When you read the names, Chip and Joanna, many of you will think of the very popular reality TV show, Fixer Upper. I find it so amazing to watch that couple take “the worst house, in the best neighborhood” and make it amazing. Redeemed!
It is the sculptor’s power, so often alluded to, of finding the perfect form and features of a goddess, in the shapeless block of marble; and his ability to chip off all extraneous matter, and let the divine excellence stand forth for itself. Anonymous
I have always been amazed by sculptures. Whether made of wood, stone, or even play-doh. Somehow someone was able to see the potential for that material to be shaped into something completely different than what it was, pulling out a beauty that was hidden from the sight of others. I love watching carvers with chainsaws revealing a hidden bear or eagle in a trunk of wood. Or seeing “Ice” at the Gaylord where men and women have frozen water and shaved it into works of art. Some day I hope to be witness to some of the grand sculptures of men; the sphinx, David, Mount Rushmore, or Christ the Redeemer in Rio. These artists set out with a vision and some great materials. Through an amazing gift, were able to bring their vision into a reality where others could see and enjoy their creation.
These man-made sculptures are amazing, but are minuscule in comparison to God’s sculptures.
According to Genesis, God took “earth” and created Man. Think about that, Michelangelo! He took dirt, formed it into His image, animated it, and gave it a purpose. A living sculpture! Amazing! This God, my creator and yours, who created the heaven and the earth and everything that is in them, was so excited and pleased with His sculpture, humanity, that He asked it to join Him in the process of filling the whole earth. In the process of sculpting with Him, in the process of seeing something not for what it is, but for what God can see in it and helping bring out its potential.
From Genesis through the Old and New Testament, God laid a framework for us, His followers, to see how some of the most unlikely building material can be turned into amazing masterpieces for Him. He took a lowly shepherd and turned him into a King, he transformed prostitutes into women of honor, and a persecutor of Christ-followers into one of the New Testaments most prominent authors. He even sculpted the dead back to life!
Like the houses in “Fixer Upper” or the sculptor’s stones, we too have been re-shaped and re-purposed to showcase the Creator’s great work in us. He sculpted us, He redeemed us and He calls us to be a part of His redemption process of this world. Look around you at work, at school, at church even in the mirror and try to see the potential in those around you. Try to see the potential in you for what God is sculpting us into.
