She had higher expectations for my sister Laurie though. From the earliest lessons, she had a different sense of the music than I did. The chords spoke to her. She could feel the progression of the music, and as soon as she was able to accompany herself, she began to sing. She would sing and sing and sing until her voice rang like the angels. It didn't matter if it was a song from the radio or a song from a thirty-year-old book of sheet music. The singing was her inspiration - and still is.

My mom is probably the only true pianist in the family. She's now teaching lessons and sharing her love for the piano with young children. But to this day it's the rhythm of really any music that still gets me, and my sister will fake the music from the chord patterns if it allows her to sing while she's playing. The three of us all have different approaches to the ways we prefer to feel the music, but our love for many different kinds of music happens to be quite similar.

Now that I have some years to look back on, I can appreciate how all three of us took our own avenues and approaches to understanding the beauty of the musical language. But at the time, there was great misunderstanding. I cried every night for a week when the dance studio in town moved far enough away that my Mom wouldn't drive me there anymore. I was jealous of my sister's ease at both singing and playing, and I never quite understood why the piano had to be the instrument of choice for a "musical education" when it was dancing that could always fill my soul. The arguments and petty jealousies were commonplace. Each of us had our own reasons for thinking that our own way for understanding music had to be the best.

Paul's early Christian churches were a lot like being in my house growing up. They were filled with people trying to understand the beauty of Christ's song, and just about every person had some disagreements for how that could best happen. One group thought that the best way to receive Christ was as a Jew. Another group thought "Jewishness" didn't matter. Some women wanted to praise Christ just as they had the pagan gods with wild ceremonies and outlandish adornments. Others thought this was an atrocity. Some thought this new worship would bring singing, others dancing, and for others, it was about praying in quiet meditation. Paul was beside himself in trying to bring this group of believers to some sense of consensus. What would he do to unite them - to bring them to a more pleasing harmony?

He would have to find a way to help them understand Christ so clearly that they would be sensitive to, but not divisive about their differences. He was the first to develop a "Unity in the midst of our Diversity" curriculum. He should be credited with original ideas of the "Teaching Tolerance" program. It's a problem that's as old as dirt, but as new as the idea that separates us one from the other across today's Presbyterian headlines.

He knew that in writing to them, he would have to make it absolutely clear how they ought to treat one another because they had not been in such an eclectic collection of people before. Jews and Greeks didn't intermingle well. Their customs were different. Men and women were also thought of as having different spheres of existence. But in this new Christian community, in Christ, those distinctions would have to find ways of doing more than just coexisting. They would be the new bearers of Christ's light to the world, so all these new believers needed to be able to really shine together.

Paul's letters, therefore, share some pretty practical advice for being members of a faith community, especially one in which every person is not inclined to always and in every case see eye to eye. He says to the Romans, "Let love be genuine, hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor." You see, he doesn't try to define exactly what goes, but he does admonish them to be diligent in loving and trusting each other. Then he goes on to say, "Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord." The zeal that they should share ought not to be for their own particular 'fundamentalisms' but their zeal should be ardent in spirit and always about serving the Lord - not about serving their own interests. "Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers." Paul knew that the love of Christ would be incredibly infectious, so rather than keeping this good news to themselves, there would be a need for growing the family of faith, and that would have to include rejoicing, suffering together, and prayer. Therefore they would have to support one another - not just in voice, he says - but also with financial support and with utmost hospitality towards the newcomer. The hardest saying of this particular passage perhaps is "Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them." We often think about those who persecute us as being "outside" the faith, but the ones whose thorns are in our sides most often are most likely found sitting in the pew across the aisle from us or are at least members of the Presbyterian Church we most find ourselves at odds with in Knoxville or Chattanooga. So we find that "living in harmony with one another" is a tall order. We have to put aside the trappings of our own prejudices in order to get along. We can't get by with rubbing elbows just with those who think, and sing, and pray like we do, we must find ways of being less haughty and associating with those whose behaviors we think of as less adequate than our own.

For if we find a familiar face in the Roman mirror, we will see that we are also inclined to generate those same types of arguments that get us out of tune with one another. Without listening to Paul's advice, we may never get close to the goal that Paul has for us that we will live in harmony with one another, and then we may also miss out on his goal for Christians to live peaceably with all!

The early Christian Church in Rome was a tough nut to crack. Paul had much to say to them about how to get along, but it wasn't just Rome who got one of his impassioned speeches about the harmonious Christian life - the Colossians did too. Some of the advice was similar: about loving one another, and always remembering to put Christ first and our own preferences last. But the Colossians get from Paul a mental picture for what that's supposed to look like. When we dress in Christ first, we clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. We would do well if there were more of those traits inspiring Christian churches today! And then Paul tells them what to do if anyone has a complaint against another. (That doesn't ever happen here, does it?) Well, if it does, Paul tells believers that they are to forgive one another as Christ has forgiven us. Again, we have this advice that seems great but is so hard to put into practice. With the fervor Paul has for the love of Christ, he just can't help himself and he adds to that, clothe yourselves with love - which binds everything together in perfect harmony. There's that "perfect harmony" bit again. We cannot have perfect harmony without love, without understanding that Christ is the reason for all things that we do as a people of faith. That love that Christ gives so freely to us must be that very thing we give so freely to each other.

And when we do, the peace of Christ will rule in our hearts and our very being will fill with gratitude for all that Christ has done for us. Then the rest of those things that threaten to consume our precious energy will matter to us less. The Word will begin to dwell in us richly, and it won't matter so much if we dance, or sing, or play the piano. Our hearts will be so full of psalms and spiritual songs - so full of prayers to God that everything that we do, in word or in deed, will be done to the name of Jesus, in thanks to God for this wonderful life, this wonderful harmonious life we've been so graciously given.

So I'll charge you today to remember this. Paul, in these two particularly passionate letters to Christian believers makes mention that we are to live in perfect harmony with each other. Paul didn't write that we have to live in perfect melody - in fact no one ever says that! It sounds silly. And it sounds silly because we are different, and to expect us all to sing the same note in the very same progression all the time won't work in describing who human beings are. What does work is to claim the delights of perfect harmony - notes that blend together to make the music, the rhythm of our lives that works together. In Christ, our song makes sense. We can show him praise in a multitude of ways, sharing a multitude of gifts, but we can only do that if we are committed to a life of genuine love, mutual affection, and trust. Our family of faith depends on it. Amen.