If you haven’t seen Susan Boyle from Britain’s Got Talent, then you’ve most likely been in a coma. I’ve got about three dozen “don’t judge a book by its cover” emails because of her. It’s true; you don’t expect that voice to come out of her. Is it because we think only "pretty" people can sing? We should all be thankful that God doesn’t see like we see.

The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart- 1 Samuel 16:7.
There’s a movie that has captured my attention. It’s called, “The Soloist”. I haven’t seen the movie but I have seen the interviews about the real people the movie is based on, Steve Lopez and Nathaniel Ayers. Steve is an L.A. Times reporter. He’s feeling battered and beaten up by the newspaper industry and decides to hit the streets of Los Angeles looking for something to inspire him. As he’s walking through Pershing Square, he hears some music. He turns and sees a homeless man (Nathaniel) playing a violin that only had two strings. Nathaniel is playing under a statue of Beethoven. He has a sign on his grocery cart that reads, “Little Walt Disney Concert Hall” and in his mind he is actually playing on stage.
Steve talked to the man, and the two stuck up a friendship. Steve found out that Nathaniel was a musical genius, a gifted man of extraordinary musical talent, who had gone to Julliard School of Music in New York City, where his teachers said he had the ability to become the next Mozart. But Nathaniel had suffered a breakdown; and now, many years later, he was on the streets of Los Angeles playing his worn-out violin to rats, prostitutes, drug-dealers, and to whoever would listen.
Steve’s heart went out to this man, and over time they formed a remarkable bond. Steve did everything in his power to help Nathaniel. He tried everything to “fix” the musician’s life, to solve his problems, and to get him healthy. Slowly, little by little, they made progress, though it’s one step forward and two steps backward. There were moments of great success followed by heartbreaking setbacks and crushing disappointments.
Out of the experience, Steve wrote a series of columns for the Los Angeles Times, and then a best-selling book; and now the story has become a major motion picture. Recently in an interview with another reporter, Steve Lopez called his experiences with the homeless musician, “the greatest gift” he had received. When he saw Nathaniel, he saw someone who had passion and purpose. Even in the haze and fog of his schizophrenia, Nathaniel was passionate about music. It made his life come alive, whether he was playing on the real stage of a great concert hall, or on an imagined one surrounded by the filth and squalor of the streets. He had passion and purpose.
There are two things I reflected on when I saw this story:
1) How many people go unnoticed each day because they look weird? Based on outward appearance only, would you pass on Susan Boyle? Nathaniel Ayers? God doesn’t.

2) Music makes Nathaniel Ayers come alive with passion and purpose. Think about this. Without Jesus Christ in our lives we’re homeless, we’re spiritually ill and we’re playing with broken strings. But with Christ in our lives, there’s music in our souls and He puts us on a stage that brings passion a purpose to our lives.
So, sing on Susan Boyle! Play on Nathaniel Ayers! And God, help us to see people like You do! May God’s people notice those who would otherwise go unnoticed.

Pastor Tim