Music Fridays- Internet Symphony Edition

Let me explain what you are watching above.

People all over the world recorded themselves playing their part in a symphony. They played alone or in groups of one or two. They played in their bedrooms, offices, garages, and schools.

No one person could play every part. The music is too layered for that.

As people practiced, recorded, and submitted, they had no idea if enough people would join the project to make it work and they had no way of knowing what the final result would look or sound like.

More over, with the possibility of many people playing each part, people didn't know if their contribution would be noticed. Would they get lost in editing? Would their performance be synced with others and unified as a section? Would they be featured as a soloist?

Some people felt drawn to a passage or part in the music, but lacked the traditional instrument. First violin and first trumpet parts were recorded by people playing saxophones, saws, and even simply the human voice. They didn't go buy a trumpet or violin to make the music which drew them. They simply made music with what they had.

I believe that this YouTube Symphony is a model for the Church.

As Paul notes in 1 Corinthians 12, we are a body. Every person has a role to play. The more passionately we play our part, the richer the full chorus grows. If we fail to play our part, the voice of the whole body becomes a faint whisper.

We are all gifted with what we need to play our part. God provides what we need to accomplish what He calls us to. It doesn't matter if our gifts don't seem ideal. In the right hands, a musical saw is as beautiful as a violin.

In God's hands, your ability to share the Gospel is as good as Billy Graham's. Your ability to show compassion is as good as Mother Theressa's. God doesn't measure you in comparison to the gifts and graces He bestows upon others. He simply expects you to become all He calls and equips you to be. His grace is sufficient. His grace is melodious His grace is beautiful.

When I think about, I get chills.

What is more, maybe clips like the one above show what it will be like when, as Revelation 7 describes, people from every tongue and tribe and nation bring our songs of praise before the throne of God.