The art of Living creatively
Psalm 19
Galatians 6:5 (Genesis 1)
With Peter Veysie
George Methodist Church
8am and 10am with Communion
(Ps 19:1-10)
1
The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
3There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.
4Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,
5which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is hidden from its heat.
7The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
8The precepts of the LORD are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
9The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever.
The ordinances of the LORD are sure
and altogether righteous.
10They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the comb.
(Ps 19:11-14)
11By them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
12Who can discern his errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.
13Keep your servant also from willful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then will I be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.
14May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Galatians 6:4-5 Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.
6 Be very sure now, you who have been trained to a self-sufficient maturity, that you enter into a generous common life with those who have trained you, sharing all the good things that you have and experience.
I think that as we begin to think about creativity, all of us have different thoughts and we are not all arty farty and so maybe you would feel like switching off as we begin to explore this critical topic and so I would invite you to really engage and participate today.You may say that you don’t have a creative bone in your body, but I want to remind your that you were created in their likeness – Father,Son and Holy Spirit and so you have all the attributes of creativity in you.
We need to see very clearly the creativity that surrounds us in the most beautiful way. I was at meetings in JHB this last week and I watched the most glorious sunset and just basked in the glory and creativity of the Lord. The red and yellow bishops in the morning. In the fogginess of JHB near the noise of the airport there was this creative oasis for me to enjoy.
In this message “The art of living creatively”, I want to share with you 5 points:
- A chorus of God’s glory and creativity
- The Lord reigns over our creativity
- Retuning to the song of creativity
- Finding creative beauty in ashes.
- Restoring the art of living creatively.
There is so much detail around us and we find it in so many diferent forms and so as we begin the journey I want to start with the first point today :
A chorus of God’s glory – the heavens declare the glory of our God, the skies proclaim the works of His hands . Let me take you back to the book of Genesis where we find the story as narrated by Moses – there is a move from ex-nihilo to 7 powerful creative God moves over a period which is defined as days however you understand this. I have my own personal views on this. Light then water and sky then land sea and plants, Lights and expanse of water and living creatures, land and living creatures, humanity in likeness. OUR OUR OUR – creativity begins in understanding the OUR CREATOR REDEEMER AND SUSTAINER WORKING TOGETHER IN PERFECT HARMONY-NOTHING EXIST WITHOUT THE FATHER NOR WITHOUT THE SON – THE WORD ALL IS SPOKEN INTO BEING AND THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES IT BREATH AND LIFE – HE BREATHES INTO ALL THINGS AND SUSTAINS THEM FOREVER. THIS IS THE POWERFUL CREATIVE PROCESS OF OUR GOD. It’s essential that we understand the power of the Holy Spirit in this creative process – He hovered over the waters !!! What do we see in the chorus of God’s glory and in their creativity and how do we access this not just visually but also spiritually.
A submission – part of the mission to creativity.Creativity is never outside of our connection with the Emmanuel and God in the flesh. It’s so critical in creativity to understand the order of the Lord :
Psalm 19
2Day after day they pour forth speech;Â night after night they display knowledge.*
3There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
4Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,
5which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6It rises at one end of the heavens*and makes its circuit to the other;nothing is hidden from its heat.
Three powerful creative pictures are revealed here – the word in speech,The Logos – Jesus – no speech exists without him, and no creativity, a bridegroom like a greate light – the sun. Nothing is hidden from the champion who runs his course. Powerful imagery for me of the Word becoming flesh and dwelling amongst us. John 1:14. God’s creativity and power and Word extended to the earth.
- Creativity requires a retuning to His grace-
7The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
8The precepts of the LORD are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
9The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever.
The ordinances of the LORD are sure
and altogether righteous.
10They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the comb.
There’s a need for us at the start of 2022 to retune ourselves to the rhythm of his grace. We start again and have to develop the skills to listen to the sound and the melody that is the Lord’s. What do we need to do to get to this place ? Last week I spoke about prayer and the need for us to find our spiritual space of meeting with the Lord. Tune in and listen to what’s going on around you. Law if understood properly revives the soul – it gives us boundaries within which to play. It lightens our load and burden and makes it easier to tune in. Too much clutter and sin derails us !!!! Grace is what creativity is all about and so we need to find a way to listen to this – find forgiveness because without it our creativity will be depleted. - Creativity allows us to find beauty in ashes.
Ps 19: 11By them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
12Who can discern his errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.
13Keep your servant also from willful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then will I be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.
I was sharing with the Ordinands at eMseni about their journey as they start the long haul of ministry. I was ordained 30 years ago in 1991 and so I had a bit to share and I was about to get on a plane to fly back to JHB after our ministerial training meetings. I shared with them the many challenges and frustrations in the ministry, but also to learn to see creatively the beauty even rising out of the ashes.Ater the fires we saw this and now after the floods our garden is so nourished by the mud that came from the mountain.
Their is a creative restorative process in all that God is that brings us back to hope, that lifts us out of the miry clay Psalm 40, that enables us to be built up, to think again and to be creative. It opens our eyes to others and the potential in them and keeps us from falling backwards.
- Restoring the art of creative living – an examination of self. Where do I need to shift and change in 2022 so that the Lord can work through me?
Ps 19:14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight, What do I need to be and to do to be pleasing in your sight – words of my mouth and meditation of my heart. These words are so often prayed before somebody preaches but let’s just look back to the picture that we have received today – the understanding of the OUR,Look for the art that surrounds you and let it inspire you to more creativity. THE SUBMISSION TO THE WORD, A RETURNING TO HIS GRACE AND A RESTORATION OF THE SELF.
O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
WHAT CREATIVE TRANSFORMATION NEEDS TO HAPPEN IN OUR OWN LIVES SO THAT WE LIVE MORE CREATIVELY ALONGSIDE OF OUR CREATOR REDEEMER AND SUSTAINER.
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