Right now I am in the throes of planning our carols by candlelight. (23 rd of December, Warburton oval) Every year we have to go over lists of carols & Christmas songs & make decisions about which ones we will & won’t sing. The reaction to different carols from different team members is quite amusing to watch. What lights some people’s lights just doesn’t work for others. I guess that doesn’t surprise anyone. The reaction to “the little drummer boy” is generally predictable. I’m tipping that there wasn’t a boy with a drum in the stable at Bethlehem, & if there was, I’m tipping that Joseph & Mary wouldn’t have smiled politely & said “sure, come on in & play your drum. We’ve just traveled a looong way, had a baby & the baby is sleeping right now, but heck get out your drum & have a bash!! Only one thing drummer boy; I hope you can breast feed coz you’ll be putting him back to bed.”

There is something in me that sees the drummer boy as a metaphor for all worship. Isaiah 66 vs 1 & 2 says “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Could you build me a temple as good as that? Could you build me such a resting place?My hands have made both heaven and earth; they and everything in them are mine”. I can almost hear God chuckling when I read that. Here’s me with my guitar & a few words I’ve penned & like the drummer boy I’m going to stand in front of the creator a play my stuff. Isaiah goes on to say that God is interested in humble & contrite hearts. The language is quite confronting. He says that if you don’t have a humble & contrite heart & you bring a sacrifice of a lamb, you might as well have sacrificed a dog. (Nothing against dogs!)

I understand it like this; one of my sons when he was very small drew me a picture & put it in a frame. My reaction to the picture could have been “my goodness, what a piece pf crap. I mean, you’re in grade 1 & this is the best you can do? I have 4 albums out & you think I’m going to interested in this?” But my reaction wasn’t that at all. My eyes saw the artwork with the eyes of a father. My son presented me the work with the heart of a loving son who wanted to give me the best he could do. I still have the picture today & every now & then I look at it to remind myself that in God’s eyes, I’m the little drummer boy bringing a really humble offering before the creator of heaven & Earth. With a humble & contrite heart I bring my offering of worship, & the creator of the heavens, the earth, the grand expanse of the universe & the minutiae of tiny flower, the creator of all these things sees my offering with the eyes of a Father & receives it. (I’m tempted to say that the Australian God would say “that’s going straight into the pool room”)

That’s what I try to bring. That’s how I try to understand what I have been given. It’s not always perfect, but it is always me.

Cheers

MM

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