By Al Stewart
Air fascinates me. It surrounds us completely and we hardly notice. We involuntarily breathe it. Only when breathing becomes difficult do our survival senses awaken. We then acutely recognize a desperate need depends on something elemental and invisible. We cannot see it, but we must have it. Breathing is essential for living.
In worship today, we will discover God’s Spirit on earth deeply connects with breathing. Our lungs are the human organs that perform breathing’s needed functions. They pull air in and harvest its oxygen. They push air out, expelling the unessential. These organs inside each of us act rhythmically, repetitively, religiously. We don’t control them. In a mysterious way, they control us.
Since 700 C.E., Christians have used pipe organs in worshiping God. Today we will hear Jeff Brummel play Bach’s Fantasia in G Minor (BWV 542) on Wilshire’s pipe organ. Wilshire has two Sanctuary organs that can work together. One resides in the balcony, the other on the chancel. Even so, one organist can control both organs simultaneously. Wilshire’s two Sanctuary organs contain 5,000 pipes to convey its message. For a pipe organ, air is indispensable. Each organ uses a blower that breathes air into it. Before beautiful music begins, inspiration has occurred.
As Jeff plays, we will hear Wilshire’s organ breathing powerfully in our midst. On the organ’s breath, the music rides. Bach’s Fantasia cannot be ignored. Wilshire’s organ will move millions of elemental atoms towards us. Those vibrating invisible atoms will surround us. Fantasia’s sonic signature will wash over us as it has other Christian congregations for the last 300 years. And what will we do with it?
This, my friends, is an opportunity to hear God’s Spirit in the vibrating air around us. When the prelude begins, I will close my eyes and listen for what God’s Spirit is revealing in our worship today. All that breathing. All that Spirit. All of us together.
We breathe involuntarily. Yet turning our breathing into living worship is a voluntary act. Today, may we hear God’s Spirit, trust what we hear and then walk obediently down the path Jesus laid for us.