Art Invites us to the Promised Land

Dick Ryan of InterVarsity preached at the MasterWorks Festival one Sunday morning. He challenged us to consider our God-given gifts, artistic as well as spiritual. He challenged us to embrace and hone our gifts. He dipped into Exodus 31:1-11, the first time the phrase, "I have filled them with my Spirit," about the artists Bezalel and Oholiab. Also, he had us consider Exodus 28:1-2 describing how a costumer brought his beauty and glory through what the priests wore. He said sometimes when art is right we see a glimpse of Heaven, a sliver of our future. Then he used Exodus 25:1-9 to show how God asked the people to bring what they had: Give me your gifts and I'll show you how to create a place for us to dwell together. Give your gifts to Him, and He'll create a place of beauty where He dwells. He challenged us to give our gifts to God, inviting Him to dwell with us. What we get in return is not rules, but freedom to do all He's called us to do. The golden calf, though beautiful, was dead art. God wants us to have living art that will draw people to the Promised Land.