Prepared Piano

Good morning, friends!

Let me wish you a Joyous Advent, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year 2011! I praise God that we have had a full year of blessings and look forward to the future with great hope.

Our term for this month is prepared piano. You may say, "What an odd topic to choose for this month!" To be honest, I was a bit apprehensive about it myself. However, my heart was stirred within me as God began showing me His cues through prayer and scripture reading. So, as I collect my thoughts and share what He has shown me, I pray that God will cause you to see Him in a new light and that you will be empowered in your worship of Christ, the Dayspring, the Rod of Jesse, the Desire of nations, the Key of David, the newborn King!

First, let us explore what is meant by the term prepared piano? Coined by American composer John Cage in the 1940s for his Bacchanale, the term refers to any piano in which the pitches, timbres and dynamic responses of individual notes have undergone some alterations with screws, rubber erasers and other objects placed between the strings. This level of preparation takes a great deal of planning, forethought, and practice. The result can be stunning or horrid depending on tastes but one fact remains that a serious transformation always takes place in the sound of the piano in question and therefore, in the impact it has on audience members.

I have been doing a lot of thinking during this holiday season from Halloween to New Year's. I also see how people, church people, are divided about what to celebrate and what not to celebrate. Some people are offended by such terms as "Season's greetings" and "Happy Holidays." Others are consumed by the incessant trips to malls and other shopping centers. Yet others are looking forward to the perpetual events and traditions that constitute a cultural Christmas -- presents, turkey dinners, Santa Claus rides, Christmas pageants, etc...

How are we to celebrate this coming – this Adventus of the Messiah? Are we to fuss over traditions for the sake of appeasing consciences and maintaining status quo? Are we to be primarily concerned and consumed by political correctness, etiquette, decorations and lights, food gatherings, social outings? Nothing wrong with any of the aforementioned things per se; however, they all focus on the outside.

Just like a prepared piano, we, too, must focus on the inside. Being the Master preparer, Jesus travails and traverses between the strings of our hearts in order to transform us, His earthen and clay vessels, and thoroughly prepare us to worship and welcome Him. He pulls, twists, pricks, prods, digs, urges, stirs, prompts, molds, and shapes the strings of our hearts in such a way that we are rendered prepared masterpieces “created in Christ Jesus to do good works which He prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)
I think of the lyrics of a worship song I learned while a freshman at Biola,

“Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary
Pure and holy, tried and true,
With thanksgiving, I’ll be a living sanctuary for you.”

How can we be refined, prepared, tried, purified? By allowing God to reveal to us the areas that have kept us chained, confessing them to God and others, and turning from old sinful habits while embracing the call to obedience. When we feel harassed, insulted, infringed upon, we are simply being prepared to extend grace to others. When the exorbitant bills are due and there is still more month at the end of the money, we are being prepared to hope and exercise faith/trust in God. When we are stretched too thin by deadlines and responsibilities, we are being prepared to receive the solace and comfort that the peace of Christ provides. When tears and heartaches become our daily food, we are being prepared to experience full joy in our Redeemer and Friend. When we are served with divorce papers, marital unfaithfulness, and betrayals, we are ultimately being prepared for God’s unfailing love. He is preparing us, dear friends, in good and bad times.

So, let us follow in the footsteps of David who humbly said in Psalm 139:23-24,

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Let me share the questions that God has directed me to ask myself:

1. Can I find a quiet space during this busy season to commune with God?
2. Is my heart truly prepared to meet Christ this Christmas?
3. Have I been thinking more highly of myself or more highly of God?
4. Do I think that I can justify myself by following the law or do I embrace the blood of Christ?
5. Am I trusting God to save me and keep my feet from slipping?
6. Do I belittle others because of their wrongdoing?
7. Do I honestly and completely recognize that without God’s intervention I am capable of committing heinous crimes the like of murder and sexual perversion?
8. Am I submitting/surrendering my sinful tendencies and desires to God so that He can do away with them on a continual basis?

Answering those questions honestly will bring to us an awareness of our guilt and our need for God’s amazing grace.

Let Him prepare our hearts for His ultimate coming!