Tag: beauty

Beautiful Things

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Ephesians 1:7-10

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

This theme is similar to much of what I have covered in other posts, but I want to specifically dig into the idea of unity and how we can better understand what is means that God wants to unite all things.

Unity

It is the revealed mystery of God’s will, His purpose, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth. This is a pretty significant idea in understanding what God is doing and in better understanding who God is. God is about the unity and reconciliation of all things.

When I was in college, my small group leader consistently asked us a question that is still one of the first questions that I try to answer when attempting to understand a passage of Scripture. He would ask, “what does this say about the character and nature of God?” Whenever we read statements made by or about actions ordained by God in the Bible, we know that they are communicating something about who He is. If God’s purpose is to unite all things in Him, then it stands to reason that God is not about causing division. God is about relationship. He’s about pulling the broken in closer to himself and about repairing divisions that sin has caused in our relationship with Him.

To better grasp the idea of what this means, let’s look at the Japanese art of Kintsugi. This tradition takes broken pottery and repairs it into a new work of art by piecing the broken pieces and using a gold, silver, or platinum lacquer to put it back together. The results are stunning. The new piece has a spider web of gold fingers reaching across the ceramic. Some of the best pieces actually look like they were intentionally designed to be that way. Kintsugi stands in contrast to most western traditions, which tend to repair something like this by making it as close as they can to what the original looked like. Kintsugi, on the other hand, uses the broken places of the pottery to create something that is unique and beautiful in its own right. Kintsugi forces you to see beauty in the broken parts of the object. In some ways, this is how I understand what God does with our broken places.

The broken places of our lives are chasms that often keep us from God, but the work that God is doing is much like the work of Kintsugi. He is uniting the broken pieces within us to make something new. He’s using the broken body of Christ on the cross to make us new creations in His kingdom. One of the most amazing parts to this is not just that he is repairing the fractures in both you and me, but in all who believe. He is reconciling the world to Himself through the global church with the help of the Holy Spirit.

What does this say about the character and nature of God? It says that He has a plan and a purpose. It says that He is about reconciliation and about relationships. It says that He is generous with His grace and His forgiveness. God is not about hiding the flaws in our characters, but about reconciling us and healing us so that we are seen by Him as righteous. It’s a system where the brokenness of the body of Christ brings us into relationship with Him. It’s a system of redemption and of love. God is about uniting rather than dividing.

Prayer and Reflection

Think about Kintsugi and what it means that the brokenness is repaired for use and beauty. Where might you be broken? Ask God to repair that brokenness and be reminded that He will view it as something new and beautiful.

I’m reminded of the song from a few years ago, Beautiful Things, by Gungor. Give it a listen.

Nothing Hidden

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Psalm 19

1 The heavens declare the glory of God,
    and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours out speech,
    and night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words,
    whose voice is not heard.
4 Their voice goes out through all the earth,
    and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
5     which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
    and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
    and its circuit to the end of them,
    and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

7 The law of the Lord is perfect,
    reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
    making wise the simple;
8 the precepts of the Lord are right,
    rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
    enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the Lord is clean,
    enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
    and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
    even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
    and drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
    in keeping them there is great reward.

12 Who can discern his errors?
    Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
    let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
    and innocent of great transgression.

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
    be acceptable in your sight,
    O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

C. S. Lewis called Psalm 19, “the greatest poem in the Psalter and one of the greatest lyrics in the world” (Reflections on the Psalms). It’s a simple and beautiful psalm that is broken into to two main parts, verses 1-6 and 7-14.

Verses 1-6

This section is about the praise of God in nature. Its beautiful poetry shows how all creation pours out its love for God. There’s an idea embedded in verse 2 that has formed the curiosity of the world that exists deep inside me. It’s that knowledge can be found throughout the universe. We can observe and discover the infinite God within creation. He’s given as a world to explore from the micro-universe to the macro, from quarks to clusters of galaxies. God has given us the mental faculties to learn the way in which he has ordered everything and the emotions to see the beauty in it. “The heavens declare the glory of God.”

Lewis rightly identifies verse 6 as the linchpin of the psalm. It acts as the transition from a meditation on creation to the law of the Lord. In the same way that the sun dominates the daytime sky, the Torah dominates human life. As theologian and biblical commentator Peter Craigie states,

There could be no life on this planet without the sun; there can be no true human life without the revealed word of God in the Torah.

Sunset Yosemite Bradford

Verses 7-14

These verses give 6 characteristics of the law and then illustrates how those characteristics are beneficial to and impact each of us.

  1. The law of the Lord is perfect and revives the soul
    • It is the nourishment that our inner selves need
  2. The testimony of the Lord is sure and makes wise the simple
    • It supplies wisdom and meaning to the ordinary
  3. The precepts of the Lord are right and make the heart rejoice
    • It is the source of joy for our lives
  4. The commandment of the Lord is pure and enlightens the eyes
    • It reveals truth and reality in our existence
  5. The fear of the Lord is clean and endures forever
    • It is the everlasting foundation upon which our lives are built
  6. The rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether
    • It provides, in its totality, a picture of righteousness

The psalmist continues by adding imagery to the value of the law comparing it to honey and to gold followed with a prayer that will also be ours.

Prayer and Reflection

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Amen.