The followers of Jesus are all united in the common practice of singing. The church was united in their practice of praising God daily as their normal practice.
“Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” — Acts 2:46-47
But why is singing so integral and importance as a practice for the Church?
To understand the importance of singing, we have to go to the first recorded worship song in Scripture: the song that Miriam and Moses lead after God delivers the people of Israel from the oppression of Egypt. It would not have been enough to simply say “thank you” to God for the miraculous work that He had just performed—the song bursts forth out of them as a spontaneous expression of their gratitude and love for him!
Singing is our way of rehearsing our story of redemption.
Singing is our way of expressing gratitude for our salvation.
It’s as if we are redirecting the attention of looking in a mirror at ourselves for our own self-gratification, towards the King who has saved our lives. That very act of turning our mirrors towards God will in turn redirect the attention of others around us towards him as well.
“Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself. It is as if they are showing you the way.”
Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz
So how do we practice the common discipline of singing?
One of Jesus’ countercultural instructions to his disciples is to “rejoice.”
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
We practice the art of singing by finding a reason to rejoice in every circumstance—no matter how hard, and no matter how difficult. We sing even when we’re persecuted, insulted, frustrated… because in the end, our reward in heaven will be great!
So some invitations for us as we enter into the practice of singing…
- What are some things that I can give thanks for, right here and right now? The early church centered their schedule around prayer: 6:00AM, 9:00AM, 12:00PM, 3:00PM, 6:00PM. Set timers for yourself and practice the art of gratitude wherever you are at those hours.
- Where can I sing songs of gratitude and worship? In your car? Shower? Bedroom? Find a place where you will be on a regular basis and remind yourself to sing when you arrive there.
- Read the Psalms and write a psalm of your own based on one that resonates with you. Don’t disregard or whitewash the hardship, but write and sing in faith what God is doing in the midst of your circumstances.
For more discussion and behind the scenes of this sermon in the Common Series, listen to our new podcast: The Common Podcast. We upload new episodes every Wednesday! Stay tuned as we continue to learn the Common practices that keep us united as Christ-followers.