PUSH-PRAISE

I can't recall when I saw my first foot-powered pump organ, like this one I recently spotted in a thrift store. Maybe it was a museum or the home of aging relatives. You know the type of décor: the “company room” with stiff furniture with doilies on the chair arms. In my childhood home in the 1960s, besides a goliath upright piano, we had a small electronic organ with two keyboards and an octave of foot pedals. About twenty “stops” to the side activated sounds, like “brass” or “woodwind.” It was all part of the “music education” my dad (who couldn't carry a tune in a bucket) provided generously for his daughters.

Along with the nostalgia of seeing this antique, I mused about the repairs it might need to work again. The pedals needed continuously pumped for sound. Think what that did for foot fitness! But if time had deteriorated critical parts to push air, there would be no music.

Aha! The air. Our English words that use the prefix “pneuma”--as in pneumonia or pneumatic tire--are offspring of the Greek pneuma, commonly defined as “air” or “spirit.” I won't get into all the theology about that. But here's the simple application: without the Holy Spirit 's power we're as spiritually mute as a broken-down pump organ.

In my scripture reading, I'm often drawn back to the “behaviors” described by the early church leaders. In writing the church at Thessalonica, for example, Paul commended their “work produced by faith....labor prompted by love, and... endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 1:3). And how did that look like in everyday life? We get a glimpse of it as he closes the letter, asking them to honor their leaders, live in peace, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone, refuse to pay back wrong for wrong, try to be kind to one another, be joyful, and pray continually (5:13b-17). Yes, simple expressions of being a Christ-follower empowered by the Holy Spirit, but just as applicable to today.

But....the list isn't exhaustive. Here's what can be the hardest note to play in the Christian walk: “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this God's will for you in Christ Jesus” (v. 18). When things aren't going our way, that's a hard thing to do. But God wants us to look beyond our circumstances, even the negative ones, to what He can accomplish through them.

When I practiced as a youth on our little family organ, I sometimes played a piece in a minor key. If Dad was home and listening, he'd say, “Oh please, that's so sad. Play a happier song.” But life's songbook isn't all “happy,” major-key songs. The minor keys are part of human experience. Sometimes, the “instruments” on which we play (our human bodies) take a lot of effort to keep going. We're like antique pipe organs in need of repair. The answer? The phrase that Paul often used to close his letters:

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. (1 Thessalonians 5:28)

He's the Master Craftsman, the One who keeps us going, praising Him.

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Curious about how pump organ works? Check out this short You-Tube video. (Enjoy the affection this man has for his pet dogs who weren't camera-shy!)

How Pump Organ Works - with Ricky Tims - Bing video