The Minister as Piano Man

I'm going to go a completely different direction with my blog post today . . . just because it's on my heart.

While traveling home from work last night, I had Billy Joel's Greatest Hits jamming away on the stereo. One of my favorites, Piano Man, played. While listening to it, it hit me: most laypeople see their minister(s) as Piano Man. In case you have not had the distinct pleasure of your ears being graced by the greatness that is Piano Man, here are the lyrics:

It's nine o'clock on a Saturday
The regular crowd shuffles in
There's an old man sitting next to me
Making love to his tonic and gin

He says, "Son can you play me a memory
I'm not really sure how it goes
But it's sad and it's sweet
And I knew it complete
When I wore a younger man's clothes"

Sing us a song you're the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us feeling alright

Now John at the bar is a friend of mine
He gets me my drinks for free
And he's quick with a joke or to light up your smoke
But there's someplace that he'd rather be

He says, "Bill, I believe this is killing me"
As a smile ran away from his face
"Well, I'm sure that I could be a movie star
If I could get out of this place"

Now Paul is a real estate novelist
Who never had time for a wife
And he's talking with Davy, who's still in the Navy
And probably will be for life

And the waitress is practicing politics
As the businessmen slowly get stoned
Yes they're sharing a drink they call loneliness
But it's better than drinking alone

Sing us a song you're the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us feeling alright

It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday
And the manager gives me a smile
'Cause he knows that it's me they've been coming to see
To forget about life for a while

And the piano sounds like a carnival
And the microphone smells like a beer
And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar
And say "Man what are you doing here?"

Sing us a song you're the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us feeling alright

In many respects, people in churches want nothing more from their ministers than people in a club want from their entertainers.

They want to be sung a song that gets them feeling alright, that gets them by, that gets them through the week.

There's a Bill in every church who would rather be anywhere but where he is. There's a Paul; there's a Davy; there's a waitress; there's a businessman. They come together because it's better than doing life on their own. They come together to forget about life for a while.

We all want a pretty good crowd to show up, so that we can all feel good about being there together, about coming together to forget about life for a while.

If we think about church as a place to come forget about life, to come be told that we are not to blame for all that goes wrong in our lives, to come be treated like a patron at Cheers, to have our wants satisfied . . . then that's really not church, at all.

And somehow, in the midst of this, the Church presses on, keeps going. Thanks be to God.