We had planned on a quick stop. Just a trip to the Religion section of our local Border?s Bookstore to check on a title. When I opened the front door of the store I was swamped with a wave of live music. A table to my right revealed the name of the group and the available CDs, but that was completely beside the point. The six members of the group were set up in the middle of the store, full equipment, complete sound system, and a passion to play that would have served them well in front of a crowd of thousands.
There was something about the live music. Something powerful. Something engaging. So much so that my short errand turned into a far more extended stay. Mary and I both stood, just behind a rack of the latest novels, surrounded by the warmth and authenticity of real music. We clapped and participated.
Studio perfection pumping through a high quality sound system wouldn’t have stopped us, but live performers, with faces, smiles, skill, personality and harmony interrupted our script. The subtle nuances of live music, yes, even some of the imperfection made the sounds more captivating.
God’s plan for communicating His love and truth is to use live performers. The musical score, the lyrics, and the story they tell are pure perfection. He made sure of that in His Word. And yet, He dispatches us to tell the story. Imperfect but authentic. We live lives in need of the very grace we share.
“For God, who said, ?Let light shine out of darkness,? has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” ~ 2 Corinthians 4: 6, 7
The power and purity of the message of hope is transmitted in live array through fragile, earthen containers, like me. But this power, this transcendent light is lived out in person, in each of the followers of Christ. We live the message. We ache for perfection, and rightly so, but our broken lives become the instrument the Father uses to wash over the ears of a listening public.
Often, God interrupts the script of those around us with authentic melody. He displays His matchless love, His abundant grace and His transformational plan in and through me. And He does it live and in concert.
Authentic and captivating, jars of clay.
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