Beauty From Ashes

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

because the Lord has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor;

he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,

and the day of vengeance of our God;

to comfort all who mourn;

to grant to those who mourn in Zion—

to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;

that they may be called oaks of righteousness,

the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

They shall build up the ancient ruins;

they shall raise up the former devastations;

they shall repair the ruined cities,

the devastations of many generations."

- Isaiah 61:1-4 (ESV)

The Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of paradox. We are called to die to ourselves in order to find our lives. We are called to give all that we have in order to be wealthy. We are called to humble ourselves in order to be great in the Kingdom. One paradoxical phrase that I have been fond of for many years is found in the Isaiah passage above; “beauty from ashes.” When things burn to the ground and all life has been torched away by fire and destruction, the Bible says that God brings about beauty.  Though none of this seems to make any sense, it is the way in which God wanted to establish His Kingdom. Let’s take a moment to look at the cross to help this truth come into clearer focus.

When we look at crosses today, we see a symbol of faith. Many wear crosses made of precious metals around their necks as a sign of great affection and reverence. But that hasn’t always been the case.

Two-thousand years ago, the cross was viewed as a symbol of torture, humiliation, and death. It stood as a warning to enemies of Rome. Any whom Rome found guilty would be nailed to a cross to die over a period of hours or even days. They’d be raised high for all to see; naked, writhing, and helpless. To hold such a symbol with high regard would have seemed ludicrous and offensive. 

Yet, here we are today. The cross no longer exemplifies death, but it represents new life. The cross is a sign of grace, dignity, hope, acceptance, and redemption…the exact opposite of what it stood for two-thousand years ago! This is God bringing beautify from ashes. If God can bring the most vile of death sentences that evoked  fear in the hearts of man and turn it into a message that evokes great hope and peace; imagine what He will continue to do with any one of the circumstances we are enduring now. We serve a God who is faithful to make beauty out of our ashes.

With this in mind, let’s worship with our whole hearts this weekend. There is a lot going on in the world right now and though we may not be able to understand everything, we can trust that God is good and that in time, He will bring beauty from ashes. To remind us that God is in the business of redemption, we are going to sing Hosanna, which means, “God save, we pray!” We will then sing How He Loves to acknowledge that His love can overshadow the darkest of circumstances. Finally, we will sing The Stand to proclaim our desire to imitate Christ with our lives.