I’m sure that many of you will have heard of John Henry Newman. Newman was a 19th Century Anglican priest, and although originally an evangelical, he became one of the leaders of the so-called Oxford Movement, the group who brought about the Anglo-Catholic revival in the Church of England in the early-mid 1800’s. Later, Newman was received into the Roman Catholic Church and became a cardinal. And if you didn’t know any of that but are familiar with Newman’s name, it’s probably because he was canonised, that is, officially recognised as a saint of the Church just last year, in 2019. But whether you know anything about Newman or not, you may be familiar with this quote from him:
“God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good; I shall do His work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments. Therefore, I will trust Him, whatever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me. Still, He knows what He is about.”
Those words of Newman’s will probably resonate with meaning for us at this time, as we go through the coronavirus pandemic and the many unpleasant changes it’s brought to our lives, and the great suffering it’s caused in so many parts of the world. None of us will have experienced times quite like this before but, whenever bad things happen in the world, or in life, perhaps especially in our own lives, it’s very difficult for us to see any purpose in what’s happening isn’t it? And for that reason, it’s at times like these that many people question God, the existence of God, and their own faith. But what we always have to remember is that, no matter how much we can and do see, we can never see the whole picture; we can only ever see a very small part of that whole picture, and only God sees all.
We can liken this to an orchestra playing a piece of music. Each musician has a part to play in the whole piece, but they only see their own part of the piece and, very often, their part, on its own, doesn’t make much sense, it’s sometimes not even very tuneful or nice to listen to. It’s only when it’s played well, and in harmony with the parts the other musicians are playing, that it makes sense and becomes the music it’s intended to be. And there are only two people who know fully, how all the different parts of the score should work together, and how that music should sound; the composer who wrote it, and the conductor who makes sure the individual musicians play their parts properly. And as it is in an orchestra, so it is in life. God is the composer, Jesus is the conductor, and we are the musicians.
God, wrote the music of life and Jesus, through his teaching and example, shows us how to play our part in the music of life, and, as Newman said in that quote, we each have our own part to play in that music. And, as long as we take notice of what the composer and conductor are asking of us, we’ll play our parts properly and contribute to the harmony of the music of life. But, if we ignore the wishes of the composer and the instructions of the conductor, and simply look at our own small part of the music, then we’re not going to be able to play our part properly, and both the noise we make, and the noise going on around us, isn’t really going to sound very nice or harmonious, or make much sense to us, or anyone else either for that matter. Unfortunately, though it is all too easy for us to ignore, or forget, the wishes of God the composer, and the instructions of Jesus the conductor.
The part we’re asked to play in the music of life can be a very difficult one at time, and we all know just how difficult it can be. And it’s at those times that we can ignore God’s wishes and Jesus’ instructions simply because we’ve become so engrossed in what’s going on in our own lives, that we forget all about what’s going on around us. It’s like trying to play a part in an orchestra when we’ve become so engrossed in getting through a short, difficult section of our own part, that we forget to look up at the conductor to see what we should be doing, or listen to what’s going on around us, to the parts that others are playing. We all know times like these, but these are the times when we’re asked to remain faithful to God’s wishes and Jesus’ instruction, to simply do what they want us do in faith that, what they want us to do, is the best and right thing to do.
Then there are times when we perhaps feel that we’ve got our part off pat, that we know it to perfection. These are the times when we can start to think that we don’t need to pay attention to what God and Jesus are asking us to do, because we already know that. And so we start paying more attention to what others are doing than to what we’re doing ourselves. That’s like trying to play a part in an orchestra when we’re so busy looking at the music the other musicians are playing, that we’re not even looking at the part we’re supposed to be playing ourselves. These are also the times when we’re likely to start telling other people how to play their part and taking their minds off the part God and Jesus are asking them to play, so that they can concentrate on what we’re telling them to do. That’s like a musician in an orchestra telling their fellow musicians to ignore the composer and conductor, because they know better than the composer and conductor how the music should sound and how it ought to be played. And these are the times when we can become so full of our own importance that we start to think that we, and what we want, are more important than anyone or anything else. And so we simply do what we want to do, regardless of the wishes of God and Jesus, or of the impact that what we’re doing has on anyone else. That’s like a musician in an orchestra thinking that they’re a soloist rather than a member of the orchestra and playing more loudly than they should or embellishing their part so that they can be heard above the rest of the orchestra. In an orchestra, these things could only result in everyone’s playing being impaired and in the music being harsh to listen to and not at all as the composer and conductor intend it to sound. And how often do we come across situations like that in life and in the Church? These are the times when Jesus is disowned. Such behaviour in an orchestra would no doubt result in the offending musician being thrown out of the orchestra. Our Gospel reading this morning tells us that such behaviour in life and the Church, will result in the offenders being disowned by Jesus, and that will result in them being thrown out of heaven.
God has given us all a part to play in the music of life. As we look at the part we’ve been asked to play, as we turn the turn the pages of life, so to speak, we’re like musicians turning the pages of a musical score. What we see may seem strange and puzzling to us. It might not make much sense to us and be very difficult to understand and play. But, as Newman said, God, the author and composer of our part, knows what he’s doing, and if we simply do what he asks of us and play the part he’s given us, as he wants us to play it, then we will play it well and contribute to God’s grand vision of how the music of life should sound. And we don’t have to work out for ourselves how to play our part, we have Jesus to conduct us, to show us what to do and how to play through his teaching and example, written in the Gospel, the score, if you like, of the music of life.
It can be very difficult for us to understand what God is doing when we see some of the terrible things that go on in the world, and when we experience them in our own lives, but if we can remain faithful by trying to imagine how things should be, and God wishes them to be, and if we can do our best to follow the teaching and example of Jesus, however difficult or meaningless the world and life can seem to be, then, whether we can hear it now or not, we will be playing our part in making the beautiful and harmonious music of life as God intends it to be, and bringing it a little closer to being played as he intends to be, for all people.
Amen.
You will find the Propers for the 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Trinity 2) here.
Parish Church of St Mark Chadderton 