Touch of the Masters Hand

Touch of the Master’s Hand I would like to tell you a story this morning. It’s not a story I made up. I saw it in a tv show once and liked it so much I did a little digging. I found that the show was based on a poem by Myra Brooks Welch. It was the message that caught my interest so I would like to give it the biblical significance it deserves. The story goes something like this… A gray bearded old man selects the choicest pieces of wood and carefully shapes them to fit together perfectly. He binds together the finest horsehair to fashion a bow. He chooses the highest quality strings and carefully tunes them into a new violin. The violin is given to his grandson who practices with it for a while but soon loses interest in favor of his friends. The violin is forgotten and tossed aside gaining a nick or two along the way. After a while it is sold to a neighbor who had several children who used the violin for purposes other that it was made for. Strings were broken when used to launch the bow across the room. The horsehair frayed and thinned. Eventually the children lost interest and the violin was stored in the attic until sold to a pawnshop. Now the pawn shop dusted it off, gave it some new strings, and restrung the bow. Then put it in the window to sell. Where it sat, unwanted, days turning into months turning into years. Eventually the pawn shop went out of business and all its wares went to auction. It is at this point in the story that I would like to give tribute to the poem by Myra Brooks Welch by adding it in its entirety: ‘Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer thought it hardly worth his while To waste his time on the old violin, but he held it up with a smile. “What am I bid, good people, “he cried, “Who starts the bidding for me?” “One dollar, one dollar, do I hear two?” “Two dollars, who makes it three?” “Three dollars once, three dollars twice, going for three,” But, no, From the room far back a gray bearded man came forth and picked up the bow, Then wiping the dust from the old violin and tightening up the strings, He played a melody, pure and sweet, as sweet as the angel sings. The music ceased and the auctioneer with a voice that was quiet and low, Said, “What now am I bid for this old violin?” as he held it aloft with its bow. “One thousand, one thousand, do I hear two?” “Two thousand, who makes it three?” “Three thousand once, three thousand twice, going and gone,” said he. The audience cheered, but some of them cried, “We just don’t understand,” “What changed its worth?” Swift came the reply, “The touch of the Master’s hand.” And many a man with life out of tune All battered and bruised with hardship Is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd Much like that old violin A mess of pottage, a glass of wine, A game and he travels on He is going once, he is going twice, He is going and almost gone. But the Master comes, And the foolish crowd never can quite understand, The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought By the touch of the Master’s hand. A wonderful show based on a magnificent poem. I identified with it, you probably did too. What does it teach us about God, our relationship to Him, and what He does in our lives? The gray bearded man in this story represents the Lord and shows us that His is the Master that crafted us, yes, each one of us, even you, with care. You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me, even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand – when I wake, I am still with you. – Psalm 139:1-18 You, me, each one of us are sometimes beat up, dented, broken, neglected and abused. As the Apostle Paul says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” – Romans 3:23 Therefore, you, me, each one of us are sought by God as Jesus himself says in Matthew 9:12-13, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick. But go and learn what this means: I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” The Apostle Paul unpacks this a bit in Romans 5:8 when he says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” He goes on to unpack why God would choose us, the broken, in 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 when he said, “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of this world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.” You see, only when we are broken and come to the end of ourselves (whatever that looks like in your life) are we willing to let go and let God play his melody, pure and sweet, in us. In God’s hands, He makes his music in us as He guides us to think about what is true, right, noble, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praise worthy and to display in our lives love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control so that we can learn to love God with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength and love our neighbors as ourselves. Amen