Dear St. Paul’s Family,
One of my favorite finds this summer came during our recent trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota. After taking in the breathtaking spectacle of Mt. Rushmore, the girls and I went in to one of the gift shops, where I found a picture of the mountain before it was sculpted into the famous faces we see today.
A postcard of pre-monument Rushmore now sits in my office, my favorite souvenir from that trip. Every time I look at it, I am reminded of the ongoing work of God’s sanctifying grace in our lives, which patiently, diligently carves away at the hardened facades that conceal the image of God that lies deep within us. Just like famous sculptor Gutzon Borglum’s work on Rushmore took fourteen years to complete and extended even past his death, the process of becoming more like Christ takes time, work, and patience.
When I was a senior in my private Christian high school, each of my classmates were asked to select a “life verse” that would be read as we walked across the stage when we received our diplomas. I chose this one, from Philippians:
For I am confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)
There would have been no way to imagine back in 1990 when I selected that verse how much my life would have changed in the ensuing twenty-two years. Ups and downs, twists and turns, highs and lows, triumphs and tragedies. The range of events is not uncommon to most of us, as I’m sure you’ve had your own fair share of transformative moments in your life, both positive and negative.
In retrospect, you and I can see that at every turn, God has been at work, chipping away at our hardened hearts and rough-edged personalities, teaching us – sometimes painfully – about being utterly dependent on God and clear in our commitment to God’s ways. Just like Borglum’s crew used both explosives and nail files to carve into the granite, our lives are filled with monumental moments, both great and small, that change our lives forever.
But pondering the Philippians passage, and looking at that 1905 picture of Rushmore can give us hope. They comfort us with the certain reminder that God is not finished with us yet.
The great sculptor Michelangelo once wrote a letter to his friend Benedetto Varchi, an Italian historian and poet. In that letter he described his process of sculpting his great works: “I saw an angel in the marble,” he wrote, “and I worked to set it free ... Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.”
That’s the way the sanctifying grace of God works. As my clergy colleague and friend Jim Harnish likes to say, God’s grace loves us enough to meet us where we are, and loves us too much to leave us there. Behind the cleverly constructed facades we use to mask our fears and conceal our weaknesses, God sees an imago dei, God’s very own image, waiting to be set free. The process of releasing that image takes time, and is with no small share of difficulty. But over time, we can see the face of God, shining through us for all to see.
Regardless of what twists and turns life has thrown at you, no matter how painful or traumatic, know that you are never outside the loving hand of a God who sees you for more than your past. God envisions a future for you, more content and more blessed than what you can imagine. It may take work, as you and God strip away surfaces long calcified by sin, resentment, and regret. But believe this: the God who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
Here’s the most interesting fact I learned about Mt. Rushmore. It’s still not finished. And it won’t be completed in our lifetimes. Not in a thousand lifetimes. But it’s getting closer to being finished every year. It’s just the way Gutzom Borglum planned it when he began work on the sculptures:
I am allowing an extra three inches on all the features of the various Presidents in order to provide stone for the wear and tear of the elements, which cuts the granite down one inch every hundred thousand years. Three inches would require three-hundred thousand years to bring the work down to the point what I would like to finish it. In other words, the work will not be done for another three hundred thousand years, as it should be.
We are all works in progress. The winds of change and difficulties of life may weather us, but life is an ongoing process of conforming to the likeness of Jesus Christ. And even when things are at their toughest, we can trust in God, the author and perfecter of our faith, the sculptor of our souls, who will be faithful to complete that good work in us.
So be encouraged, dear friends, and trust in God.
Magrey
The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA 51012
Ph: 712-225-3955
Email: mdevega@sp-umc.org
NEW SERMON SERIES
Join us this Sunday as we start a new series called “A New Look at Old Favorites.” We’ll explore fresh interpretations of some of the best known scripture passages, including Psalm 23, the Golden Rule, and Genesis 1:1. We’ll kick off the series with John 3:16.
FALL WORSHIP SCHEDULE
As a reminder, we will begin our fall worship schedule this Sunday, with worship beginning at 10:10.
SANCTUARY RETURN DATE
We will be returning to our Sanctuary on September 30! We anticipate that the pews will be reinstalled the week of September 17, the last major piece in recovering the use of our sanctuary from the fire last Spring. In addition, all of our Sunday school classes will resume on that date.
CHURCH CAMPUS CLEAN-UP DAY
We can use as many volunteers as possible on Saturday morning, September 22, to help do some final cleaning in the church buildings to prepare for our return to the sanctuary on September 30. From 9am-12:00pm, we’ll need folks to do a variety of projects on the campus. If you are interested in helping, please respond to this email or contact the church office.
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