On a warm late-August Tuesday evening, music critic David Hajdu wandered into a Greenwich Village (New York City) jazz hotspot called the Vanguard. He sat down and started listening to a small combo of musicians was playing under the leadership of alto saxophonist Charles McPherson. During the second song, Hajdu's noticed the trumpet player in the band who was off to the side of the stage. He was turned away from the audience, but he looked vaguely familiar.

During the next song, McPherson had the trumpeter come to center stage to take a brief solo. There the lights revealed his face, and Hajdu turned to the stranger next to him and whispered, "Is that Wynton Marsalis?" "I seriously doubt it," the gentleman snapped. You couldn't blame him. For the world-famous jazz trumpeter to be unbilled and playing backup in a small combo on a weeknight in Manhattan's dog days of late summer, it really would be unlikely.

But it was Marsalis. The entire fourth song was a solo showcase for trumpet, a 1930s ballad called "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You." Creative genius came on display, and people soon began exchanging confirmations of both Marsalis' talent and his identity. His interpretation of the piece was masterful, at times his notes almost becoming trumpeted words. The audience was mesmerized. He came to the climax, an extended rendition of the title phrase, and allowed each note and syllable to linger. "I don't stand… a… ghost… of… a… chance…"

Then, at the most dramatic point, with people literally hanging on every note—someone's cell phone went off. A little singsong melody of electronic beeps played and then hung obnoxiously in the air. Some groaned. Others giggled. Drinks were grabbed and the moment unraveled.

Marsalis paused and stood motionless while Hajdu grabbed his notepad and scrawled two words: MAGIC RUINED.

Possible Preaching Angles: (1) Distractions; Trials; Suffering—In the midst of our lives the interrupting cell phone ring could be the news of cancer, divorce, unemployment, and so forth. It's the event that ruins the "magic" of the moment and sends us from beauty to chaos. (2) Prayer; Spiritual disciplines—In the midst of life's noise and busyness we often miss the presence of God. (3) Christmas—When Jesus came to earth hidden as a baby, most people missed the opportunity to attend to the presence of the God of the universe.