For so the Lord commanded us, "I have made you a light for the Gentiles that you may be an instrument of salvation to the ends of the earth."
Acts 13: 46-47
I remember one of my son's violin recitals when he was seven years old. He was shy about performing in front of others, yet I knew how well he knew the recital piece because he played it around the house. It was wonderful to hear just a few minutes of the music when he hit the notes on that violin just right. Anyone who listens to violin practice knows that it is not a pleasant sound when it is played incorrectly. So the anticipation of the recital comes from the parents, hoping their child hits the notes well, and the child, who is worried about performing. I held my breath when his turn came around. I watched him and he was very stiff at first, and I thought I was going to hear that scratchy sound, but then he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and played beautifully. In those four minutes, he performed his best, and it seemed like even he was surprised. If I close my eyes, I can still see him playing and hear the music.
We are to be God's instruments and He doesn't get performance anxiety. I think it's ok to say we do, at least some of us. When we talk about living as committed Christians, we worry about how we will be judged, or who will say what about us. As humans we have the free will, unlike my son's violin, to choose to follow God and surrender to Him, or choose our own path and pick and choose what we want. When you continue reading this passage, there is alot of action in the verbs in the scriptures that immediately follow this one, including: delighted, destined, incited, and expelled. Now we see the mark of humanity more clearly. As we continue to celebrate the Risen Christ, let us remember that it is a choice to either follow Christ and God's plan for us, or seek our own paths and hope we bump into Him somewhere along the way. Have the results of our life's choices produced a violin practice that includes those missed notes and scratchy sounds that are difficult to hear? We will all experience the marks of humanity, like those action verbs: delighted and incited, but can we go forward, surrendering to the Holy Spirit and following Christ, trying to make the most beautiful music that we can?
