The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is one of the greatest artistic triumphs in history. From 1508 to 1512 the artist Michelangelo lay on his back, suspended dozens of feet in air, painting the portraits Fall of Man and the Flood. Shortly thereafter Michelangelo's magnificent art started to fade. Within a century of completing his work no one remembered what his original frescos had really looked like. In 1936 painter Biagio Biagetti described everyone's frustration. "We see the colors of the Sistine ceiling as if through a smoked glass."
In 1981 a scaffold was erected to clean the frescoes that adorn the chapel. With a special solution, two men gently washed a small corner of the painting. They invited art experts to examine their work. The result was stunning. No one had imagined that beneath centuries of grime lay such vibrant colors. These were colors of amazing nuance-- azure, green, rose, and lavender.
Their success prompted the restoration of the entire ceiling. The task was completed on December 31, 1989. It had taken twice as long to clean the ceiling as the artist had needed to paint it. But the result was breathtaking. For the first time in nearly five hundred years people viewed this masterpiece the way it was intended to be seen, in all of its color and beauty.
Do you realize that there is a parallel restoration process that rivals the restoration of the Sistine Chapel taking place right here in this church? We are God's great masterpiece. We are his fresco, his Sistine Chapel ceiling. At creation the brushstrokes of his character, the vibrant colors of his unfailing love, all this and more was applied to the canvas of our lives. At creation our entire being perfectly reflected every amazing nuance of God's image, every gradation of his divine nature. But over time that image faded. The dirt and grime of sin tainted our canvas. The once strong and vibrant colors of God's divine nature paled and became unrecognizable
But now in Christ Jesus, God is restoring the perfection of his divine nature in us. He is gently washing away the dirt and grime of sin with the blood of his Son. He created us in a day, but it will take our entire lifetime for him to complete his work of restoration. It is a slow process, but a necessary process. God began with just a tiny corner of our lives, but when he is finished we will again reflect the brushstrokes of his character and the vibrant color of his nature. Philippians 1:6 (NIV) promises us that the God, "who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
God is working within us.
This morning you can be assured that God is working powerfully in your life. This work of restoration doesn't much appeal to a culture of instant gratification. We want instant results. We want overnight transformation. We impatiently want undone the grime and filth that has built up in our lives for years, even decades. But God is patiently and diligently proceeding with his work of restoration. Philippians 2:13 (NIV) says, "...for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."
I recently heard a notable preacher criticize God's work in our lives. This preacher said, "If God withdrew his Holy Spirit (his power) from the Church, we would keep right on doing what we have always done. "This preacher was lamenting that God's power is not evident among his people, the Church. He was saying that nothing miraculous was taking place, nothing supernatural. There was nothing of which we could point and say, "There is the hand of God."
Well I respectfully disagree with him. There is compelling proof of God's power in the Church! God's primary work in our lives is only partly obvious to other people. God works in us to will and to act according to his good purpose. Long before godly actions emerge in our lives, godly intentions are formed. God changes our desires. He transforms our wills. He softens our rebellious hearts. He motivates our spirits. He pricks our consciences. He realigns our thinking. He teaches us to hate sin. He reshapes our priorities, our passions, and our attitudes.
This is anything but an overnight process. This is a lifetime process. This is a process that consumes the energy of God working in our lives. It is far easier for God to work a physical healing than it is to transform a soul. It is far easier for God to tear down and start anew than it is to take sin-ravaged souls and perfect them. There is great power at work within us. Undeniable power. Miraculous power.
For years I looked for evidence of God's existence in all the wrong places. I looked in technical apologetics books for compelling proof that God exists. Never in my wildest imagination would I have realized that the most powerful statement of God's existence was the statement that he was making in my own life. The inner transformation of the will leaves little room for doubt. God is working within us to will and to act according to his good purpose.
God is working around us.
It is tempting for us to think that the work God is doing within us is only for us. The truth is that God is equally working for the people everywhere around us. Philippians 2:14-15 (NIV) continues, "Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe..."
The key purpose for us becoming, "blameless and pure, children of God without fault" is for the sake of our, "crooked and depraved generation." We are to have a positive influence on our culture, an influence that is likened to stars that shine in the darkness and the void of the universe.
It is fascinating to look into the stars at night. The stars are spread out instead of being clumped up. Each star is strategically positioned throughout the sky. By God's design, every inch of the sky has a twinkling star giving it light. No one inch is only darkness all the time.
Likewise, no one inch of our dark, crooked, and depraved world is without light. God has strategically planted us throughout his world for a reason. He has placed some of us in our city's hospitals where there is suffering and despair, and where people constantly face disease and death and need hope. A hospital is often where people seek answers to the big questions of life. He has placed some of us in our city's schools where young, impressionable minds that have been polluted by pop culture gather to learn about life and morality. He has placed some of us in state agencies where we can influence some of the most powerful in our culture to live godly lives and make godly decisions. He has placed some of us in cubicles surrounded by people who have no thought of God, who live only for this life, who are enslaved to their passions, who have failing marriages, failing families, and failing lives, and who need God's touch. He has placed some of us in private businesses, in restaurants, in grocery stores, in construction zones, in agencies, in sports leagues, on mail routes, all for the purpose of saturating the world he loves with his light.
The fresco that was painted by Michelangelo had a definite purpose. It was to be seen. It was to reflect God's truth. It was to brighten a dark ceiling. God has this very same purpose in mind for us.
William Carey, the father of modern missions, first tried to convince fellow Baptists that the great commission required them to go out into all the world to make disciples, to influence people for Christ, and to be "light." To say the least, William Carey met fierce opposition. At one meeting an older pastor interrupted his impassioned pleas saying, "Young man, sit down. When God pleases to convert the heathen he will do it without your aid or mine."
The pastor failed to appreciate the fact that throughout history when God pleases to do anything on earth, he uses people. We are his instruments. We are his beacons of light in a dark world. William Carey ended up traveling to India as a missionary and as a result inspired thousands of other nineteenth century British and American Christians to do the same. Today some of the darkest corners of the world have the light of the gospel because God used one man to shine as a star amidst the darkness.
God is working through us.
And this brings us to Philippians 2:16 (NIV). We shine like stars in the universe as we, "hold out the word of life..." We do not shine as stars by default. We shine to the extent that we hold out the words of life, the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I came across this bizarre story that demonstrates the truthfulness of this verse. Just a few years ago, on April 6, a couple in Virginia named Ricky and Toni Sexton were at home enjoying their day. Toni had just stepped out her front door to take her poodle for a walk when a fugitive couple on a crime spree roared into their driveway. Frantically waving pistols, Dennis Lewis and Angela Tanner yelled at her to get back into the house. A hostage situation immediately developed.
However, inside the house the Sextons turned their hostage experience into an opportunity to demonstrate Christian love. They listened to their captors' troubles. They fed them. They showed them gospel videos. They read scripture to them out of the Bible. They prayed with them. They cried with them. During negotiations with police Ricky Sexton refused his own release when Lewis and Tanner suggested that they might end the standoff by committing suicide. The standoff had an unusual ending. Before surrendering the lady captor left $135 for the couple and a note that read, "Thank you for your hospitality. We really appreciate it. I hope he gets better. With all luck and love. Please accept this. It really is all we have to leave. Love, Angela and Dennis."
In a very dark moment the Sextons held out the word of life. They shared Christ. God worked through them to transform the moment and two lives. God's purpose for us is that we would hold out the word of life at every chance. I was standing in an elevator at the hospital when a man stepped into the elevator. He kept making eye contact with me so I made simple conversation. The next thing I knew he gave me a simple outline of the gospel and invited me to consider it if I desired.
There are a lot of ways to hold out the word of life to people. We have to do more than just live our faith. We have to tell people about our faith. You can hang Bible verses in your cubicle at work. You can program them into your screen saver for all to see. You can post them in the breakroom. You can flip the dial to Christian radio on the job site. You can loan people Christian books, videos, or tapes that you have benefited from. You can hand out simple gospel tracts.
I had a prisoner write me lately asking me to send him gospel tracts that he could hand out to prisoners in the prison yard. You can casually allude to the work God is doing in your life as you talk over the fence with neighbors, gather at family reunions, or meet with friends for lunch. You can buy some extra Bibles and slip them to people whenever you get a chance. I slipped a Bible to a police officer a few years ago who was going through some very difficult times. He thanked me, came to church a few times, and let me off on a speeding ticket. It was a good connect.
When we pull away from this passage, a nice progression of thought emerges. First, God is working within us to will and to act according to his good purpose. Second, God is working around us in a crooked and depraved generation as we shine like stars in the universe. Third, God is working through us as we hold out the word of life.
God commands us to continue working so that our labor is not in vain.
The climax, the end result of all this is best expressed by Paul in Philippians 2:16 (NIV). He tells them that God is working within them, around them, and through them. And then Paul commands them to continue in that work, "in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing." Paul envisioned a day when he would be standing before the throne room of God giving an accounting of the lives he touched. His hope was that he would be able to present his friends at Philippi as the fruit of his labor.
In Philippians 2:17-18 (NIV) he adds, "But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me." Just as Christ poured himself out in service to mankind by willingly suffering on the cross, so Paul expressed his willingness to pour himself out in service to the Philippians. Paul was even willing to suffer for them with gladness and joy.
This morning I will conclude by simply asking you, "What price are you willing to pay in order to influence your generation toward Christ? Are you willing to invest the time needed to understand the word of truth? Are you willing to suffer any social discomfort to bring up the Christ? Are you willing to persevere and shine in the dark place that God has strategically placed you to serve?"
Lurking over this entire section of scripture is the Christ hymn in Philippians 2:5-11. Christ was willing to leave the heavens and glory to influence this world. Christ was willing to take on the experience of human suffering. Christ was willing to take on the role of a humble servant. Christ was willing to become obedient unto death, even death on a cross. No cost was too great. No barrier was too high. Christ poured himself out. Paul willingly poured himself out. Are we willing to pour ourselves out?
God is working within us for a reason. God is working around us in other people's lives. God is working through us to influence them toward his kingdom. May God work within us to will and to act and to become part of the great working he is doing in our world.