For generations and generations, God's people have been singing a jubilant song to God! We sing to God, Who is our Creator, our Savior, our Comfort. We sing to our Lord and Savior. We sing an Alleluia that is ancient, rich in tradition and memory, and even so, new in each generation. And on this Pentecost Day, we give thanks to God for our choirs and musicians, whose music unites us all into the song of holy harmony, from generation to generation.

The very first generation of Christians was brought together in the holy harmony of that first Pentecost Day. Just as he had promised, Christ Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to move among them in a mighty way and to give them power and life. And the presence of the Spirit that day was so real, so immediate, that they all burst forth in praise. Speaking-singing, perhaps (who knows)-all in their own language, but in a holy harmony that enabled them to understand each other, regardless of who they were or where they were from or how old they were or what they looked like or what they sounded like.

I like to imagine that the music of the church, its hymns and then later its gorgeous choral music, the music of the bells, the music of organ and piano and trumpet and strings, all that music evolved from that first Pentecost Day, when the mouths of all the people were opened wide and God's praise burst forth into the world in a new way and a new holy harmony was let loose into the world.

And with each new generation, a new verse is written to God's song. Our Confirmation Class is the newest verse. They're part of the great song of God's love that sang at the birth of creation, and sang at the birth of Christ, that sang on the day of Pentecost, and now sings on in their lives and their witness and their service. And not just our class! Today, all over the world, congregations are greeting their new confirmands-in every language, sung in every key.

Our confirmands have been involved in a 10-week class to prepare them for this day. In formal church language, this kind of learning experience is called "catechism," and those who engage in it are called "catechumens," which means "to learn." Actually, the root meaning of that word "catechumen" is "to echo." To echo. To come to know God more closely for your own life is to learn God's song and to echo it back, not just exactly as you heard it, but in your own words, your own style, your own voice.

Now, of course, our confirmands, or catechumens/echoers, didn't learn everything about the faith just from their Confirmation Class. They learned it from every part of their experience of God and the church from their births until now. And a big part of that education comes through music, what we hear and what we sing.

And that's why our music and our musicians are so important. Not just because we enjoy what they do! Not just because they enjoy what they do! But because their music helps the church carry God's song into the heart of each new generation, so that they can echo it forward, if you will, making it their own, until the next generation picks up the tune.

So, dear confirmands, find your own voices. Sing your own song. Listen for God's song and find ways to echo it forward that are authentic for you. And may your lives be always blessed with the holy harmony of God's love.

Now I'm going to introduce all the choirs and musicians and we're going to thank them. We've already met our new confirmands and greeted them. It's so much for one service, that it's almost hard to take it all in.

But isn't it beautiful? Isn't it a tremendous privilege to celebrate and become participants in God's holy harmony that swoops us all up today into an amazing symphony of love and praise, its song enduring from generation to generation?

Thanks be to God! Amen.

© Patricia E. Farris, 2002. Permission is given for brief quotation with attribution. All other rights reserved.