michelangelo

Michelangelo gave us one of his best when he painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Yet as a sculptor, the statue of David stands as a masterpiece.

The marble statue of David stands seventeen feet tall and the shepherd who would turn king as he contemplates his upcoming battle with Goliath, the giant. The tension is clearly defined in his face and the muscles of his forearms and fists. Michelangelo brings the rock to life and almost makes us believe there is a soul within the statue.

It is said that Michelangelo could see David within the block of marble long before he took up his tools. He would take raw, monstrous blocks of rock and then he would begin to simply sit and look within the stone. Slowly, without hurry, he would begin to chip away, scratch, chisel, and hammer until what remained was what he had seen all along. The image invisible to everyone who was not him. He was able to look past the block of marble. Perhaps, he never even saw the block of marble at all. Knowing what it was he clearly saw, he began to chisel and chip off all that was not that image.

The Pope, amazed and in awe of the statue of David, asked him how he did it, how he came up with such a magnificent work of sculpture. Michelangelo replied, “I chip away at everything that is not David.”

Paul wrote that he had resolved in his mind to know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified. Could this be a worthy aim for us who are believers? What is it in our life that distracts us from Jesus? What are the impurities that need to be melted away? What are pieces of marble that need to be chipped away to reveal only the thing that matters? Did we once begin with the pure image only to add a bunch of extras? Have we dressed up Jesus and added anything to him? Are there any “good” and even ‘Christian’ pursuits or activities that have gotten in the way? Can we even see him anymore?

Just as Michelangelo chipped away at everything that was not David, perhaps we should begin to chip away at everything that is not of first importance; that is not Jesus. In my own life I want to do this, until Jesus becomes my primary desire; until he is all that I see. I want to purge all of the man-made religious tradition from my life. Christ alone.

“…simply concentrate on being completely devoted to Christ in your hearts…”[1]