Enjoy this fascinating true news story about masterpieces and messes.
(30 Jan 2006) London – A clumsy visitor to a Cambridge museum has destroyed a set of priceless 300-year-old Chinese vases after tripping up on his shoelace, the Daily Telegraph reported on Monday.
The three Qing vases, dating from the late 17th or early 18th century, had stood on a windowsill at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, southeast England, for at least 40 years. Their prominent position made them among its best-known artefacts, the paper said.
The report was accompanied by a photo, taken by another visitor, of the culprit, an unnamed man in his forties, attempting to pick himself up among the porcelain debris after the accident, which happened on an unspecified day last week.
Steve Baxter, another visitor who saw the accident, was quoted as saying: “We watched the man fall as if in slow motion. He landed in the middle of the vases and they splintered into a million pieces.
“He was still sitting there stunned when staff appeared. Everyone stood around in silence, as if in shock. Then the man started talking. He kept pointing to his shoelace and saying, ‘There it is; that’s the culprit.’”
“They are in very, very small pieces but we are determined to put them back together,” said the museum’s assistant director Margaret Greeves. (Note: In 2007 all three restored vases were put back on display.)
From masterpiece to major mess – created to be a thing of beauty, preserved over the centuries – in one careless moment it went from timeless treasure into tiny pieces of trash. What a tragedy!
Thankfully the Lord does the reverse; He is in the work of Redemption. He changes our messes into masterpieces. He transforms the failures and the tragedies and the disasters and the catastrophes and the defeats and the setbacks – everything that is heartbreaking and looks ugly and hopeless – and turns them into something beautiful.
Satan is all about stealing, killing and destroying but Jesus has come to give us Life, abundant life for now and eternal life for evermore (John 10:10). No matter what your life looks like right now – no matter what kind of mess you feel it is – the Lord is working on you to transform you into His Masterpiece. Talk about an Extreme Makeover! There is nothing bigger, nothing more transforming than that.
Your life is not ordinary; it is extraordinary. You are not ordinary; you are extraordinary. Jesus has chosen you and redeemed you to be His Masterpiece. You are a beautiful work of art because of His amazing grace and mercy!
This Sunday, July 17, we will look at the magnificent truth that we have been “Chosen to be a Masterpiece” (Ephesians 2:10)! We are a masterpiece of creation and regeneration, so how should we respond? Please invite someone to join you at 10:35am in the building or online for the Live broadcast on either Facebook (Honolulu AG) or our YouTube channel (Honolulu Assembly of God). We Livestream every Sunday to both sites.
After the 10:35am service, we will carpool to Waialae Beach Park for an exciting Water Baptism gathering. Join us if you can to cheer on those who are making a very public choice to follow Jesus.
Coming Up: Roger Huang, founder and director of “San Francisco City Impact”, a ministry to the Tenderloin district (sfcityimpact.com), will be with us on Sunday, July 24. Don’t miss his powerful story and challenge. An All Oahu Leadership Training event will take place August 13 from 9:30am-1pm (including lunch) at First AG (Red Hill). This training will make you a more effective leader for God. Please let me know if you would like to attend.
Aloha ke Akua!