SINGING ABOVE THE HOWLING WIND



A Moravian church singing songs on Christmas Eve.

 I remember the first time I ever heard of the Moravians. I grew up in Georgia, but my father was a civil engineer who had worked for a while in Winston-Salem, North Carolina before returning to the family farm. After returning, he and my mother established a general merchandise store and as a kid I remember them describing the Moravians in North Carolina, and their beautiful music.

They would tell about the Easter Sunrise services performed by the Moravians, describing how they stationed choirs on small adjacent hills and these choirs would sing responsively, echoing back and forth across the hills.

As an adult, I learned a lot more about the Moravians when I read the biography of Count Ludwig Zinzendorf and the great missionary movement that began with this group in Hernhutt, Germany more than 500 years ago. I developed a great appreciation for the mission work begun by the Moravians. Their meetings were known far and wide for their great zeal and fervor in singing. On Sundays, their love feast was a day long event, with hymn singing that continued all afternoon and into the evening. Everyone sang, and they sang from the heart. The entire church was the choir.

The first Moravian missionaries that were sent out were commissioned and prayed for on the day before their departure, and the church service included the singing of 100 hymns! And what's more, it was with great joy and not out of a sense of duty. Out of this revival, was birthed a 24 hour prayer meeting at the church in Hernhutt that lasted non-stop (different individuals taking turns) for 100 years!

Did you know that God the Father sings? Did you know that Jesus sings? Did you know that the Holy Spirit sings? He is the God who sings.

Did you know that heartfelt faith produces a love for singing, regardless of natural ability?

According to Zephaniah 3:17 God the Father sings. "The Lord your God, in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing".

According to Matthew 26:30, God the Son sings. "After He and his disciples had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives".

But how, you may ask, does the Holy Spirit sing? He sings through His church! Ephesians 5:18 says "Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody..."

So when we come together to sing, we are singing with the Godhead. I know, it's kind of hard to fathom. But nevertheless, how tragic that we come and do not even realize that we are truly coming into His presence and also into His ensemble! And this singing is not diminished by the storms of life we encounter. In fact it causes us to rise up and sing even more.

I would say to you that fervent, heartfelt singing not only glorifies the Lord, but draws others to Him in order that the Gospel message might find a place in their heart.  In 1735 aboard a windjammer crossing the Atlantic, John Wesley was terrified. The storm was so fierce that the mainsail split and the mast broke in two. The seas pounded the deck. Passengers ran, screaming, all except for a group of twenty-six German Christians. You guessed it...Moravians. They were singing above the howling wind and despite the fierceness of the storm they did not miss a note. Wesley, who wasn't a Christian at the time, later asked one of them, "Weren't you afraid?" "Thank God, no," came the reply.

The faith and confidence of these Christians - their song in the storm - so impressed Wesley that later, at a Moravian meeting house in London, he too gave himself fully to Jesus Christ.

When the wind is howling and the storm is high, my friend that is the time to sing...to sing above the storm and fully trust in the one who is able. To sing with the Godhead.

How is your song?