Beautiful.

If you had the ability to pray one prayer with 100% certainty that you knew God would answer "Yes" to, what would it be? For Jacob it was to be blessed, for Solomon it was to have wisdom, for the thief on the cross it was for Jesus to remember him. Often our prayers are focused on the maintenance of our comfort, convenience and well-being.

David's answer to this question is found in Psalm 27:4, "One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple." I confess this is probably not what I would have said in response to this question. My request would have most likely been a selfish one. David's one request is to dwell in the presence of God and gaze upon His beauty!

This was the kick-off question in a sermon podcast I listened to the other day driving home. This sermon is entitled "Beauty." It is one part in a series about the characteristics of God. Beauty isn't one of the obvious things we think about God. We think of God's love, mercy, wrath, faithfulness, and sovereignty, but how often do we marvel at God's beauty? Not just the beauty of His creation and the beauty reflected in His other characteristics, but His pure, absolute beauty.

Beauty can be deceptive. Just think of Eve and the apple. Beauty is subjective. The speaker of this sermon talked about how she believes in absolute truth, so is there absolute beauty? If beauty can be deceptive, subjective, and sometimes meaningless, how can we approach it when it comes to God? God is absolute beauty. God's beauty is meant to be enjoyed and delighted in. God is innately generous; we see this in Creation. God's beauty is not subject to our filters. Like his wrath, his jealousy, we can't put Him on trial and decide. His beauty stands on its own regardless of our perceptions of it.

God makes beautiful things. But it's more than just the aesthetics. Here is a piece of contemporary modern art. Modern art is more than what you see. We have to fill in the spaces.

First looking at this piece of art I think that anyone could make that, but there is a story behind it that gives it beauty and meaning. This piece of art is called "Synecdoche" which means things fitting together. It doesn't seem that interesting, but when you find out that each one of those tiles represents the skin tones of people the artist has encountered, it takes on a whole new meaning. It causes us to marvel at the beauty of diversity and our individual uniqueness. It's 422 portraits of people and says far more about each individual than an ordinary portrait ever could. In order to see the beauty of God we have to see beyond the surface. When you see a piece of art like this you have to go beyond the surface.

God takes the mess and works it into something beautiful. That's the Bible's story. That's our story. God writes a story of hope and redemption in the midst of the mess. Hope is beautiful. Redemption is beautiful. God is faithful to his story and to His people. Goodness emerges from the mess we make only because God is beauty.

It's important to recognize we do not own God's beauty. We cannot draw boundaries on what is beauty for everyone else. We don't define God's beauty, we are simply called to reflect it. Because we were created in God's image, we were created to create! Now sadly I'm no artist, but I have come to recognize there are many ways for the unartistic people like me to still reflect God's beauty, and The Word tells us how. Love, compassion, gentleness, humility, selflessness, joy, patience, etc. When we allow the character of Christ to be formed in us we reflect God's beauty.

When did we twist beauty? And more importantly, why? Beauty was created to glorify God, but like almost everything else I think that at some point we got it wrong. What does God find beautiful? Feet that bring the Good News. Breaking our alabaster box with reckless abandon like the woman who did this for Jesus.

Seek and find God's beauty in the mess. Trust that God makes all things new and beautiful. My favorite verse is Ecclesiastes 3:11, "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." You are beautiful, and the plan God has for you is a beautiful one, even if zoomed in it appears a mess. Look around you...pure splendor from a generous, beautiful God. God's beauty isn't from what He has done or what He has made, but it is who He is.

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