Prepare the Way of The Lord

In January of 2007, The Washington Post videotaped the reactions of commuters at a D.C. Metro (subway) stop to the music of a violinist. The overwhelming majority of the 1000+ commuters were too busy to stop. A few did, briefly, and some of them threw a couple of bills into the violin case of the street performer. No big deal, just an ordinary day on the Metro. Except it wasn't an ordinary day. The violinist wasn't just another street performer; he was Joshua Bell, one of the world's finest concert violinists, playing his multi-million dollar Stradivarius. Three days earlier he had filled Boston's Symphony Hall with people paying over $100/seat to hear him play similar pieces. The question the Post author and many others since have asked is simple: Have we been trained to recognize beauty outside the contexts we expect to encounter beauty? Or, to put it another way, can we recognize great music anywhere outside of a concert hall?

So, I wonder, are we able to only detect the presence of God when we are in Church, immersed in liturgy, hymns and spiritually uplifting music? Do we require the proper scene to create a mood so that we can feel his presence? Do we need props to help us? Sometimes I wonder if Church even gets in the way by setting up forced expectations of something that can’t be forced. After all here we are in “God’s House,” and He’s been waiting for us to call on Him all along.  No, I don’t think it works that way.

So, why did the commuters not recognize the talent of the famed concert violinist? I can understand that we might not recognize the man himself; I know that as much as I have admired the young violinist, I would not recognize him. And what about his music? Not everyone likes classical music, although most people would recognize Bell’s virtuosity and marvel at his skill. Yet, in the Metro, far from Philharmonic Hall, we do not recognize his mastery. It’s not so much that we look for God in the context of “where he’s expected,” after all why do we even think that God is ever in a contextual setting programmed for and by us? It’s just that we are not open to his presence all around us. Perhaps it helps to recall Matthew’s Gospel two weeks ago: Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?

John was sent to prepare us for Jesus, to help us recognize his presence in one another and the world around us. How many times have we read (Mark 1:1-8 ) or heard John’s words: "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals?” Do we walk past him as the commuters did Joshua Bell?  Dear Lord we pray, please help us to see God at work in and through all the "ordinary" elements of our lives. And then who knows, we might even take him to Church with us as His house becomes our house.