I recently received a book from a retired Wycliffe alumnus, Julian Sullivan, called Greasy Chip Butty. It is a reflection on his years of Christian ministry, mainly in tough urban settings. This is a story of many ups and downs, of challenges and joys, and of God’s faithfulness in the everyday, earthy realities of life.
One of the striking images that Sullivan comes back to repeatedly is that of a jazz musician. As a jazz drummer himself, he sees that the way jazz musicians live with uncertainty, especially as they improvise solos, has parallels with those living with uncertainty in Christian ministry. As we face a season of great uncertainly in the life of the Church, this might be a helpful image, and as a jazz trumpeter and trombonist myself, I think it is worth exploring.
Improvisers draw on what they have learned. No-one is a jazz musician the first day they pick up their instrument. They have to learn the notes and nomenclature, the scales and arpeggios, and the chords and chord changes. They have to practise their instrument to the point where they can play anything they wish to play, ideally in all twelve keys. There is a lot of preparation to be done. Those seeking to live the Christian life in uncertain times may see a parallel here. We need to draw on what we already know, and especially from the Scriptures that tell us of God's faithfulness down the ages and point us to Jesus Christ and the grace of his Holy Spirit. We can also learn from those who have faithfully followed Jesus in uncertain times, as well as remembering our own experiences of God’s provision in difficult days gone by. We can draw on what we have learned in the past to help us face the uncertainties of the future, trusting the Lord that we know, in the face of all that we don’t know.
Improvisers seek inspiration. Anyone who wants to be a jazz musician will be encouraged to listen to jazz legends, to be inspired by how they played and to seek to emulate them. Yes, they will want to develop their own voice and style, but just as someone learning to preach or teach often begins by modelling themselves on the preachers and teachers who inspired them, much the same applies to a jazz musician. In times of uncertainty, we need inspiration, looking to the people of God in the Bible, and the Christian Church down the generations and today. We will also seek the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, ‘who gives life to the people of God’ (Affirmation of Faith), and who comforts us in uncertain times.
Improvisers need to be willing to take risks. Sullivan tells us that the great jazz pianist, Dave Brubeck, identified three kinds of jazz musician:
those who produce brilliant solos, the same every night; they've learned them. Those who recycle ideas in different ways to sound different each night but actually are simply dipping into a ‘bag of tricks’. But the best of those who take risks, are fearless and able to make mistakes. That seems to me to be the closest to living by faith I can imagine. (p 16)
Some people naturally relish a season of uncertainty and the challenges it brings, though many find it enormously difficult. Times of uncertainty force us to improvise and take risks. We can't rely on continuing to do what we did years ago, because today is a very different day and things are changing fast. It makes us look to Jesus afresh, as the ‘author and perfector of our faith’ (Heb 12:2), and the one who is ‘the same yesterday, today and forever’ (Heb 13:8), and then to step into an unknown future, which involves us taking risks.
There is a Chinese curse that says, ‘may you leave in interesting times’, and we can say that we did not volunteer for this challenge. But the reality is, these are interesting and uncertain times. In such a season, I think it might be that disciples of Jesus can learn from jazz musicians to draw on what we already know, to seek inspiration from others, and to take the risks necessary to faithfully follow Jesus. We don't know what tomorrow will bring, but that may mean that we will see God at work in ways we would not have experienced i
f these had not been uncertain times.
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