So last week I got to talk about Country and it was quite possible the funniest and easiest message I've every prepared. This week however my task was to connect Jazz to faith . . . and I needed some help . . . so I went to several music sources and they all said the same thing . . . jazz is really hard to describe . . . but one of those sources, pointed me to a book . . . and this next definition of jazz and faith comes from there . . . "Blue like Jazz."
And jazz is this very real - free flowing music that is created as you go . . . Jazz is passionate, raw and honest - and as a musician playing jazz . . . you see the music as something to be explored - never knowing exactly what may be coming next - but confident that the music itself is a passageway to a treasure chest of even richer melodies, rhythms and harmonies . . .
A true jazz musician doesn't think so much about what he's playing . . . but he feels it first . . . in the very center of his being . . . and the music (the expression) flows out of that center - and true jazz is improvisational (often made up as you go) - each musician taking his cue from the musician before . . . and so creating the music together with one another . . . . . so jazz is this . . . amazing melody, that with each moment the song is played, - step by step - line by line . . . the music becomes more complete . . .
Now, that's a sort of musical mystical definition of jazz music . . . and the more I read and heard about jazz - the more mystical it became (this is important . . . ). Jazz is not meant to be completely figured out - jazz doesn't resolve and part of what jazz is . . . is mystery . . . Now, you gotta know that drove a very practical - down to earth country music guy crazy.
However, . . . . . . the more I have been listening to and learning about jazz . . . the more I saw parallels between jazz and our faith journey . . . In fact the more you know about jazz and what it's about - I believe the more you'll be able to understand faith . . . because faith to . . . . . . is meant to be . . .
Free - Flowing - Passionate - Raw and Honest . . . something that is felt deeply to the center of who you are . . . and like jazz, God designed faith one step at a time - improvisational if you will - All throughout our life time - one step of faith building on another - one spiritual experience creating the next - one spiritual learning changing the next. And all those changes and learning and experiences eventually changing the direction we head in life . . . . and sometimes, . . . . . . in fact a lot of times - faith doesn't resolve either - there's lots of mystery in it . . .
Now - I'm not much of a musician to be honest and I don't know a whole bunch about jazz . . . and even when I wrote that introduction (that definition of jazz and faith seemed a little unfinished and a little artsy but it's full of truth . . .)
God has designed faith to look and feel a lot like jazz . . .
Now, here's the immediate picture that comes to my mind when I related faith and jazz together . . . So . . . for everyone like me who may not be all that musical . . . you may need a different picture that works . . . to put these 2 thoughts together . . . Here's the picture that put faith and jazz together for me. (work with me!)
It was a connect the dots puzzle. You know in grade 1 you learn #'s puzzles? . . .
Now, this may seem a little elementary to most of you - but it worked for me - (which again my not surprise most of you) . . . I still like doing those . . . every time we're in a restaurant that gives out children's play sheets and crayons. I do the #'s puzzles . . . . They're fun - because you never know exactly what you're creating until you're done. The mystery often lasts until the very end of the picture and then the picture becomes clear and you realize how important every dot was in the making of the whole picture . . . Let me make this a little clearer for our lives . . . 1 st we've got to.
I. Look back for the dots . . .
The apostle Paul wrote this to some people of faith in the early church . . . Good people who needed a reminder that their faith was real and that God was walking with them . . . and I think by writing this he wanted to give those people a picture of how God sees their lives . . .and I think there's a whole bunch of insight for us in these verses as well.
I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the wonderful future he has promised to those he called. I want you to realize what a rich and glorious inheritance he has given to his people.
Ephesians 1:18 (NLT)
And if you'll notice the way he writes this great prayer . . . it's in the past tense . . . he writes as if it has already happened . . . He says - I ask God to enlighten you - (to open the eyes of your heart) to what is already there . . . that God might give us some insight into the reality of what he has already called each of us to spiritually . . .
See, Paul knows something here that we don't always get . . . . . . Paul says this . . . do you know that each of you have been hand picked by God . . . in fact he says - just a few verses before this . . . that each of us . . . was chosen by God before the creation of the world . . . (now that time line is pretty hard to wrap your minds around) (take a jump) . . . but God is God - He's all powerful - He does what He does . . . and after all, . . . . . . He created everything . . . . . . including time . . . so why not?)
The bible says . . . He chose us - He hand picked each of us (before time began) . . . and in His incredibly - creative, only - God - kind of way . . . He wove into the very fabric of who we are - (He created within each of us) a picture for the future of our lives . . . a plan, if you will, of what we were created for . . . (and plan doesn't seem like a great enough word) so I have chosen a bigger word . . . . . . I use the word destiny because it's the (biggest word I can fathom) See . . . . . . along time before we were born - as God was creating each one of us to be unique and different from one another . . . . with different talents and abilities and strengths and weaknesses . As He was creating us long before we were born . . . He planted the seed of a destiny inside of us which will take all of our life time and the rest of eternity to play out . . . . . . and if you're a musician this may connect.
God said . . . I'll start this incredible song . . . (which is your life) . . . with one note . . . or maybe a line or two . . . just to get you going . . . and then I'll show you the rest of the song as you begin to play and live and improvise with your soul. Or if you're like me - this picture will work. Before we were born - God started a very intricate and complex dot-to-dot destiny picture of our lives . . . and He said . . . I'll put the first couple dots on the page . . . before you're born . . . just to get you started on the picture . . . . . . I'm not gonna draw the whole thing - that's your job . I know what that finished picture looks like, and it's amazing and it's beautiful and it's great . . . when it's done . . . but you've gotta connect the dots . . . Now, . . . got the analogy ? Great Dean . . . Now what?
Well . . . here's how I make this destiny stuff reality . . . God may have been thinking about me and my destiny before the creation of the world . . . but I can't seem to make that practical in my mind . . . (and it's gotta be practical for me) . . . so what I do to see my dot to dot picture . . . (that God is creating with me . . . ) is I go back 38 years . . . to the moment I was born . . . and I retrace the dots until today - so I can see if it's really true that God has an amazing picture for my life . . .(or if it's just some preachers idea . . .)
Have you ever done that retrace the dots of your spiritual life to this point - dots that God put into place - that started the picture you're living out . . . .
Here's what I mean. See, even what I know ( what I can picture ) of my dot-to-dot destiny, . . . started before I was born (and I know it goes way farther back than that but . . . before I was born . . . my spiritual journey started . . . ) It started when my mom was 16 . . . and she was the first in her family line to take a step of faith and follow Jesus Christ . . . and that step of faith, which cost her greatly. . . . . . It cost her friends . . . and it cost her, her family for a season . . . as they turned their back on this new faith filled person among them . . . and they didn't know how to deal with here . . .an d some of her family still doesn't . . . My mom's step of faith set the stage for my Dad and us boys dot to dot picture to be altered . . . . . . See, 4 years later when my Dad married my mom . . . He too made a commitment to follow Jesus Christ with his life and then the two of them said . . . Our home is gonna be different from the generations before us . . . because were gonna put God first . . . and they said . . . the cornerstone of our family is gonna be faith in Jesus . . . and nothing else . . . He's the centre . . .
So, us four boys (my brothers and I) grew up knowing Jesus and seeing the reality of faith lived out in our home every day . . . . . . and we understood that God wanted us to be in relationship with him, and we understood from the time we were knee high that God loved us and had an incredible plan for our lives . . . Now, for me that's when my spiritual dot to dot picture began . . . when my mom was 16 - 9 years before I was born . . . . . . God was making some dots . . . He was starting the song . . .
And then, (more dots) there was this crazy lady who taught me Sunday School - Merle Formo. We called her squirrly Merley and that fit a little bit . . . but she taught we about Jesus and some of that stuck . . . and then there was Mrs. Miller. This wonderful grandma type lady who would pray with us when she took care of us and she taught lessons on flannel boards at church and we saw Jesus in her, because she loved us . . . and our picture got clearer and clearer . . . .
And then there was Brian Warkentine who made faith real to me when I was 14, and was just a lot of fun and then came Dave Currie my high school football coach who knew I could be more than I was . . . and he believed in me . . . And then I met my wife who has been my primary spiritual developer . . . without her - the picture God was trying to create in my life would look radically different . . . And then there was Lee Barbour and Rich Jeanneau and Mark Jacobson and Bob Hamm and just this week Don Bristow - who God has used to help me connect the dots most suited to the picture God has for me . . . and God has used 1000 different circumstances - ranging from great victories to dismal defeats to connect the dots in my life . . . and slowly there is this amazing picture emerging and I can't make it all out yet -There's still a whole bunch of mystery in it . . . but it's coming . . . Have you ever gone back and retraced your life spiritually - have you ever connected the dots?
. to that grandparent who took you to church or talked with you about Jesus
. to that Sunday School you got to go to where you learned that God loved you
. to that youth program where you were first introduced to Jesus
. to that horrible situation you were in that caused you to call out to God
. to that incredible moment where you felt great success for the first time and were so thankful for your life
. to that person you had coffee with that God used to answer a few of your questions
. to being here in this church at this moment
Folks, connecting the dots is so vitally important for us to do on a regular basis. Make it a habit . . . to really look at what God has been creating in your life . . . because the reality is . . . He began your picture a long time ago and He's been working with you to draw it . . . dot by dot by dot . . . . . . See . . . the truth is . . . He has began this incredible song in you life . . . and the rhythm is unique to you - the melody is only yours . . . and the song has been playing much longer than we realize . . .and He's calling us to play . . . and to help create the next part of the tune . . .
I just want to give you a nudge to think about that . . . my bet is God has been trying to talk with you for a while . . . and I can imagine that God (in ways that only God can) . . . has this amazing picture started for your life . . . and it's a picture of love and grace and adventure and calling . . . And I just wanted you to catch a glimpse of that kind of God . . . who begins to prepare our souls years before we're born . . . so that we can connect to the true purpose of our lives.
Here's the next part to jazz and faith . . . we've gotta
II. HEAR THE NEXT DOT
There is a verse that I love (in the Bible) that speaks to me even though I don't quite understand it, yet . . . it simply says this . . . "Be still and know that I am God" Psalm 46:10 (NIV)
Theresa of Avila said it like this . . . "Settle yourself in solitude and you will come upon Him in yourself . . . "
Have you ever thought about how incredibly noisy our lives are . . . (think back to this week . . . ) My bet is for most of you it was an incredibly noisy, busy week . . . with very little silence . . . and what I want to say here is very simple . . . Just like in creating great jazz music . . . one musician must listen very clearly and then respond to the others. Well . . . in faith . . . listening for God's voice . . . is the only way to draw the next dot for your picture . . . and it's the only way to complete the song He's creating with in us . . . Listening . . . that comes from silence . . . and in the silence we hear the next step towards our future . . . and out of silence is born our destiny . . .
Hear this. Now, there is a human weakness that leads to trouble every time . . . and I fall into it very regularly . . . many of us do . . .
We want to control our own destiny and leave God out of it . . . . . .
Now, I know I'm going up against all the Tony Robbins and Oprah Winfrey's of our culture when I say this . . . because they say the only way to really live and be successful in life is . . . to control your own destiny and you know what? . . . They are half right . . . (Hear this)
Because you can do quite well in life by simply getting out of bed with purpose every morning - putting your head down and working hard every day and trying to be a nice person who has direction in their life . . . all of those are good things . . .however - all those good things do, is draw a nice - neat - good picture for your life . . . . and if you work real hard you might even draw the best dot to dot man-made picture ever . . . . . . . .and it'll be nice and good . . . but it's still man-made . . . Let me give you an analogy . . .
Say you had never seen a mountain before . . . never, lived on the prairie your whole live . . . and then imagine you were brought to the foot of Blackstrap Mountain . . . Well, if you'd have never seen a real mountain . . . Blackstrap would seem quite amazing - it's high - trees - green grass - skiing in winter - see it for miles . . . and if you'd never seen a mountain before you might even think Blackstrap was beautiful - awe inspiring . . . even though it's man made . . .
However, if you had never seen a mountain and you drove to Blackstrap then on the same day drove to Banff. . . well . . . then your first view and thoughts of Blackstrap would quickly begin to fade . . . and suddenly the man-made mountain would look puny and weak and lame in front of the grandeur of the Rockies . . . that when you see them you have no doubt about who made them . . . and just seeing them in the bigness and majesty . . . . . . connects your soul to God . . . .
See folks, scripture says that God's plan for our lives the picture He is drawing is just at a whole different level (than we could draw) - it's drawn at a whole different scale . . . and it's a picture that was started before the creation of the world by God himself and will continue . . . . . . on way past our lifetime and into eternity.
So I say all that to say this . . . . If you want to live out your destiny . . . the one God has placed within you - you can't reach it by working harder and you can't find it by focusing more or organizing your life more - or telling yourself you're the best - 25 times a day . . . . No . . . soul destiny comes out of silence . . .
The only way to really live out your destiny is to tap into God with your entire life . . . to place yourself fully in his creative hands - choose to create the masterpiece of your destiny along with Him . . .
Just like Jazz is a collaborative process - each musician adding to what the last has done . . . The call of God on our lives is collaborative as well. God invites us to partner up with Him - to create our destiny along with Him. He invites us - to choices when we come to different forks in the road . . .
And yes, He wants us to be disciplined and focused and understand our strengths and weaknesses and to be organized and to seize opportunities . . just like Tony Robbins says . . . but it's more than that . . . See, God (all powerful) invites us to connect and communicate with Him as we create and design our destiny . . .
But here's how you do it . God says it's just like jazz you've gotta listen and feel it.
Now some of you thinkers are going crazy (listening and feeling). But,
if you ask a jazz musician how he knows when to join in and help the melody along . . . They will say the same thing . . . I listen . . . to the music and I can feel when it's time to join in . . . (They feel their way to knowing . . . and what is created is beautiful music . . .)
So folks, if you want to create beautiful music with God . . . If you want to work with him in the placement of the next dot . . . you've gotta learn to listen and feel . . . with your soul. God said, "Be still and know that I am God . . . "
You don't have to do anything . . . Just be still . . . slow down the pace of life . . . make a space for silence . . . and ask God to speak to you . . .. . . and out of the silence you will know what to do . . . (sounds kinda flaky but it's true)
Out of the silence the future is formed . . . out of the silence the picture becomes more complete.
III. How Big is the Picture? ( that God is drawing?)
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD , "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
Let me tell you why that is my favourite promise in all of scripture . . . because it speaks about a great future ahead of us . . . as we walk with God . . . This verse promises that the jazz song is not over . . . in fact it's just getting started . . . It promises that we've only seen the very beginnings of the picture God is creating with us . . . and to be honest . . . I need this kind of a promise . . . I want to know that my life ahead will still have adventure and calling and wonder and surprise spiritually. I want to know that God will be walking beside me - whether the future looks bright or not . . . I want to know that faith isn't stagnant and that my soul isn't gonna shrink . . . in the years to come and I want to know that what I'm doing and creating with God is gonna last into eternity. That's why I like that promise.
There's an author that I like to read that writes western books . . . Louis L'amour. I can escape a bit into the old west in his books . . . He wrote a few books that were from different era's in history . . . One of my favourites is call 'The Marching Drum' about an adventurer who lives in the middle ages names Matherin Kerbochard . . . . . . who travelled the world and fought for good and made a difference wherever he went . . . and lived a life of adventure and intrigue and strength. Awesome book.
Well every time in the book he would leave someone . . . always knowing he might never see them again . . . He would part with the same words Yol Bolsun which meant . . . "may there be a road . . . " And may the future be filled with adventure and joy and fulfillment and destiny . . . and may you walk on that
road . . . with your head held high and may you squeeze everything you can out of life . . . Yol Bolsun . I love that picture . . . a life of adventure, a life of calling . . . a life spent chasing hard after God's design for our lives . . .
So (people) . . . hear the truth . . .God hand picked you before the creation of the world and He placed destiny with in your soul . . . and He desires more than you know to create that destiny right with you . . . and the future . . . .I love the future . . . The future following Jesus Chris is a life full of adventure and power and joy and peace and endurance and mystery . . . and I hope for you only God's best . . . Yol Bolsun . . . "May there be a road . . ." (ahead of you). |
