My Dear Shepherds,

Thanksgiving Day comes for Christians every week.

And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. (Col. 3:15–16)

I have a tiny harmonica, about an inch long, with one wee octave, eight notes. Even if I really pucker up, my repertoire is very limited. We don’t want one-octave churches. The Boardwalk Hall Auditorium Organ in Atlantic City, New Jersey, has 33,000 pipes, each one different in pitch or tone from all the others. The message of Christ deserves a church like that! I’m just one pipe so, Lord, “tune my heart to sing thy grace.”

Singing our gratitude to God using the full range of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs improves a church’s spiritual acoustics. We hear God more clearly, more fully. We gradually catch the subtle, interior harmonies of his wisdom. Singing, being an artform, conveys more than first meets the ear. Our songs gather up meaning, depth, and stories as you sing them over the years.

I came across a video on YouTube about Farmer Derek who built a new silo. Before he filled it, he invited the Bethel College Choir from North Newton, Kansas, to sing in his silo. Such a sound! A silo on the outside, a sanctuary within. Your church may seem unimpressive, but oh, what music we make when we sing out our thanks to Christ!

Preachers need the reminder that singing together is discipleship, admonishing and teaching our people as surely as our sermons. Singing takes Scripture truth and Christian testimonies and, through the miracle of music, adds unseen italics and underlines, hyperlinks and reminders, shouts and whispers. We grow when we gratefully sing out the message of Christ.

Another reason we sing together is to fortify our fatigued and frightened siblings. Before we go back out to face the world, we join our voices in a reprise of Jehoshaphat’s singing vanguard heading into battle. We bolster our faith and courage as we praise God for the splendor of his holiness and sing our gospel variations on “Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever.”

Every Sunday in our churches we become a choir conducted by the Holy Spirit, able to strengthen those who barely muster the gumption or courage to show up. We sing while they weep or sigh. We witness. In an interview with Roxanne Stone, the author and philosopher, James K. A. Smith, said, “Some days I show up at church with my doubts and I’m kind of counting on you to sing for me.” We all know what he means!

No other people sing like Christians. A few months ago, I was in a 120-voice choir singing Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9” (Ode to Joy), along with the Rockford Symphony Orchestra. It was stunning. But it couldn’t hold a candle to our modest little church choir last Sunday. One line of their song was, “There is no sound that’s like the song / That rises up from grateful saints.” [i]

Years ago in a Christmas sermon, Bruce Thielemann said, “There is one thing . . . that is part of our worship that is not part of the worship of any other major faith on earth. That is singing. Christianity is the one faith that puts a song in your heart. Confucianism has no chorales. Shintoism has no songs. Islam has no glorias. Atheism has no anthems.” So, my dear colleagues, sing, and . . .

Be ye grateful!

[i] “O Praise (The Only One)”, Michael Farren.

Lee Eclov recently retired after 40 years of local pastoral ministry and now focuses on ministry among pastors. He writes a weekly devotional for preachers on Preaching Today.