It was a pile of scrap pieces of old plumbing fixtures that rested at the bottom of the box and the plan was to throw them away. After all, it was clutter and it needed to be gone, but somewhere between where the box was picked up and the dumpster something extraordinary happened.
An old and busted cork board was scrounged up and squares were crudely drawn. The pieces were sorted through and fitted together into seemingly odd shapes and sizes and when it was all said and done, a very unique and beautiful chess set was created.
I could not help but think as I began to play a game on what was once a dumpster bound cork board about how incredible it was that these broken up pieces had been re-purposed and now had an entirely different destiny than anyone else would have thought.
You have to remember that I am an artist so a creation like this deserves a name. This piece was not created to just be a chess set, it was created to "Speak" to everyone that would ever see it. It was designed to convey a message from the Father because you and I are no different than the pieces that were used in the building of this re-purposed set.
We are all given a task and were created to convey a message. Sometimes in the process of life, between the store shelf and the dumpster so to speak, something happens to us.
Perhaps we get broken or misused or become no longer usable in the fashion that we ourselves or others think us to be. A decision is made, an uncomfortable conversation takes place, angry words are exchanged, dreams are dashed, hopes are unfulfilled and we find ourselves feeling worthless and dumpster bound.
I found some old metal letters from an engraver that had long since been removed from use and named this piece "Nothing is Wasted".
As I mentioned earlier, a similar scenario took place many years before this set was created.
"After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself. There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No." ~ John 21:1-5
The time is after the crucifixion and the place is anywhere but where they were supposed to be. The boat they were in was similar to the cardboard box I mentioned earlier. It contained the broken hearts and fragments of what used to be the strong and confident disciples.
Jesus had been crucified, and they had skipped town to hide. This was not news to Jesus because He had even told them Himself that they would desert Him in His hour of capture. One of the disciples had loudly bragged that he would never leave Jesus' side and yet he was the same disciple that cursed Jesus and encouraged the others to join him in the cardboard box as it sailed on a sea of regret to a dumpster of wounded souls.
Peter.
Peter who pledged his undying allegiance was the first to break ranks. Is it a wonder that the pieces of this once useful disciple were found in the box?
I love this passage in Mark. It brings tears to my eyes to see, because of how powerful it is. Jesus has ressurected and meets some of His followers and gives them prescise instructions.
"But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you." ~ Mark 16:7
WOW!!! Did you see it?
Look again please! "But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter ..."
Do not forget to tell Peter!!! You are not broken beyond repair and your life of use is nowhere near finished!!!
Peter, you may feel as though you are broken beyond repair and that you have let me down so much.
Don't you love the fact that there is never at any time been a moment that you have ever held God up?
You can only let down something that you hold up. You would be amazed at the places that God goes in order to be with us. God had a plan for Peter's broken pieces and He created something with Peter that the rest of the world stood back and said "Wow! That is really amazing!"
It was pieces that God used. Fragments.
Odds and ends of a broken heart. Shards of a purpose that had been broken into a million pieces. Cracked egos, severed emotions, and dreams that have been so disfigured that they seem to no longer be recognizable.
These are The Creators materials that He selects in order to build His Kingdom.
The Disciples discover that the man calling out to them from the shoreline was in fact the one who years before called out to them from the shoreline. It is Jesus and they race toward the beach as fast as they can and look what they see when they get there.
"As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread." ~ John 21:9
So, why fish and bread? have you ever wondered that?
I can see them sitting around Him once again, overwhelmed by His presence and the love that is given to them. And then which one was the first to connect the dots as they took a bite into the meal?
Bread and fish. When did we last share a meal like this with Jesus?
It was on a hillside with companies of people that numbered in the thousands. They did not have enough food and the money bag was light.
What was it Jesus asked for?
Wait, it was a little boy that approached Andrew with a lunch that was five loaves of bread and two fish.
Can you see them chewing that meal slowly by the fire on the beach that morning with Jesus as their minds went back to that day on the hillside?
Jesus took the lunch and blessed it and broke it and began to pass out food to the multitude and when it was all done, and everyone was full, they gathered up seven baskets full because Jesus said, "Gather the fragments that remain that nothing may be lost..."
The meal was, in my opinion, a reminder to these fragmented men that with Jesus, "NOTHING IS WASTED".
A re-purposed chess set or a restored human being, the picture is simplistically powerful. I wanted the piece to speak to everyone who had eyes to see it.
This chess set was a message from the Saviour to the broken, misused, worn out and rejected. With Me, "Nothing is Wasted".
There are really only two types of people in the world today. People who are broken and people who are repaired, and if you are repaired, then at one time, you were in fact broken.
If you feel as though you are in the box of broken and wasted and on your way toward the dumpster, you are in the perfect place to see the Creator at work. Cry out to Him and see what He has in store for you.
Climbing with you,
~Dan
Love it. And I wrote about being Broken, so it had special meaning for me.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dan, for this encouraging word of redemption! I highlighted your post on the Christian Poets & Writers blog - http://christianpoetsandwriters.blogspot.com. God bless.
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