All God's Critters Got a Place in the Choir

It is a pleasure and an honor for me to be here at Trinity (Lutheran Church) this afternoon. We are to commemorate the joint service project of our two parishes this summer, when over a ton of food was collected for the Rich Township Food Pantry. We are also here to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the adoption of Called to Common Mission, the agreement between our churches which draws us together in so many aspects of our lives as the Body of Christ. The propers I chose for this occasion are taken from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer under the heading "For all Christians in their daily vocations." Surely that is the most basic level of our call to common mission… that we may all seek to be Christians in all that we do in our daily lives.

And, although I typically do preach directly on the Scriptures, I am not going to do so today. Being here has special meaning for me because it reminds me of my installation as the Rector of St. John’s. The preacher was a good friend of mine who happens to be a Lutheran pastor. It was a memorable event in many ways, not the least of which was the song she sang as part of her sermon. Maybe that is what got me thinking musically and brought a song to mind for my sermon today. I do not have Elaine’s voice, so I won’t sing much, but listen to the refrain. The song is by the contemporary folk singer Bill Staines.

Listen to the words for a few more of the verses:

There are a number of reasons that this song seems particularly appropriate for this occasion. It describes bucolic scene, a sort of cheerful and melodic Noah’s ark or an image we might associate with St. Francis. But I think its lesson is more profound. In the world of this song we hear voices singing together that wouldn’t usually be heard together. It’s hard to imagine a hoot owl and a hippotamus doing anything together, much less singing. It’s hard to imagine an alligator and a hawk joined in common chorus. It’s hard to imagine an ox and a fox in collaboration. It is hard to imagine.

Maybe the limitation is in our imagination.

Lutherans and Episcopalians doing things together may not seem so strange, but Called to Common Mission was beyond imagining from the time of the Reformation until just a few years ago. There are still some for whom my presence as an Episcopal priest at this Lutheran holy table makes about as much sense as a turtle dove and an alligator singing in harmony. But maybe we’ve begun to stretch our imaginations, so that our imagining can encompass more and more ways in which we can live in concert. Lutherans seems to have somewhat more elastic imaginations than Episcopalians do. I applaud your recent agreement with the Methodist Church. Maybe you can help us all become more imaginative. Because it is only our imagination that limits us.

There is even more that I like about this song than its imaginative breadth; its wild inclusiveness. I also like that it is a song about singing, about a common endeavor. All God’s critters sing. They don’t just hang out together, although ecumenical fellowship is certainly a good thing. They don’t even just converse or trade recipes. They make music together. They come together to create something beautiful and praiseworthy. They join together in an act of creation, offering something into the world that is beautiful and brings praise to God.

And I think it is beautiful music that this critter chorus creates. There is a maxim I first heard uttered by women of the altar guild. In some churches, responsibility for the Sunday flowers is part of the altar guild’s responsibility. The maxim is this: In flower arranging, all flowers go together. It doesn’t matter what size, what color, what shape they are. Every flower that grows out of God’s good earth complements and enhances the others. All flowers go together. Similarly, in God’s critter choir, all voices blend. Really. Every voice is a gift from God and every voice raised in praise and song complements all others and enriches the choir. And when we work together as God’s children to create something in common, whether it is a service project, a symphony of song, or a time of worship, all of our efforts will complement and enrich each other’s and we will create beautiful.

Finally, I want to point out that God’s critters sing in a choir. And in a choir, there are no silent voices and there are no soloists. May it always be so as we are Called to Common Mission.

Amen.