Harmony Achieved Through Christ

Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor in the sixteenth century A.D. was fascinated with clocks and had a collection of them.  When he stepped down from the throne in 1556, he had been spending almost all of his time in Spain, in his mansion.  He had six particular clocks in his home and he was fixated on getting them each to run simultaneously, and to chime in harmony.  However, no matter how hard he tried, he was unsuccessful in achieving the harmony he had sought.  At his retirement, he equated his six dissonant clocks to the six disparate nations of the Empire, concluding that it was utterly impossible to get harmony out of such discord.

In the modern world, achieving harmonious synchronicity has become a relatively easy endeavor thanks to a standard time being set, Greenwich Mean Time.  In essence, it is the common standard that clocks are set to that creates harmony.  Similarly, although Christians may often disagree about certain things and may even argue over what being a Christian entails, we should never forget that, like setting our clocks to the standard time, what brings harmony is each of us separately and jointly aligning with the perfect standard of Christ.

Harmony is a musical term that refers to the simultaneous sounding of various intervallic frequencies that create consonance or aural pleasure.  In this, it is important to assert that harmony requires difference; harmony cannot happen unless there are different notes ringing out simultaneously.  This is a beautiful metaphor for the Church, that our differences are what makes complex harmony possible.

As Paul confirms in his first letter to the church in Corinth, "For the body does not consist of one member, but many (1 Cor. 12:14)."  Paul is talking about spiritual gifts, exhorting the Corinthians that God has blessed people with differences by His will and for His purposes.  And that these differences should not be ignored but celebrated for it is by His design that one should be gifted in teaching and another in service, or one in prophecy while another in wisdom.  We need only to remember that Christ alone is what fosters harmony, for we are all equally supported and sustained by His Spirit (1 Cor. 1-11).

Dissension and dissonance arises when believers neglect their root and connection in the blood of Christ.  When believers focus on their common inheritance that is made secure by Christ Jesus, we will not overvalue our own understandings and we will not think of ourselves higher than we ought (Rom 12:3-8).  Only in fixing our gaze on Christ can we overcome our selfishness and proclivities toward dissonance and reach holy harmony that God has intended for His children.  Let us then fix our eyes upon Jesus who leads us, His choir, in a holy song of praise to the Father!