This Week's Sermons

Sermons for the Month
The Church's Greatest Art Treasures
DATE: May 31, 1998
SERVICE: Pentecost
TEXT: Romans 8:14-17

"To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN

In every family, at least one child becomes designated the "heir apparent" to the heirlooms, the treasures of the family. This child is not necessarily the eldest, or the brightest or the most successful. Yet there is something about that child that speaks to the parents and others that he or she is the one most likely to carry on the hopes and dreams of that family's tradition. She or he becomes the recipient of the genealogy, the history, the heirlooms of the family. From the moment the "heir apparent" is apparent, that child is subtly shaped and groomed to step into the shoes that have already been worn by previous generations.
If the "heir apparent" is lost, the family heirlooms and treasures often are lost as well. Without an heir, there is no one to care for the treasures, the legacy. For example, Alexander the Great had tremendous vision, untouchable military might and enough creative energy to stamp his image on all civilization in the Near East. But he had no heir apparent. The young empire died with its young ruler.
This morning, Pentecost Sunday, we celebrate first God's foresight when he designated Jesus' "heir apparent," to be the Holy Spirit. The colors are red; the flames of passion are lit. The Holy Spirit Comes. At the same time, Pentecost is also about becoming God's heirs, jointly with the Holy Spirit, inspirited expressions of God's handiwork called to protect and keep the treasures of the kingdom bequeathed to us that we might pass them on to the next generation. This morning we celebrate God's creative energy once again being poured out and passed on to us, transforming us and redeeming us once again this time through the Holy Spirit.
The question Pentecost lays before us this morning is not "What kind of heir is the Holy Spirit?" That we know. But rather "What kind of heirs are we?" And "What are the treasures we are to care for as bequests to our children?"
First, where would you go to see the church's greatest heirlooms, the world's greatest treasures? The church itself has bequeathed to succeeding generations a rich tradition of heirlooms. To see architectural treasures you might go to St. Peter's in Rome, St. Paul's in London, Notre Dame in Paris, and the National Cathedral in Washington. Museums might be on your list as well: the Louvre in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Washington, even the Cleveland Museum of Art. Many of you were there recently to see the traveling "Treasures of the Vatican."
In Europe, one of your first stops might be Florence, Italy where some of the greatest works of art in the history of humanity are on display. This painting, the Adoration of the Child, by 17th century Dutch painter Gerard von Honthorst is seen in many art books. Von Honthorst used the Italian style but wanted to infuse the rather stylized paintings of his day with a sense of realism. He showed real people in his paintings, modeled on lower-class figures whose flesh, muscles and physical irregularities were caught by the artist's brush, as if by a camera. At the same time, Von Honthorst's works emphasize an intimacy and sweetness of tone. Most all of his paintings were set at night, or by candlelight. His was the mastery of shadow and light.
Another place to perhaps discover the church's heirlooms is the Prado, Madrid, Spain. I particularly like this 15th century painting by Flemish artist, Rogier Van Der Weyden. These faces are from his famous, Jesus' Descent from the Cross. He was a master of the expressive power of human pathos. Mary of Hungry bought this painting when she was serving as regent of the Netherlands and sent it to Spain for her brother, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, the same emperor who condemned Martin Luther to burn at the stake.
But are these really the greatest heirlooms in the history of the Christian church? Even as beautiful as they are, are these what Jesus would consider the greatest art treasures of the church? On the contrary, Pentecost Sunday proclaims that if you want to see the church's greatest art treasures, GO HOME. STAY HOME. Look all around you. Open your eyes to the acts of service, the acts of grace, the acts of compassion going on all around you by heirs of Christ. Didn't Jesus himself say: "I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in; I needed clothes, and you clothed me"? God's greatest treasures are not in England, Spain, or even the Louvre in Paris the richest of museums. They are here.
While God's Spirit may have inspired Michelangelo, Rembrandt and Van der Weyden, we know for certain that God also sent his Holy Spirit to be born in all of us. God sent Jesus to be born in you. In the words of onetime Methodist, Vincent van Gogh, "Christ is more of an artist than the artists; he works in the living spirit and the living flesh; he makes men instead of statues."
God is calling this church to be one of his greatest art treasures. God is calling all of us to be among his greatest art treasures. In the words of Ephesians 2:10, "For you are God's workmanship" (NIV). In other words, "You are God's masterpiece." Or as some translations render it, "You are God's poem" and others, "You are God's handiwork," which really means, "You are God's artwork."
Let me introduce you to some of this church's greatest heirlooms, its greatest art treasures.
1) Our Confirmands had their final over the Lord's Prayer this past Wednesday evening. Among the various questions was this essay question, "How would you answer someone who says, "Prayer is a waste of time since there is no God anyway!" Here are just some of their answers.
"I believe that there is a God and even if there isn't prayer still calms me down, helps me think clearer; so for me prayer is not a waste of time. You should try to really pray sometime and see if it helps you too."
"I would tell that person that 1st prayer is not a waste of time. And 2nd that there is a God and he is very active in our lives. What he wants most is our love, praise and faith. God loves us very much and he worries so much about us everyday. If God isn't here, where did you come from? What else could create such a world? All you have to do is accept Jesus as your one and only savior."
"I would say [to that person] prayer is not a waste of time! I believe in God and that is your opinion. Anyway even though you do not believe I believe that we all will be saved and that Jesus died on the cross for us. So even though we believe different things, I'm not saying I'm right and your wrong. I'm just saying that is what I believe."
"First of all there is a God. Prayer is asking him for forgiveness, help or anything. Don't just blabber on though. Actually say something! God deserves to be recognized."
"If someone said that to me I would ask them if they have ever heard the story of creation. If they haven't I would tell it to them and see if it changed their mind. If it didn't, I would ask them why they believed that and see if I could counter their opinion."
"In reality, I would say nothing. We all go through a period of atheism/agnosticism, and that is perfectly healthy, normal, and should not be a process that is quenched. This period of doubting, when ended, strengthens our beliefs much further. And allows us to respect. Christianity as a religion of our own, not a force-fed deception, as one may feel if no questions of God is accepted. In time, we al should come around to see the truth in the word, but this revelation can only actually come about if one didn't believe for some period."
"If that's the way they think fine, but prayer I think is a good way to talk to God. Many people have their own opinions. There are many people out there that don't believe in God. They're not very smart people but still. I believe in prayer and God and always will!"
2) Let me introduce you to yet another of the church's greatest art treasures. His name is Reytutetsway Moffat Mahlangu. When he visited our congregation for two weeks in 1996, he was a parish pastor in a small rural town in the northern Transvaal of South Africa. Newly married and very homesick, he was the first black South African pastor from our companion synod to come to Ohio. He didn't do much talking to us but he absorbed much while he was here. Today he is the executive secretary of the Northern Diocese, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa. In his new position, he is instigating far reaching changes in that church, changes that will have significant implications for the denomination. One of those changes is the right of congregations to call their own pastors. That might not sound too radical to us who have been used to this process for over a hundred years, but in the South African church it is dissolving a board, introducing a new hymnal and informing someone they must tithe if they want to join the church all at once. Where did he learn such radicalism? The answer is here at Faith Lutheran Church. You have beome a bunch of radical instigators. He is trying to put the responsibility for the mission of Jesus Christ into the hands of the people most responsible, persons with a passion for sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. As sure as he was standing here October, 1996, the future of the Lutheran Church in South Africa will depend on such changes. He is doing it because out of passion, a passion that is calling him to not only guard the treasure that is the church, but is also to be a treasure of the church.
3) Let me introduce you to a treasure of our church, Amy Franks. Amy joined our congregation just this spring. I share her story with her permission. Amy was raised in a home where neither family member shared a faith in Jesus Christ. Amy grew up not knowing even the most basic stories of the Bible. (By the way, I would want to tell you that Amy is not alone. In fact, the majority of those who live around us are biblically illiterate.) But rather than tell you about it, let me share with you a letter she wrote to me April 6, 1998 titled "The Little Things: Thoughts after Palm Sunday's Sermon."
"As a child, I was called "slowpoke," as a teen, "dreamer," and now, I know that I just couldn't help but notice the beauty of little things all around me. Spring was always my favorite season, with the smell of mud thawing in a warm March wind, or of a daffodil, its delicate and fresh scent a prelude to the burst of flowers and grasses. Soft night rains, spring peepers in the pond, glittering stars, patterned stones in a stream, rainbows in the dewdrops on a spider's web shining in the early light of a morning in May, all left me awed. I grew up gleeful, in a state of bliss and gratitude for nature all around me. Although raised in an atheist home, my belief in God and Jesus was unshakeable. Now that I have joined Faith and there are words and names for my beliefs, I rejoice all the more that, although minute in the scheme of god's grand and complex universe, I, too, can add my small but significant touch of color to His garden. With thanks, Amy Franks."
It has become a snide expression to say of someone, "He's quite a piece of work." But God says precisely that of you and of me. As the Pentecost Spirit of God rests upon us, we are indeed a piece of work, God's work. You, me and those around us, are works in progress that God is creating for his glory. Let us recognize the genius of the Holy Spirit in each of us and be open to the brush strokes of the Spirit in our daily lives.
AMEN