Date: May 22nd, 2022
Canvas: 30'“ x 30”
[Not For Sale]
Scripture:
So this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation;
the one who relies on it
will never be stricken with panic.”
[Isaiah 28:16—NIV]
Artist Statement:
Doug Glynn, a pastor at Hope Covenant Church, talked about doubt, and how many Christian teachers have used scriptures (like James 1:6) to say even a slight bit of doubt nullifies your prayers. And, that we have an internal ‘faith-o-meter’ reading our ‘faith level’ (high on the faith-o-meter=new Porsche, but low=used Volkswagen). When the answer is a flat ‘no’, either from God (or a free-willed human being or entity), we feel frustrated, ashamed or even fearful. We double down on our crusade to, “name it and claim it,” only to be left with empty delusions. But, Jesus never shamed anyone for doubting, instead he answered their doubts with evidence of his steadfast love for them. People who knew him simply trusted him.
I came to Hope Covenant on this Sunday with no vision for the painting and for 20-30 minutes stood in front of the canvas waiting (How fitting that ‘certainty vs. doubt’ was the theme!) Then, while co-leading the song service, Brandon said, “Jesus is the cornerstone on whom we trust and build our life.” Shortly afterward, Doug showed slides of the Australian coast to highlight the co-leader of the song service, Amy, who happened to be home on break from her missionary training program in Australia. So, I got an image of a bright coastline with fortress-like rocks. Then, I flashed back to my childhood in Alaska; I would look on in wonder at my dad walking across log beams high off the ground, swinging sledge hammers and lifting walls to build house after house. So, look closely and you'll see my dad and I walking those beams together.
While in those Alaska years I saw my dad construct impressive homes and projects for our family and the community--even harvesting timber and cutting his own lumber, then eventually handling strategic layout for the new Bassett Army Hospital on Fort Wainwright--I also saw him face down uncertainty too when losing a business, and my brother. But he came back again and again to Jesus' love. He showed me that honesty about doubt makes way for faith to grow stronger. He also had the strength to tell me ‘no,' like when my brother and I asked for a Suzuki 4-wheeler. Sure, I got disappointed, but I ended up trusting him even more because I knew he loved us. As I grew, the tough jobs he gave me to do--carrying heavy tools, clearing brush, operating machinery (at age 12), lifting walls and shoveling concrete--gave me something better than the coolest toys: he gave me a purpose.
Jesus’ Dad also came through for him time and time again: from providing the manger in Bethlehem, to saving him from Herod, to holding him up so he could walk on water. God forged with Jesus the deepest trust ever seen on Earth. But, his Dad also told Jesus ‘no’ even when Jesus was sweating blood in the Garden of Gethsemane, and crying out on the cross, “Father, father, why have you forsaken me?!” Jesus chose to trust in the middle of his own human uncertainty, and did the most difficult thing any father has asked of a son--to lay his life down and in doing so generate faithfulness like the world had never seen before: “See, I lay a stone in Zion….” Now, for sweet justice, Jesus takes those Roman nails and beams he used 2100 years ago for his God given purpose and offers them to us as construction materials. In other words, he gives to us his very own faith so that out of it we can build a House of Trust together.
”For the righteousness of God in (the Gospel) is revealed from faith to faith…”' [Romans 1:17—Young’s Literal Translation]
