathtaking masterpiece can take shape, glorifying our Father in heaven.
Paul encourages us in his letter to the Thessalonians, (5:16) “Rejoice always.” – that is, have an attitude of exceeding delight & grace. The word joy, in one form or another, is used over 400 times in the Scripture. The Greek word for joy is charis, which means ‘God’s gift of grace.’ God places it directly after the word love as a fruit of the Holy Spirit that is to evident in us all. Paul then tells us to “Pray without ceasing.” (vs17). We do that by continually striving to live in His presence. And to “give thanks in all circumstances.”– even those we wish would never happen or we can’t wait for them to be over. These three attitudes: Joyfulness, prayerfulness, and thankfulness “are the will of God in Christ Jesus.” (vs.18).
When together, as one, we let His light in us shine, rejoicing always, praying without ceasing, and giving thanks in ALL circumstances, breathtaking masterpieces of God’s glory will break forth and good things will happen in the kingdom of God.
Blessings,
Pastor John