A Long Boney Finger

John 1:29-34

There is a painting that has become popular in the church the last couple of years.  It’s been around a long time, but I hadn’t noticed it until recently.  That’s all you need to know about how much I paid attention in Fine Arts as a student, but I digress.

The image is a painting by Matthias Grunwald entitled, The Crucifixion. There is a lot going on in this painting:  you can see Mary, the mother of Jesus, in the left side of the painting fainting into the arms of John, the disciple; a woman recognized as Mary from Magdala by the alabaster jar sitting next to her; Jesus with his hands extended to the heavens grasping for his Father; on the right side of the cross a lamb with a cross over its shoulder; and a strange figure on the right of the painting holding what appears to be scripture while pointing a long, boney finger at Jesus.  Over John are written the words, “He must increase, I must decrease.”

This picture was painted in the middle ages.  It was during a dark time in the church, with very few copies of scripture, and is why churches often told the gospel through stain glassed windows and paintings.  Artist didn’t paint abstractly, but were telling the gospel story through art.  They had purpose and meaning.  They were not trying to confuse anyone, but tell the story of the gospel to those who are illiterate, or unable to have a copy of scripture, using images.  

Theologian Karl Barth had a copy of Grunwald’s painting on the wall of his study.  It's said that when Barth would talk with a visitor about his work, he would direct them to John the Baptist in the painting and would say, “I want to be that finger."

Me too.  The interesting thing is John the Baptist says twice in these six short verses that he didn’t know Jesus was the one, saying “Look!  The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! He (Jesus) was the one I was talking about . . . I did not recognize him as the Messiah.”  But once he did, it was all about Jesus.  I’m not sure his finger was as boney as Grunwald portrays, but that long boney finger sends a clear message; he, Jesus, the one naked, dying on the cross is the one!  The one whose mother just fainted into the arms of John, he is the one.  The lamb I said would take away the sin of the world, this is how it happens.  He is the one! 

When things around us can become dark, as they were in Jesus day, John pointed to Jesus.  That’s what Lamorris, Megan, Andy and JJ did this week for us.  In pointing to Jesus, they pointed us to Jesus too.  I didn’t see them extend their finger pointing, but I think we heard clearly as they shared vulnerably with us not only about their good days, but their dark days, recognizing God was with them in the light and the dark.  They believed that God had them.  When he was drafted – God was there.  When he made his first pro-Bowl – God was there.  When they were 8-0 and he broke his thumb – God was there.  When he was released by the Bengals and didn’t know what their next step was – God was there.  When they lost two babies while trying to have a third child – God was there.  They currently don’t know what the next step is for them – but they gave testimony that just like God has been with them in the past, God is with them now.

Every now and then, we all need a long boney finger pointing us to Jesus.  He is the one!

 

Bonfire or Spotlight?

John 3:21

We sold our home this past summer.  I miss my man cave and porch, but an area I miss almost as much is our firepit.  I love sitting around a bonfire.  Anyone else?  Can you smell roasting hot dogs and marshmallows?  There is something that happens around a fire that doesn’t happen anywhere else.  I’m not sure why, but it invites conversation, friendship, and an occasional s’more.  We had tiki torches around our pit, and my neighbors knew if the tikis were lit a bonfire wasn’t far behind. It was their invitation to come sit, talk, and melt some chocolate with a marshmallow or two.  We loved those conversations with Rob and Peggy, Mike and Janet, Bill and Sherri, Gary and Renee, Jason and Jenelle; our neighbors and friends.

The home we currently live in has a great back deck, but no firepit.  My wife, knowing how much I missed ours bought me a portable one for Father’s Day, but it hasn’t been the same.  We sit on the back porch a lot, but don’t use our pit much.  There is one problem with our back deck, there is a spotlight that comes on every evening.  It has a light sensor so as the sun sets, a light turns on.  It also has a motion detector, so when it senses motion it gets brighter.  Significantly brighter.  Like, blinding.  It goes from providing low light to the backyard that gives us a sense of security and ability to see, to a bright light that is irritating and blinding.  Not the same, know what I mean?  I find myself trying to not move while sitting on the deck so it won’t go from low comfortable lumens to bright, blinding mode.

It is probably obvious – I prefer bonfires over spotlights.

Bonfires are warm, inviting, welcoming.  A fire can create an atmosphere where your conversations go from “how was your day?” to “how is your life?”  The light from a bonfire isn’t blinding, it is comforting, easy to look at. Bonfires are meant to be shared.  It seems like a waste of firewood to just light one for yourself, but if friends are coming over, the wood is ready to light.  Who doesn’t want to sit around a bonfire?  

I’m not sure how you feel about the last 20 months, and the “walk in the dark” we have all been on together, but I feel like there have been an awful lot of spotlights that have been shining in my eyes.  Some of them have been difficult to look at, and when I try to look away, I’m left with what is called an “afterimage,” that small white light left in your eyes after staring at a bright light.  There have been times the last 20 months it’s been difficult for me to see because of all the lights on high beam.  

I think you know where I’m going.  In chapel this week, Pastor Eric talked about the difference between three kinds of lights; spotlight, refrigerator light, or a fire.  The imagery is obvious, so I won’t belabor the point, but wonder if as we walk in the dark it would be better if we lit some bonfires instead of shining our 1 million lumen candle lights in each other’s eyes, blinding us instead of enabling us to see.  What if our conversations were kinder and more welcoming instead of abrasive and confrontational?  What if we lit some tikis, and invited our neighbors to talk about life with us?  What if the conversations we are part of were more about listening and hearing; dispelling fear instead of creating pain?  Invitationally providing comfort like a bonfire.

Look, there are times when hearing the truth isn’t easy.  There are times speaking the truth is appropriate and right.  But, it’s easier to hear truth when I know it’s coming from someone who cares, than someone just lobbing a bomb.  

John says in his gospel: “Those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”  So others can see.

I think that John is saying that the gospel is good news.  The good news is caught as much as it is taught.  Jesus won people over, yes, because he told them the truth — just read the stories of Nicodemus or the unnamed woman at the well.  But he was also gracious and kind as he did.  Why else would sinners and tax collectors keep hanging around?  I think Jesus was more like the bonfire you have in your backyard with friends and neighbors than that irritating spotlight I can’t figure out how to turn off.  

If Jesus was that way while walking around in the dark, maybe while we walk around in the dark we should, or could be, too.

 

Moonbow or Rainbow?

John 1:5

Ever heard of a moonbow?  I hadn’t until last week.  I’ve seen rainbows my whole life, but have never seen a moonbow.  Scientists say they are both optical illusions, meaning they don’t exist in specific locations in the sky.  Whether you see one depends on where you’re standing.  As colorful as rainbows are — you know, ROY G. BIV —moonbows are in grayscale.  The light is diminished because it isn’t just refracting from water droplets, but it is a dim reflection of the source of light, the sun.  Most moonbows are seen around waterfalls.

Okay, before I have to fall all over myself apologizing to Dr. Case and put my ignorance on more display than I may have already done, here is my point.  Rainbows are created by the direct light from the sun off fragments or droplets of water, and when standing at the right angle, seen for all their color and beauty.  A moonbow, often without the help from a lens that increases the light, might never be seen.  If they are seen, they’re in grayscale, with no definitive colors in them.

One reflects diminished light that is difficult, and at times impossible to see.  The other one reflects bright, direct light that puts on display an entire spectrum of color, from red to violet and everything in between.

As we talk about light and dark this semester, reflecting on the differences between a rainbow and moonbow, the theme begs a question for me – Which light source will we live by?  The moon or the sun?  The light that at best can only be seen in gray scale, or the light that reveals all the colors of the spectrum?

 “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.”

John 1:5

In the world we live in, filled with real light that reveals all that is there, and artificial light, hiding things in gray scale and shadows, we have a choice to make.  As John shared in his prologue to his gospel, “Jesus came to the world he created, and the world didn’t recognize him.  He came to his own people, and even they rejected him.”  When the real light is here, why settle for a dim reflection, living in a world of grays instead of all the colors of the rainbow? 

 What will it be for you?  Moonbow, or rainbow?