Jesus
prayed, “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me”
(John 17:21).
When
I think of the Lord’s command to be one, I think of a choir.
In
the beginning, the composer created a musical composition for four-part choir. He chose a message he wanted to convey and
set the text to music, to add emphasis and emotion to the power of the
message. He now desires to have his
beautiful creation performed. The
composer has heard the music in his head, in spirit, even though he has not
heard it through his physical ears.
The
parts for the singers have been carefully crafted so as to blend together in
just the right way, to portray the message of the text. The piano part has also been written to support
and enhance the sound of the combined voices.
A
traditional mixed choir is made up of four different vocal parts: sopranos,
altos, tenors and basses. These four
parts can also be split into two or more parts.
The range of the entire choir can span up to three octaves, or possibly
even a little more. The total sonic
space within this three-octave space can therefore be filled by one vocal part
or another.
A
choir is composed of many individuals, each with his or her own unique voice
and talent. If you were to listen to
each person sing their part of the music, one at a time, you would notice that
each voice is quite different. But yet,
when combined together, the choir can present a piece of music in a unified
way. So, even though each voice in the choir is
unique, together they can make a beautiful harmonious sound.
The
piano’s percussive sound contrasts with the smooth, warm sounds of the human
voices. It also can extend the music’s
range for several more octaves. Yet it still
lends itself perfectly to the one final sound of the music.
As
the unique, individual members of the choir come together for the first time,
they are not familiar with the music.
They may or may not have had training in reading music. Some choir members may read the music simply by
following the general up and down pattern of the notes; others know the exact
names of the notes and the intervals between.
Still others might simply imitate what they hear their neighbor
singing. But as the composer, who now leads
the choir as their conductor, begins to work with the individual parts, each
individual learns his or her part. Mistakes are possibly made in the
beginning. This does not bother the
conductor because he knows the potential of each singer. He patiently works with each group of singers
until each person learns where each note is, how long to hold it, and how loud
it should be sung. They learn if the
notes should be sustained, or if there should be a rest between the notes.
Gradually,
each part is layered on top of the next part.
What was one part becomes two, then three, then four parts all singing
together harmoniously along with the piano. Sometimes the voices sing together in unison,
other times they sing in four-part harmony.
At times, some people sing a particular set of words at the same time as
others sing different words. The
combined sound can often be very breath taking.
After
working together for some time, the choir appears before its audience to perform
the music. Following the conductor’s
previous instructions and watching his every movement, they perform the piece
as one. No individual member of the
choir is more important than another.
They have caused their voices to blend together so as to be one. The music soars as the message of the text
is conveyed through the combined voices and piano.
This
oneness doesn’t come about easily. A lot
of work has gone into the learning of the music. Each person in the choir is important. Each group of singers is important. The balance between each singer and each
group of singers is very important. If
there are too many altos and not enough sopranos, the melody might not be
heard. If the basses are too soft, the
music lacks foundation. If one voice is
out of pitch or sings too loudly, the whole performance suffers.
If
the pianist hasn’t prepared and makes mistakes, the performance is not as good
as it could have been. If the pianist is
fearful, or overly nervous, he may lose focus and miss notes, again making the
performance less effective. But if she
is prepared, she will not be overly fearful.
Fear is not allowed to dictate the final outcome, but perfect love
castest out all fear. Thus, each part, each individual voice, each individual note
from the piano, must balance with all other sounds to achieve this oneness.
Similarly,
the members of Christ’s church have been commanded to be one, one with each
other and one with the Father and the Savior.
Each individual is important. If
everyone was the head of the congregation, then who would teach the children? If all were leaders, who would there be to be
led? Each person contributes. As Paul said, “Can the hand say to the foot,
I have no need of thee?” Can the soprano
say to the bass, “I have no need of thee?”
Each
member of the church is expected to learn his particular part and work
diligently to magnify that part of the work of the Lord. If all do their part, if all support each
other, the work progresses. If all look
to the Savior and follow his instructions and his leadership, the whole
membership of the church works together in bringing to pass the immortality and
eternal life of all humankind.
What
if only one person did as the Lord asked?
How would the work progress? On
the other hand, what if every one did as the Lord asked? How would the work progress? Each person needs to work as if everything depended
on him or her, making sure that his lack of effort, or her lack of integrity,
doesn’t hinder the overall beauty of the mission of the church.
To
be one then means to work together for a common goal, to achieve a common
outcome. It does not mean to be the same
as someone else. But it means to be
conscious of each other, to love your neighbor as yourself, to pray for your
enemy, to do good to those that despitefully use you, to forgive your neighbor
when you have been wronged, to seek forgiveness of others when you have wronged
them. It means to work together with the Lord in fulfilling his purposes. He has promised that he will work with us. “And it came to pass that the servants
did go and labor with their mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also
with them” (see Jacob 5:17) and
he will be on our right hand and on our left to buoy us up when we are working
with him.
Therefore
let us all work together to become one, as families, and as members of the
Lord’s church.
