Transcript
It is music Sunday, so I have the privilege of saying a few words about blessing the Lord. Oh, you works of the Lord. Bless the Lord.
Our choir Canticle, “Benedicite”, being offered today has a rich history dating back to worship in the early church. Historians date its use in the fourth century as part of the morning office, and it comes to us from the 1549 Book of Common Prayer. It tells everything created to praise the creator. And why not? It says it all.
All you works of the Lord, bless the Lord. All you green things upon the earth, you sun and moon and the heavens created by the Lord, bless the Lord. All you butterflies and moths and sea monsters and ice and wind and thunderstorms and whales and creatures under the waters. And yes, even badgers and hedgehogs, bless the Lord.
So how do we humans made in the image of God, bless the God who created us? To bless something or someone is to give adoration to it, to worship it, to exalt it, to give it worth. So we are to find ways to respond to the creator of this universe with praise, with joy, with gratitude. Today, our choir is celebrating our music ministry in Saint John’s by offering a blending of their singing voices with the intention of adoring, honoring, worshiping our God in this holy space. In singing, we give back to God what he gave to us. Our breath, our life giving breath.
When God created the first humans, Adam and Eve, he molded their shapes. But in order for them to be alive, it is written that God breathed His Spirit into them. I’m very taken with this image of God’s breath. Because the whole act of singing today on Music Sunday is fueled by our breath. I believe the powerhouse of our praising God through singing lies in the intentional use of our breath, the very act that keeps us alive.
When Moses in the book of Exodus presses God to tell Moses his name, God says, he shall be called Yahweh. Yahweh. Hear that name: Yahh Wehhh. When I sound this name, I realize it’s the actual act of breathing. Yahh Wehhh. Inhale, exhale. Yahh Wehh. So the God that we worship, the God that we adore, the God that we bless, is as close to us as our breaths in and out. Our creator gives us breath and we breathe him in every inhale and exhale.
There are so many ways to bless the Lord. We don’t have to be a trained singer to bless the Lord. All we need is the intention that every breath we take in and out be used to bless the Lord. Our breathing can be used for singing, yes, but also we breathe and wonder and awe when we see the universe. Whoa! Or we can use our breath for expressing or sadness. As an aside. Oh. Or even when we have joy. Yes! So I ask you today to consider the gift of life that each of you have of us has been given the breath of God as your own breath.
Yahweh, Yahweh. And to try to intentionally use our every breath to bless the Lord with gratitude for our incredible complex and majestic world. Even badgers and hedgehogs are praising God today, and you get to join them. Our choir will be leading us in the next movement of this amazing canticle, and you have a part in it as well.
On your bulletin, you have a short little chorus notated about badgers and hedgehogs praising the Lord. Our choir is going to sing that little chorus for us, and then you’re going to join in for your practice in singing it, and then we’ll all sing it together. Ready Choir? O ye Badgers and Hedgehogs, bless the Lord. Your turn, O ye badgers and Hedgehogs Bless the Lord. Now, on your bulletin, you have a picture of either a badger or a hedgehog, or hands praying Bless the Lord. You get to be whichever picture you have on your bulletin, and we even have signs for you to follow so you’ll never get lost. So intentionally now use your your way breath to sing, speak, or laugh your way through our little tune. And let’s fill this holy space of Saint John’s with voices that bless the Lord. Here we go.
O Ye Badgers and Hedgehogs, Bless the Lord. O ye badgers and squirrels and hedgehogs, bless the Lord. O ye badgers and squirrels and ferrets and foxes and hedgehogs, bless the Lord. O ye parakeets and pelicans and porcupines and penguins, guillemots and guinea pigs and gallinules and godwits and badgers and hedgehogs, bless the Lord. ye weasels and warthogs and wallabies and wombats, chipmunks and chuck-a-wallas and kookaburras and caterpillars and badgers and hedge hogs, bless the Lord. ye dromedaries and ye dragonflies and diddy little daddy long legs, Budgerigars and bumblebees and bandicoots and bullfrogs and badgers and hedge hogs, bless the Lord. O ye dromedaries and ye dragonflies and diddy little daddy long legs, Budgerigars and bumblebees and bandicoots and bullfrogs and badgers and hedge hogs, bless the Lord.