“Faith Through Art”
Luke 24:13-35
Pastor Liz Miller
April 30, 2017
One of the things I love about social media is how it is impossible to predict what random idea will become a trend and what brilliant idea will be ignored and disappear before we even realize it existed. Through sharing and retweeting, ideas, articles, and events can surge in popularity – seemingly at random – until it is nearly impossible to escape knowing about them. For example, who could have known that two weeks ago millions of people would tune in to watch a giraffe named April give birth during a live broadcast online. Who could have predicted that before this week was over, Facebook users would be hooked on a variation of two truths and a lie that had us listing nine concerts we've attended and one we have not. If someone has figured out the formula to predict what will rise in popularity and what will fade into obscurity, I would like to meet them, because I am consistently surprised by what is made famous through social media.
A few years ago, there was a trend on social media that I particularly loved where folks were invited to create their faith statement in just six words. Perhaps more than any other social media trend, this one has stayed with me. Using only six words to describe a complex faith means that every word has to count. Some of the faith statements encompassed traditional Christian beliefs like: “Do justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly.” “She leads me to still waters.” “Jesus loves us this I know.” Others spoke of a forgiving God and a faith that heals: “Painfully human, yet loved by God.” “From broken-hearted to open-hearted.” “I'm a mess. God loves me.” And still others used their six words to capture that tension so many of us hold between belief and uncertainty: “Longing for community, doubting my doubt.” “I wish I had more answers.” My favorite was: “Are you kidding? Okay, I'm in.”
These mini faith statements came back to me as I looked at the painting before us by He Qi titled The Risen Lord. This painting shows us Christ resurrected, surrounded by the twelve disciples. Each of the four groups of the disciples is distinct from the others – if you have not seen this up close I encourage you to take a look at some point. So often we speak of the disciples as one unified group but this painting reminds us that each of them had different stories and experiences of and with Jesus. This is especially true in the Gospel stories of the resurrection, where Jesus appears at various points to small groups of disciples, two or three at a time, like on the road to Emmaus, resulting in many different resurrection stories and experiences to be shared between the group at large. I imagine that these experiences shaped the disciples in different ways, effecting what they did next and who they became in the coming months and years.
The way this painting depicts the diversity of the disciples has captured my imagination. It inspired me to write a six word faith statement for each of the four groups of the disciples, capturing their different resurrection experiences.
The first group of disciples in the painting is the lower left corner. They come first because they were the first to see Jesus at the empty tomb. These are the women disciples. I imagine their faith statement reads, “No one believes what we saw.” To me, it is not a coincidence that the women are the first to see and understand that Jesus has been resurrected. Central to Jesus' ministry was turning upside down our notion of who is included and valued in the Kingdom of God, and that often focused on the importance and inclusion of women. It is also not a coincidence that when the male disciples hear of what the women saw at Jesus' tomb, they doubted them. On the road to Emmaus, the male disciples recount, “Some women went to the tomb and did not find his body. They told us they had a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of us menfolk went to check it out for ourselves and even though the tomb was as they described, wedidn't see angels or Jesus.”
The dismissiveness and doubts of the male disciples are important to note because let's be honest: not a whole lot has changed when it comes to men with authority trusting women's experiences without witnessing it firsthand for themselves. Even in this resurrection story the women are faced with the reality that even though Jesus may have valued them, they struggled to be taken seriously by their fellow disciples. I imagine that as they went into villages and communities sharing their stories, they were met with similar doubts and distrust, forcing them to hold fast to their truth, no matter obstacles or discrimination they were faced with.
The second group of disciples in the upper left corner look like the most confused group of disciples. They are looking up and down and pointing in different directions. For this group, I imagine their faith statement reads, “We thought Jesus was a ghost!” In the subsequent verses of Luke, Jesus appears to more disciples and says, “Peace be with you.” They recognize Jesus for who he is, but they are so surprised that their surprise turns into fear and they believe they must be seeing a ghost! Even after Jesus tries to calm them and shows them his hands and feet, they still don't quite believe what their eyes are showing them. For me, these are the disciples that are marked by their fear instead of their faith. They are our reminder that when we let fear be our guide instead of faith, we miss out on important moments. If Jesus did not have to take so much time demonstrating to them that he was not a ghost or something to be feared, I wonder what else he would have told them. I wonder what else they would have learned. I wonder how else their lives might have been transformed if they had leaned into their faith of instead of recoiling in fear.
The third group of disciples, the ones in this top right corner, is the group that is huddled close together. They don't look confused so much as they look distrustful. They don't look like they are eager to go out and follow Jesus' instructions. They don't look like they are moving at all. One of the three almost looks as if his arms are crossed as if to say, “I don't know if I buy what you're selling, Jesus.” These are the cynical disciples. Maybe they believe what they are seeing. Maybe they have been listening to what Jesus has been saying about feeding the hungry and caring for the poor, but these disciples have other concerns that are more pressing.
For these disciples, who turn inward towards each other, I imagine their faith statement might read, “We must take care of ourselves.” I have compassion for this group of disciples because it is a struggle I share. How much am I supposed to give to others and what can I keep to myself? What is the balance between restoring our broken world and restoring ones broken spirit? I often think that Jesus told us to love our neighbors and to care for others because he knew that we were human – we came equipped with a strong instinct for protecting and caring for ourselves and our own families. Where we needed the nudge was in reaching outward. These three disciples are the inward facing ones, wanting to take care of themselves first and foremost, not because this is a judgement of them, but because that is a part of being human. They are the mirror which we can hold up to ourselves, our reminder to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.
The final group of disciples, the ones in the lower right corner, is the ones, along with the women disciples, who understand what they are called to do once they witness the resurrection. They look like they are moving forward as a unified group – they are almost marching off the page, their arms swinging in fierce determination. One of them is carrying a fishing net, reminiscent of an earlier profession and of their charge to be fishers of men, women, and every gender. They journeyed with Jesus. They mourned his death. They witnessed his resurrection as Christ. And so, their faith statement is, “Go out and tell the story.” I imagine these are the disciples who went to villages and spread the Good News of Jesus' life and resurrection. They talked and talked about their experiences listening at the feet of Jesus and watching him make miracles. They brought hope to the hopeless, love to outcasts, and joy to those who grieve. Their story is just beginning, because for them being a disciple and follower of Jesus will carry them long past the Easter season. “Go out and tell the story” they will remind themselves, building a community of followers that will grow and transform over time, passing the stories of Jesus from generation to generation.
When an artist creates a painting, they hope to convey certain meaning through the images, colors, and symbols they use. But when they share that painting with the world, it becomes a conversation, inviting us in – inviting us to allow the painting to speak to us in our own ways. For me, Qi's painting tells me the story of discipleship. Not of the early days as Jesus began his ministry, but discipleship in the age of resurrection. This painting speaks to me of faith that is belittled by others, is fearful, is hesitant, and is bold. The stories of these original twelve disciples, whether they are in this painting, sitting by the empty tomb, walking down the road to Emmaus, or breaking bread with Christ, remind me the of the complexity of our own faith and our diverse expressions of discipleship. These twelve remind me that there is no one right way to be a disciple, but that we are all seeking to love God and love our neighbor as best as we can. I have imagined six word faith statements for each these different disciples, but in doing so I am left wondering: what six words might form your own faith statement of discipleship?
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