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| Trashformation Art by Rolf Homquist / Photography by Michelle Williams for Rolf Holmquist Website - Burnsville, NC - Taking reclaimed tobacco barnwood and found objects - usually discarded "trash"- to build works of beauty - the touch of the master's hand. |
HE IS RISEN! "We serve a risen Savior. He's in the world today!"
Because the LORD is in our Midst: (Deuteronomy 23 and 24) The "hard" laws continue - 613 of them in addition to the 10 commandments. The overriding purpose of these laws was for men to be holy in order to fellowship with Holy God. These were the tutor / the schoolmaster to show us our sin, our inability to live up to each and every letter of the law, our need for the Mediator to justify us by faith rather than by the law. (Gal 3:24) These regulations were so comprehensive and inclusive in all areas of life that one even dealt with the removal of bodily waste. The reason: "For the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp...to deliver you...; therefore your camp shall be holy, that He may see no unclean thing among you, and turn away from you."
Remember / Carefully Heed / Do / Teach (Deuteronomy 24, Psalm 39 and Proverbs 13) - Have you noticed how often this command is given in both the OT and the NT? A cursory counting of the word in this short chapter alone yielded 3 commands to "remember." "Remember what the LORD your God did"....and twice to "remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you from there." Remember who we were, where we were. Then the other consistent commands to carefully heed, do, and teach what we have learned in Scripture. Psalm 39: "I will guard my ways...will restrain my mouth before the wicked.: LORD, make me to know (teach me) my end, the measure of my days." Prov. 13: "A wise son heeds his father's instruction (teach)...he who guards his mouth preserves his life."
The Touch of the Master's Hand - There is a well-loved poem that I once presented in a district-wide declamation competition with this title. My teacher had warned me it went beyond the allotted time limit, and if I didn't make her suggested cuts I would be disqualified. I didn't, and was, but even at that young age I thought the message was too important. Even then I had the heart of a lay evangelist and regret that my life did not give more honor to that calling. I was also preaching to the choir in that year and place long ago. But this IS the transforming message of this Holy Week: Knowing Jesus changes our lives now and for eternity.
My Lesson/Application: When we are caught in the middle day between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday - when the tragedy has occurred, all dreams, promises and hope are gone, and Resurrection Day seems to never come - it is only the touch of Jesus, His opening our eyes as He reveals Scripture to us, His walking with us and talking with us - that is our only hope, our only restoration. I think many of the people touched by Jesus felt this way - the desperate parents pleading with Him to touch or restore life to their children, to give healing to their own wrecked bodies and lives, to grant freedom from the bondage of demons. They felt this, they knew this, and He honored their faith - not always as they expected. The healed blind man was kicked out of the synagogue - outcast by His culture. The disciples would all face horrible deaths as a result of this faith or left deserted on a lone island. Their rewards would be later. But His touch, His coming into their lives had changed them forever. Jesus said: "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." We, as believers, have been given a new garment (ref to Rev 3:4)...the garment of salvation...pure and clean. We now are under no condemnation - not of the law, not of our sins. (Rom 8:1). We have partaken of the bread and cup of the New Covenant, the broken body and the sacrificial, atoning blood of our Lord and Savior. (Matt 26:28 and Luke 22:20) We are new creations in Jesus Christ. The old is gone. The new has come! (2 Cor. 5:17) Because He lives, we can face tomorrow...and eternity.
The Touch of the Masters Hand
Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer
thought it
scarcely worth his while to waste much time on the old violin,
but held it up
with a smile; "What am I bidden, good folks," he cried,
"Who'll
start the bidding for me?" "A dollar, a dollar"; then two!"
"Only
two? Two dollars, and who'll make it three? Three dollars, once;
three
dollars twice; going for three.."
But no, from the room, far back, a
gray-haired
man came forward and picked up the bow; Then, wiping the dust
from the old
violin, and tightening the loose strings, he played a melody pure and sweet as
caroling angel sings.
The music ceased, and the auctioneer, with a voice that
was quiet and low,
said; "What am I bid for the old violin?" And he
held it up with the bow.
A thousand dollars, and who'll make it two? Two
thousand! And who'll make
it three? Three thousand, once, three thousand,
twice, and going and
gone," said he. The people cheered, but some of them
cried, "We do not
quite understand what changed its worth." Swift
came the reply: "The touch
of a master's hand."
And many a man with
life out of tune, and battered and scarred with sin,
is auctioned cheap to the
thoughtless crowd, much like the old violin. A
"mess of pottage," a
glass of wine; a game - and he travels on. "He is
going" once, and
"going twice, he's going and almost gone." But the Master
comes, and
the foolish crowd never can quite understand the worth of a soul
and the change
that's wrought by the touch of the Master's hand.
Myra 'Brooks' Welch
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