home > Pastor’s Desk > 2024 > October 4th > What Does is Mean To Honour Someone’s Life’s Work?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HONOUR SOMEONE’S LIFE’S WORK?

This is the question that’s been on my mind since I stepped into the role of Senior Pastor here at Legana Christian Church. I think we all know what it looks like to deface someone’s life’s work! Back in 2022, there were 38 “Art Attacks” staged by groups like Extinction Rebellion. They went into museums and threw food, paint, and sometimes even glued themselves to significant works of art. In the midst of it all, I’ll be honest, I wasn’t thinking about how I should save the world. Rather, I couldn’t help but think: What had the artist done to deserve such disrespect? What did vandalising art have to do with fossil fuels, cutting down rainforests or large-scale mining? Maybe I missed the point, but this seemed more like childish, attention-grabbing tantrums than meaningful protests.

The strangest thing was that these “activists” didn’t seem to understand that their actions said more about them personally than about their cause. Sure, trying to destroy an irreplaceable, beloved piece of history may have caused a scene—but then what? You’re standing there, glued to a masterpiece realising quickly that you’ve convinced no one of your argument and everyone’s just a bit more angrier than they were before – and not about climate change, they’re just angry at you.

As it turns out, I wasn’t the only one who thought they had missed the mark. A quick Google search will show article after article dismissing the protests as irrelevant. I think it’s because when we create art, we leave something of ourselves in it—something personal, unique, a reflection of who we are for anyone who looks deeper than the surface. So when we deface art it’s like we’re attacking the artist themselves.

And so that question resounds again – What does it mean to honour someone’s life’s work?

In the three weeks of hand-over, in the depths of one of my many long conversations with Dr Andrew Corbett, who was the previous pastor of the church, I asked him what he would do when I accidentally stepped on something he’d spent years creating and nurturing in the church. It would be mortifying for me to know that I had dishonoured someone by inadvertently disrespecting their life’s work but I know this will inevitably happen as the church begins to change and reflect my leadership style, my giftings and my personality. Dr Corbett was extremely gracious in his answer and understood that we are very different people and God is at work in both of us and will build His church as He sees fit.

15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. 16 And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they heard it, they marvelled. And they left him and went away.
Matthew 22:15-22

In this passage, we read about the Pharisees trying to trap Jesus with a question: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? It’s a loaded question. If Jesus says “yes” He risks discrediting Himself as the Messiah. If He says “no” He risks arrest for treason against Caesar. It seems like a lose-lose situation but Jesus, in His wisdom, responds brilliantly. He asks for a coin, and when they bring it to Him, He asks, “Whose image is on it?” When they reply, “Caesar’s,” Jesus says, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

Jesus’ reasoning is that the currency bears Caesar’s image, therefore it belongs to Caesar. But Jesus doesn’t stop there. He then adds, “and to God the things that are God’s.” This is the point in the passage where I wish someone would have asked the question “Jesus, what belongs to God?”

“So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
Genesis 1:27

We are made in the image of God. We are the one’s who bear God’s image.

Now, think about this. In ancient times when this passage was written, the title of “image of God” was reserved for kings, pharaohs, and emperors. They were the divine people with power to rule. Yet along comes the Bible and boldly proclaims that every person, not just the elite, is created in the image of God. Ephesians 2:10 tells us that we are God’s workmanship, His life’s work, His masterpiece and just like an artist leaves something of themselves in their artwork, all people reflect the Great Artist-God.

This truth has profound implications for how we see and treat each other. When I reflect on the ‘Art Attacks’, the reason so many people felt the protestors had missed the mark was because they didn’t consider the artist behind the artwork and how their attack on the artwork would be seen as an attack on the artist. You see, how we treat the image is deeply connected to how we feel about the one who made the image.

When vandals attack a painting, they’re attacking the artist who created it, not just the art itself. In the same way, when we dishonour, devalue or degrade people, we unwittingly do the same to God Himself.

Later on in Matthew 22:34-40, a lawyer asks Jesus what the greatest commandment is. Jesus answers:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”
Matthew 22:37-39

It seems that Jesus can’t separate loving God from loving our neighbour.

In Matthew 25, during the final judgement, Jesus tells of a time when the sheep and goats will be separated based on how they treated Him. The sheep are commended and the goats condemned. They can’t remember treating Jesus well or poorly but what it all comes down to is how they treated others—feeding the hungry, welcoming strangers, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned.

 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
Matthew 25:37-40

For Jesus, loving others is intrinsically connected to worshipping God. Just as the vandals didn’t realise what they were doing to the artist when they attacked the art, we often fail to realise what we are doing to God when we dishonour His image in others.

Worship is not just what we do on Sundays or through singing. No, worship is woven into every interaction we have with each other. When we dehumanise others, even in our thoughts, we dishonour God. But when we treat others with respect, love, and dignity, we honour the One whose image they bear.

Let us be a people who honour God by loving our neighbour as ourselves. Now, who is my neighbour? Well that’s another question for another Pastor’s Desk.

Blessings.

Your Pastor,

Harry Cuthbertson.

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