Gospel Like Jazz

Sometimes I think the deeper I go into the gospel, the harder it is to come up with blog topics. Almost daily my Facebook feed includes a link to a viral blog post about what to wear/what not to wear, what to eat/what not to eat, who's in/who's out, how to/how not to, and it just goes on and on. Not to say all these things are bad. Practical blog posts can be really helpful--there are many I have benefited from over the years. But it occurred to me that blogging gives me an insight into sermon preparation. My husband and I are both pastor's kids, so we've seen our dads study and prep and deliver hundreds of sermons over the years. I think most pastors who seek to be faithful to Scripture end up hearing the inevitable criticism, "That's all well and good, but how does it apply to me? I need more practical application." I get it...I like practical application too. This isn't exactly a critique of that idea. But there's a line I reach frequently in thinking about blogging, and I ask myself what the priority is. Am I seeking to be faithful to the truth of Scripture and the gospel of grace, and then applying that truth to daily life? Or am I taking an idea or preference, writing a blog post about it, then throwing in some Scripture? I'm learning there's quite a difference.

I recently heard an interview on NPR's Here and Now program, in which the host and his guest, Julie Lavender, discussed jazz music. She mentioned one musician, Daniel Bennett, whose work she really respects, and her description of his music stood out to me. She said:

"He will repeat things over and over and over again to give them a lot of meaning. Rather than try to shoot for the moon in a bunch of different notes and progressions and improvisations across a wide harmony spectrum, he will repeat and give greater meaning to things that are repeated over and over."

I'm no huge jazz fan, but this idea has really stuck with me. The thought of giving something meaning through repetition seems to fly in the face of many of my presuppositions. Wouldn't repetition cause the melody to become trite or boring? But therein lies the skill of the musician. He isn't simply playing the same line in the same way every time. He's adding depth, variety of tempo, instruments, emotion. It's not just a stagnant melody line, but a layered musical jewel, at the same time simple and profound.

I love this idea for blogging. May my writing be one same melody line, repeated over and over and over again, but played at different tempos, with a variety of instruments, at all times simple truth.

And while I'm at it, shouldn't this be my life as well? It might make for impractical sermons, blog posts, or coffee dates, but it's all I've got. Christ is all. May it be so, here in this space, in my own home, and in my heart.

 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Phil 3:7-11