Another one from my good friend and mentor Chuck Keortge
What is the “beautiful” and why should we care about it?
by Charles Keortge (2010)
Multiple times the Bible uses the same words together:
O, worship the Lord in the beauty of his holiness.
As followers of Jesus we are often challenged in sermons and personal study to try to better understand and apply the word HOLINESS.
Indeed, some entire Christian groups have as a part of their core beliefs the practice of holiness.
There are few followers of Jesus who categorically state that their Christian walk should include the word BEAUTY.
I invite you to follow along as we consider the BEAUTIFUL and I invite you to ask the question, “Why should we care about it?”
The mere fact that the word beauty exists and has a common use may lead us to immediately respond, “Why bother with this esoteric Password game?”
And to be further exasperated and saying, “If there’s anything I hate it’s an abstract study on a common word.” One this sentiment we agree.
To help me answer my own question, “Why should we care?” I would like to paraphrase a few thoughts on the subject by the well known author and pastor, Eugene Peterson.
Beauty: splendor, grandeur, adornment. Life-core existence spills over the containers of mere survival or utility. It tells us that there is much more going on in this world than just waiting for the traffic camera on the corner of 15th street and Avenue J. Indeed, war, robbery, murder, and mayhem have been committed with the possession of “something or someone beautiful” as the primary motive.
As we consider how to worship our God in beauty we are involved in the most soul-involving, reality assimilating act available to human beings. Peterson emphasizes that we are most ourselves, most our image-of-God creaturely selves, when we are worshiping.
O, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
Unfortunately for our generation and planet, beauty and holiness are both in short supply.
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