Go to Craigslist and look around. I’d venture to guess with a high level of certainty that you’d find a piano listed for FREE within a 50-mile radius.
You may wonder why something as glorious and valuable as a piano would be free. There are a few main reasons. One reason is that pianos are extremely heavy. Moving a piano requires several non-effeminate men to lift and move. The average weight of a piano is 750lbs; most of that weight is due to how much iron is used to construct a piano. Because of this, a second reason they are listed as free is that you need a good truck for transport. If you don’t own a truck (like me), you need to rent a truck for transport.
Another reason they are free is that over time pianos fall out of tune. Further, if the piano is not a priority and is neglected, it will continue to fall more and more out of tune. This in turn makes the necessary tuning job much more extensive and expensive.
Recently my family acquired a free piano off Craigslist for my daughter and paid a tuner to bring the beautiful little 1940s piano back to concert C (the ideal tuning). I learned something during this process.
If the piano is so out of tune, you must tune it in stages. If you were to tune a piano back to Concert C when it is that far out of tune, you run the risk of breaking various parts of the piano. At that point, the repair job is sometimes impossible.
Fortunately, the piano we received was not that bad. However, someone in our extended family was not so providentially blessed. They acquired a piano so far out of tune that the piano tuner had to come twice so that the piano maintains its structural integrity.
Learning all of this made me think of what I call postmillennial sanctification.
To define postmillennial, I’m referring to the gradual but sure effects of the Gospel in the world that transforms God’s people and all of creation from one degree of glory to another into the image of Christ.
To define sanctification, I’m referring to the process that is spoken of in the Westminster Shorter Catechism Questions 35 “What is sanctification?”:
Answer: “Sanctification is the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness”
Throughout the process of their lives, because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the power of the resurrection, God’s people see their lusts weakened and their virtue strengthened. They are enabled in the new life granted to them in Christ to die to sin and live to righteousness.
Sanctification can also be expressed in other terms such as maturity or glorification.
We see in Ephesians that sanctification is referred to as maturity. The Apostle Paul tells the church at Ephesus that God has given the church leaders “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12-13, ESV. Italics mine.)
Additionally, the Apostle Paul sees the gradual process of growth in the Christian life as glorification.
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. [18] And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:17-18, ESV)
Even though these terms match the scriptures quite well, sanctification has become a more popular term used to describe Christian growth and maturity. The main point I wanted to shed light on is in reference to the gradual nature of our sanctification and ask the question ‘why?’. Why did God choose to recreate us slowly? Why not all at once? I think piano tuning provides a great illustration.
Let’s face it, before the grace of God broke into our lives and saves us, we are pianos well out of tune.
The Good News of Jesus Christ is that after God brings us through the waters of baptism and into the household of faith, God begins the work of applying the work of redemption to every area of our lives.
Again we ask, “Why doesn’t God just fix us all at once?”. Why doesn’t he tune us all the way back to Concert C all at once?
Simple. He doesn’t want us to break.
Now, the conscientious theologian will respond here and say that God is powerful enough to ensure we do not break. Fair enough. However, what we find in scripture is that God is a covenant making God. The third of God’s Lordship attributes as explained by Theologian John M. Frame is God’s covenant presence. Our God comes to us and makes covenant with us. Another way to put it is that He comes and establishes a relationship with us. He has not created us as robots (as magnificent as it would be to be a robot made by God). God is that magnificent of a creator that He rules over, sustains, and brings to pass all things all while His image bearers have a real and responsive, living relationship with Him.
How can we be sure that God does not want us to break? How do we know that He is patient with us?
“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13, ESV)
God’s intentions are not that our lives crush us. God is interested in bringing us to glory.
“a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory; and in his name the Gentiles will hope.” (Matthew 12:20-21, ESV)
Our heavenly Father knows that we are in need of much tuning. But, if we are a bruised reed, a smoking flax, we may find comfort knowing He takes multiple visits to gradually bring us to Concert C. It won’t happen all at once, but it will happen.
Take heart, Christian. Your life will be a beautiful orchestra of music to the glory of God as He brings you from glory to glory.
Remain steadfast and patient as the Grant Tuner carefully prepares you to join in the heavenly hosts that sing His praises day and night, world without end. Amen.
