The Master Luthier

 July 23, 2023

A little over a week ago, I wrote of my gratitude at having my bass repaired. The backstory is that back in April, I had taken it to a youth retreat to assist in the music. I almost always believe a little bass in the background has a way of filling in guitars, and apparently, the others felt so, too. My hacking was accepted with approval. On the Saturday night of the weekend however, I was carrying it from the dining hall to the chapel when I stumbled in the dark, landed on the bass and completely broke the scroll off the neck. Had it been my backup instrument, it wouldn’t have bothered me, but this was my pristine 1936 King Moretone, pristine no more.

I texted Mark Monaco the next night, with photos of the broken scroll. He texted right back, saying that he could fix it. I knew if anyone could do it, he could; after all, he does work for the Buffalo Philharmonic, keeping their stringed instruments in good working order. Fix it, he did!

I picked my bass up last week. It shows its scars, but is back in use, making such music as I can do. This morning, I had the opportunity to preach again at the Akeley Community Church just across the Pennsylvania border, and it occurred to me that my bass might be a good object lesson, so I hauled it down there and set it up in the sanctuary. I was preaching from Luke 21, where Jesus warns his disciples about hard times to come, wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines, persecution, etc. What often gets missed in this particular Scripture is Jesus’ use of visual words. 

The Bible is not for the most part, a visual book. We read occasionally about the visions of the prophets or of Jesus’ healing the blind, but “seeing” is not the predominant way God reveals himself. Christianity is more audiological than visual. The most common form of command is, “Hear,” or “Listen!” So when visual language is used, we ought to pay special attention, and Luke 21 is full of visual language.

In v. 20, we read, “when you see…” In v. 27, “they will see…” Verse 29: “Look at the fig tree.” Verse 30: “When you see…” And finally, verse 36: “Watch and pray.”

Our problem is that we are walking around in the dark, blinded by our sins, unable to see clearly where we are going. When we walk in the dark, we stumble, and when we stumble, we get injured, and others get injured. We’re like me, carrying my bass in the dark and ending up with broken pieces. 

Fortunately, we have a Master Luthier, One able, if we present them to him, to take the broken pieces of our lives and put them back together so we can make beautiful music in praise to our Savior and Lord. And he opens our eyes to see clearly the world around us, the world within us, and the world beyond us, where Jesus reigns on high. We need not stumble our way through life, hurting and being hurt. We can walk in the light as he is in the light, because the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.