St. Luke Lenten Bible Study 2014

St. Luke Lenten Bible Study~~2014

Illustrated by

The St. Luke Stained Glass Windows

Written by Cynthia Cox Garrard

Introduction

The windows were designed for the St. Luke sanctuary and chapel and executed by Henry Lee Willet of Willet Studios (now Willet Hauser, the largest stained glass studio in North America) in Philadelphia. Willet windows were created for many of the major churches and cathedrals in the United States including the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. and other prominent places of worship throughout the country.

They were placed in the sanctuary that was erected after the fire of Mother’s Day, 1942, which totally destroyed the buildings of St. Luke Methodist Episcopal Church, South, erected in 1897. The sanctuary that burned was beloved by its congregants, and the members in St. Luke who were alive then vividly recall its windows as being jewel-like in color. The sanctuary, constructed during the Victorian period, was full of dark wood and set off the rich brilliance of the windows in a striking way.

The new sanctuary was “modern”—although built in a traditional Georgian style—and as such the sanctuary was conceived as being light and airy rather than somber and dark. The windows were much less formal and freer in style. Naturally, this engendered some debate. It may be hard for us to remember that they were cutting-edge 60 years ago!

Turner Chapel was built as part of an expansion of the St. Luke physical plant in the early 1960s and dedicated in 1962. Its traditional Georgian style complements the sanctuary, although the colors of the windows are deeper and more jewel-like. The windows on the sides of the chapel depict several psalms; only the chancel window, which faces west, depicts Christ.

The sanctuary windows are constructed so that as you enter the nave of the sanctuary from the narthex (the entrance facing Second Avenue), and look counter-clockwise, you can follow a history of the church from the creation of the world to the birth of the Methodist Church.

We will study the windows by asking what is the central question of faith that the window seeks to answer, then seek those answers in Scripture. Each week, there will be a summary of the teaching of the window, Scripture readings for each day, and a section for prayer requests. The daily Scripture readings incorporate readings from the Revised Common Lectionary and from Rueben Job’s When You Pray. Scriptural quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version (the Bible that is in the pews in the sanctuary).

The St. Luke Sanctuary Windows

Week of March 2: Creation and Covenant: Is the Universe for us or against us?

The creation story is depicted in the top third of the first window on your right as you enter the sanctuary nave from Second Avenue. It illustrates scenes from both the creation stories found in Genesis.[1] The first one[2] divides God’s creative work into periods called “days.”[3] That story can be seen in the small panels depicting the sun, moon, water, planets, the sea creatures, and living plants. This first story records God’s creation of mortals as being the ultimate act of creation, occurring on the last (sixth) day.[4]

This sets the stage for the central question posed by this window: Is the Universe for us or against us?[5] The book of Genesis answers with a resounding “YES!” We are encouraged to look at the creation stories not as stories about what was made for us, but as stories about what we were made for! And we answer the question not through a celestial object lesson but through our obedience. Any parent or teacher will tell you that obedience is to be desired before repentance. Any pastor will tell you the same thing.

Genesis begins a narrative trajectory that will take us all the way to Revelation. The universe is “for” us because God is for us—God favors humans. We see this in the passage: God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.[6] No higher or more puzzling compliment could be paid to mortals.

Curiously, God seems to refer to the Divine Being in the plural (“let us create in our image”). Some people interpret this as evidence of the Trinity being present at the creation,[7] although that theology is not supported in the Hebrew Bible. Others believe that this refers to the multiple beings that inhabit God’s heavenly court (angels, for example). These are all beings created by God; they are not other gods. The heavenly host are represented in the window by the heads of angels (identifiable because of their wings!) near the top of the window. God is represented a la Michelangelos’s The Creation of Adam as an older Western European man with a big beard.

The red halo or nimbus around the head of God in the window is the traditional representation in visual art of divinity. The symbol is based upon the naturally occurring phenomenon caused by water vapor in the air as we look at sources of light. As light is a traditional symbol for God, so also does the halo represent divinity. The halos for God the Father, the Son, and the Dove that represents the Holy Spirit will be divided into three parts representing the Trinity (the yellow aspect of the halo).

The second story of creation[8] is the more folksy tale of the creation of the man, who is called ’adam[9] and the woman, who doesn’t actually get the name Chava, or “Eve” until Genesis 3. God makes the first covenant with ’adam when God commands them “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”[10]

The word ’adam forms a nice word play on the Hebrew word for ground or earth (’adamah), blood (dam), and likeness (damut). Genesis 2.25 tells us that “the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.” This is a reminder of the innocence that existed before they chose to sin, the innocence that still exists in little children.[11] However, temptation follows in the form of the serpent, seen winding at Adam’s feet, with the globe in shadow above it, representing the fact that it was mortal choice that brought sin into the world.

Note that the serpent is not identified in Genesis as Satan. Instead, the serpent acts in the traditional role it plays in primitive folklore as the bearer of wisdom—here, wisdom that the people have been expressly forbidden from seeking. The serpent plays a similar role in American folklore.[12] There is an element of sexual knowledge or coming of age also associated with the snake.

As you read the Bible, a particular form of narrative to keep an eye out for is the rabbinic argument. Judaism asserts that truth can be more closely approximated if one is willing to wrestle with it intellectually. Indeed, Gilla Treibich, a friend to many in St. Luke who lives in Jerusalem, tells us that where you find three Jews you will find five opinions. So the form of rabbinic argument is followed frequently in the narrative as a way of shaving away at the truth until one reaches the core. Other examples can be found in Abraham’s argument with God about the number of virtuous people in Sodom and Gomorrah and in Jesus’ encounter with Satan at the beginning of his ministry as well as in Jesus’ many encounters with the Pharisees. The rabbinic argument unfolds like a courtroom debate. Here, the serpent acts in the role of prosecutor: “Did God say in fact say this?”

The center of this panel portrays Adam and Eve after they have sinned. How do we know this? Because they are modestly clothed in leaves! Genesis 3.7 notes that after the man and the woman ate of the fruit of the forbidden tree, then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.[13]

The lion and lamb within the center panel are a reminder that mortals were created in paradise, though those particular animals are not paired in scripture. The image is inspired by Isaiah 11.2-12, a picture of the paradise that shall be restored when all of God’s people live in righteousness: “The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.”

According to Genesis 1.30, God created all the animals as herbivores on the sixth day: “And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.” The animals we know as carnivores don’t become meat-eaters until after Adam and Eve are cast out of the garden as the result of their sin.[14] Humans don’t eat meat until the covenant of Noah.[15]

The windows skip over the whole Noah story and the tower of Babel[16] and focus on Abraham in the middle panel of the first window. Abraham was called by God to leave his home in Ur[17] and go to a “Promised Land” where God would make of him a great nation. This is ironic since (a) Abram (as he is first known) is pretty old and (b) Sarai, his wife, is barren, meaning that they have no children.

Nevertheless, Abram and Sarai obey God and head toward Canaan. They experience many trials and tribulations, including a sojourn in Egypt, the kidnapping of Abram’s nephew Lot, and an encounter with the mystical King Melchizidek of Salem[18] in which Abram institutes the tithe. Abram and Sarai seem to get tired of waiting around for God to fulfill God’s part of the covenant. Sarai complains to Abram: “‘You see that the Lord has prevented me[19] from bearing children; go in to my slave-girl; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.’ And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.” The slave girl is Hagar, an Egyptian girl, depicted to the left of Abram in the window. Sarai develops her own plan rather than sticking to God’s plan.[20] In a shocking turn of events, Hagar becomes uppity after she conceives a child (primitive people didn’t understand the man’s role in conception).

In another surprise, Sarai blames Abram: “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my slave-girl to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!” 6But Abram said to Sarai, “Your slave-girl is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she ran away from her.[21] This reminds us of Adam’s heroic response to God when God asked him what he had done after eating the fruit: “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.”[22]

God covenants with Hagar that her child will also father a great nation, however, “Now you have conceived and shall bear a son; you shall call him Ishmael, for the Lord has given heed to your affliction. 12He shall be a wild ass of a man, with his hand against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him; and he shall live at odds with all his kin.”[23] Islam traces its lineage to Ishmael, the “firstborn” son of Abram.

After this disappointing start to the story, God renews the covenant with Abram (“exalted ancestor”) and changes Abram’s name to Abraham (“ancestor of a multitude”). Sarai’s name is changed to Sarah (princess). God also reminds Abraham of the promise of countless descendants. Sarah hears this conversation from behind the tent flap where she’s hidden herself,[24] “So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?”[25] Sarah and Abraham are promised a son, Isaac (meaning “laughter”), who is born in their old age.

Christians generally refer to this story as the Sacrifice of Isaac, and early Christian thinkers considered it to prefigure the sacrifice of Jesus. This analogy doesn’t quite hold since Isaac didn’t die and Jesus did. At any rate, the tortuous level of rabbinic debate and our own visceral responses to this story[26] are some indication as to why this is such a powerful image. It is understood to be God’s closing of the book on child sacrifice in the Bible and the definitive turning away of Jewish monotheism from that horrific act. The window answers the question of “Is the Universe for us?” with a bold YES. God acts to keep the covenant made with Abraham while at the same time strengthening Abraham’s resolve.

The bottom panel focuses on Moses receiving the Ten Commandments from God on Mt. Sinai.[27] When we talk about the Ten Commandments, it is worthwhile to note that the Jewish understanding of what comprises the Decalogue, or Ten Words, is slightly different from the Christian understanding.[28]

The window frames the Exodus event beautifully. In the small panel to the left (next page), Moses encounters the great “I AM” in the burning bush and responds to the call into God’s service.[29] You remember that God waited until Moses was receptive and obedient before revealing God’s name to Moses. Moses’ attitude before God is querulous and almost cowardly; but he is transformed by this event into a tiger so that when he faces Pharaoh he is possessed by God’s vision of freedom for God’s people. Can you think of another character in the Bible who starts life as coward and ends as a hero? Perhaps a better question is: can you think of a hero in the Bible who does not start as a coward?

In the small panel in the upper right, Moses and Aaron turn their staves into serpents before Pharaoh. This miracle was inadequate to convince Pharaoh to release the Hebrews—Pharaoh was not “receptive and obedient.” The formative event of the Jewish religion is what happens after what is pictured here and before what is pictured in the center frame—the event from which the second book in the Bible takes its name: Exodus.