SermonStudio

Giacomo Puccini was one of the greatest composers of opera who ever lived. His great and glorious music, written for and performed in the great opera houses of the world, has delighted people for more than a century. Puccini was given many great gifts by God, but certainly the greatest was his musical ability. He gained great fame, not only in his native land of Italy, but throughout the world. It was quite common to hear people along the streets of any great city whistling or humming one of the many popular melodies from such great works as Tosca, La Boheme, Madama Butterfly, Manon Lescaut, and Gianni Schicchi.

Toward the end of his life Puccini took on a challenge, the composition of another great opera. Using a libretto written by fellow Italian Renato Simoni, who adapted a work of the eighteenth-century Venetian playwright Carlo Gozzi, Puccini tackled the composition of Turandot, the story of a gallant young man, Calaf, in his efforts to win the hand in marriage of the stern, mysterious, and seemingly cold Chinese princess named Turandot. Puccini was in his sixties when he began the opera's composition. For four years he labored long and hard, but Puccini was a very sick man. He was running out of time; God would soon call him home.

Puccini did return home to God, but his master work was not completed. Because he was a famous man, Puccini had many friends, including a cadre of loyal students who were known as his disciples. These young men and women would not allow their master's great work, his magnum opus, to lie unfinished. Thus, they gathered together, studied the text of the opera, and then began the difficult task of finishing their master's work. In 1926, two years after his death, Puccini's greatest work, Turandot, was performed for the first time, appropriately enough at Milan's La Scala Opera House with Arturo Toscanni, the most famous conductor of the day, at the podium. When the opera reached the point where Puccini's work ended Toscanni paused, set down his baton and said, "Thus far the master wrote, but he died." After a moment of silence Toscanni again picked up his baton, turned to the audience, and with tears in his eyes said, "But his disciples finished his work." To thunderous applause the opera continued; the work of the master had been completed.

In some important ways Giacomo Puccini's life paralleled that of Jesus. Christ was sent by God to be with us for a certain amount of time; he was sent on a mission. Like Puccini, who was sent by God to delight our ears with beautiful music, so Jesus was sent to show us how to lead good and holy lives, to demonstrate the presence of God in the world. Jesus was given many wonderful gifts by God the Father in order to carry out his special mission on earth. Without question Jesus was the greatest teacher of all time. He taught us the most important lessons of life -- how to love and to care for others by leading lives of service. Jesus was a worker of miracles. He raised the dead to new life, including his good friend Lazarus and the only son of the widow of Nain, and brought sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and mobility to the crippled. He even cured those who at least in theory did not believe in him, such as the son of the Roman centurion. Maybe most importantly, Jesus was one who forgave others and taught us to forgive. He forgave Saint Peter, who denied him three times, and went so far as to forgive those who nailed him to the cross and sent him to an ignominious death: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing" (Luke 23:34)

Jesus came to our world with a special mission. He wanted to show by what he did and said that God is not far away, but rather, God is close, imminent; God is present within ourselves and our society. Jesus came to establish the Kingdom of God on earth, but he returned home before the mission was completed. As we hear in the Acts of the Apostles, Jesus ascended to heaven; he went back home to God. We who bear Christ's name are his friends, disciples, and students. When Puccini died without his master work completed his disciples gathered together and finished the work. In a similar way, we who bear the name Christian must do our share to bring Jesus' work to completion in our world.

God has given all of us many talents and we must use them to bring the Kingdom to come. Some, like Puccini, are gifted musically; others are writers; still others are talented speakers. Some of us excel in science and others are exceptional teachers. Some people have been given great athletic ability and some of God's people are very fortunate -- they have been blessed with multiple talents. Whatever gifts we have received from God must be returned in our effort to make known to others the imminence of God in our world. We must show others that love conquers hate, that faith dispels fear, and that community can take us further than personal initiative alone. We must do our share to build the Kingdom now.

Jesus ascended to heaven and returned to the Father, but we, his disciples, are still here. As missionaries on the road, God has granted us limited time. For some the time is 25 years, for others sixty, and for a select few one hundred. Each and every day of our journey presents the opportunity to show the face of God to others, to complete Jesus' work in building the Kingdom of God. Let us do our share as we walk in the footsteps of the master. Let us build the City of God this day!