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Playing the Scales of Faith (Jazz Sunday)

 What are the 10 commandments (no looking)? 









1. No other gods before me.  2. No idols. 3. Don't take the Lord's name in vain. 4. Remember and honor the Sabbath. 5. Honor your parents. 6. Don't kill. 7. Don't commit adultery. 8. Don't steal. 9. Don't bear false witness. 10. Don't envy/covet your neighbor's stuff. 

What does it mean to honor your parents? Most would say it's about children obeying them. It's actually about adult children taking care of their parents and setting the example for their children so that when you are old, your children will take care of you. 

Here is the way I look at the 10 commandments: the first three is about our relationship with God, the fourth is our relationship with time, take a break once in a way, take a whole day off, the next is about family, and the last 5 are about our relationship with the world. 

What is the greatest commandment? (Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself) and what are all the laws and prophets summed up as (Golden Rule: treat others as you want to be treated). 

Now, how many notes are there in a scale? (8) How many keys are there in an octave on the piano? (13) How many could name chromatically the keys of a C chord or D or E flat? Raise your hands. How many could find them and play them on the piano or another instrument? Keep your hands raised. Alright, of those, or any, remaining people with their hands raised, could come up and take over for Mike on the piano or another instrument with the Jazz group that is playing? I would imagine that there wouldn't be anyone, myself included. Why? Because we haven't practiced this style of music, we haven't the knowledge of the chords, the rhythms, and whatever else we truly need to play the music we are hearing this morning. Kileen is learning to play the piano by watching YouTube videos. She asked me a while ago, what's an inverted chord. I had a little clue, but really no idea. I had 6 years of piano lessons growing up. But mostly I just play from music books and play by and for myself. So there are lots of terms, even though I play several instruments, that I don't know, because I have not been exposed to them and haven't studied music theory enough. I really like Jazz, like to listen to live Jazz and have lots of Jazz music on my Apple Music catalogue and a growing collection of records to play. With my fibromyalgia, I am not sure I will ever get to the place to be able to play in a group, because I will not be able to practice enough. 

We, as Christians, should know the 10 Commandments, the Greatest Commandment, and the Golden Rule. We should especially also know the Beatitudes: Blessed are the poor, the meek, the pure in heart... We should know them well enough that we can pick out a simple tune on the scales of faith. Being a part of a church, we should know how to play them in simple harmony with others in our church. 

As we continue to practice and play, we should discover what genre God is calling us to. As a Just Peace church and an Open and Affirming church, which we have decided and affirmed to be, we cannot just play a simple tune. We have made the commitment to be a Jazz church. So that means we have to go beyond the simple tunes and scales of faith and learn the theory and the stories and the history and commit ourselves to regular practice so that as injustices continue and come up, as people are being excluded and harassed for who they are, we can respond in a manner that is worthy our our name and our calling. 

Would we all agree that John the Baptist was pretty close, pretty tight with God? He was out in the wilderness, he was proclaiming the coming of the kingdom and the Messiah, he was baptizing a baptism of repentance. But, however we read in today's story that he was mistaken about two things. One was that Jesus wasn't coming to judge the world, but to love and save it. The second was that Jesus was wanting to be baptized by John, not the other way around. The tune and music style was changed. I will leave it up to you to decide whether John the Baptist was able to learn something new and roll with it. 

I say this really not to shame us, if we only have a Sunday School understanding of faith and the Bible as a church, then it is really is difficult for us to be a Just Peace and an Open and Affirming church. If we have trouble finding the notes, must less recognize the chords, the tempo, or the rhythm, how can we play with God and with others, and for others who really need to hear our music? I invite us to continue to learn not just the scales (the 10 Commandments, Greatest, Golden, Beatitudes), but practice them on a regular basis and learn the theologies, the history, and the ability to listen to God, who is our band director and composer. Amen?  Amen.







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