The Unsung Heroes (2)
Bezalel and Oholiab.
Not the easiest names to get your tongue around,
Not the most well-known Bible heroes.
They killed no giants.
They defeated no warring armies.
They are not listed in Hebrews 11 with the heroes of faith,
But tucked away in the Exodus narrative,
These men inspire me.
They were creatives filled with the Spirit,
Whose metalwork and gemmology were used by God.
Bezalel possessed wisdom, understanding and knowledge,
And “all kinds of skills.”
His artistic designs and craftwork enhanced the Tabernacle,
Turning it from functionality to a place of beauty,
Drawing from us worship by his artistry.
Art for God’s sake.
Whenever I am lured by the voice of pragmatism
Into the lie that functionality has to be cold and impersonal, Formica-style,
I lean on Bezalel and Oholiab,
And on the tribe of craftsmen,
Who through the ages combine function and form
With dazzling beauty and distinctive, individual style.
Creativity lifts my soul to wonder.
The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
The intricacy of the water lilies,
The glistening story of creation retold in stained glass…
But also the delicate hardanger, the versatile crocheting giving bags, blankets and clothes,
The beautiful stitching and embroidery turning functional clothing to works of art,
The precision of the flowers painted onto my skin,
The soft feel of felt hair accessories,
The swift iron-strokes of encaustic art,
The grace of the delicately-arranged flowers,
The rich melodies of music.
I name my Bezalels.
You’ll all know Michelangelo and Monet,
But Ros Grimshaw?
Pat Harris?
Ruth Coombs? Anne Graham?
Angie Wapples? Vanessa Denton?
Julia Harris?
Samantha Wallis?
Sarah Chappell?
Brian Nelson?
Pat and Andy Moore? Gareth Taylor? Chris McShane?
Are these names on your wall of heroes?
For they’re surely in my hall of fame.
Enriching.
Adorning.
Beautifying.
Combining function with soul-enriching, jumping-for-joy, breath-taking artistry and skill.
I salute you.
The Unsung Heroes
When I get a new CD, the first thing I do is to turn to the lyrics booklet and read the artist’s thanks. When I get a book, the first thing I do is read the ‘acknowledgments’. I want to know who’s behind the person, who’s the team that supports, encourages and keeps them going, because I know that the finished product – the music, the novel – is actually the end result of a lot of hard work, not just inspiration. As Thomas Edison is reputed to have said, ‘genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration’, and I’m always curious about the ‘team’ as well as about the individual artist.
Teamwork is essential to life. One person simply doesn’t have the time, talent or ability to do everything, no matter how gifted or inspirational they are. God acknowledges this freely, calling His church a body made up of individual parts, each with their function, responsibility and gift. (Rom 12:3-12; 1 Cor 12:12-31)
There are many famous people in this world, but behind each famous person is a team of unsung heroes, people who work hard to help, organise and encourage the person. The gift of encouragement and practical support is not to be dismissed lightly because it’s a background thing. It’s the everyday fuel in the soul of anyone who strives to make a difference in the world.
This weekend is the Dearne Community Arts’ Festival and as one of the organisers of this event, I’m very aware of the unsung heroes who make the festival happen. I might be the one in the foreground, promoting and organising the event, but without this backroom team of volunteers and helpers, the festival simply wouldn’t happen. We will salute many creatives this weekend whose skills and gifts leave me in speechless awe, but behind each creative there are people who encourage, support and help in a host of practical ways.
A lot of people don’t like the lists of names in the Bible, finding them boring. Giles Coren wrote a scathing article in the Times recently about the tedious list of ‘thanks’ that are given by celebrities. I vehemently disagree with both these views. Acknowledging people’s contributions is crucial to humility, thankfulness and spiritual growth. I’m so grateful for the many people who believed an arts’ festival could make a positive contribution to Goldthorpe and our area, who work hard to make that vision a reality and who perform the art of encouragement with as much skill as any artist or musician.
What Are You Sowing?
It’s a fact of life in the natural world that we reap what we sow. If we plant apple trees, apple trees will grow – they won’t magically morph into banana trees. This is so obvious we take it for granted, and in the same way in the spiritual world, we reap what we sow. ‘Those who sow to please their sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; those who sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.’ (Gal 6:7-8) As the meerkats say, ‘Simples!’
It really matters what we sow. If we sow kindness and compassion, mercy and grace, love and forgiveness, those are the things we will reap. If we sow envy and jealousy, anger and impatience, hatred and resentment, we will reap those things later in life.
If we want to grow spiritually, we must contantly learn to sow to the spiritual life – and learn patience and perseverance as we wait for those crops to grow (Gal 6:9-10). Crops don’t grow overnight, and spiritual fruit takes time to grow and develop. We need not only to be sowing the right things but need also to keep the long view in all things. Hos 10:12 says ‘Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unploughed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you.‘ What are you sowing?
Re-Arranged Priorities
At Beersheba, Isaac’s priorities are changed. His encounter with God (Gen 26:24-25) has a lasting impact on him, as he responds by building an altar there and calling on God’s name. Previously, he has stayed wherever he dug a well, found sufficient water and was not opposed. Now, he meets with God first and foremost, worships Him and then pitches his tent and digs a well. Isaac’s priorities have been rearranged; he’s learning to do what Jesus told us all to do: ‘Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.’ (Matt 6:33)
Having spiritual priorities is essential if we want to know God’s living water. We can only be filled as we hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness (Matt 5:6). If we have no appetite for God, we will not feast on Him. Ps 36:8 tells us, ‘they feast on the abundance of Your house; You give them drink from Your river of delights.’ God has so much to pour out on His people, but He will not do this unless and until we ask Him. We may not be entering into all that God has for us because we’re waiting for Him to bless us or because we feel we’ve got to get our lives sorted out first. God says it’s the other way around; we have to come first and then receive. In the book of Haggai, God’s people are challenged because they are so busy working on their own houses that they’re neglecting to build God’s house. (Haggai 1:1-11) God said, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’” Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your panelled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” (Haggai 1:2-4) Sometimes when God speaks to us, He challenges us to put Him first, to trust Him with our ordinary lives and to let Him deal with all the practical concerns we have. He is well able to provide for us all that we need: Paul reminded the Philippians, ‘my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.’ (Phil 4:19)
When we put God first in our lives, we will find our needs met and God sorting out the problems we couldn’t control (as evidenced by the treaty Isaac made with Abimelek at the end of the chapter.) Re-arranged priorities means handing the reins of our lives over to God.
Opposition & Envy
Isaac discovered that opposition and envy were obstacles to his growth, and even the wells his servants dug which had fresh water did not lead to a trouble-free life: Esek and Sitnah were wells which simply brought fresh disputes with them. (Esek means ‘dispute’ and Sitnah means ‘opposition’.) (Gen 26:17-22) Because of this, however, he moved on to pastures new, and ended up at Beersheba, a place of great spiritual significance for Abraham and a place where God revealed Himself afresh to Isaac.
Somewhat to our surprise, we discover that opposition and even persecution can be God’s way of leading us on. The disciples would probably never have left Jerusalem if it hadn’t been for the persecution which scattered them far and wide. They had heard Jesus say that they were to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). They had heard the Great Commission to go into all the world and make disciples of all the nations. (Matt 28:18-20) But it was not until the death of Stephen and they were scattered through persecution throughout Judea and Samaria (Acts 8:1) that Christianity became more than a local dispute and actually became a missionary movement. We need to understand that God is leading us, even when it doesn’t feel like it. God is with us, even if we’re facing persecution and opposition. Even when things aren’t going our way and we may feel like God is a million miles away, He is still there, leading us on. Moses declared, ‘In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.’ (Ex 15:13) We too can know that God is guiding us, even if we are having to face disputes and opposition which would seek to wear us down and leave us discouraged. God will never leave us or forsake us, even if life is tough.
We often believe that if there were no opposition in our lives and we could navigate still waters all the time, we would be happier and more successful. I’m not convinced this is the truth. God uses trials and problems to shape us and refine us. What we need to remember is He is always with us, no matter what.
Blocked-Up Wells
In our series ‘The Wells of Salvation’ we looked at four wells Isaac encountered in Genesis 26:12-33. These were Esek, Sitnah, Rehoboth and Beersheba, and each one can teach us something useful for our own spiritual pilgrimage.
Isaac is seen here flourishing under God’s blessing and encountering envy and opposition as a result. The Philistines were so envious they stopped up many of the wells Abraham had dug. We too can often feel as though the spiritual life and springs of living water Jesus offers us are blocked up, especially when life hits us hard (e.g. by bereavement, betrayal or busyness.)
Bereavement very easily derails us. When we lose a person we love or we lose something precious to us – a job, a relationship, a friendship, a career, a hobby, the ability to do something we could once do with ease – something dies within us too and it can feel like there has been a blockage, something preventing us from getting to the water of life. There is hope in God, but often this loss makes us re-evaluate priorities and we need God to help us through this testing time.
Betrayal leaves us with shattered trust and we often blame God, feeling as though He could (or should) have prevented this. We tend to hide away and isolate ourselves, but have to learn to keep on loving and forgiving. Isaac clearly was hurt by Abimelek’s request for him to move on and found it hard when Abimelek returned to make a treaty with him, but ultimately he was able to let go of the hurt and move forward. God wants us to let go of bitterness and resentment and not seek revenge (see Rom 12:17-21). Forgiveness frees us to access the living water again!
Busyness does not seem as much of a problem as bereavement or betrayal, but actually steals us away from the time we need to spend with God to maintain our spiritual life. Without that access to living water, we quickly become dried up and have no resources with which we can swim against the tide. So often, being busy makes us feel useful and important, but it can easily be a hindrance to our spiritual growth.
