Genesis
12: 1–4a / Psalm 121 / Romans 4: 1–5, 13–17 / John 3: 1–17
This
is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, by Fr. Gene Tucker
on Sunday March 8, 2020.
“THE MUSIC HAPPENS BETWEEN
THE NOTES”
(Homily
text: John 3: 1-17)
In my early years as a student at the Eastman
School of Music in Rochester, New York, I sang in a small ensemble of five
singers, two sopranos, an alto, a tenor (me) and a bass. The group was
organized by a graduate student whom we will call “Jason” (not his real name).
Jason conducted the group, and he was a baritone.
Jason was a colorful guy: He drove all old Porsche
sports car convertible (never mind that it was badly rusted out from having
been driven in New York winters through lots of salt), which sat up on blocks
during the winter months. When he drove that car, he had all the accessories
necessary to look the part of a man-about- town: Leather driving gloves, and
snazzy clothes. It’s safe to say that Jason had all the flair of many
baritones….having been a tenor, I’ve always wondered if baritones comport
themselves as they do because they really wish they were tenors. But now I’m wandering
off the point.
To return to Jason and his group, I’d have to say
that perhaps one reason he founded the group was so that he could get some
practice in conducting. (He went on after school to teach in a college.)
For all of the aspects of his unique personality,
at times he would say something that was profound.
Here is one memorable thing he said to us
singers: “The music doesn’t happen on
the notes, the music happens between the notes.”
I’ve never forgotten that statement.
It’s a profound statement, one which emphasizes the
reality that music – as with so many things in life – is all about
relationships. In the case of music, paying attention simply to the notes risks
the possibility that the overall beauty of a piece of music will be missed. The
grand, over-arching design of a piece will go by the wayside, if the focus is
simply on the notes. Being an accomplished musician means that a person must
master the business of playing or singing the notes well. But being an
accomplished musician also means that a person must learn how to make the notes
relate to one another.
In essence, Jesus’ conversation with the Pharisee
Nicodemus falls into the category of not concentrating just on the notes, but
on what happens between the notes. Put into the context of Jesus’ remarks, what
Jesus is saying to Nicodemus is that he needed to stop seeing things from a
purely literal point-of-view. He needed to see the relationship between God and
people, for that’s the essence of what our walk of faith is all about.
Nicodemus’ outlook is most clearly seen in his
comment, made in response to Jesus’ remark that he needed to be “born again”.[1] Nicodemus parrots out the commonly-held views of many of God’s people in those
days, asking how it would be possible for a person to go back into their
mother’s womb and be born a second time. God’s people in those days were
concerned, chiefly, with the literal details of how one related to God. One
example will illustrate the point: Great concern and care was lavished on things
like how far a person could walk on the Sabbath day.
Nicodemus is seeing the details of life in
isolation from other things in life. Not that the details aren’t important,
they are. Just as in music, the way in which each note is approached is
critical to the way a musical work will be performed, so, too, with life. The
details of life form the building blocks for our way of seeing things, our
world view.
But Nicodemus’ problem was that he couldn’t see God
at work. His problem was that he couldn’t see the forest for the trees, if we
may make use of another analogy.
Jesus tries to get Nicodemus to see the greater and
more basic picture, to see God at work not just in the literal things one does
day-by-day, but to see how those basic, everyday things fit into God’s working
in a person’s life and in the world.
Fortunately, we learn later on in John’s gospel
account that Nicodemus seemed to “get it”, to get that great, big picture, for
Nicodemus was the one who provided the spices and anointments for Jesus’
burial.
For you and me, our need is to see the relationships
that are formed when we become aware of God’s working in our lives and in the
world. We need to see the music that happens between the notes.
This higher level of awareness can work itself out
in numerous ways. I offer the following as a beginning point for further
reflection:
Our life in the Church isn’t just about the things
we do in the Church and in our worship, but our life there is meant to connect
us to God at work in the world around us.
Our life in God isn’t just for our own edification and
comfort, but it is for the benefit of God’s work in the world and our role in
bringing the kingdom of God into being in this world and in this time and
place.
Our own ideas and desires aren’t the only thing we
need to be aware of. We need to be aware of God’s will for our lives and for
the work that God calls us to do.
So, dear friends, the music of our life in God
doesn’t happen just on the notes, that music happens between the notes when we
look up and around to see God’s hand at work in many and
various ways.
AMEN.
[1] Jesus’ remark is often translated as “born
again”, but the Greek can also be translated as “born anew”.
