Matthew 6 – Part 9 – TRYING TO PLAY A SYMPHONY ON AN OLD PIANO
I don’t have any paid employment at present. Moving to Sydney has been a step of faith. We have limited resources for the future. Our possessions fit into a garage. Somewhere under all those boxes is a piano that we have carted around on all our moves and still has future moves to come.
I am excited about what God has in store for us but have no idea how we are meant to survive long term. Fortunately worry doesn’t rule our lives. It tries at times to play a tune upon our feelings but like that old piano, but the keys don’t work properly and it is out of tune with our experience. It only ends up sounding funny. Eventually we simply put down the lid and place it in storage. It is there but it is not worth the effort anymore to bring it out and try to play it again. After all these years, we have seen the faithfulness of God as we have sought to put Him first in our lives.
At times, even to me, it seems like blatant irresponsibility to leave a Church I loved, without first having a ministry to come to. It’s not as if 54 year olds are the first choices in Churches in Sydney. And don’t get me wrong I am not implicating that I am the old piano, out of tune and sounding funny and ready to be put in storage. So many Churches, however, prefer someone much younger. Yet somewhere out there, there is a place for us, a Church that is just right for us, where God can use our accumulated experience and gifts to bless others and where our influence will see people respond to Christ. There’s a symphony to play and it won’t be played on our piano.
It doesn’t mean sitting around doing nothing. It means doing as Jesus says for His disciples to do, as He taught them about leadership on the mountain. In Matthew 6:33 (NLT) He says, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need. “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
The word "seek" as it reads in the original language is “zçteô”. It means to seek; to go after; to strive; to pursue; to desire; to aim at; to search for; to endeavor to get. (POSB Commentary).
SEEKING THE GRAND PIANO. It’s tuned and it sounds better.
Lord, you say I am to seek Your Kingdom
This is not talking about heaven. He is talking about His authority as King to rule over my life. His kingdom is anywhere where His rule and authority is exercised. He calls me to seek actively to obey Him and follow His leading in my life. I willingly do that today, Lord.
SEEKING THE RIGHT PIANO TEACHER. He knows how to make the tune you want to play sound like a symphony.
You ask me to seek Your righteousness. Not mine.
He is calling me today to actively seek and pursue a life that allows His righteousness to cover my life and characterize the way I live, play, sing.
I don’t want to do things in my own strength because I will inevitably mess things up, but that doesn’t mean that I do nothing. “Seek” is not a passive word. I will therefore choose today to actively seek what You want for my life. The desire of my heart and the call upon my life is to be a Pastor/Teacher. For others seeking His kingdom and His righteousness will mean something entirely different but just as impacting and tuned in to God’s symphony.
Romans 8:28 (NLT) says “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God (Notice it doesn’t say everything IS good, but that it works together for good for those who love God) and are called according to His purpose for them.”
Jesus says in Luke 11:9-10 (NLT) “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” He’s specifically speaking about receiving the Holy Spirit here, but the principle is true of everything in the Christian life. The aorist tense in the Greek means that we are to keep on asking, seeking, knocking. There’s a holy persistence that the Holy Spirit gives us that brings into reality what we desire, as long as we are seeking to come under His authority and seeking to live consistently with His righteousness in our lives.
I need to think further about this.
God bless you Church as you refuse to play on untuned pianos.
Pastor Ross
