Chopsticks
A little girl wanted to become a great pianist, but all she could play on the piano was the tune, "Chopsticks." No matter how hard she tried, that was the best she could do, so her parents decided after some time to arrange for a great maestro to teach her to play properly. Of course, the little girl was delighted.
When the little girl and her parents arrived at the maestro's mansion for the first lesson, they were escorted by the butler into the parlour, where they saw a beautiful concert grand piano. Immediately, the little girl dashed over to the piano and began playing "Chopsticks." Her embarrassed parents told her to stop, but as she played, the maestro entered the room and encouraged the little girl to continue.
He then took a seat on the piano bench next to the little girl, listening to her play. After a moment he began to play along with her, adding different chords and so on. The little girl continued to play "Chopsticks." The parents couldn't believe their ears. They were hearing a beautiful piano duet, played by their daughter and the maestro, and amazingly enough, the central theme of it was still "Chopsticks."
At times we may feel like a nobody, that we will never accomplish great things. But thinking of that little girl assures us otherwise. All she could play was "Chopsticks." Nobody wanted to hear "Chopsticks." It was an embarrassment to her parents and annoying to everyone else. Yet the maestro encouraged her to keep on playing.
Perhaps he saw something in her that was a gift – perhaps it was his encouragement that whilst she may never be the greatest pianist in the world, working with someone else can make a team that could do great things… The response of the maestro and the sound the two made together must have been a huge surprise to the girl’s parents, but that surprise could have been nothing like the surprise of Mary when she was told that she had been chosen to give birth to a child – a child who will be great.
Somebody once wrote about Mary’s meeting with the angel Gabriel - “She struck the angel Gabriel as hardly old enough to have a child at all, let alone this child, but he’d been entrusted with a message to give her, and he gave it. He told her what the child was to be named, and who he was to be, and something about the mystery that was to come upon her. "You mustn’t be afraid, Mary," he said. And as he said it, he only hoped she wouldn’t notice that beneath the great, golden wings he himself was trembling with fear to think that the whole future of creation hung now on the answer of a girl.”
Mary, a young girl, was being entrusted with the huge task of being the mother of the Saviour of the world – it’s an incredible story – one that would be considered unbelievable in films – unbelievable except for the fact that it is true.
We don’t know how Gabriel felt but maybe he was afraid of the responsibility being given to Mary, but he knew that God’s wisdom was greater than any other wisdom, and that God’s strength and power was more than capable of upholding anybody in any situation.
If Mary was prepared to trust God, then things would work out – and Mary certainly trusted…
Mary accepted her task maybe with some fear, but she accepted. She accepted the fact that people would know she wasn’t married to Joseph at the time of conception, she accepted the possibility of him walking away from her, and of the insults that she could get from others.
And Mary’s faith in accepting this task was rewarded with a Son who would be criticised, abused, neglected, betrayed and eventually killed… So was Mary’s acceptance worth it ?
For us, and for her it most certainly was ! Every year at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, there is on display, beneath the great Christmas tree, a beautiful eighteenth century Neapolitan nativity scene. In many ways it is a very familiar scene. The usual characters are all there: shepherds roused from sleep by the voices of angels; the exotic wise men from the East, Joseph; Mary; Jesus - all are there, each figure made of wood, clay, and paint.
There is, however, something surprising about this scene. What is strange here is that the stable, and the shepherds, and the cradle are set, not in the small town of Bethlehem, but among the ruins of mighty Roman columns… The fragile manger is surrounded by broken and decaying columns. The artists knew the meaning of this event: The gospel, the birth of God's new age, was also the death of the old world. The birth of Jesus was the start of a whole new age in history…
That is the power that Mary accepted some control of – that is the power that God entrusted to this young girl.
God's presence in the world meant finally the end of human power. It may not always seem like that – as we look around at some of the problems in the world, God seems to be a long way from a position of triumph, but victory has already been won – the battle had begun almost from creation, but the turning point of the battle came from the moment Jesus was born – and it was completed over a period of the three days of the first Easter with the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Within Protestant Churches particularly Mary has all too often been ignored - Plenty of sermons have been preached on the Virgin Birth, but not so many about Mary herself; There have been character studies on Peter who denied Christ, Thomas
who doubted Christ, Pilate who sentenced Christ, Judas who betrayed Christ, but not so much about the woman who was chosen and accepted the calling of being the mother of Christ.
During advent we are to look at ourselves – advent and lent invite us to do that constantly – and we are to look at people like Mary and consider her faith and courage as well as her devotion to Jesus… During advent we are to ask ourselves what does our relationship with Jesus look like ?
For Mary it’s easy to dismiss her faith – after all she’d seen an angel, she’d given birth to Jesus – he was her son and she would love him unconditionally… But what about us ?
Have our lives been transformed by the Christmas story, by the birth of Christ ? By his presence in the world ? Have our lives been transformed by allowing him to take charge – to guide us, to strengthen us, to motivate us, to help us to be more like him…
For so many the Christmas story will be just that – a story… it will be a time of parties and presents and cards and eating too much… For many it will be a depressingly lonely time – of reflection on years gone by or hopes shattered…
For those who follow Christ it will be the celebration of an event that signalled eternal hope for the world – Jesus was born into the world, not to live for just over 30 years and die and rise again, incredible though that is… but also to show us his love, his compassion, his courage… and to encourage us to follow him… and encourage us to try and be like him…
The lesson we can all take from the example of Mary is that with the power of God, every one of us truly can have confidence in whatever we do in his name and for his glory.
God knows what we can do. He created us with gifts and talents. Maybe compared to some people's abilities, our gifts and talents may seem like "Chopsticks" - not very original and not very spectacular. But they are God’s gifts and he says, "Keep on playing-and make some room on the piano stool for Me."
God is able to take the little that we are able to do and turn it into something beautiful for him…. May we trust him, be empowered by him, strengthened by him and above all know the feeling of the love with which he smothers us day by day… AMEN
When the little girl and her parents arrived at the maestro's mansion for the first lesson, they were escorted by the butler into the parlour, where they saw a beautiful concert grand piano. Immediately, the little girl dashed over to the piano and began playing "Chopsticks." Her embarrassed parents told her to stop, but as she played, the maestro entered the room and encouraged the little girl to continue.
He then took a seat on the piano bench next to the little girl, listening to her play. After a moment he began to play along with her, adding different chords and so on. The little girl continued to play "Chopsticks." The parents couldn't believe their ears. They were hearing a beautiful piano duet, played by their daughter and the maestro, and amazingly enough, the central theme of it was still "Chopsticks."
At times we may feel like a nobody, that we will never accomplish great things. But thinking of that little girl assures us otherwise. All she could play was "Chopsticks." Nobody wanted to hear "Chopsticks." It was an embarrassment to her parents and annoying to everyone else. Yet the maestro encouraged her to keep on playing.
Perhaps he saw something in her that was a gift – perhaps it was his encouragement that whilst she may never be the greatest pianist in the world, working with someone else can make a team that could do great things… The response of the maestro and the sound the two made together must have been a huge surprise to the girl’s parents, but that surprise could have been nothing like the surprise of Mary when she was told that she had been chosen to give birth to a child – a child who will be great.
Somebody once wrote about Mary’s meeting with the angel Gabriel - “She struck the angel Gabriel as hardly old enough to have a child at all, let alone this child, but he’d been entrusted with a message to give her, and he gave it. He told her what the child was to be named, and who he was to be, and something about the mystery that was to come upon her. "You mustn’t be afraid, Mary," he said. And as he said it, he only hoped she wouldn’t notice that beneath the great, golden wings he himself was trembling with fear to think that the whole future of creation hung now on the answer of a girl.”
Mary, a young girl, was being entrusted with the huge task of being the mother of the Saviour of the world – it’s an incredible story – one that would be considered unbelievable in films – unbelievable except for the fact that it is true.
We don’t know how Gabriel felt but maybe he was afraid of the responsibility being given to Mary, but he knew that God’s wisdom was greater than any other wisdom, and that God’s strength and power was more than capable of upholding anybody in any situation.
If Mary was prepared to trust God, then things would work out – and Mary certainly trusted…
Mary accepted her task maybe with some fear, but she accepted. She accepted the fact that people would know she wasn’t married to Joseph at the time of conception, she accepted the possibility of him walking away from her, and of the insults that she could get from others.
And Mary’s faith in accepting this task was rewarded with a Son who would be criticised, abused, neglected, betrayed and eventually killed… So was Mary’s acceptance worth it ?
For us, and for her it most certainly was ! Every year at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, there is on display, beneath the great Christmas tree, a beautiful eighteenth century Neapolitan nativity scene. In many ways it is a very familiar scene. The usual characters are all there: shepherds roused from sleep by the voices of angels; the exotic wise men from the East, Joseph; Mary; Jesus - all are there, each figure made of wood, clay, and paint.
There is, however, something surprising about this scene. What is strange here is that the stable, and the shepherds, and the cradle are set, not in the small town of Bethlehem, but among the ruins of mighty Roman columns… The fragile manger is surrounded by broken and decaying columns. The artists knew the meaning of this event: The gospel, the birth of God's new age, was also the death of the old world. The birth of Jesus was the start of a whole new age in history…
That is the power that Mary accepted some control of – that is the power that God entrusted to this young girl.
God's presence in the world meant finally the end of human power. It may not always seem like that – as we look around at some of the problems in the world, God seems to be a long way from a position of triumph, but victory has already been won – the battle had begun almost from creation, but the turning point of the battle came from the moment Jesus was born – and it was completed over a period of the three days of the first Easter with the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Within Protestant Churches particularly Mary has all too often been ignored - Plenty of sermons have been preached on the Virgin Birth, but not so many about Mary herself; There have been character studies on Peter who denied Christ, Thomas
who doubted Christ, Pilate who sentenced Christ, Judas who betrayed Christ, but not so much about the woman who was chosen and accepted the calling of being the mother of Christ.
During advent we are to look at ourselves – advent and lent invite us to do that constantly – and we are to look at people like Mary and consider her faith and courage as well as her devotion to Jesus… During advent we are to ask ourselves what does our relationship with Jesus look like ?
For Mary it’s easy to dismiss her faith – after all she’d seen an angel, she’d given birth to Jesus – he was her son and she would love him unconditionally… But what about us ?
Have our lives been transformed by the Christmas story, by the birth of Christ ? By his presence in the world ? Have our lives been transformed by allowing him to take charge – to guide us, to strengthen us, to motivate us, to help us to be more like him…
For so many the Christmas story will be just that – a story… it will be a time of parties and presents and cards and eating too much… For many it will be a depressingly lonely time – of reflection on years gone by or hopes shattered…
For those who follow Christ it will be the celebration of an event that signalled eternal hope for the world – Jesus was born into the world, not to live for just over 30 years and die and rise again, incredible though that is… but also to show us his love, his compassion, his courage… and to encourage us to follow him… and encourage us to try and be like him…
The lesson we can all take from the example of Mary is that with the power of God, every one of us truly can have confidence in whatever we do in his name and for his glory.
God knows what we can do. He created us with gifts and talents. Maybe compared to some people's abilities, our gifts and talents may seem like "Chopsticks" - not very original and not very spectacular. But they are God’s gifts and he says, "Keep on playing-and make some room on the piano stool for Me."
God is able to take the little that we are able to do and turn it into something beautiful for him…. May we trust him, be empowered by him, strengthened by him and above all know the feeling of the love with which he smothers us day by day… AMEN
Comments