A Magical Life

 I really enjoy jazz.  And blues.  And bluegrass.  Does that make we weird?  I was thinking about how these 3 different types of music are connected and what draws me to them.  The connection is that you have a strong basic tune, but the musicians are not handcuffed to that basic tune.  The musicians play together and separately at the same time.  Each player knows when it is his or her time to riff off on a variation of the basic tune. Remember the basic tune is still there.  You can pick it out if you listen closely even in the most elaborate of improvisations.  It’s just that the players are given the freedom to follow where their heart takes them, and dance with the basic tune.  When it’s done right, it’s magical!

I was thinking of all this when I read Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount. 

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.  For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.  Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matt. 5: 17-20)

The scribes and Pharisees were always accusing Jesus of trying to do away with the law.  Jesus would do something like healing someone on the Sabbath, and the scribes and Pharisees would freak out.  “You broke the law!” they’d say.  “You’re trying to throw away what Moses and the prophets gave us!” they’d say.  But he wasn’t.  You see, Jesus was there when the “basic tune” – the law – was given to Moses.  What Jesus did with the law was what every jazz, blues, and bluegrass artist does.  He danced with it.

The “law” never was the point, anyway.  The law was meant to point us to a greater reality…God, and God’s love for us and desire to be in relationship with us. The scribes and Pharisees (both in Jesus’ day and in ours) are so obsessed with following the law with mathematical precision that they miss the whole point. 

It’s like my dog, Daisy.  I could point to something that I wanted her to see.  Instead of looking at the thing I wanted her to see, she would stare at my hand.  (Try this sometime with your own dog.)  The scribes and Pharisees were focused on the hand, and not what the hand was pointing to.

A musician can play a piece of music with technical correctness…hit the right notes and all…and not make music.  Does that make sense?  Likewise, a person could keep all the commandments technically, and still miss out on the kingdom of God.  That’s why Jesus said that we would never see the kingdom of God if our righteousness didn’t exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees.

So we don’t throw out the law.  We don’t take our scissors and cut the parts of our Bible we don’t like out of there.  Neither do we focus on the law so intently that we miss what the law is pointing to…loving God…loving our neighbor.  When we do this the right way, it’s magical!