I have been thinking a little lately about transposition — the process, that is, by which musicians ratchet a tune up (or down) the musical scale, from one key to another. It is a wonder to behold. I have seen gifted musicians sit down at the keyboard or take a guitar in their hands, and transpose familiar melodies almost unconsciously.
It turns out that you don’t have to be a gifted musician to accomplish the feat, however; non-musicians are able to transpose a little, too. Even I can manage it. I might prefer “Jesus Loves Me” in the key of G. But if someone begins the song in the key of F, let’s say, I will sing right along without trouble.
Transposition is possible because we don’t learn melodies by individual notes. Nobody does; people who try become the sort who “can’t carry a tune in a bucket.” We learn melodies, well, by their melody — that is, by the relationship between the notes. When we attempt a transposition (“Let’s sing ‘Jesus loves me’ now in the key of G…!“) we don’t calculate the megahertz of individual notes. We transpose the melody. And if we have learned the melody well, we can sing it up and down the scale.
We have something to learn here, I think. There is a “melody” of Christian mission, too.
This is a melody that sounds the clear, deep note of repentance. It sings the announcement of the forgiveness of sins. It repeats the rhythmic refrains of service and love. Most of all, the melody of mission is about the person of Jesus Christ: the call to repentance in his name; the announcement of forgiveness because of his cross; glad service and acts of love in the spirit of Jesus and fueled by his grace; and hope in Jesus, too. We call it, simply, “Good News.”
Good News is our song in the world: one extraordinary, life-transforming melody — the wonderfully Good News of Jesus. It is the task of Christian mission to translate and transpose it. In some parts of the world, we cannot sing so very openly. We can model Good News in our service but we cannot speak it out on the street corner. Elsewhere in the world, we can sing out loudly — or join the choir of sisters and brothers already at work singing. Everywhere we go, we aim to transpose Good News into our ordinary, work-a-day lives — our conversations, our relationships, our service. We aim to make it the melody of our lives.
The practical question remains, of course: Will you line up with the altos or the baritones? Where does your particular “note” fit on the scale?
Remember the process of transposition — and focus on the melody. Finding your fit is like finding the high “me” in the chorus to “Jesus loves me.” When you have the melody clearly in mind — when you have sung “Jesus” and added “loves” — you will know how to sing “me” as well. It will come easily, when the first part of the tune is right.
And when you have sung about God’s love for all the peoples of the world — when you have remembered the redeeming work of Jesus — you will find a part in that chorus, too. You will sing about Jesus and his mission in the world. You will sing for the lost that he has come to find. And after a strophe or two, your own “note” will become clear enough, I think. You will find yourself transposing — and Good News to sing.