In 2017, a painting called the Salvator Mundi—a depiction of Jesus Christ—was sold at auction for a record-breaking $450 million. It became the most expensive painting ever sold in human history. But it didn't start out that way. For decades, that exact same painting was passed around from owner to owner, hidden away in dark hallways and dusty basements. At one point in the mid-1900s, someone heavily painted over it to hide its cracks, entirely ruining its original appearance. It looked like a cheap, ruined copy. In fact, in 1958, it was sold at an auction for a mere $60. Sixty dollars! People looked at its outer layer—the dirt, the grime, the bad paint jobs, the damage of time—and decided it was practically worthless. But then, a group of art restorers got ahold of it. They didn't add anything new to the canvas. Instead, they spent years painstakingly peeling away the layers of dirt. They scraped off the cheap paint that the world had slapped onto it. And as they got down to the original canvas, they discovered something breathtaking: underneath all that damage was the undeniable brushwork of the master himself, Leonardo da Vinci. The painting hadn't suddenly become valuable because the restorers fixed it. It was valuable the entire time because of who created it . The world just couldn't see it through the grime. Church, many of us walk through life feeling like that $60 painting. We look at ourselves and all we see are the bad paint jobs. We see the layers of grime that life has thrown at us. We see the criticisms from our past, the mistakes we made last week, the labels our culture has slapped onto us: Unproductive. Unattractive. Unsuccessful. Broken. And we mistake that outer layer for our actual value. But the Gospel is God, the Master Restorer, looking at you and saying, “I don't care what layers the world has stuck on top of you. I know exactly who made you. I know whose image is stamped on your soul.” God’s love doesn't wait for us to clean ourselves up to become valuable. God’s love is the very thing that peels back our shame, removes our failures, and says, “You were a masterpiece the entire time. You are my chosen. You are my beloved.” In worship this past Sunday we encouraged all of us to pray the following prayer every morning, and wait for the change God will work in our life… Lord, before I accomplish anything today...before I succeed or fail...before anyone praises me or criticizes me...help me remember who I am. I am your beloved. Help me live today from your love instead of living for someone else's approval. Amen. -Pastor Ray