May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. – Romans 15:5-6
This past Sunday evening, we dedicated the Chapel. If you were there, you know what a wonderful service it was and what a jewel God has given us in it. I continue to hear people talk about the sound and how great it is to finally have a place with good acoustics. The musicians in our midst are bursting with excitement and I have to say that I’m bursting with them.
I’m no musician, but I can appreciate good music and enjoy musical imagery. I’m a little giddy over the imagery I discovered when I did a little looking into the two verses above. If you don’t recognize the verses, I invite you to spend a little time with them. These are the verses we chose more than a year ago as representative of what our desire for our single adult ministry is.
This afternoon, I was looking at them with http://net.bible.org (a great tool that Keith shared with us over the weekend). The phrase “one heart” is translated in other translations as “one mind” and “one voice”. The Greek word is “homothumadon.” Net Bible gives a definition and then the following:
“Homothumadon is a compound of two words meaning to “rush along” and “in unison”. The image is almost musical; a number of notes are sounded which, while different, harmonise in pitch and tone. As the instruments of a great concert under the direction of a concert master, so the Holy Spirit blends together the lives of members of Christ’s church.”
Again, I’m no musician, but this imagery gets my heart beating. Each one of us is different. We bring different personalities, abilities, and life experiences to the table; but when we are unified with one purpose (ie. “to honor Christ by encouraging and serving others”- part of our mission statement) let’s just say the music is heavenly.