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Dear God, on behalf of preachers I pray…
May you be weak kneed – so that you feel the inclination often to bend them
May you be short-sighted – so that you neither fall in love with your own reflection nor take fright at the expressions of those who listen to you
May you be flat-footed – that you might stand your ground firmly on the Word which God has given you
May you be forgetful – that you might forget those things which would crowd in and occupy your mind just at the moment when you preach
May you be hard of hearing – so that you are not readily influenced by mere noise, but that you listen hard to hear God’s quiet voice
May you be as holey as you are holy – with lots of little perforations where the world can seep in and the Spirit can leach out.
Amen
_________________
Below is one of my all-time favourite paintings. It doesn’t have the ethereal beauty of a Monet or the moody intensity of a Turner. It lacks the brush work of a Rembrandt or the light and shade of a Vermeer. Not only that , but its title ‘clairvoyance‘ is enough to put many preachers off – let alone the fact that much of Magritte’s other work shows a preoccupation with sexuality to make your toes curl!
Despite all of that, this painting inspires me. As I mentioned earlier, I love to paint when I preach, and I want to paint like the man in the picture. Where I see sinners, God sees potential saints. Where I see brokenness, God sees restoration. Where I see failure, God sees the potential for success. In other words God has clairvoyance – or clear-seeing,and I’m longing to have some of it myself in 2011.
Picture: flickr
Like snow in the morning
Just over a week ago I spent a very happy hour in the back garden with my sons constructing the snow castle below. We sweated, we heaved snow in and out of our dustbin mould, we patted and moulded and finessed. The end result, as you can see, was rather pleasing.
This morning, though, it was a very different story- the flag lies crumpled on the damp grass, and there is but the merest hint of what had gone before.
It was a lot of fun to make, and gave a good deal of pleasure as I looked out of the frosty windows and admired our handiwork – but now it’s had its day.
As preachers, how bothered are we when people forget our sermons? How much does it trouble us when this thing over which we have laboured and prayed and sweated seems to melt away as readily as my snow castle? Perhaps the real question is how much it should bother us. After all, the sermon is not meant to be remembered for its own sake, surely? Rather, it should be remembered only insofar as it has changed the lives of those who heard it.
That said, it might be good if we could have just as much fun writing it as I had making my castle!
A warning for the preacher
Just spotted the following video on a “round up of 2010″. It demonstrates a “fail safe” automated parking system by Volvo, intended to avoid accidental collision by automatically engaging the brakes when a nearby object is detected:
Watching it I am reminded of the following little prayer, from Haiti, which I pass onto other preachers whenever I get the excuse:
“Lord, help us not to talk too much
Because talking too much is like driving too fast
Sometimes the brakes are not good
And we pass by the place where we intended to stop”
Enough said, I think!
The preacher’s palette
A good rest this week, and the opportunity to read some of my Christmas books. One in particular has caught my imagination this time around – Neil Macgregor’s History of the world in 100 objects. The book does what it says on the tin, and takes the reader on a whistle-stop tour of civilizations through 100 objects drawn from the British Museum’s vast collections. One particular item which made me think was the item below – the Icon of the Triumph of Orthodoxy (c. 1350-1400 AD)
Picture : British Museum
In his discussion of the piece Macgregor refers to a medieval text The Rules For the Icon Painter, from which there are selections below:
- Before starting the work, make the sign of the cross. Pray in silence & pardon your enemies.
- Work with care on every detail of the icon, as if you were working in front of the Lord himself.
- During work, pray in order to strengthen yourself physically and spiritually; avoid above all useless words & keep silence.
- When you have to choose a colour, stretch out your hands interiorly to the Lord and ask his counsel.
- Do not be jealous of your neighbour’s work; his success is your success too.
- When your work is finished, thank God that his mercy granted you the grace to paint holy images.
Just about the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me after a narrative sermon was a Romanian student who said “you didn’t tell the story – you painted it” It is highly unlikely that 2011 will ever see me painting an icon – but I hope to paint many sermons. Having a set of these rules with me as I do so may be no bad thing!
BBC1′s Nativity
Like thousands of others I have found myself gripped this week by Tony Jordan’s brilliantly written ‘Nativity’ on BBC1. Much has been written elsewhere about Jordan’s profound experiences whilst writing it, so I won’t repeat them here. What follows are merely a few observations as I reflect on the Nativity experience.
Image: BBC
Pervasive politics
Many of the characters in the story are caught up in the political backdrop against which Jesus’ birth took place. Thomas, the impoverished shepherd, is thinking about taking up arms. Mad king Herod feels his fragile pedestal rocking beneath him. Even Nicolaus, the urbane courtier, is dancing a political jig. This is as it should be – for where there are people there are politics.
Power of lurve
The aching, tortuous path of Mary and Joseph’s love twists like a great river through the canyon of Jordan’s script. At times it all but disappears, and yet we are on our seats waiting for its return. The moment when Mary and Joseph grasp hands in the stable has something of the Sistine Chapel about it. Interestingly, though, it is the ‘power of lurve’ which becomes the touchstone for the authenticity of Mary’s story.
Mystery humanised
There is not a halo or a sparkling light to be seen anywhere in this story apart from the starlight. Gabriel is ordinary and quietly spoken to the point of being barely angelic at all. And yet there is a quiet strength and magnetism to his soft words. Some will have been disappointed by this, whilst others will be drawn into it.
Scripture vocalised
Unlike Biblical epics of old, the words of Scripture are woven into the script from time to time, rather than providing its backbone. We find them on Zechariah’s tablet when he writes down Isaiah 7 for his wife’s cousin Mary to read. We find them, too, in surprising places. To hear the word’s of John the Baptist on Melchior’s lips in the stable was something of a surprise for those who know the older script! In context, though – it made perfect sense. And its all about contextualisation really, isn’t it? Note Eugene Peterson’s words in his introduction to The Message:
“The goal…is to convert the tone, the rhythm, the events , the ideas, into the way we actually think and speak. In the midst of doing this work, I realized that this is exactly what I had been doing all my vocational life. For thirty-five years as a pastor I stood at the border between two languages: biblical Greek and everyday English, acting as a translator.”
Tears
In the iconographic tradition of the Orthodox church, tears are used as a depiction of the Holy Spirit. If that is the case – then the Spirit surely came whilst I watched the final part of the Nativity – and I am richer for it.
What happened next?
Like many other preachers, I have been ‘working my way through’ the characters in the Christmas story this year. We have looked at Joseph, Elizabeth, the shepherds, the Magi, and even Herod. As I have done so, the wonderful natwivity script has been a help, with its colourful characterisations and their blend of humour and pathos. However, I am still left with a nagging question: what happened next?
Was shepherding ever the same again – or did the shepherds find themselves always looking up as well as down – expecting another apparition in the sky? Did the Magi return to Persia, content with their successful research but happy to dismiss this as a purely Jewish matter? Could it have been possible to have a ringside seat at these earth-shaking events and come away unchanged?
Some years ago I read Andrew Smith’s book Moondust: the men who fell to earth. In it he interviews all those men who have walked upon the distant and impossible surface of the moon – and analyses how it affects their onward journey on the earth. Some found the transition almost too much to bear – and became virtual recluses. Others have talked about it ad nauseam, and others have found alternative routes to ‘work out’ their feelings. Alan Bean, for example, has painted canvas after canvas of lunar scenes, often including a small amount of moondust into the work itself. One of the most famous: we came in peace for all mankind, is pictured below.
Image: alanbeangallery.com
What might the Magi have painted, or written, I wonder?
Last word goes to Neil Armstrong, who paraphrased his own epic words by saying “it is more significant that Jesus Christ set foot on the earth than that man set foot on the moon.” Significant, yes – but how?
A chorus of dissent
One month after the flash mob hallelujah chorus in a shopping mall near Niagara – someone tried it again yesterday, with unfortunate consequences. An invitation to join in with the event went viral via Facebook and over 5000 would be choristers turned up at the Westfield Galleria in Roseville California. After a serious fire caused major damage to the mall in October of this year, the event should have been a pleasant way to erase that memory. However, as singers assembled ready to begin, ‘popping’ sounds were heard from the floor supports and emergency services evacuated the mall.
- Photo: CNN
Clearly this was a shame for both singers and shoppers.
It makes you wonder, though – if Facebook and Twitter had existed when Jesus was born – would the shepherds have been unable to get into the stable because of the crowd already assembled?
The night of the radishes
In Oaxaca in Mexico the knives will be out right now in time for the annual Night of the Radishes on December 23rd . Ever since Dominican Friars introduced vegetable growing to the region five centuries ago, local producers have shown amazing skill in carving these vegetables into elaborate scenes from local folklore and the nativity story, as pictured below.
The radishes themselves are grotsquely swollen (sometimes weighing up to a kilo each) and ugly – and yet in skilled hands with the right knife they can be transformed into objects of amazing intricacy and intrigue.
Lots of scope here for talking about God’s transformation of the ordinary into the extraordinary on Christmas night,I reckon.
Just raided the fruit & vegetables section of the local supermarket to make sure that everyone gets a radish when they arrive at the midnight service on Friday…
Photo: amazingdata.com
Photo: blogmakezine.com
Like this:
Tradition meets technology
Last night was our traditional carols by candlelight service in the church. As ever it was a spiritual moment to savour, with guests from near and far, candles lit, and little tots up later than usual with their faces bathed in the candles’ glow. Unusually, this year the sermon was not a standalone, but part of a series on Tales of the Unexpected. Last night it was the turn of the Magi – these mysterious misfits who arrive on the Christmas scene from so very far away.
The theme of being drawn in from far away suffused the entire service. Each reading was illustrated with a fresco from an Ethiopian church. Our first reading was read (via a recorded phone call) by our missionaries in Addis Ababa. We looked at the map of the world as lit up by intercontinental Facebook connections and thought about the desire to be part of things with distance no object. Finally, we remembered one of last year’s top Christmas adverts, with its theme of coming from around the world to be home for Christmas. The simple message arising from all of this complex technology? – God wants you home for Christmas.
On initial reactions, it would seem that the message came home, and that people appreciated the diversity of its communication. However, this is a calculated risk. Using technology in a setting of deep tradition is not without its dangers. As ever, it can go wrong. Alternatively – it can go well, but people remember the technology itself rather than the message. Neither of these is helpful! Technology must support a message which can function without it, but should never supplant a message which cannot.
A selection of the visual material is available below so that you can see what you think…
Photo: digitaltrends.com
picture:ethiopia.limbo.com
A task for preachers and listeners
In my Advent reading today I came across this wonderful phrase from Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff. He wrote that the Christian’s task is to “imitate and decipher Jesus” . It is that latter word, decipher, which really caught my imagination. We tend to think of deciphering as something which is done with hidden codes or secret messages. It can apply equally, though, to finding deeper meaning in words or pictures which are already familiar.
Artistic depictions of Jesus vary enormously, from the saccharin to the offensive and everything in between. One of my favourites of all time, though, is the engraving below, by Claude Mellan.
- Image: British Museum
Engraved in 1649, it bears the words “formatur unicus una” – “from one I formed the one”. Incredibly, the whole picture consists of one single line from Mellan’s engraving tool. Simply by varying the pressure on that one spiralling line he has created this startling image.
When Paul wrote to the Galatians he said that he had “clearly portrayed” Christ to them. The word he uses in Galatians 3 v.1 is “pro-egraphe” – from which we get graphite, graphics and the like. In his preaching and teaching he had sought to set before them a Christ whom they could easily decipher.
As preachers of every hue set to the task of presenting Christ in carol services this weekend- may he be a Christ whom those listening can easily decipher.
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