Years ago I heard a theologian/church historian give a short lecture in which she claimed that if a person wants to become proficient at a skill, an art, an ability, that about 3,000 hours of practice are required. Now, I must admit, I couldn’t find the video recording or my notes from that presentation this morning, so I may have the exact details wrong, but the point is the same, if one wants to become an expert, an investment of time and work is required. Proficiency is not quick or easy. Disciplined practice is required for most anything that matters in life. If you want to be an olympic athlete it requires years of practice. A musician? It will take years of practice. An actor? It takes hard work.
Many years ago Beverley and I were in a group of people, and at that time May Memorial had a pianist/organist who was very capable and proficient in her playing. One of the people in that group made the comment that she “just wished she could sit down at the piano and play like Beverley or (and she named May Memorial’s musician).” She acted as if there was some kind of magical secret to being able to do what they can do. There is no secret, it is hard work, it is disciplined practice.
I say all of this in order to say how much I appreciate Kenny, Sandra, and the May Memorial Choir. At Christmas, on cantata Sunday, it seems as if it is the “highlight” of their year. A service filled with anthems that tell the story of the incarnation. But underneath it all is a year, even multiple years, of work, of practice, and of commitment. When Kenny plays a prelude, the skill demonstrated is not simply a practiced skill of working on that one piece, it goes back to his first piano lesson, when he began acquiring the skills to do what he sits there and does each week. Sandra’s ability is the result of a life-long commitment to excellence. It takes time.
The same is true about this business of following Jesus. It seems there has been a dramatic shift over the past thirty years in which individuals have come to believe that becoming a Christian is a spur of the moment event. And yes, a decision to give one’s life to Jesus can happen quickly. But becoming a Christian involves a life of formation. Becoming one who looks, acts, speaks like Jesus, it is the result of years of prayer, practice, discipline, falling short, trying again, and changing little by little. It is not quick. It takes time, practice, and after hours, days, months, years, we become more and more what God wants us to be. It is a life of formation.
In a culture that too often believes in instant results requiring little work, I am more and more grateful for our musicians. I appreciate how they have not just invested a minimal amount of time in their service to God, but that they are in it for the long haul. Week after week, month after month, year after year. Devotion to their sacred art for a lifetime. Because nothing, nothing, I say nothing, that is worthwhile, is quick.