The Church as Jazz Band

“My bags are packed, I’m ready to go . . .” 

People of a certain age may recognize this song, “Leavin’ on a Jet Plane”—and the mixed joy and sorrow it brings.

Yes, I’m leaving—and on a jet plane, but just for three months.  This is a long-planned Sabbatical which is intended to give me rest with time to heal, write and pray, plus spend time with my very scattered family whom I rarely get to see.

Today was my last Sunday in the pulpit. So often when an interim pastor comes in for a time, s/he is facing a difficult situation:  often either a disgraced pastor or a rogue church.  This is different—this is a vital, thriving congregation filled with people who genuinely love God and each other and actively look for ways to serve the world.  Frankly, the Interim Pastor is going to have a blast—and he knows it.

I will miss them enormously.  Yet, I, too, must engage in Sabbath rest and refreshment.  I have disregarded for too long the strong teaching in the Holy Scriptures about the importance of time away from work, time to refill, time to worship joyfully, time to heal body, mind, and soul.

In worship today, I invited the church to see themselves as a musical group as a metaphor for the church and the way people interact with each other.  We listened to a hilarious (and painful) piece recorded as a Swedish children’s orchestra tried to play together.

Then we watched a professional boys choir and orchestra sing “Unto Us A Child is Born” from Handel’s Messiah.

From the first video, we recognized the need to grow up. From the second, we became aware that a church that sounds too professional and too smooth might not be the best image to present to the world, not to mention that most of us are not “perfect pitch” Christians.

Then we watched a jazz group.

Oh my.  There it was, a great metaphor.  The musical theme consistently undergirded the astounding improvisations as one musician after another stood up and offered their talent while being supported by the rest of the band.  Incredible.  We all got it—the Church As Jazz Band.

And so we are—with this “musician” needing to drop from the action for a while, multiple other ones will step up and keep the music, the message of the gospel, alive and joyful and communicated with power and skill.

So, on Wednesday I fly to NYC for a week with two of my sons, and their exquisite wives and delightful children.  After that, I’m off for an extended period in London with my other son, his equally exquisite wife, their two equally delightful boys whose first language is Spanish, and their second is beautiful British English with a high-class accent.  I’m going to try to pick it up from them while I’m there!

And the band will play on here.  This is about as good as it gets.

Photo credit: Neil. Moralee on Visual Hunt / CC BY-NC-ND