I love the first creation story in Genesis, in which God creates the world - sea, land, sky, vegetation, animals, and finally humans, particularly the emphasis of humanity being created in the image of God (imago Dei). For me, it has always served as a reminder that creating is a Godly thing. And I’m not simply talking about God’s creative work; I’m talking about our creative work as image-bearers of God. We draw pictures, knit scarves, carve pumpkins, and build furniture. Us bringing things into existence is holy as we live into our imago Dei.
This past week, the church held a rummage sale and our entire building became packed with nearly everything - movies, books, home decor, furniture, jewelry, and all things in between. As I saw stuff pile in, I tried to see things not as they were, but as what they could be! As someone who has always liked the idea of refurbishing furniture, I thought, “now is my time to shine” as I took home a small piece for myself.
As Pastor Lowell preached this last Sunday, using the rummage sale as a sermon illustration for the second creation story and Mark’s lesson on divorce, I wrote a note in my bulletin that can be summarized as “refurbishment is restoration.” If creating is us living out what it means to be made in the image of the biggest creator there is, then what is refurbishing? I like to think it is another imago Dei moment, us reflecting a God of restoration. Just as the creation narrative takes a sharp turn with Adam and Even eating some forbidden fruit and getting expelled, furniture gets dinged up and our sinful selves don’t use coasters on our coffee tables. Our sins are not the end of our story. God is in the saving business, bringing restoration and wholeness in our lives and in our world.
As I lay a stripping agent onto furniture, scrape off the old stain, sand down, restain and finish, I will continually be reminded that we have a God of restoration. There is power in bringing about a physical manifestation of faith, as it will only engrain faith more deeply into our hearts. When a refinished coffee table rests in my living room I will continually be reminded of God’s restorative nature.
My favorite Bible study of the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) had a twist. Usually, we’re challenged to see ourselves as the prodigal son, sinners always welcomed into God’s hands. But in this Bible study, we were asked, “How do we emulate God in this passage?” Suddenly, I was called to place myself into the shoes of the father in the passage, and offer grace to others. There’s a pattern here. In our restoration process, God teaches us, bears God’s image into us, and then asks us to show Him who we are and what we’ve learned. As I refinish furniture from the rummage sale, I hope I am showing God what I’ve learned, and as I scrape what is old and restain to make new, I hope to be reminded of God’s work in me, as the hymn Shepherd me O’ God proclaims, “Shepherd me O’ God ... from death into life.”