Sing the Song

Have you ever heard a song and thought, “Wow, what a great song. I need to tell somebody about this.” And you can’t wait until you see your best friend so you can tell them about this great new song that you have heard.

But telling someone about a song really doesn’t work very well does it?

You can tell them about the great words in the song and how it touched your life and how the words seemed to be written just for you. And you just know that they are going to move the person you’re talking to the same way they moved you. You can even tell them your favorite line in the song or how the chorus seems to be stuck in your head and you just can’t get it out. They may smile at you and genuinely want to be excited about the song and they really enjoy your excitement over it. But it’s not the same for them. The words don’t mean the same for them.

Not only do you tell them about the words but also you tell them about the music in it. How the intro really captures your attention and how when you listen to it you just can’t keep from humming along and tapping your toes and it just made you want to get up and dance.

You are so excited over the song and what it meant to you and you told your friend every detail of the song. But they don’t get it like you got it.

Telling them about the song doesn’t work. You really have to sing it.

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In a sense I think this is where the Pharisees and other religious leaders of Jesus’ day made the mistake. They told the people about the song. But they didn’t sing it.

They heard the song of God’s love. The song of God’s forgiveness. The song of God’s salvation. The song had so much in it. Compassion, grace, mercy, and tenderness. It was a great song and the song had been given to them. It touched them. It moved them. And they wanted to share the song with the people around them.

So they brought everyone into the temple and said. “We have heard a great song and we want to tell you about it.”

So they went about telling the people every single word in the song and they went over it and over it again so they could memorize it and not forget the song. They told them that these were the only words to the songs and that they couldn’t change or add any new words to the song without checking with them first. So after some time everyone had the words memorized.

But the words didn’t seem to mean as much to the people as it did the Pharisees.

Then they taught them about the music. They were so excited. They wrote out the music note by note for the people to follow. They gave them the notes, how the tempo would flow, and how the music should feel when it is played. So after some time everyone had the music memorized.

But just hearing about the music and how to play it didn’t seem to move the people like it did the teachers.

And the teachers did the same with the dance that went with the song. They told them step by step where their feet should go and how they should move in the dance. They explained that by doing this the people could dance just like the teachers danced.

Strangely though the people didn’t really feel like dancing when they heard about the song.

But for years the Pharisees and the teachers led the people in song and dance. They all sang the same song with the exact same words and the exact same music and they all danced the exact same dance. But the song didn’t bring them much joy.

But…then the author of the song showed up. Jesus. And nobody knows the song better than the author. The author knows why the song was written and how it should be played. And how it should move you to dance.

So Jesus started teaching the people the song. The real song. The way it was meant to be sung. But not only did He tell them the words to the song and how the music could be played and how the dance goes. He sang the song. And He danced the dance. When the song spoke about forgiveness He showed them how to forgive. When it spoke of compassion He showed them with tears how to be compassionate. And when the song spoke about salvation He died on the cross and showed them salvation.

He sang the song and He sang it out loud.

But the Pharisees didn’t like His version of the song.

Although many followed and listened to the song Jesus was singing not everyone sang along. Some went back to the old song. And some quit singing all together.

But the ones that did sing along. Wow, what a song. They heard the words and felt the music and danced alongside with the author of the song. Their lives were changed. They would never be the same. Oh, they still had troubles and rainy days. But now they had a song they could sing even in the darkest times. And they taught the song to other people. But more importantly they sang the song so others could hear it.

And the song is still being sung today.

The lesson learned is that we need to be sure that when we teach others the song today we not only tell them what the words and music are but we need to show them. We have to show them what forgiveness, tenderness, love, mercy, salvation, grace, etc looks like. And when we do that and when they join us in the song there is nothing that can quiet us down.

And we will all sing it. Not like we interpret it but the way the author wrote it.

And so may you hear God’s song. And may you sing along. Sing it out daily so the world can hear you. And may you dance the dance. And may Jesus Himself lead you in the dance. And may you teach others the song.

But don’t just tell them about the song. Sing the song.