Rehearsal Is More

I am not someone who inherently likes to practice. It may be the nature of sheer monotony or the feeling that all I do is redundant practice of the basics. It can be frustrating, especially for the impatient person who loves efficiency, problem solving, and productivity. Just ask my former coaches or piano teachers; you could even ask my parents. I have never been one to invite rehearsal as a part of my life, but in fact found the thought of it to be restrictive and unnecessary.

I am not sure if this is your disposition when someone mentions the concept of practice. Maybe your default is to reason why you do not have the time to commit to an ongoing task or maybe you have counted the cost of what practicing a certain skill will be and therefore have decided to forego that opportunity. Nevertheless, this concept is one we all resonate with and one that strikes a chord; whether the child trying to figure out how to do the last loop with shoelaces, the greek student attempting to understand the function of a participle, the husband who has been wanting to cook a romantic dinner but has not advanced past the delicacy of frozen food, or the employee needing to recertify and practice their discipline for an upcoming promotion.

Rehearsal is not only for the gain of life skills. However, it does seem like the older I get the more I am faced with even more past opportunities I bypassed, especially when sitting in attendance at a basketball game, piano recital, or school musical. How the success of the athletes in front of me stems from their commitment to the fundamentals and habits in the weight room. How the musicians’ performance is dictated by the dedication to run their fingers through reps of scales and sight-reading. How the quality of those on stage are heightened because of the consistency with which they rehearsed and studied both the literature and script of the play.

Even though we want to wish ourselves to be better than having to rehearse, we should not be so naïve to think of ourselves this way. Every person is a creature in need of refinement through practice. It’s how we are created as well as the result of living in a broken world.

The goal of this post isn’t necessarily to inspire you to start practicing that thing you’ve always wanted to learn, such as gardening or picking up the acoustic guitar sitting in your basement (although I highly recommend doing both if you feel any compulsion). Rather, I want to suggest that spiritual rehearsal is actually a faithful and necessary act of the Christian. We need to practice our faith in God and commit to the disposition of the psalmist in Psalm 9:1 -2.

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart.
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

I have really enjoyed learning and studying the tone, style, and nature of liturgies, whether personal or corporate. I admit that liturgy has been done both extremely poorly and extremely well within the church, so I know it holds a different connotation to a variety of people. But when done well what could happen is that the recitation and the rehearsal of doctrines and creeds of the past, prayers through Scripture, or reading numerous portions of Scripture bolsters the faith of the participant. (I know this is not always the case, but bear with me - It can be).

Recently I purchased a book, O Sacred Head, Now Wounded by Dr. Jonathan Gibson, which is a daily liturgy for believers meant to lead you from Pascha all the way to Pentecost. Each day is filled with Scripture, confessions of past saints and church fathers, prayers, etc. that you can read through the season of Easter. While I do recommend this book as well as his two others (Be Thou
My Vision and O Come O Come Emmanuel), the primary reason I mention it is due to the content of his introduction. He writes,

We human beings are forgetful by nature. I do not mean in a finite sense but in a fallen sense. We forget because we choose to forget – at least that is the case when it comes to our response to God’s character and covenant and commands, to his ways and works and words. We forsake our Maker because we choose to forget our Maker.

Gibson goes on to show how a number of our favorite people from Scripture testify to this precise truth. We see Abraham’s forgetfulness displayed when he takes matters into his own hands for a seed or David’s as he strikes down a faithful husband and devoted warrior to cover up his own sin. Forgetfulness is inherent to every man and woman. But this is why Gibson’s following remarks place us in front of the text of Scripture to obey by remembering and rehearsing. He writes,

Given this aspect of our fallen humanity, it is unsurprising to find commands in the Old and New Testaments to “remember” God and what he has done for us. In the Old Testament, we are exhorted to “remember” God as our Creator in the days of our youth (Ecc. 12:1); we are encouraged to “remember” him as our Redeemer and the “wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered” (Psa. 105:5). The psalmist exhorts us, “Bless the Lord…and forget not all his benefits” (Psa. 103:2).

May we not forget his benefits and be disciplined to do the spiritual practice of rehearsal.

A reason I bring this up is because Easter has been one of those holidays and seasons that sneaks up on me (even more so this year, since Easter is in March!). By the time I am sitting in that Sunday service, I feel like I missed an opportunity to reflect upon my need of the gospel and to rejoice considering the Savior having been slain and resurrecting to life. My deepest need is answered in the cross and empty tomb of Jesus Christ. I pray I continually rehearse, through the Spirit, how great is my need and how much greater is His redemption.

…and p.s. how much more beautiful does it become that one of the benefits I am to not forget is the gift of the Spirit, who Jesus declares helps us in this very thing:

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and
bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you . (John 14:26)

Persevere, Nick Boucher Youth Pastor