An icon of Jesus hangs in my office. An icon is more than a simple
painting. It tells a story. Particularly, this icon tells a story about Jesus for those who cannot read – either those who are illiterate or live where Scripture is not readily available. A clergy friend of mine wrote (painted) the icon of Jesus who watches over me. In Saint Paul’s letter to the church in Colossae, he wrote, “Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God.” The word we translate in English to “image” in the original Greek is “eikon” from which we get “icon.” I think of Jesus as iconic of God. This word is used once in Luke’s Gospel. Jesus said, “Show me a coin. Whose eikon (image) and inscription does it have? They said, Caesar’s.” (Lk 20:24) The icon in my office is called the Pantocrantor. It is an ancient image of the haloed Christ who looks at the viewer with a solemn, loving stare. His right hand is extended to teach, and in his left hand he holds the Holy Scriptures. Pantocrantor is the Greek version of the Hebrew phrase, “El Shaddai,” which translates into English as God Almighty. Jesus to me is The Pantocrantor – the visible image of God Almighty, conceived by the iconographer with a loving stare. As I try to live deeper into my faith, this is an icon I try to emulate – one hand for teaching and blessing and the other holding the Bible. Who is Jesus to you? What is the image of God that you receive in Christ Jesus? Paul continues to write in the letter to the Colossians, Jesus is the head of the Church and through Jesus, God reconciles all things to himself in heaven and earth. (1:18, 20) This is a different persona from the Pantocrantor – the icon of God as an outreaching hand. In this other revelation, Jesus is the reconciler, the head of the Church, and brings all things to himself in the glory of God. An icon for this might be Jesus sitting on a throne and bringing all things into his kingdom. For my office wall, I prefer God the teacher and holder of truth. But you might prefer the enthroned reconciler of all things in heaven and earth. Rest assured, Saint John’s, like the church in Colossae, is big enough to hold many images of Jesus – teacher, holder of truth, enthroned ruler, reconciler, first born of all creation, head of the Church, healer, friend, God incarnate and God Almighty. Let me take this a step further. The image we embrace of God through Christ encourages and informs the way we live into our faith. I like to bless and teach. Others like to reconcile. Yet we are one in Christ. Let us remember that we are all created in the eikon of God. May we be that icon, image, likeness, to others in our world today, - Fr. Marshall Major League Baseball took a much needed break this week. Starting
in 1933, the league has taken a brief mid-season rest period from a day before the All-Star game until a day or two afterward. Most players use those days to spend time with family, go fishing, or sleep. The Major League season at 162 regular season games is the longest and most grueling of all professional team sports. Breaks are important in our life. Ethan, my ten-year old, is volunteering in the office today as Christi needs an mid-summer All-Star break, if you know what I mean. Our daughters, Galina and Veeka, grew up in an orphanage in Russia which would take a summer vacation. Several orphanages in the area would send their children to a rustic camp by a lake. Russian summers are nice, with daylight past 10 pm. They would grow potatoes and then at the evening campfire, they would bury the spuds in the red coals. After the fire cooled off, they’d dig up their perfectly cooked taters and eat them as a before-bed snack. I have had this treat and it is one of the most memorable potatoes I have ever eaten. While the children were at camp for a month, repairs would happen at the orphanage. Construction crews would take advantage of the good weather and nearly 18 hours of daylight. The highlights of orphanage life (which are few) for our girls were their summer breaks. Likewise Saint John’s School is going through an All-Star break. We are repairing, painting, and doing projects around the campus. The teachers are resting and preparing for an exciting school year. At the church, we are just past the half-way point from Epiphany to Christmas. Many folks from the church are going on vacation. The Marshalls are on vacation starting Monday the 22nd for an entire week at my sister-in-law’s cabin in the Sierras where we will be fishing, canoeing, hiking, resting and swimming. At a half-way point in the Israelites' journey to the Promised Land, Moses needed an All-Star break. He trekked up a mountain and sat with God for about a month. It was a turning point in his relationship with God, with his people, and God’s relationship with the Israelites and even us today. After taking his break, Moses walked back downhill carrying the Ten Commandments. I remember my summer breaks fondly – probably more than I remember being in school. Despite being in an orphanage situation, our girls remember their camp experience fondly. As baseball players take a break, I wonder if they will remember what they did with three days off after more than 80-some days of baseball they played prior to the break and another 80 some after. Although Moses didn’t write about it, I imagine that he remembered his time with God as a highlight of his life. I visualize him, after a tough day leading the people, retiring into his tent and remembering his walks with God, and then falling gently asleep. May you find yourself taking a summer All-Star break. Maybe you can even think about taking a mini-break right now by sitting back and remembering, like Moses, the times you were on summer break, - Fr. Marshall Maybe I spend too much time thinking about food. As Christi and I were driving away from San Marcos on our move to Imperial Beach, I said goodbye to the new Taco Bell near our old house and said, “Too bad I didn’t go there.” Christi replied, “Really??” I suppose of the things that one might lament during a move, a new Taco Bell should probably not be high on the list. Did you know Taco Bell just came out with a revolutionary new item called the Doritos Locos Taco, a taco with a Doritos Nacho Cheese shell! The DLT, as insiders call it, is a combination that took three years of work and was completed with a handshake agreement between the CEOs of Frito-Lay and Taco Bell. In its test market, one blogging fan drove 900 miles, from New York to Toledo, Ohio, just to get a taste of it. Since 2012, Taco Bell has sold 450 million DLT’s. This is such a big hit, Taco Bell built six dedicated manufacturing lines for the DLT, which employs around 600 employees. … just to make a taco shell. The DLT came about because of an anniversary – Taco Bell was turning fifty. For a company that targets 20-year olds, turning 50 is a big bummer. They wondered how they could stay competitive in a food market that rarely sees restaurants turn 20 – much less 50. Doritos was in the same boat. They were losing their edge with the coveted 20-something crowd. Voila the birth of the DLT. The Church will celebrate its anniversary on Sunday, December 1st this year. We’re turning one-thousand, nine-hundred eighty-one years old! (give or take a decade or so) And the Church is searching for relevance with the 20-something crowd, just like a 50-year old taco chain. I know a couple of things – the Church is going through a period of change but I have faith that God’s will is for the Church--the Body of Christ-- to live and thrive. In this century, the Church will find its Doritos Loco Taco. And, like the DLT, it will spread like wildfire; people might even drive 900 miles to get a taste. Unfortunately, change is not as simple as taking our bulletins and dusting them with nacho cheese flavoring. Unprecedented cooperation between Taco Bell and Frito-Lay made those companies relevant. I wonder with whom the 21st century Church will be engaged? Hospitals? Societies that benefit children? The Rotary Club? The San Diego Padres? John and Charles Wesley faced a similar situation with the Church during their lifetimes. Born in England in the early 1700’s, they found the 18th Century Church to be in a period of flux. Through rigorous preaching and music, they began a movement that has made a lasting impact on the Church. Many of our favorite hymns today were written by Charles Wesley. He noticed that the local pubs had more people than the churches on Sunday. In the bars, men and women sang popular songs. Charles took some of those popular tunes and wrote poetry about the magnificence and saving presence of God. As the story goes, when bar-goers stumbled home on Sunday morning, they passed by his church and heard a tune they could sing and found words that saved their souls. Charles found the DLT that transformed the Church and opened the doors of God’s saving grace for all. God knows what is coming in the next century and by God’s grace we are being ushered into the new life of the Church. May we have the courage of John and Charles Wesley and benefit from the example of the cooperation between Taco Bell and Frito-Lay in order to transform the Church, - Fr. Marshall |