Organs and Violins
1 Peter 4:10 (AMPLIFIED)
As each of you has received a gift (a particular spiritual talent, a gracious divine endowment), employ it for one another as [befits] good trustees of God’s many-sided grace—faithful stewards of the extremely diverse [powers and gifts granted to Christians by] unmerited favor.
Recently, on a trip to Washington, DC, I experienced this verse in a dramatic way.
After spending a day at the Museum of the Bible, we attended an event hosted by the museum entitled “The Black Church Experience.” This two-hour event included a talk about the history of the organ used in Black worship music in the United States. As the presenter spoke, she played the organ to punctuate her points. The talk concluded, we were then treated to nearly two hours of organ music, provided by four well-known organists. On the stage sat two organs, a full drum set in the middle. To say that this was a lively concert is to use the grossest understatement.
Each organist had been invited by the speaker to play a selection of their favorite sacred music and to talk a little about their selections. The audience was packed, and at first, they mostly sat politely, with the occasional “That’s it” or “Uh-huh” shouted out as the organist played. But by the time the fourth and final organist hit the keyboards, virtually everyone was standing up, swaying to the music, lifting up hands in praise, and singing along with great gusto. By the time the evening concluded, all four organists, the presenter, the drummer, were up on stage singing, dancing. Eventually, a local pastor joined them on stage, closing out the evening with prayer. I left exhilarated.
The very next morning, we attended a denominational church service with our relatives. This too had packed pews, and this too offered musical presentations of sacred music, which mostly consisted of organ accompaniment and congregational singing. Midway through the service, however, we were treated to a violin duet—a selection from Handel’s Messiah--performed by two professional classical musicians. No one swayed to the beat, no one jumped up on their feet during the duet, no one shouted encouragement to the musicians, but the piece was moving and beautiful, nonetheless. It brought tears to my eyes.
As I left the service, I thought about the contrast between the raucous organ concert the night before and the staid duet this morning.
I like to think that both parties were praising God with music, seeking to bless and edify the fellow saints in attendance. Indeed, God’s grace is many sided, and I’m thankful that I got to experience the extremely diverse powers and gifts granted to Christians by grace in the space of 24 hours. What a blessing.
