Most of us have been in situations where multiple people are talking simultaneously. As a teacher, I find this a daily occurrence for me! And we know that it is quite difficult, if not downright impossible, to understand any of the persons who are talking, unless we choose to focus only on one particular person and actively ignore all others. Of course, if we are able to do this, it is quite likely we are unable to actually even understand the person we are focusing on because of the immense effort required to drown out the other voices.

In the 1984 movie Amadeus, during an argument about his music, Mozart‘s character says, “Sire, only opera can do this. In a play if more than one person speaks at the same time, it’s just noise, no one can understand a word. But with opera, with music… with music you can have twenty individuals all talking at the same time, and it’s not noise, it’s a perfect harmony!”

I experienced the truth of this brilliant statement yesterday at Christalaya, Koramangala, during the singing time. It was the last song, just before I preached from Philippians 3.12-21. The song we were singing was “You Are Holy (Prince of Peace)” by Michael W. Smith, the lyrics of which can be found here.

During the two verses, the women follow the men, singing the same lines. And for the most part, the two parts do not mingle. But during the chorus, the women and men sing simultaneously. However, they sing different words. If they were speaking, I know from past experience that neither would be intelligible. But because they were singing, both parts are clearly understood. The men can understand and process what the women are singing even though they are singing different words. And the same is true the other way around.

And so there I was singing the men’s part of the chorus, listening simultaneously to the women’s part. The men’s part is about what I am doing. “I will sing to and worship, etc.” But the women’s part is about who Jesus. “You are Lord of lords. You are King of kings, etc.” And the thought struck me as I was singing, “The women are singing about why I am singing.” I will sing to and worship Jesus because of who he is. And I broke down, sobbing at the wonderful re-realization of who Jesus is to me. I could not continue singing, of course. Not yesterday. But today I can say, “You’re my Prince of Peace and I will live my life for you.”