It was Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year in the U.S. I went to work that day instead, hoping to avoid the crowds and save some money by not spending. The plan worked well until my wife Karen called me, frantically explaining that our son, Christopher, was hanging on for dear life to a new Martin acoustic guitar at the local Guitar Center store, refusing to leave unless she was willing to exchange for it with its purchase price. Christopher was still a novice guitarist with only two years of experience, but his skills were advancing rapidly, to the point where it was time for him to upgrade from the old Yamaha that I bought during college. It was somewhat of a coincidence that I just casually chatted with him about Martin guitars a few days beforehand. Hearing also that there was a 15% discount in effect that day, I approved the transaction, and reassured Karen that it was a wise choice. I went home that evening fully expecting to see a beautiful, brand-spanking new Martin acoustic....
It was nowhere to be found. Karen and Christopher were rescued from the purchase by a man who introduced himself as a guitar aficionado, who claimed to have an even better Martin guitar at his home with twice the worth, and that he was willing to sell it for about the same price. Karen agreed to have a look at the instrument, and asked me to accompany them to the man's house the following morning. The guitar was there as advertised, in excellent condition, with a beautiful satin finish, a distinct, clean tone and very easy, low action. I was hooked as Christopher started playing, initially gently and carefully, until the owner urged him to play harder and truly put the guitar to the test. $550, hard case included, seemed a steal.
The seller explained that he was hoping to sell the guitar and upgrade to a much more expensive Gibson model, and that he was also willing to sell his other guitar, a fine Gibson “Baby-Jumbo”, for about $1,600, clearly out of our budget. He let Christoper play with it as well, and it was literally love at first sight. It had the lovely, intricate Gibson design, dark glossy finish and a tone that seemed darker, warmer and considerably more complex than that of the Martin. It was so beautiful that the Martin guitar looked kind of, uh, ordinary, in comparison. We ended up buying the Martin, but if we tarried any longer, there was no telling whether we'd take the offer on the Gibson.
Back home, my wife and I affirmed that we made a good purchase as Christopher filled the room with the crisp sound of his new guitar. It was no Gibson Baby-Jumbo, but it had the distinctive Martin sound and look. The problem of having it next to the Gibson guitar earlier that day was that it made the beautiful Martin seem like the homecoming queen standing next to a supermodel.
We are often like pretty decent guitars and homecoming queens when we regard our own righteousness. We frequently hear people say that they are not saints, but at least they don't kill people or commit other heinous crime, and that they work hard, so God should be pleased with them. However, God is holy and perfect, and no righteousness by our own merits will ever satisfy Him. The prophet Isaiah, who likely was as humanly righteous and blameless as possible, cried before God's presence,
“Woe to me!...I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” (Isaiah 6:5)
The apostle Paul, who lived impeccably according to Jewish law prior to his conversion, regarded his own fleshly righteousness as “a loss” compared to “the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.” (Philippians 3:8). It is by God's mercy that if we believe in Jesus, we not only have received forgiveness of our sins, we also have received his righteousness as well.
Otherwise, even the supermodel cannot stand before the beauty of God.
Glenn Duh
November 30, 2010
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