Music has always been a major part of my life. It is a welcoming noise and a universal language. My sister and I grew up playing various instruments. However, this wasn’t by our choice. My daddy was a band teacher, and playing an instrument was a rite of passage in our household. Some instruments I played well, and others, not so well. I can remember playing Whitney Houston’s The Greatest Love of All by ear on the piano, but only making screeching cat-like sounds when trying to play the violin.
If you’ve ever been a band student, or seen the movie Whiplash, then you already know that band teachers are a little touched, different, out-there so to speak with their teaching methods. When my daddy wanted to get the band’s attention he would yell, “Give me the noise!” And I do mean yell. His voice had to be louder than the trombones, drums, trumpets, cymbals, and piccolos in order to be heard. When the band heard the words, “Give me the noise,” the room went silent. You could hear a clarinet reed fall on carpet.
Generally, my daddy wanted the band’s attention so he could teach us something. Perhaps we needed to learn a new song or rehearse a difficult section of Birdland. But more than our attention was required. We had to focus our attention on him, the director. In order for this to happen, the entire band had to give him the noise.
I believe Christ wants us to Give Him The Noise. God wants our attention to be on Him, even during difficult, unsure times like today. Can you hear all of the noise? The tornadoes are whirling. Fear is screaming. Ignorance is singing. Death is rumbling. Impatience is drumming a perfect steady beat. Hunger and despair are crying, and grief is howling. When chatter and busyness are added to this chaotic sound, the noise is unbearable. Let’s give God the noise.
How? One might ask. Start by putting down your instrument. Next sit still, be quiet, and show God in whatever manner you see fit, that you are focused on Him. Show God that you are ready to be directed. As believers and followers of Jesus, we are the band, and God is the director. I like how Eugene Peterson discerns the meaning of Ecclesiastes 3:1,7 in The Message Bible, “There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth:….a right time to shut up and another to speak up…” Let’s take advantage of this opportune time to shut up and give God the noise.