“Come Out … Come Out!”

What do we see when we look in the mirror? Do we like what we see? Do we see someone who is burnt out, lost, weak, old, rejected, waiting, grieving? Do we see our failures and shortcomings, the missed opportunities, the regrets, the failed relationships, the struggles of life? And do we think, “God can never use me?”

Let’s spin that around and ask ourselves instead, “What does God, our Creator, see when He looks at me?” Let me answer that this way.

In 1464, Florence Cathedral commissioned a statue. The project was awarded to Agostino di Duccio, but he gave up when he found the 17ft long block of marble too narrow and full of imperfections. Ten years later, Antonio Rosselino took on the commission, but he too rejected the marble as unsuitable. The marble block then sat in a courtyard for twenty-five years until, in 1501, a young artist took it on. This artist, ignoring the blemishes and imperfections in the block, said he could see an “angel” and wanted to “set it free.”

The story goes that the artist had the stone transported to his workshop where he laboured tirelessly, day and night, with obsessive dedication. His neighbours thought he had gone mad because, from time to time, he was heard shouting at the rock, “Come out, come out.” Three years later, the artist we know as Michaelangelo completed the work, revealing a sculpture so iconic it is arguably the most recognisable work of art in the world, ‘The Statue of David.’  David, the lowly shepherd boy who slayed the giant Goliath. Where others had seen imperfections and blemishes, Michaelangelo saw something beautiful. And he worked tirelessly to set it free.

So, what changed? Well, one of the world’s greatest artists got hold of the troubled block of marble, grabbed His mallet and chisel and turned it into a masterpiece. And here’s the point. The way the oversized, unwanted block went from ‘mess’ to ‘masterpiece’ had nothing to do with the marble itself. Michaelangelo could have created a David just as beautiful from any block of marble. But could any artist have carved David? I don’t think so. For David to be ‘set free,’ it needed Michaelangelo.

And so, again, I ask, “What does God see when He looks at us?” Well, I'm convinced that no matter how many times the faults and failings of my past continue to outwork in my life today, whatever my imperfections, whenever God looks at me, He sees the potential He created when He fashioned and formed me in my mother's womb (Psalm 139:13). He still sees me as His ‘masterpiece’ and longs to set me free.

God is the supreme artist with a vision for us all. So, we need Him, just as David needed Michaelangelo. Only God’s mallet and chisel can do the work. God doesn’t create rubbish. He’s in the business of sculpting Davids. And just as Michelangelo called out a masterpiece from an ordinary-looking block of marble, so God is calling each one of us out today. He is saying, “In Jesus’ name, come out, come out!”