Do You Find Joy in The Art of Cultivating People?
Good Morning Friends,
Out on the mission frontier one gets to meet some amazing people. Some of them function as community artists, but instead of a pallet of colors, they have a variety of gifts God has placed in them, and their friends, that are used to connect with God’s ongoing act of redemption in the creation of His Kingdom. Typically these Christian community artists, in the context of relationships, help to reveal to others something of the divine. Often they cannot sign their works of art, nor would they want to, for that is not the nature of their work. They have found how to use their God given talent, in their daily walk, guided by the Holy Spirit to serve the common good, glorifying God.
For them it is
a labor of love. Do You Find Joy in The Art of Cultivating People?
Scripture: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Genesis 1:1-2 (ESV)
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
James 1:17 (NIV)
Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.
James 3: 13-18 (NRSV)
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.
1 Corinthians 12:1-11 (NRSV)
And you shall speak to all who have ability, whom I have endowed with skill, that they make Aaron’s vestments to consecrate him for my priesthood.
Exodus 28:3 (NRSV)
these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.
I Corinthians 2:10 (NRSV)
Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it.
Jeremiah 6:16 (NRSV)
Message: All art has the purpose of revealing something that has not before been seen. What we reveal and how we reveal it demonstrates our devotion to the discipline of our art form and to our awareness of truth.
There is an art of encouragement and an art of waiting and an art to remembering and there is an art of discipleship and to being a Christian servant. The art of grace is powerful and it is much like the art of forgiveness. Scripture does not exactly say that art is a gift of the Holy Spirit and yet its prominence in the history of religious life would indicate its importance. I have found that the Holy Spirit can instruct us in the role of beauty in our lives and how it relates to the process of community building. Here each kind word we utter, each generous gift we give, each helpful deed we do and obedient act of service to which we submit, proclaims God’s grace as part of the Master’s work as a point of light. It is this work that unites us in a creative act. It is this work that colors the tapestry of our lives. It is in this work of love we are molded by the potter’s hand into something practical but also beautiful. It is in this act of love that the Master’s brush paints us into His ongoing work of creation. Perhaps it would be good for the church to consider artists, who are inspired by the Holy Spirit, to be partners with pastors and priests in the role of revealing the Lord not just in the singing but in the service. We would do well to consider this purpose of art as a fulfillment of who we are. It is sad that the church, as the great custodian of art throughout much of history, drifted away from her pure devotion to the Lord. It is sad that the Protestant Reformation related art as idolatry and led to plain and colorless places of worship. There is a ditch on either side of the path of life, with lawlessness on one side and legalism on the other. But we are to walk the narrow path. The reality is that art has been and will likely continue to be a primary media for prophecy and reformation, both for good and evil. By its very nature, art usually predicts and points ahead to trends that cultures take, and then art also becomes a primary media for interpreting the trends. Friends, there is truth in a water lily, but who among us, has experienced that truth in the same way as Monet? Here is an example of points of light combining in an unfocused image to capture an impression of the truth we have yet to fully comprehend. As worshippers of God we too get to participate in this art so we too might vicariously experience the truth in the imaginary that becomes the actual. Typically as community artists we must create what is imaginary out of what is actual and allow the Holy Spirit to connect to the divine what has be disconnected. No we cannot create something out of nothing. But while God created what is actual out of an idea, we creative artists must create what is imaginary out of what is actual, and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal God’s truth by reconnecting what has been disconnected.
Pray we have an anointing and painting on our spirit by the Holy Spirit. Pray we strive to be transformed into the image of Christ instead of working to transform Christ into an image of ourselves. Pray
we realize that God is the most wonderful, interesting, colorful, and creative being there is, or will ever be. Pray we join with the Holy Spirit to help to make a part of our world just a little more beautiful. Pray we realize that our spiritual gifts are not for us but for the Body. Pray we call Jesus Lord and know that by His hands manifested in and through us He will reveal the New Creation, allowing His Kingdom to break through in each act of love. Pray we rejoice in the grace and love of the Creator as the Master Artist of the Universe caresses our canvas with a stroke of His brush. Pray we discern the difference between what we are to discover and what we are to develop. Pray our eyes see through our hearts, revealing the beauty of God’s continuing acts of creation in us and in the communities in which we live.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 