Northside Church - Sydney
Clay… Potter… Masterpiece… Week 2
We're listening to another great message from Northside Community Church. We think of masterpieces, we think of rare objects, but you know, masterpieces aren't all that rare. Masterpieces exist in thousands of homes across Australia, tens of thousands of homes. Wherever there are little children involved and parents and grandparents, that's the home where there are masterpieces, because you get a drawing by a little five-year-old. It's a masterpiece, as far as the grandparents are concerned. I've got a stack of these. And you see how your friends, look at that. She's only five. That's her version of the story of creation, look at that. She's only five. Are we talking, you know, a genius here? And like your friend Curtis, he goes, "Oh, yeah, of course." But it's just a five-year-old scratching. There's nothing. But for the grandparent, it's a masterpiece. Same with anything with Play-Doh or if they've been really adventurous with, you know, ceramics up on the shelf. The title mightn't be there in print, but it's their masterpiece. Fantastic. Look at that form. Look at that shape. It's nothing. It's a failure. But it's a masterpiece. Why because we love the people. We love the people who've created that. They are masterpieces in our eyes because they've been created by people whom we love. But of course, in reality, they are masterpieces only through the lens of our very biased and our very subjective viewpoint. I mean, the test for a genuine masterpiece is far more, is based far more on the consensus of experts over a long period of time. And this is so when it comes to art and literature and sculpture and all that sort of thing. I wonder how many recognised pieces or masterpieces have been seen by this group in this auditorium. You were thinking about. We love to travel at Northside. Many of you, I know, have great interest in museums. I wonder how many real masterpieces have been viewed by us, both in Australia and overseas. Let me put it another way. What's been the most awe-inspiring, most moving, most inspirational masterpiece you have ever seen in any form of the arts? What does it mean? What do you think of? Maybe some of you have seen the statue of David there in Florence. Maybe you've seen a Monet original, or a Rembrandt original, or a Van Gogh, or maybe you've seen Rodin's sculpture of the thinker, you know? It'd be interesting. It probably be hundreds, if not thousands. You know, sometimes masterpieces can disappoint. I remember when Bev and I went to the Louvre, love saying that, the Louvre, to see the Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci. You've been there, Brian? Yes, sir. Well done. Well done. Fantastic. You know, I mean, that is such a huge disappointment. I don't know why, and nobody told me, but I mean, I imagine that I've walked into a huge hall, and there'll be this painting at the end of the hallway and the eyes would follow me everywhere. I went, you know? The thing is 77 centimetres by 53 centimetres. Like, I've got bigger pickers on my dressing table, you know? Like, it's so, that's for the non-metric, anybody non-metric. Let's have it for 32 by 21 inches. They're about small, you know? Tiny. This is Mona Lisa. The eyes do follow you, though. Oh, yes, everything fell all around the room, you know? And, but look, you know, when we were there, the crowds were so thick, you'd have to sort of press through to even get a glimpse of this little thing. Look, here's something amazing. This is amazing. According to the inspired writer to the Ephesians, we believe it could be Paul, could have been somebody else, but whoever, based on that inspirational work, this is what's happening. I'm supposed to be looking out right now on a whole bunch of masterpieces. I'm looking out right now on spiritual works of art. Those of you in Christ, that's how I'm supposed to see you. Now, you're sitting there thinking, gosh, you know, Graham, I have my moments of brilliance, but, you know, like a work of art, a masterpiece, a beautifully formed vessel, really? Are you kidding me? I don't see myself like that. I got doubts. I got problems. I got issues. I got moments when I feel very far away from God. I know masterpiece. Some of you might be thinking, but you know what? I know. I know masterpiece people. I know what it looks like. I know there's these people who are so strong in their faith. They love God. They're service to him. Their connection to him. It's just so powerful. Yeah, they are masterpieces. I know what that looks like. I'm not one, but I know one when I see one. Let me tell you something. That has nothing to do with how God sees us. His perception of us as a masterpiece has nothing to do with performance or outward appearance. Nothing to do with that. We are His masterpiece purely by decree. He declares us so. That's it. The Bible in Ephesians doesn't say, it says we are God's masterpiece. We are His workmanship. It doesn't say we will be one day. If we can get enough Christians to give a form of consensus that we are master pieces or if we can reach a certain standard of behavior, then we masterpiece. It doesn't say that. It says we are His masterpiece right now. And look, to put this into some kind of context, I want to do a simple comparison, very simple comparison between us as God's masterpiece and the things we look for in masterpieces in the world of art, literature. What are some of the things we look for? Give an example. Like all masterpieces, we have timeless. That's the first thing. When an object of art in whatever form is judged to be a masterpiece, it retains that status forever. I mean, nobody expects the works of Michelangelo, Davinci, Rodin, Rembrandt, these guys to fall out of favor, to suddenly become obsolete. Rembrandt, oh, we're so over him. I mean, no, these things are precious in every generation. In fact, they're actually growing in value with each passing generation. And the Bible makes it clear that those who accept Jesus Christ as Savior automatically become citizens of eternity, we are destined to live forever. We are no longer restricted by the limitations of the here and now, even though those limitations will cause suffering, they will cause pain. Ultimately, they will lead to our death. But even in our death, in our transition to the next life, that's not the end of the road, it's just literally a bend in the road. What does Paul say in Romans 8 verse 18? It's a powerful verse. I love this. Listen to this. He says, "I consider that what we suffer at this present time cannot be compared at all with the glory that is going to be revealed to us." He's talking about eternity. He's our ultimate destination. And so, we are timeless. We are creatures of eternity, just like the masterpieces in the world of art. Secondly, we are priceless. In a materialistic world where the value of so many things is judged by the price tag, so expensive, must be good. It's an awesome thing to view something that is regarded as priceless. As some of you have, if you've viewed some of the great masterpieces, you've seen some things that are regarded as priceless. Or if they do put a value on them, the value is so extraordinarily high that it's impossible to comprehend it. I remember a number of years ago, Bev and I found ourselves in the German city of Mainz, M-A-I-N-Z. I had a German lady in the first service. She was very impressed. We mentioned Mainz. And in the German city of Mainz, there is the Gutenberg Museum. Johannes Gutenberg was the man who invented the printing press. And the first thing to be printed on a printing press was the Holy Bible. It used to take them years to write copies of the Bible, years. And then when the printing press was invented, they could churn out a copy in about three to four weeks, revolutionary. Now, there are some original copies of the Gutenberg Bible still in existence. And this little small museum in Mainz, you go into an inner sanctum in groups of eight to ten. It's all the room can handle. And it's very dark, except for a shaft of bright light on this glass case. And there in the glass case is this Gutenberg Bible. And it's just awe-inspiring because they tell you, the last one was sold in 1987. These things don't come up very often. You won't find these on eBay. 1987. And it sold for just under $6 million, one Bible. They say today that if one were to be sold, there's only a handful around and nobody's selling, it would probably fetch a price of $100 million. Because they do sell pages. They sell individual pages that have been retained for up to $100,000 between 80 and $100,000, depending on which part you buy. I think lamentation is probably 50 grand. You know, like, who wants that? But you know, you get John's gospel. We're talking a hundred G's because that is, that's what's really happening in it. You look at this something, it's a hundred minutes, wow, you just can't get over that. Well, people talk about how cheap life is. And that comment is usually made when we see a sentence that's handed down to somebody who's taken a life. Gosh, you've got five years. Gosh. Four years. Took a life. Gosh. How cheap is life? We said a lot these days, sadly. But God leaves us in no doubt as to the price He's placed on our soul. In the best known verse of the Bible, John 3, 16, God so loved the world He gave His only Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Friends He gave to redeem us. He's put a price on our soul. In that sense, we're His masterpiece. We're priceless. So like the great masterpieces, we're timeless. We're priceless. Something else. We are original. What extraordinary links people have gone to over the centuries to try to prove originality. When something's found, they found a Rembrandt in Oxford a few years ago. They put a price on a hundred billion dollars. It had been hanging in one of the dorms and nobody realized that it was a masterpiece and they went all over it thinking that it was maybe a fake. Think of that and think of also the extraordinary links people have gone to fake masterpieces and they can turn out some pretty good ones. But no matter how clever and ingenious a copy may appear to be, only the original is the masterpiece. Only the original. In our home, every day, I walk past a masterpiece. I'm not talking of Bevy, although he does qualify in my eyes. I'm talking about hanging a print of Pierre Renoir's painting called "Lunction of the Boating Party." It's a beautiful print. It was given to us by some friends when we left Adelaide. No pressure, just putting it out there. He painted it in 1880 and the original is a museum in Washington. We get to admire that copy every day. But I don't boast about, hey, I've actually got a Remoir hanging in my room. I mean thousands of people have got that print hanging in their home. It's nice to look at and remind you of the original. But you've got to go to Washington. You've got to go to Washington to fully appreciate the beauty and the exquisite artistic qualities of this beautiful work, "Lunction of the Boating Party." As God's children, we are all an original. Let's never forget that. In his own literary masterpiece, and it really is a literary masterpiece, Psalm 139. It's up there with the very best of the Psalms. These beautiful words, you know them so well, some of you, look at this, verses 13 to 16. He says, talking to God, "You created every part of me. You put me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because you ought to be held in awe. You'll be feared. All you do is strange and wonderful. I know it with all my heart when my bones were being formed carefully, put together in my mother's womb. When I was growing there in secret, you knew that I was there. You saw me before I was born. The days allotted to me had all been recorded in your book. It's poetry, but it's beautiful. It expresses that intimate knowledge, that individuality that we all have, the intimate knowledge that God has of us as individuals. And of course, our individuality in Christ takes on a whole new dimension when we recognize that we are all different in terms of our giftings. And Paul talks about this in 1st Corinthians 12 and verses 6 and 7. There are different abilities to perform service, but the same God gives ability to all for their particular service. The spirit's presence is shown in some way in each person for the good of all. I love to remind us that that's the purpose of spiritual gifts. It's not for some little personal sort of pride trip on my part. It's not for self-aggrandizement. It's to serve the body. That's why gifts are given. So a significant part of our originality as God's masterpieces lies in the uniqueness of our giftedness, what we can bring to the work and ministry of the Lord through His church. And how exciting is it that increasing numbers of people here at Northside are discovering their originality and their individuality on a weekly basis and bringing their gifts like Allah, these people, and so many others bringing their gifts and their originality. And God is just beautifully welding us into this united body moving forward, serving and ministering. It's very exciting. It's fantastic to see how blessed are we here. Yes, you and I are God's masterpieces if we belong to Christ. And like all masterpieces, we're timeless. This world is not our home. We're heading for much bigger things. We're creatures of eternity. Secondly, we're priceless. God has placed a value on us. He gave His own son. That's the price of our soul incalculable. And thirdly, we are originals. God never treats us en masse. He knows this by name. So many biblical records. He knows the heads of our heads. And you've got the ministry of Jesus. His finest moments were one-on-one. Who touched me? Neither do I condemn you. Let's go to your house and see what's going on. One-on-one. That was the way of Jesus. Never, oh, certainly big crowds, but not en masse when it got to the real business of ministry. Do you want to get well? Do you want to get well? There's one more thing I want to share. And it's particularly directed to those of us who are still struggling with the idea of us being God's masterpiece. And you're sitting there today thinking, "God, Graham, this is so not me. I mean, man, I'm really struggling. I'm no masterpiece. I'm no Rembrandt. I'm a poor copy of the real thing, some of you are thinking." Well, here's the thing. Like all masterpieces, we are repairable. That's it. I try to get the exact dates. Some of you might be able to tell me, that they closed the Sistine Chapel for nine years while they redid the ceiling. And who got caught the only over to Europe only to find it? Anybody? That would have been real bad, I reckon. Thankfully, we were there. Bev and I were there when it was open, and I could tell by the hands, many of you were there as well. And they closed it for nine years to restore and repair the ceiling. It only took Michelangelo four years to do it. So how's that work? Nine years to repair it, only four years to do it. Google it, it's got all the facts and figures, everything you need to know. But they just gently scraped off all the grit and the grime of the centuries. So a lot of people, a lot of people over the years, if you went in the '70s and the '80s and in the '60s, you did not see what you see today. And when you do go there, you know the feeling. It's just, and you cannot believe what you're saying. It's just so magnificent. Nine years of just gently removing the grit and the grime and exposing the beautiful hues and blusters, masterpiece. Now, that's the work of grace in your life and mind. Just removing all the stains and all the dirt and allowing the real colors of our Christ-like nature to come through. That's his work of grace. That's what this passage talks about. By grace, are you say, through faith? It's not yourselves. It's the gift of God. It's his work of beautifully restoring and repairing that which has become dirty. The only thing with God is it doesn't take nine years. A prayer to him for forgiveness, for strength, for guidance, he's responded to instantly. It doesn't take nine years. Now, God, let's be honest. We're all in need of repair all the time. We're all in need of God's restorative work. I know I am. I know you are. And you know, I don't believe any of us, this side of heaven, are meant to hang in some kind of spiritual museum as fantastic masterpieces. I don't care if we're talking Billy Graham, anybody you care to mention, nobody's meant to hang as a perfect specimen of a masterpiece because number one, none of us are that good, none of us. The Bible says no one is righteous, no not one. It would be so pretentious. And it would cut across everything Jesus said about humility. But I can imagine me, you being put on God's fridge, you know, on the family notice board. Wow, masterpiece. Fantastic. Not that great. But why is it a masterpiece? Because it seems through the eyes of the person who has such undying love for the creator of that piece. Now, God, I don't bet you that gives me a lot of encouragement and a lot of strength in my own Christian life. It saves me from beating myself up mercilessly because I'm not the masterpiece, hang on the wall. None of us are going to get there. But if I'm on God's fridge, wow, I'm pretty pleased with that. I want to stay on that fridge. I know I will, and you can. There's one final point in this, and it's in the simple comparison between God's masterpieces, you and me, and the masterpieces we see in the museums. One simple point is this. Masterpieces, when visible, are a source of inspiration and motivation to all. When visible. A masterpiece is still a masterpiece if it's hidden in a cellar somewhere. It was up in an attic somewhere. It's still a masterpiece, but it's not impacting people. It's not touching people. It's not influencing people. Now, you guys are smart people. You know the application of this. I don't even have to spell it out. You know the application. Be visible. You are God's masterpiece. Be visible this week. Inspire people. Uplift people. As God has shown you forgiveness and grace and encouragement, be that source of grace and encouragement and forgiveness to others. Be a light. All the things we know about when it comes to ministry. Be God's masterpiece. Be visible this week. And see the difference that you and he can make together. Let's bow in prayer, shall we?