Recent Sermon

Title

One World:

The Wisdom of Coldplay

by Rev. Ken Langer

First Church of Barre, Universalist

Date

Sunday, November 16, 2025

Sermon

In July of this year (2025), the internet blew up when a couple having an affair appeared on the so-called “kiss cam” at a concert put on by the band Coldplay. It was a chance for everyone to pontificate on the attributes of a good marriage and the evils of outside affairs. The couple clearly did not want to appear on camera, as their respective spouses, as well as their colleagues, would note that they were being less than honest about their marriages. Among many other things, the event revealed a hard truth about our contemporary high-tech society: cameras are everywhere.

The event happened just after the song “Sparks” was performed, in which the lead singer, Chris Martin, sang the lines, “I know I was wrong, but I won’t let you down.” The song itself is about someone asking for a second chance after having let down their romantic partner. The captured couple would have to spend many months trying to repair their relationships with their respective partners as well as their companies. Sometimes, hard truths come at unusual moments.

Would we act differently if we knew that a camera was always pointed our way? Would we change our behavior if we knew that everything we do could impact the lives of others? Would we reconsider our actions if we knowingly or unknowingly recognized that something we did might hurt someone else?

Now, if I were a different minister, I might insert here how God is watching you and that you should all just be good people so that you can get your heavenly reward, but this is not that kind of sermon. I believe that all life is connected by an invisible thread of interrelation not by some invisible yet separate being. That translucent web is both the fundamental sacredness of everything as well as the transcendent unity that makes us all part of the same reality. It turns out that a philosophy similar to this is shared by the lead singer of Coldplay, Chris Martin. When asked about religion, he will tell you that he was raised an evangelical Christian in his family home in Devon, England, but that, as he grew older, he became disillusioned with the exclusivity of his Christian education. In an interview, he said, “God, for me, is all things and all people. God is everywhere and everyone, and it’s also the unknowable, the vast majesty behind everything.” He calls himself an “alltheist.” That sounds very contemporary Universalist to me.

Much of the music of Coldplay is based on influences from gospel music, English pop, and the soaring sounds of synth-pop. The messages in their lyrics, perhaps influenced by Martin’s religious interests, tend to be positive. They urge us to be aware of the pain that we all experience and to affirm life in the process. They encourage us to appreciate everyday life with all its warts and scars, as well as its falls and missteps. They remind us that happiness is found when we learn to love this messy life that we all share. This moment now, filled with all its kiss cams and hard truths, is the essence of the richness of living.

The song “Clocks,” is a typical broken-hearted love song, but it also includes a hint of existential anxiety about our obsession with time. The song talks about a “confusion that never stops, closing walls and ticking clocks.” It also reveals a need to find those things in life that are truly important. The closing lines express the singer’s feeling that his beloved is his home, where he has always wanted to go.

The title of the song “Viva La Vida” literally means “Long Live Life!” and asks us to be content with our lives, as imperfect as they may be. The song recalls the story of King Louis XVI, who, instead of caring for his people, ruled with a heavy hand and an arrogant, cruel heart. His hubris eventually led to his own beheading. There is a double message here, I believe, that points to the inevitable downfall of those who lead with brutality and inhumanity, but it could also highlight the fact that everything in our lives is fleeting and that we should take time to consider what is truly valuable. As the song reminds us, all of our castles are built on pillars of salt and pillars of sand.

There is a great message of hope in many of the songs of Coldplay. The song “Higher Power” was written during the pandemic to offer people a small bit of optimism. The work claims that we all have a higher power within us and that we are all “just once in a lifetime.” If we can trust our inner fortitude and believe that we are meant to shine in our own way, we may be able to get through challenges as great as a global disease. Chris Martin is quoted as saying that “the song is about trying to find the astronaut in all of us, the person that can do amazing things.”

There are two songs, however, that I believe really emphasize the hopeful themes in the music of Coldplay. The first is called simply "Everyday Life." This song begins by recognizing that everyone hurts and that life is full of suffering. It then goes on to say that although we all fall and cry, we also dream and love. Though we may deny it, we share in each other’s pain and each other’s joys. And though we may not always see it, there is beauty to be found amidst the ugliness. Sometimes we just need to wait for the flowers to blossom from the dirt. If we can find the strength to do that, then we can learn to dance with life, stretch our arms out wide, and sing Hallelujah. Here is the text of the song:

What in the world are we going to do? 

Look at what everybody's going through. 

What kind of world do you want it to be? 

Am I the future or the history?

Everyone hurts. Everyone cries. Everyone tells each other all kinds of lies.

Everyone falls. Everybody dreams and doubts. (We’ve) got to keep dancing when the lights go out. 

How in the world am I going to see you as my brother (and) not my enemy?

Everyone loves. Everybody gets their hearts ripped out. 

(We’ve) got to keep dancing when the lights go out.

Hold tight for everyday life. 

At first light (I will) throw my arms out open wide (and sing) Hallelujah.

If that’s not enough to convince you, then consider the lyrics of the song "One World," which simply states, “We are one world, only one world. In the end, it’s just love.” Or perhaps all these songs could be summed up with the lyrics of the song "A Message," which says simply, “You don’t have to be alone. You don’t have to be on your own. My song is love, is love unknown, and I’ve got to get that message home.”  

I couldn’t say it much better than that.

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