Piano Dedication Sermon: Some Gifts are more than just a Gift

Sermon Title: Some Gifts Are More Than Just A Gift

Good News Statement: God presents us with gifts of music

Preached: Sunday, October 02, 2022 at Dogwood Prairie UMC @5:00PM

Pastor Daniel G. Skelton, M.Div.

 

Scripture (NRSV): 2 Samuel 6:1-5; Psalm 33:1-3; Psalm 81:1-3; Psalm 150; Colossians 3:12-17

 

2 Samuel 6:1-5

David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. ² David and all the people with him set out and went from Baale-judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts who is enthroned on the cherubim. ³ They carried the ark of God on a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart ⁴ with the ark of God, and Ahio went in front of the ark. ⁵ David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the Lord with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals.

 

Psalm 150

Praise for God’s Surpassing Greatness

¹ Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty firmament!
² Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his surpassing greatness!

³ Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
⁴ Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
⁵ Praise him with clanging cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
⁶ Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!

This is the Word of God for the People of God; And all God’s people said, “Thanks be to God.”

 

Introduction:

In 1709 in a village in Italy, the piano was born. Three-hundred-and-thirteen years ago, a harpsichord maker named Bartolomeo di Francesco Cristofori invented the piano and changed the world. The word piano is the shortened version of the word ­pianoforte, which means soft (piano) and loud (forte). When pianos were first made, they were too expensive for even the very wealthy to own. For nearly a century only aristocrats and royalty owned pianos; and today, pianos can be found in schools, homes, nursing homes, stores, hospitals, concerts halls, and churches around the world. There are approximately 18 million non-professional piano players in the US alone.

From its 88 black and white keys (36 black keys and 52 white keys), pianos have the ability to play both accompaniment and melody at the same time. Up until the 1950s, piano keys were made from elephant tusks. Today, however, in order to protect and preserve elephants, most piano keys are made of plastic. A typical piano has over 12,000 parts, 10,000 of which are moving parts. A piano is considered to be both a string and percussion instrument because hammers with felt on the ends of them strike the strings inside the piano to produce sound. The largest piano ever made weighs 2,800 pounds and is 17.7 feet long. And the world’s longest piano concert ever held was 103 hours and 8 seconds long (almost 4 ½ days).

This evening, we have gathered to both honor and dedicate our new piano with hopes of having it be a source of God’s melodies for years to come. This evening, we take a moment to appreciate the words of Hans Christian Anderson who stated, “When words fail, music speaks.” And this evening we realize, most importantly, that some gifts are more than just a gift. This piano is more than a purchase made by the church: as a matter of fact, it is a gift given by the people of the church, both past and present, who have witnessed how music can change the world, heal hearts, and bring serenity and peace to many generations. This piano is a promise that Dogwood Prairie United Methodist Church will praise the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all of its days.

Opening Prayer:

            Let us pray… God of wonderfully made music, we pause from our normal Sunday routines to give you praise for the music in our life: from the birds that sing to the wind the rustles the leaves, to the pitter-patter of the falling rain and to the melodies of your psalms, we give thanks for the tunes of life. O God, bless this service and the piano that will help bring your words to life. In your precious Son’s name we pray, Amen.

 

Body:

We are reminded on at least five occasions in Scripture that we are to give praise to the LORD our God with singing, shouting, and with the playing of instruments. In 2 Samuel 6, the author closes his introduction with these words, “David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the LORD with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals” (2 Samuel 6:5). The Psalmist writes on three occasions that we are to play skillfully on instruments: “Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous. Praise befits the upright. Praise the LORD with the lyre; make a melody to him with the harp of ten strings. Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts” (Psalm 33:1-3) and “Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob. Raise a song; sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp. Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our festal day” (Psalm 81:1-3). The Psalmist closes his book with these words of praise, “Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his surpassing greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with clanging cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 150).

The idea of giving praise to God through music is even given attention in the New Testament. The Apostle Paul, writing to the people of Colossae, notes, “Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God” (Colossians 3:14-17). The idea of giving thanks and praise to God through song, shouting, and with musical instruments demonstrates to us that we are to do the same in our lives today. If the people of the Old and New Testaments can give praise to God through music—even when life was against them and God brought devastation upon them and made them wander in the wilderness for forty years struggling to find food and water—then we should be able to do the same today. “Where words fail, music speaks.”

Music is the universal language of God’s love for God’s people. And here in our church, every Sunday, we get the chance to sing to God a melody that rings in our heart. Through the beautiful melodies played on our new piano, our prayers and petitions become musical. Through the harmonies that are extracted from each note on our new piano, we praise God, as a church, for being present in our life. Through the hands that play every key on our new piano, we gain hope to face tomorrow: we gain the courage to live out heaven’s harmony and God’s eternal love. Music is our way of communicating with God and what we sing is a melody that rings in our heart for the ages.

In 1923 composer Elton M. Roth composed a hymn that came to him suddenly while assisting at an evangelism gathering in Texas. Roth shared, “That evening I introduced the song by having more than two hundred boys and girls sing it at the open-air meeting, after which the audience joined in the singing. I was thrilled as it seemed my whole being was transformed into a song.” Through music we are transformed. The hymn that Elton M. Roth composed and the boys and girls sang at the meeting is titled, “In My Heart There Rings a Melody.”

Here are the lyrics—feel free to say them with me if you know them: “I have a song that Jesus gave me, it was sent from heaven above; there never was a sweeter melody, tis melody of love…I love the Christ who died on Calvary, for He washed my sins away; He put within my heart a melody, and I know it’s there to say…Twill by my endless theme in glory, with the angels I will sing; twill be a song with glorious harmony, when the courts of heaven ring…In my heart there rings a melody, there rings a melody with heaven’s harmony. In my heart there rings a melody; there rings a melody of love.” The piano upon which we will dedicate is more than just a piano, it is more than a simple gift; it is a collection of melodies that ring for the ages from the hearts of those who allowed us to purchase this piano. This piano is what allows us every Sunday to remember the melodies of yesterday with hopes of creating new melodies for the future. This piano is an extension of God’s love and heaven’s harmonies.

As I briefly mentioned before, this piano is more than a gift: it is reminder of the faith and love of those who seek to keep our church alive through singing, shouting, and  the playing of instruments. Our new piano is a reminder of those who have passed away but live eternally within the melodies of our heart. Our new piano is a reminder that God’s music is here to stay. Our new piano is a promise to future generations that it is more than a gift, it is a tradition filled with history and love that should not be forgotten but always remembered. This piano is more than a gift: it is way to remember the people and to live out the promises of Jesus Christ in our lives today. And to show how powerful and meaningful this piano is to our church, I leave you with this story about a little girl and a red mahogany piano. This story reminds us that this piano, our new piano, is more than just a gift. It is a source of love, life, and hope.

Conclusion:

Many years ago, a man named Joe Edwards was a young man in his twenties working as a salesman for a St. Louis piano company. They sold pianos all over the state by advertising in small town newspapers and then, when they had received sufficient replies, they would load their little trucks, drive into the area and sell the pianos to those who had replied.

Every time they would advertise in the cotton country of Southeast Missouri, the company would receive a reply on a postcard which said, in effect, “Please bring me a new piano for my little granddaughter. It must be red mahogany. I can pay $10 a month with my egg money.” Of course, the company could not sell a new piano for $10 a month. No finance company would carry a contract with payments that small, so they ignored her postcards.

One day, however, Joe Edwards happened to be in that area calling on other replies, and out of curiosity he decided to look the old lady up. He found pretty much what he expected: The old lady lived in a one room sharecroppers cabin in the middle of a cotton field. The cabin had a dirt floor and there were chickens in the house. Obviously, the old lady could not have qualified to purchase anything on credit – no car, no phone, no real job, nothing but a roof over her head and not a very good one at that. Her little granddaughter was about 10, barefoot and wearing a feedsack dress. Joe explained to the old lady that he could not sell a new piano for $10 a month and that she should stop writing every time she saw the ad. He drove away heartsick, but his advice had no effect – the old lady still sent the same post card every six weeks.

A couple of years later, Joe owned his own piano company, and when he advertised in that area, the postcards started coming to him. For months, he ignored them. But then, one day when Joe was in the area something came over him. He had a red mahogany piano on his little truck. Despite knowing he was about to make a terrible business decision, he delivered the piano to the old lady and told her he would carry the contract himself at $10 a month with no interest, and that would mean 52 payments. He took the new piano in the house and placed it where he thought the roof would be least likely to rain on it. He admonished the old lady and the little girl to try to keep the chickens off of it. The payments came in, all 52 of them as agreed. It was incredible!

Joe put the incident out of his mind for 20 years. Then one day he was in Memphis on other business, and after dinner at the Holiday Inn he went into the lounge. As he was sitting at the bar having an after dinner drink, he heard the most beautiful piano music. He looked around, and there was a lovely young woman playing a very nice grand piano.

Being a pianist of some ability himself, he was stunned by her playing, and moved to a table beside her where he could listen and watch. She smiled at Joe, asked for requests, and when she took a break she sat down at his table. She asked,  “Aren’t you the man who sold my grandma a piano a long time ago?” It didn’t ring a bell, so Joe asked her to explain. She started to tell him, and suddenly Joe remembered. It was her! It was the little barefoot girl in the feedsack dress!

She told Joe her name was Eliza and since her grandmother couldn’t afford to pay for lessons, she had learned to play by listening to the radio. She said she had started to play in church, and that she had then played in school, had won many awards and a music scholarship. She had married an attorney in Memphis and he had bought her that beautiful grand piano she was playing. Something else entered Joe’s mind. “Eliza,” he asked, “it’s a little dark in here. What color is that piano?” “Its red mahogany,” she said, “Why?”

That little girl’s first piano changed her life. That little girl’s first piano was more than just some gift, it was a life savior, a source of hope, and promise of new beginnings. Our new piano is more than just a gift: it provides us with music when words fail, it gives us hope to face tomorrow, it strengthens our faith, it provides the melodies in our heart with harmonies, and it reminds us of those who made a promise to keep the music alive in our church not just for today but for future generations to come.

Our new piano is more than just a gift and this evening we dedicate it and acknowledge those who, through their generosity, decided to make sure that the melodies of God’s word continue to ring true for years to come within our church. Our new piano is more than just a gift: it is a promise for new beginnings.

 

Dedication of the New Piano:

            Please join me as we dedicate our new piano:

We present this piano to be consecrated to the glory of almighty God and for service in this congregation in loving  memory of…

Richard Newbold (2011),

Reverend Michael Kesling (2012),

Beverly Goff (2017),

Judy Gullett (2019),

Phyllis Meese (2020), and

Beverly Newbold (2021)

 

Congregational Reading/Response:

Pastor: It is good to give thanks to the Lord,

People: To sing praises to your name, O Most High.

Pastor: It is right to declare your steadfast love every day, O Lord,

People: And may your faithfulness bring us everlasting joy and peace.

Pastor: It is righteous to give praise to the music of the lute, the harp, and the piano,

People: So that your melody, O Lord, will forever ring true in our heart.

Pastor: O Lord, bless the music of this piano and the hands that play it;

People: O Lord, allow the music of this piano to bring us closer to your Son and our Savior Jesus Christ.

All: May God, in the presence of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, bless this piano from now until the end of time. Amen.

 

Benediction:

As we continue to listen to the melodies of this beautiful piano for years to come, let us remember that this piano is more than a gift: it is source of hope, a promise of love, and an everlasting strength that gets us through tomorrow. May this piano be forever blessed as it blesses this congregation for the ages. And all God’s people said, Amen. Amen. Amen.