Pictures

The young man’s eyes shine with the light of a new dawn in spring. He is standing, trembling, at the head of an aisle, watching as a vision of shimmering loveliness floats up the aisle toward him. Can it possibly be true that she has chosen him? Forever? Will she ever regret it? Will she always reflect back the glow of his eyes as she does now, or will she turn away? In his heart is a steadfast, unbreakable determination that it won’t be because he fails her in any way. Ever.

That’s God’s face, looking at you. Isaiah 62:1-5.

The hen has black-and-white speckles on her feathers, and is always pretty, but today she is fluffed up, her wings slightly extended, and the black and white are more vivid than usual. She is making a low sound in her throat, an encouraging muk-muk-muk, and bobbing her head slightly. Around her dash and dart little black fluffballs with bits of yellowish white on them. When she gives her little call, they spread their ridiculous little dabs of winglet and run under the outstretched wings almost too quickly to see. Some peek out from under her breast. One pops through a wing feather and looks at the world from there. If you could ask them if they think they’re safe, they’d look at you uncomprehendingly. It doesn’t even occur to them to fear. Mother is here! What danger could possibly threaten?

Those are God’s wings, spread over you. Psalm 36:5-10.

The dancer sways and floats in the currents of music as if there were almost no gravity at all. Her head turns with a grace that brings a catch to the throat. Her hands float out to her sides, one higher, one lower, her fingers moving like leaves on the surface of a quiet brook. One leg bends, the other straightens, a toe points, a foot pirouettes, her neck turns with apparent effortlessness, a look  of almost angelic serenity hallows her face. All the parts of her body function as God must have originally created them to do. . . but if you asked her you’d learn of the hundreds of hours of sweat and soreness, tears and trying again.

This is the body of Christ, moved together by His great heart and mind. 1 Corinthians 12:1-11.

The wedding is over, but the bridegroom is still gazing unceasingly at the shyly downturned face of his new wife. Sometimes she looks up at him, and their eyes seem to ignite a spark that is almost visible to all in the room. They probably have no idea that the wine has run out, or what quality they are drinking, but at some point the steward hands the groom a cup and, his attention caught, the groom tastes and raises his eyebrows in surprise. The steward gestures to a quiet Man on the other side of the room and the bride and groom both look. This time the three-way eye contact is a living, vibrant thing. Stillness slides over all the guests for a moment, and the bride’s and groom’s hands meet and cling. Something—a promise, a blessing—something washes over them. They will never forget this moment.

Jesus announced His power and presence at a wedding, as if to say that’s one of the best earthly pictures of His love. John 2:1-11.

No human picture of the love of God is ever big enough, glorious enough, or unbelievable enough. But every one shines like one tiny facet on a diamond. These four are from the lectionary readings for this week.

Water in My Eyes

Luke 3:15-17,21-22
As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

Well, you know me. I like to imagine.
What if you'd been there? Close your eyes, get comfortable, and try to use all your senses to make the scene real. Can you feel the push and crowd of bodies? Taste the breeze? Smell the river? Hear the throng? Can you see John (and do you imagine him as the scruffy, hairy semi-savage all the movies portray him as, or different?)
Listen to him saying to you, "Another One is coming--someone greater, someone incredible." You notice that John is quoting from Old Testament prophecies that portray the Messiah as king and judge, a common and completely understandable misconception of the times. You can only say after the fact which parts of the prophecies relate to Now and which to Later. The first Advent wasn't of the king and judge, or at least not in that capacity. It was the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53. But John doesn't seem to have known that yet.

But we're in first century Palestine, so just listen, and ignore my editorializing. (I'm sure I would have done the same then. I think lots of AT readers would have loved the rabbinical debates in the synagogues!)

This particular passage does not describe the baptism of Jesus, but you can imagine it from other passages if you like. See Jesus coming, listen and watch while John argues. "Are you kidding me? I should be baptized by you!"
See him give in.
See Jesus going under, rising up--honestly, the fabulous art on the cover of Messiah, by Jerry D. Thomas, is what comes to my mind, the past few years. See Jesus gazing joyfully upward, water streaming from his face, and watch the Dove descend. Shiver with awe as the voice of God thunders, "You are my beloved one! I am so pleased with you!"

How do you feel?

Now try something harder. Imagine you are the one being baptized. You may relive your own real baptism, or you may put yourself in the Jordan and try to imagine what it might have been like to be baptized by "the baptizer."
And then---
Hear the voice of God thundering, "You--yes, you!-- are my beloved one! I am so pleased with you!

How do you feel now?

Wow.

Epiphany/Theophany

I learned something today. (Any day is a good day if you learn something new!) I learned that Epiphany and Theophany mean the same thing. Almost. That is to say, Theophany, which I learned years ago in college Bible classes, means the miraculous appearance specifically of a deity--Theos. In the Old Testament, the places where someone is visited not just by "an angel," but by "the angel of the Lord" are traditionally referred to as "Theophanies," or visitations of the pre-incarnate Christ. The word Epiphany doesn't have "Theos" in it, denoting a deity, but does mean a miraculous or sudden appearing.

I tend to think of Epiphany in relation to the visit of the magi from the east, though of course, we have no idea when they appeared, except that Jesus was probably at least a year old at the time. But here's what I find so fascinating--In 2 Timothy 1:9, 10, Paul says that God "has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." (Italics supplied.) That word "appearing"? That's "epiphany." Five more times, it's used in the New Testament to refer to the Second Coming.

I love this because of the way Paul points out that this has always been true--"granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity," but now it's appeared. It's here! And I love it even more because just as the people of God in that day were looking anxiously for the appearing of the Messiah--and he came!--so we, today, are looking anxiously for his appearing again--and he will come! I have to admit, I sometimes wonder. But he did it before, and he said he would do it again.

I believe him. I just hate waiting, that's all. But in the meantime, I celebrate the fact that he came the first time,  "abolished death and brought life and immortality to light."

One more cool thing about the Epiphany--traditionally in lots of places, it especially celebrates the Messiah's appearing to the Gentiles. Thank goodness!

I've said it before and I'll say it again--EVEN SO, COME, LORD JESUS!!