Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

I had the privilege of growing up in a house with some gifted vocalists: my mom, older sister, and a couple of older brothers. My youngest brother was the most accomplished of us all, singing opera professionally. I also like to sing. After getting into Jr. College, I joined a Jazz Ensemble. We worked on precision, hitting the right notes at the right time. After this, I applied for and was accepted at Pacific Lutheran University, and auditioned and won a choir scholarship. This was a great experience. I sang all “a cappella”, Classical music. The eight- and ten-part harmonies we were able to gain here were incredible, with a 100+ person choir. But if we started to go off key, this would really upset our conductor. In order to stay “on key” we had to visualize beauty, have breath support, and understand the music needed to constantly be moving; the parts contributed to the whole and the experience of being a part of an incredible performance was the reward. Probably the most exciting thing I got to do was to sing Rachmaninoff’s Vespers, designed an all-night vigil — we sang it for 2.5 hours straight. It was at once exhausting and exhilarating! All “a cappella” and in Russian.

What Paul is trying to communicate here is just like a harmony must interweave with a melody, and harmonize with the other singing parts, so too, as part of our walk with Jesus, we must act in concert with each other. Our goals must be the same — His Kingdom and His Righteousness! The bass singer must faithfully sing their part, along with the soprano and the tenor. We cannot be jealous of the parts others get to play or sing in life, or the harmony is off in the church. We must be willing to work with the whole team and not think we always have to be on the “special soloist assignments”. In ministry, sometimes the most important roles are behind the scenes.

To sum it up: Show the world what beautiful spiritual music looks like, by singing well the life-songs God has laid out for us in advance and harmonizing with the body of Christ. Live a real life in harmony with others, serving them as Jesus served us.

Lord, teach me to be happy with the role you want me to play in the music of serving you. Whether exciting or seemingly dull at the time, in the harmonies of life you have interwoven greatness for us all!