Playing the Trumpet Like Louie Armstrong

“If God be with our mouth, and with our mind, we shall have something better than the sounding brass of eloquence, or the tinkling cymbal of persuasion.” – C.H. Spurgeon

When I was in fifth grade, my parents had the bright idea that I should take some music lessons, specifically trumpet lessons. Maybe they felt that because my two older brothers were musically inclined, I would be too.

However, the truth of the matter is that I lacked any musical talent then… and still do today. Give me a bat and a ball, and I’ll play baseball or softball all day long and even excel to a degree. The same goes with basketball, tennis, golf, or pretty much any sport (none of which my brothers played).

But music? Not my cup of tea!

And so, my two weeks of trumpet lessons were two of the longest weeks of my young life. I dreaded each and every lesson and literally sweated my way through them. Finally, after 14 painstaking days, I could squeak out a horrible rendition of “Pop Goes the Weasel”. It was so bad that my parents finally realized that my talents laid elsewhere… and I happily turned in my trumpet and returned to playing catch in the backyard or pick-up games down at the local community center.

In today’s quote, the point Charles Spurgeon is making is that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit grants us a special power that defies human logic or understanding. You simply can’t explain it any other way. In fact, there have been times when I have stood in the pulpit and felt a special anointing as the Holy Spirit came over me and made me sound a whole lot more eloquent than I really am.

To put it in musical terms, it was almost as if after just a few trumpet lessons, I was blowing that ol’ horn like Louie Armstrong. It sure wasn’t me, so it must have been God!

I imagine most every pastor or preacher has had a similar experience. When we rely on our own abilities, we usually fall flat on our face. But when we hand the reins over to God, the Holy Spirit really begins to move.

Here is how Charles Spurgeon, the “Prince of Preachers”, describes such times…

“God's teaching is wisdom; His presence is power. Pharaoh had more reason to be afraid of stammering Moses than of the most fluent talker in Egypt; for what he said had power in it; he spoke plagues and deaths. If the Lord be with us in our natural weakness we shall be girt with supernatural power. Therefore, let us speak for Jesus boldly, as we ought to speak.”

“My message and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith would not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.” I Corinthians 2:4-5 (BSB)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President