Hearing the Music

Art as wisdom, worship and obedience

Since art is woven into my being from my earliest memories, here are a few thoughts about the significance and value of art. They are in no particular order. I share them with you for purposes of encouragement and for God’s glory. Maybe you would not describe yourself as artistic but everything that I will say applies to art appreciation and any artistic endeavor however great or small, clumsy or fine.  I am no musician but find myself more often moved by the art of music to praise God than any other artform – a beneficiary of other people’s obedience to their calling.

Art as wisdom: In della pittura (1435) Leon Battista Alberti called art “sensate wisdom” and I agree with this definition. Our sermon passage tells us of a young Timothy: “…that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (NKJV). Alberti writes of another kind of wisdom that begins with observing the handiwork of God all around you; a wisdom that increases by looking at these things intently, over lengths of time to see how Christ sustains it and holds it all together, redeeming everything in due time. We increase our knowledge of God and His mighty works as we represent the continuous masterwork of creation to one another. While human art can never be superior to the world around us, it is a lovely and valuable signpost along the path of His redemption plan toward our eternal destination. Here we see that God has made this massive oak or, in His image, an old man stooped over with age. Mighty are His works… What comes next? The dim light will strengthen in the spring and the leaves will come back and the man will be brought home to glory. Thusly we have observed God’s faithfulness toward His artwork in the world and we can now make a visual testimony of these things on paper.

Art as worship: I play no instrument and am not a great singer, but I love to sing. Christ Church monthly shape note gatherings have been meaningful times of worship even though I would not be credited with having any giftedness in the music department. God is not looking for perfection but desire. If you think that you do not possess an artistic gift, I encourage you to try out an unfamiliar artform and bring a desire to worship God through feeble efforts and dedicate it to Him. In a world of inputs, I find a worshipful dialogue taking place in the quiet moments of artistic planning and output. My meandering thoughts over the hours inevitably end up in praise to God for the wonders of His love and delight in Him. I am filled with gratitude for the things that I am rendering – especially trees which I greatly enjoy drawing and painting. I am daily in awe of God as I work on designs with materials that He provides and see them built and finished in His light. And I am pleased to show Him the results of any work that I engage, and I hope that He is pleased to see it.

Art as obedience: “ See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:  And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship...…  and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee” (KJV). While Bezaleel is uniquely pointed out in the passage, it must be noted that the same spirit is issued broadly for many to contribute to the work of the tabernacle and in every case the initiator is the spirit of God, in wisdom. This is consistent with the creation mandate; be fruitful and multiply. That is to say; “be creative, make things, arrange things, invent, design, carve, photograph, color, cook, draw, paint, sculpt, cut, stitch, sew, build, write, make music, sing, dance” and then go back and do it again with improvements! There are no people on this earth to whom that mandate has not been issued. When we obey God’s creation mandate, we are spreading abroad the goodness of God and the gospel of His salvation through Jesus. I suppose some people obey unintentionally – Rafael is responsible for many marvelous religious artworks (my favorite is Deliverance of St. Peter, 1514) but in life he was kind of a dirtball and fortunately confessed his life of sin on his deathbed at age 37. At any rate, for those that obey out of a desire to please God and worship Him in artworks, get used to all this creativity – this is something that will not only continue in Heaven but will accelerate.

Music, a Foretaste of Heaven

Music is a universal language. It has the unique ability to reach our hearts, cutting through language barriers and misunderstandings in a way that words often can’t. This never fails to amaze me.

It's not just the poetry, notes, or rhythm alone that create the "soul" of a song or the connection we feel when we hear it. There is some other quality in the composition of those things that makes music special. I believe that’s why music is such a central part of our worship. It touches something deep within us, while also creating a bond between us. There’s something ineffable about the beauty of music that draws us in and moves us in ways few other things can.

I grew up in a musical family, though I never excelled at learning piano. Later, during a stressful time in college, I found that playing music brought me peace when I needed it most. Eventually, I stepped into a leadership role in dorm worship, picking up guitar and learning as I went.

Susan found out that I could play guitar and has been an amazing musical influence. Bek often talks about how connecting with Susan and playing music was one of the first ways she felt connected at Christ Church. Playing at Christ Church has led to many of our best musical memories and it is one of our favorite ways to serve our church family.

I sometimes can feel nervous or inadequate when it comes to my musicianship. I worry about stumbling over notes or being out of sync with the others I’m playing with. My wife (who has impeccable rhythm) and many of my friends and family are far more accomplished musicians with a deeper technical knowledge than I have. Also, our church is filled with incredibly talented people! Sometimes I catch myself thinking, "Can I really keep up with all of this?"

I find encouragement in our passage from 2 Timothy 1:3-11 this week. Paul urges Timothy not to be timid, but to trust in the power, love, and self-discipline that come from Christ. He reminds us to "fan into flame" the gifts we’ve been given. That means my skill level on the guitar isn’t the focus—it’s not about playing perfectly. Whatever talent we bring to worship, it is good and right that we bring it to worship! The purpose is Christ. Worship comes from the joy of the good news, and that’s what pushes us to praise.

It's only right that we use music in worship. That indescribable "something" that makes music so powerful—connecting us physically, emotionally, and spiritually—is a perfect way to offer praise to God. While I believe all music and art can be forms of praise, there’s something special about worshiping together, no matter the instrument or skill level. It gives us a glimpse of what’s to come. When Christ gathers us to Himself, we will have been made perfect to continue to worship and glorify the Lord.

Photo by John Hult on Unsplash

The types of things that help

Oh there’s so much I’d like to have a chat about. Like how ARE you? How goes it with your soul? With your heart? With your spirits? How goes your joy in the Lord? Are you able to remember that you’re a child of the King and part of a kingdom of light, love and truth? I feel I waffle between all-consuming dread and inexpressible joy. I guess that describes life for me pre-COVID also!!

I will mention three offerings that are available to you, my fellow-travelers, as we onward go. They are the types of things that help me fill my mind and heart with that inexpressible joy when the all-consuming dread looms. Perhaps they could be of help to you too?

Wednesday prayer gatherings. Starting July 29, 7-8pm, we will meet weekly to pray together outside. The one unique voice we can offer into the fray of social discord is the voice of prayer. We will praise God, lament to him, and intercede for each other and the world. To aid our focus on lament we will have a painted board set up outside where we can write our lament. We can be unified as we see the hurts, the confusion, even the rage of each other’s hearts in our church family. There isn’t a wrong lament. God already knows what’s going on. But when we lament we take it out of our thoughts into the wounds of Jesus where he can turn it into a hope. If you’d prefer we write your lament down for you please send it in here. It will be written out (anonymously). 

Extended Playlist for Faith, Hope & Love on Spotify. Yes, that’s the second offering I have. Debbie Bukovietski and I are filled to the brim with those three wonderful words through working on materials for Arts & Rec in a box. So we wanted to offer a way for more than just the kids and families to be blessed by those words faith, hope and love. Many musicians have written on these words from I Corinthians 13. Also included in the playlist are songs about our three stories: Jesus and his disciples in the storm, the road to Emmaus and the good Samaritan. As always, lots of musical styles are included from the people of God to the people of God. Rejoice! Be filled! Take 75 minutes to hear truth sung. A lyric sheet is available to help you sing in voice or in spirit.

Singing together. The final thing I’ll mention is an offering from my heart about our singing together. Lately this is when that feeling of all-consuming dread has really reared its head in my heart. I’ll begin, however, by saying that working with my fellow music-makers to produce the recordings — sometimes from afar, sometimes together — has been very, very good: as in soul-lifting, easy, fun, sacred good. Those in quarantine produced such lovely ways for us to lift our voices “together.” My battle cry near the beginning of the lock down was “we’re not being told we can’t worship, we’re just being told we shouldn’t gather; that’s not the same thing.” Now we could probably disagree on that take of things. But it’s been my guiding principle, to help the people of God sing and worship in all ways during these days. And it’s been a joy. Moving into the parking lot was the next step and it’s really also been very, very good: seeing each other, being outside, raising our hallelujahs together to Jesus. But that feeling of dread I mentioned loomed whenever I thought about moving inside our sanctuary, and I had so many questions: “Why can one of the most unifying aspects to our gatherings and life together be a cause of division and fear among us? What about what science is saying? How do we respond to all those scriptures that tell us to sing? Do we not sing? Do we sing and hope for the best?” I just couldn’t see a way through. Those were dark times for me. However, dear Debbie joined me in prayer so many times over this (as did the choir), and she remembered Sasha telling her of a time when he and some Christian friends were not allowed into their normal gathering place on a Sunday. So what they did was move away from that area, to a place by the river, in the dead of winter, and sing their hearts out with so very much joy! “That’s it!” I cried when she told me that story. “That’s what we can do!” So when we move inside for worship we’ll have scripture, prayer, preaching of the word, communion even, in our sanctuary. We’ll have instrumental music—strings, piano, organ, percussion. Then at the end we’ll go outside, encircle the island out there and sing away! We’ll receive the Benediction and be dismissed. I have peace about this. The session has agreed with it and we’ll give it a try when we resume worshiping in the sanctuary on August 2 at 6pm.

We have so much to look forward to this coming Sunday. The entire Gracehill congregation will be joining us in the parking lot! Pastor Daniel Eguiluz will be opening God’s word with us with a passage from Genesis 18:1-16. We’ll send Daniel and Abby out to Peru as well as send Jacob and Erin Thielman out to North Carolina.

_{Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash}