[The Renovo Parable]

There once was a Master Artist...


the greatest artist the world had ever seen. He was so skilled, so singularly gifted, that all who saw his work admired it. Throughout the artist’s life, he painted and sculpted, carved and created so many wonderful masterpieces; hundreds, even thousands of handcrafted works.

He painted alone for days, months, and years; over time, mountains of art filled his studio and overflowed into the rest of his house.

With so much to watch over, the Master Artist assigned his most trusted apprentice to help him maintain the beauty of the many works. The apprentice cared for his master and admired his work; but slowly grew jealous and resentful.
 
"Am I not here to learn how to create my own masterpiece,” he asked himself? “Or am I destined only to move someone else’s work from room to room"

His attitude was reflected in the performance of his assigned task. Carelessly and recklessly, he moved the paintings from room to room. He placed them so haphazardly; in the cellar, in the attic, and near the massive workshop windows where the wind, rain, and sun ravaged them.

Over time, the masterpieces were worn and beaten-- destroyed, faded, warped, and weathered. Most were broken and in shambles from the conditions in which they were so carelessly placed. Then one day the Master Artist took a rest from creating, just a moment to sit and admire his beautiful masterpieces of old. He combed his house looking for the works, calling for the apprentice; but they were nowhere to be found.

Finally, he saw them, piled in the cellar and by the widows in the attic, warped and ruined. He wept openly at the sight of his beautiful work in shambles. Then, when all his tears had been spilled, he went back to his studio and prepared his tools.
 
He would not leave his life’s work to wither and die. He called for his failed apprentice and assigned to him a new task. To bring each and every damaged piece to his workbench.
 
And one by one, the Great Artist sat and restored each of his masterworks, taking the same great care with which he had designed them. Soon they were whole again, restored to their original glory. One by one, he sat and renewed them all.


In this story, the Great Artist is our God. It is Jesus who designed us and Jesus who created us to reflect his glory.


But we fell; so hard we fell, like the prideful apprentice that ruined so many beautiful treasures. Called to assist God we chose to rebel, seeking glory for only ourselves, tossing the truth aside to wither and rust.


And like those great works of art, God’s human masterpieces have suffered greatly under the care of the careless. We are the neglectors and the neglected, left to wither and fade in our own pride and ignorance.


But the master will not leave us to die. Jesus has entered the world to restore and renew us. And, like that sorrowful apprentice, He has asked us to join in the restoration; to gather his faded work so he can breathe into them new life, one by one.


Bring yourself to Him, for not only are you are the apprentice of the greatest artist the world has ever known; you are one of his great masterpieces. A true work of God, called to serve him.