In Tune

We had our piano tuned a few weeks ago. When I called to make the appointment, I told the tuner sheepishly that I had been shamefully lax about having it tuned. He laughed and asked how long it had been. I told him about 5 years and three moves. He said that actually didn’t sound too bad. I suppose he has seen worse. And when all was said and done, he only charged me his base price and told me that the piano really wasn’t all that bad, but once a year maintenance would keep it in tune, which I already knew but had neglected. Now that we have met this tuner, we won’t be neglecting it any longer, I hope.

Anyway, I noticed during the time that it was out of tune that, first of all, it is a slow slipping from in tune to out of tune. Unless one of the strings slipped badly I didn’t necessarily notice it all at once, but all of a sudden I realized that things that used to sound nice were beginning to have a jangly sort of sound instead of the mellow and rich sound it should have, and I realized it was out of tune. Here I was playing a song technically correctly, but it sounded off because the notes were off. The tune would be recognizable, the fingering correct, but it wasn’t beautiful anymore, it was a little disconcerting. It was uncomfortable.

Then, when I kept on playing it out of tune and moved it to this house, the third move since its last tuning, causing it to slip a little more out of tune, I kind of got used to the sound. I still heard that it was out of tune, but it didn’t really bother me as much. Well, most of the time it didn’t. Though, pretty much every time I played it, I would say or think to myself that I really needed to find someone who could tune it and get it done, but I just didn’t want to spend the money and take the time to get it done so I procrastinated some more, and several more months would slip by. It didn’t really matter too awfully much because I was just playing around with the piano, using it merely for my enjoyment, not because I had anyone I needed to be playing it for, but I do want to take care of the instrument, so I knew it needed to be done soon.

Another reason it really needed to be done, and why I felt I had been shamefully lax was that my oldest son has been taking piano lessons for a little over a year. He needs to know what it is supposed to sound like, and his brother will be starting lessons soon, also. The thing that spurred me out of my piano tuning lethargy was when Monk was practicing for his first recital and we went to the church and he got to sit at the piano there and rehearse a few days before the recital. After he was finished, he said, “That sounded really different.” And we told him that this is what a piano that is in tune sounded like. I got on the phone that week and remedied the situation.

The piano sounded good enough as long as we had no other piano to which to compare it. Monk learned to play things technically correct with the right fingering and it sounded good enough to our jaded ears. Compared to itself, our piano did not sound all that terrible. Until we heard him play the same songs on the tuned piano and realized what they were supposed to sound like. Compared to the real thing, we realized how lacking our piano had become. It didn’t matter how correct his fingering on our piano at home, he could not make those pieces sound that nice there. No amount of effort on his part would change the fact that the piano itself was out of tune. We needed an expert to come in and fix the strings inside the piano.

I got to thinking the other day about how my longing for holiness is like piano tuning. If I am content to compare myself to myself or other people who are also sinners, I can fool myself into thinking I’m not really all that bad. I can always find someone who is more out of tune than I am. The slippage away from holiness and into worldliness is sometimes not all that noticeable at first to the one who is slipping. But if I do not thoughtfully and prayerfully read my Bible and spend time in real prayer, and if I am not really paying close attention to the things I have heard, I run the danger of drifting (Hebrews 2:1). When my life is measured by the standard of God’s word, when I look at the righteousness of my Lord Jesus, I realize how far out of tune my filthy rags of self-righteousness actually are, and I realize how little value I have been placing on being set apart as a light in this dark world. Compared to the standard, I fall very flat. This is why my hope is in His righteousness. This is why I long for His holiness. I cannot do it on my own, it is by grace that I am saved through faith, not of works so that I may not boast in my own righteousness (Eph.2:8-9). And it is by grace that I am sanctified and grow to maturity in Christ, because I am confident that He who began a good work in me will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus (Phil. 1:6). As I study His word, the Holy Spirit tunes my heart and I begin to recognize those things in me which are not pure and holy and righteous. And by the precious blood of Jesus, I am clothed in His righteousness and He is able to keep me from stumbling and to present me faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy (Jude 24). Jesus is my great High Priest ever interceding for me at the right hand of God, as the Spirit works in my heart to grow me in sanctification.

When Mr. R. was working on our piano, he showed us how he would attach a special damping tool on the strings on either side of the one on which he was working. He explained to the boys and me that when a key is struck, not only will that string vibrate, but those on either side will also vibrate quietly in sympathy. He needed to keep those strings quiet so he could focus on the center string. I think in life sometimes we can easily allow so many distractions – even very good things – to keep us from focusing on the main thing, which is to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith and run the race with endurance (Heb. 2:1-2), loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength (Matt. 22:37), presenting our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (Rom. 12:1). Those distracting things may be necessary, just as all the piano strings are necessary, but I want to learn to fix my eyes so soundly on Jesus, paying such close heed to the things I have heard, that those everyday things in my life will vibrate in sympathy as an offering of praise to the One who is worthy of all praise and honor and glory as I learn to offer my life a living sacrifice. I long to be holy as He is holy. I long to reflect His glory and recognize that the true beauty is in Christ, not in the cheap amusements of the world which so easily and too often capture my attention. I want to have as my chief desire to love Him with all my heart, soul, mind and strength, and to learn to love my neighbor as myself and to do all that I do as unto the Lord.

I am convicted even as I type this that I am better at writing this than practicing it. I don’t want to play around with my life and be lazy about the things that matter. O Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief! Help me to lay aside the weights which so easily entangle and to be serious about honoring You. I confess that I am not even able to love You as You deserve to be loved. Thank You for Your grace and mercy in redeeming me. Help me not to grow comfortable with worldiness and please help me to want to fix my eyes on Jesus, to read and respect and obey Your word, and to think on the things above, tuning my life to be a fruitful instrument in the everlasting Hallelujah chorus of worship to You alone.