When my daughter was little I use to take her for a ride on a mini bike
through the fields. There were a number of wild flowers, and just on impulse
I said to Cindy, "Let's see how many flowers we can find out here." Every
time we saw a different kind of flower she would pick it, and we would go on
with the search. In a matter of minutes we were amazed at the variety, and
within half an hour we had the most beautiful bouquet of 23 different kinds of
wild flowers. Such an experience made a deep impact on both of us. We were
impressed with the fact that God is a lover of beauty, and that there is more
beauty in God's creation than most of us ever see. If you keep your eyes open,
you never know when or where you will experience new beauties. Douglas
Malloch put it in poetry-
Along the journey here and there
You often find a flower,
Just anytime or anywhere,
No special place or hour.
They are not planted in a row;
You never guess, you never know;
Around a bend a fellow goes,
And right ahead he sees a rose.
If a Christian is not feeding his soul on the beauties of life, he will not be
growing in beauty himself, and will be failing to fulfill the purpose of God in
his life. Rousseau said, "Take from our hearts the love of the beautiful and
you take away the charm of life." Beauty plays an important role in the life
of a believer, but it is seldom given serious consideration. Dr. Harry Fosdick
once said, "Nothing in human life, least of all in religion, is ever right until it
is beautiful." Nothing that is truly Christlike is ever ugly. All of the fruits of
the spirit are beautiful.
William Blake went so far as to say, "A Poet, a Painter, a Musician, an
Architect, the man or woman who is not one of these is not a Christian." He
is saying that every true Christian will add some beauty to life, or he is not
being Christian. Marion L. Bliss in her book The Way Of Wonder explains
why this is so. "Because to be a Christian is to be a follower of perfection,
and a man who seeks perfection soon becomes an artist. The true philosopher
is a follower of truth; the true musician is a follower of harmony and law; the
true architect is a follower of order and design and symmetry; the true
painter is a follower of light and beauty; the true poet is a follower of love.
These paths are the paths of perfection, truth, harmony, law, order, design,
light, beauty and love, and all lead to one goal-God."
The Gospel and beauty have always gone hand in hand in their
transforming march across the world scared by sin. Whenever men turn to
Christ their lives and their environment become more beautiful. When John
Wesley rode up and down through the English countryside during the last
half of the 18th century, his soul was touched by the poverty, and ugliness of
the village life. He decided to start a contest. He distributed flower seeds to
all of the housewives, and he offered prizes to those who could raise the most
beautiful gardens. The result is that the English countryside has the
reputation of being the most colorful in the world. Wesley not only changed
the history of Christianity in the English world, but his love of beauty
changed even the physical environment. He would have said amen to the poet
who wrote,
If of thy mortal goods thou are bereft,
And from thy slender store to loaves alone to thee are left,
Sell one, and with the dole
Buy hyacinths to feed thy soul.
Our purpose in this message is to show that the Bible supports this
emphasis on the importance of beauty. It is not a luxury, but a necessity for
the good and godly life. Philosophers have always included beauty among the
highest values of life. Their trinity of values have always been the good, the
true, and the beautiful. We want to consider this subject under three
headings: The fact of beauty; the form of beauty, and the force of beauty.
Let's look first at-
I. THE FACT OF BEAUTY.
Our text tells that God has made everything beautiful in its time. If there
is any man who cannot see that God loves beauty, he is blind indeed. You just
as well try and teach a stone to appreciate Bach as to try and teach such a
person to appreciate the Master Artist of all beauty. Such persons are rare,
however, and Clarence E. Macartney, the great preacher, was convinced that
the love of beauty was so deeply implanted in us by God that this is the reason
why people long to escape from the city into the country. God planted a
garden of unspeakable beauty for man's first environment, and Macartney
says that man has never been able to throw off the influence of that early
environment.
The fact is, God made the first garden and all of its beauty. In the Old
Testament there are 23 different Hebrew words for beautiful, beauty, and
beautify. In the New Testament the word is seldom used, but the emphasis is
still there. Jesus, for example, pointed to the beauty around Him to illustrate
His teachings. "Behold the lilies of the field. Solomon in all his glory was not
arrayed as one of these." Jesus saw greater beauty in a flower than in the
man made beauty of royal garments. Jesus appreciated beautiful clothes, and
He wore a robe of such beautiful handiwork that the soldiers gambled to see
who would become the fortunate possessor of it. For Jesus, however, nothing
could match the garments God gave to the flowers of the fields.
According to Ruskin in his book The Seven Lamps of Architecture, all
man made beauty is an imitation of what God has made in the realm of
natural beauty. This is illustrated by the fact that God's design of the
Tabernacle and Temple, and all that had to do with architecture and worship
was exceedingly beautiful in color, form, and was to have flowers craved
everywhere to ornament the place of worship. Let me share just a few of the
many references.
In I Kings 6:18 the temple that Solomon built is described: "The cedar
within was carved in the form of gourds and open flowers..." v. 29 says, "He
craved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubim
and palm trees and open flowers..." Ex. 25 describes the flowers carved in
the Tabernacle also. The fact is, God demanded everything connected with
the worship of Him to be of the finest beauty.
Psa. 96:6-"Honor and majesty are before Him, strength and beauty are in His
sanctuary."
Ezra 7:27-"Blessed be the Lord, the God of fathers, who put such a thing into
the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the Lord which is in
Jerusalem."
Isa. 60:13-"The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the cypress, the plane,
and the pine, to beautify the place of my sanctuary, and I will make the place
of my feet glorious."
These are just a few of the many verses that make clear the fact of God's love
of beauty. He wants men to create beauty by imitating His own creativity in
nature. Let us next consider-
II. THE FORM OF BEAUTY.
We can only touch on a few of the many issues involved in what beauty
really is. Many Christians have had low standards in what they consider
beautiful. In their rejection of the world's values the Christians of the past
have thrown out some of God's values along with those of the world. This is
easy to do because some things are universally beautiful, and they appeal to
all people whether they be Christians or unbelievers. What a Christian
considers beautiful determines a great deal as to the character and conduct of
his life.
Frank Gaebelein, writing in Christianity Today, says that many
evangelical Christians have, "The snobbery of the banal." That is, a pride in
the second and third rate which expresses contempt for the first rate.
Christians often call certain music, drama, and art, high brow and egghead.
They are devoted to third rate TV programs and music that has nothing to do
with worship. He writes, "Evangelicals turn away from art as a side issue or
frill at the peril of their own impoverishment and at the cost of ineffectiveness
in their witness. For art, which is the expression of truth through beauty,
cannot be brushed aside as a luxury. We who know God through His Son
who is altogether lovely must be concerned that the art we look at, listen to,
read, and use in the worship of the living God has integrity."
He calls for Christians to get their youth involved in, not just hikes,
picnics, games, and parties, but in activities where they learn to appreciate
the beautiful in all realms of life. William Lyon Phelps, the Christian
professor at Yale, said, "The way to appreciate beauty is to keep looking at it;
to appreciate music is to keep listening to it, and to appreciate poetry is to
keep reading it." All of this is but commentary on the words of Paul in Phil.
4:8, which opens up the whole universe of beauty for the Christian. Paul said,
"...whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is
anything worthy of praise, think about these things." The Christian is
obligated to be devoted to the beautiful in every realm of life.
The Bible speaks of many forms of beauty. There are a number of women
referred to as beautiful. The fair form of the female is a form of art in which
most men need no encouragement to gain an interest. The references to men's
attraction to female beauty in the Bible make it clear that beauty is the
foundation for romantic love. In the Song of Songs 6:4 the man says, "Thou
art beautiful O my love," and he goes on to describe her beauty. The
majority of texts on physical beauty deal with women, but they do not have
the monopoly, for David and his son Absolom were also beautiful of form and
handsome. Physical beauty is valuable according to Scripture. Prov. 20:29
says, "The glory of young men is their strength, but the beauty of old men is
their gray hair. There is a form of beauty in old age not processed in youth.
A wife said to her husband, "Will you love me when my hair turns gray?"
He said, "Why not? I've stuck with you through brown, black, blonde, and
red." American women spend several billion dollars a year on beauty aids.
They obviously consider beauty to be of great value. The druggist said to the
customer, "Did that mud pack I sold you help your wife's appearance?" He
answered, "It did for a couple of days, but then it wore off."
External beauty is good, but the Bible makes it clear also that it is not the
finest form of beauty. Mrs. Ted Dienert, the youngest daughter of Billy
Graham, gave a lecture to a women's club on beauty. She said, "True beauty,
I believe, comes from the heart. It is something that can be cultivated. A
beautiful woman is someone who takes a positive attitude. She is an
interesting person to be with." She is saying that the best form of beauty is
that which comes from the inner life, and she gives this quote, "When a
graceful figure is the habitation of a virtuous soul, and when the beauty of the
face speaks out the modesty and humility of the mind, it raises our thoughts
up to the great Creator."
The Apostle Peter would say amen to this, and as a married man himself,
he gives this advice to married women in I Peter 3:3-4. "Let not yours be the
outward adorning with the braiding of hair, decoration of gold, and wearing
of robes, but let it be the hidden person of heart with the imperishable jewel
of a gentle and quite spirit, which in God's sight is very precious." Real and
lasting beauty is spiritual. The church is in the greatest beauty business on
earth, for its message, if obeyed, can beautify any person with ultimate
beauty.
Jesus died that we might be forgiven and cleansed from sin, and restored
to the image of God from whence we fell. This is the greatest beautifying
process in the entire universe. Jesus only used the word beautiful once, and it
was to show that external beauty is superficial. He said to the Scribes and
Pharisees in Matt. 23:27, "You are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly
appear beautiful but within they are full of dead men's bones and all
uncleanness." Depth of beauty in the inner man is what really counts.
The Bible does not oppose external beauty, for its speaks favorably of
beautiful clothes, jewels, settings, and places, but it makes clear that lasting
and godlike beauty is inner beauty. In Psa. 29:2, and in two other places, we
are called upon to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. When this is
done Psa. 149:4 says that God will beautify the meek with salvation. In Psa.
90:17 the prayer of Moses is, "Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon
us." David's longing in Psa. 27:4 is to dwell in the house of the Lord all the
days of his life, and to behold the beauty of the Lord. God is the author of all
beauty, and the highest form of beauty is like His, which is the beauty of the
spirit. Let's look finally at-
III. THE FORCE OF BEAUTY.
Beauty has great power to move men, and that is why Paul urged
Christians to think on the beautiful. "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he."
A man whose focus is on the beautiful will be an optimist. Beethoven
composed his masterpiece the 5th Symphony, called the Victory Symphony,
during the first year of the Peninsular War when Napoleon's shallow loomed
over all of Europe. Napoleon was planning for an all out attack, and
Beethoven might have despaired of creating anything beautiful in such a dark
hour. But he knew beauty would remain when the smoke of war cleared, and
so with his mind focused on beauty he went ahead and finished his symphony.
The ugly war is long forgotten, but the beauty of his music lives on, and it
blesses and inspires people all over the world.
Beauty speaks a powerful language to those who will listen. It is the
language of hope, victory, and optimism. Frederick Brown Harris, the one
time chaplain of the U. S. Senate, said, in hours of greatest sentiment and
significance, when language breaks down, and orchid takes over." You have
heard the add, "Say it with flowers," and philosophers and poets really mean
it. They say the beauty of flowers can communicate what words never can. J.
G. Percival has even written on the Language of Flowers, and in poetry says,
In Eastern lands they talk in flowers,
And tell in a garland their loves and cares;
Each blossom that blooms in their garden bowers,
On its leaves a mystic language bears.
The language of beauty is universal, and so simple that all may
understand. If men would listen to the full implications of the message of
beauty, it would lead them to the author of beauty. Beauty has the force to
move men to God. Hugh Macmillan has recorded the beautiful French story
of flower power. A nobleman was imprisoned in a dreary fortress because of
his part in a plot against Napoleon. During his lonely captivity a little wild
flower grew up between two stones in his prison court. It attracted his
attention, and having nothing else to do, he watched it grow. He was amazed
that he had never taken time before to watch the beauty of nature develop.
That plant became his companion, and he even gave it a name. One day
while he lay ill in his bed the jailer announced that his plant friend had put
forth a flower. He leapt to his feet, and forgetting his illness, was lost in
admiration for its beauty and fragrance. He felt the healing power of beauty,
and his mind turned to God, who alone could be the author of such loveliness.
He had heard the Gospel of God's love, and God's gift of salvation in His Son,
but he had never accepted the Son as his Savior. In the presence of this
beauty, however, he submitted to the Redeemer whose life was symbolized by
the Rose of Sharon, and the Lily of the Valley. Beauty had opened his eyes to
the author of all beauty.
As the flower grew it became to large for its small space, and it was
beginning to whither. He asked the jailer's daughter to take a message to the
Empress Josephine pleading for a stone to be removed to spare the life of his
precious companion. The Empress marveled at his concern for a flower, and
she successfully pleaded for his release. He married the jailer's daughter, and
long after he died his widow wore a costly broach in which were the faded
remains of a prison flower, whose beauty changed their lives so completely.
If any man will honestly look at the facts of beauty, and consider all the
forms of beauty, especially the highest of inner and spiritual beauty, he will
feel the force of beauty leading him into fellowship with the author of beauty.
The beauty of salvation is a gift received by submitting to the Rose of Sharon,
the Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star-that is, to Him whose
every name proclaims Him the author, lover, and sustainer of all beauty-the
Lord Jesus Christ.
May the prayer of each of our lives be, "Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in
me." May our lives be filled with the flower power of the Lily of the Valley.
May our lives be illuminated by the shining power of the Son of
Righteousness, that through us the force of beauty might move others to
experience the beauty of salvation in Christ.
