The Beauty of Ugliness
Gal. 6:14
(Lord’s Supper Meditation)
The Story is told of a little girl in the younger grades of school. This particular day the children were all given notices to bring to their parents of a show and tell time at school when parents could come to the school to talk about their jobs.
This one little girl did not bring a notice home to her mother. Later that evening, her mother was talking with another mother and was told of the event. She asked her daughter about the time. After a moment of hesitation, the little girl said I didn’t tell you about it because you don’t look like the other moms, and I was afraid for you to come to the school.
Her mom said, Do you know why my face and hands, and arms do not look like the other Mom’s? The girl did not know. Her mom went on to say “When you were a little baby the house we lived in caught fire. I went to your room and wrapped you in blankets to protect you, but had to run through the fire with you to save your life. That is why I look the way I do.”
The little girl wept, and said: I’m sorry Mom, I love you. I never knew.
The next day, the little girl went to school with her Mom, and was insistent on being the first to speak. She never even let her Mom have the chance to speak. With excitement she said, I want you to meet the most beautiful Mom in the world. With that she told her teacher and her class about the fire, and of what her Mom had done for her.
This morning, we again come to the table of the Lord. If we honestly look at the cross we see blood, gore, suffering, pain, and some of the very worst and ugliest scenes we could ever imagine.
There is absolutely nothing that is beautiful about the cross or that form of execution. It is one of the most horrific and hideous scenes we can imagine. To see Jesus our Lord, and God dying on that cross is not beautiful, but ugly, and something which should bring great shame to the entire human race.
Yet in all of the ugliness of the cross, we see something very beautiful. We come face to face with the Love of God. It is only in the ugliness of the cross that we can see the extent and power of the love of God for us.
As in the account of that woman and her daughter, it was the extreme ugliness of the event that revealed the greatness of the love that has been given.
The Apostle Paul said: “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Gal. 6:14 NIV). The cross in all of its ugliness lets us rejoice and boast in the love of God.
That little girl was initially ashamed of her mother, but appreciated when she came to know. As we partake of the bread and grape juice this morning, take a good look at the ugliness of the cross. It is only in this ugliness we see the beauty of the Love of God.
