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Pastor’s Thoughts
“The Lord takes pleasure in his people.”
Psalm 149:4
A professor of mine told us about his vacation to Florence, Italy. While there he visited some of the finest art museums in the world. As he walked through the pre-Renaissance paintings, he was struck by how many of them portrayed the anger of God. He says “the scenes were dark, the themes were frequently of judgment, and the people were diminished, dour, and two dimensional.” But, on the very day that his morning devotions included the verse that claims, “The Lord takes pleasure in his people,” my professor saw the works of Michelangelo. He and the other tourists lingered as they observed this art. (A contrast to the way most had hurried by the pre-Renaissance paintings as quickly as possible.) And when the tourists got to the statue of David, they stood in awe as they gazed upon the beautiful sculpture.
Why did the art of Michelangelo evoke so different a reaction than the art of the pre-Renaissance painters? Because Michelangelo allowed them to glimpse humanity as it was created to be. The artist’s portrayal of life tells us he believed God is pleased with what God created. I have heard it said that the image was already in the stone. Michelangelo freed it by removing everything that didn’t belong there.
Human beings are created with unique forms, shapes, and personalities. We are created by God and God has declared his creation good. Yet everyday we encounter messages that we are not smart enough, pretty enough, or successful enough. So, we try to change ourselves using one self-help tool after another. But, if we read our Bibles carefully, we will find they don’t offer us any help in becoming a different person. The Bible calls us to conversion – to following God’s way of being the people God created us to be in the first place. God doesn’t have a plan to change you into somebody else. Instead, like an artist, God is removing everything that doesn’t belong until you are freed to be who God created you to be in the beginning. That is what redemption looks like
- Pastor Darla Ann
