May 13, 2007 Tree of Grace

John 5:1-9

After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

2 Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. 3In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralysed. 5One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’ 7The sick man answered him, ‘Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.’ 8Jesus said to him, ‘Stand up, take your mat and walk.’ 9At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.

Now that day was a sabbath. 10So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, ‘It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.’ 11But he answered them, ‘The man who made me well said to me, “Take up your mat and walk.” ’ 12They asked him, ‘Who is the man who said to you, “Take it up and walk”?’ 13Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared in the crowd that was there. 14Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, ‘See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you.’ 15The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the sabbath. 17But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father is still working, and I also am working.’ 18For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the sabbath, but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God.

This week we talked about grace. The kind of grace that God extends to humankind without thinking of who is deserving, who is grateful, or even who is faithful. In this story, the sick man does not ask for grace, does not recognize Christ for who he is, and does not even thank Jesus for healing him. The man even ratted Jesus out to the fellows at the Temple. However, grace is given. But how are we to do likewise? One small thing is to extend grace where it has not been extended. This piece, along with a few letters, will be sent to the Cho family, who are left heart-broken by the loss of a son and the actions of that son. God grant us thy grace, that we may grant it to others.

By the way, as we gathered the letters, we made sure that people write something only if they were comfortable with it. By no means is something as controversial as this for everyone, which is why it is good that there are so many different people in the world.

May 6, 2007 Loving one another

John 13:31-35

31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. ³²If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. ³³Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, “Where I am going, you cannot come.” ³⁴I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. ³⁵By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’

Jesus tells us to love one another- this is a very large and difficult command. We must practice, we must work at it, even after we fail. As an excercise in this new way to interact with others, we can get to know those 'others.' As we get to know different people, we just might be more able to love those we do not know. On the other side of the same coin, we must learn to love ourselves as well. For how can we love anyone else if we don't love ourselves. Many times, I find this one to be harder than loving others. But I must get to know myself, must learn to love myself, so that I am able to love others. The art for this week includes the record of the handprints of everyone in the church. These will be collected and made into a quilt which will be added to as we grow.

April 29, 2007 Hand of God

Nothing, No one will snatch us from the Hand of God. Thanks be to God. John 10:22-30

22 At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, ²³and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. ²⁴So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.’ ²⁵Jesus answered, ‘I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; ²⁶but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. ²⁷My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. ³⁰The Father and I are one.’

This text is a particularly hard one. With so many important issues of Jesus' identity, Jesus' relation to God the Father, the disbelief of those standing in front of Jesus' face, the place of believers, the care Jesus takes when shepherding his flock, these things are huge! However, the image that stuck out to me was the image of God's hand and how we will never be snatched out of his hand. The community of God has hands, hands from which we will also never be snatched. I wanted to record those hands, so that we may all see how many hands are holding us up.

April 22, 2007 Fish

Just when I think my efforts have come to nothing, my Lord takes those efforts and brings about more good than I ever thought possible. Thanks be to God!

John 21:1-19 After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. ²Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. ³Simon Peter said to them, ‘I am going fishing.’ They said to him, ‘We will go with you.’ They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

4 Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. ⁵Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ ⁶He said to them, ‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. ⁷That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the lake. ⁸But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.

9 When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. ¹⁰Jesus said to them, ‘Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.’ ¹¹So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. ¹²Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ because they knew it was the Lord. ¹³Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. ¹⁴This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’ ¹⁶A second time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’ ¹⁷He said to him the third time, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep. ¹⁸Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.’ ¹⁹(He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, ‘Follow me.’

For this week's text, I decided to take hold of the fairly random, yet very specific, mention of 153 fish. I ended up folding 153 origami fish, with much help from my family, and arranging them in a fishing net. This particular text is a little slice of life that is very vivid. It is almost like we are invited to look on as the events unfold. As with every other text, there are many different ways to look at this story, but for this particular time, and thinking personally, God's blessings as far as bringing fruit from my efforts stuck out this time around.

April 15, 2007 Paper Lantern

John 20.19-31

19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ ²⁰After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ ²²When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’

24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’

26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ ²⁷Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ ²⁸Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ ²⁹Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’

30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. ³¹But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. Usually with this text the doubt of Thomas is highlighted. However, I decided to go with the ironic scene where the remaining disciples continually lock themselves away from the world out of fear even after Jesus visits them. As if from nowhere, Jesus appears to impart peace. In this installation, I used foam board and tissue paper, carving out three faces on each wall. The candle in the center represents the prescence of Christ among the disciples even when they have closed themselves away. This is after Judas' betrayal and death and Matthias has not quite joined the disciples yet, but we know he's coming. This project is interesting in that different people see different things. Some may see branches and leaves, others may see faces, some may just see the shapes. Whatever you see, this work imparts a sense of peace.

April 8, 2007 Easter Star of Regeneration

Luke 24.1-12 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. ²They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³but when they went in, they did not find the body. ⁴While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. ⁵The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. ⁶Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, ⁷that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’ ⁸Then they remembered his words, ⁹and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. ¹⁰Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. ¹¹But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. ¹²But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

Easter is a time of celebration for the regeneration of life. This eight-pointed star, one square on edge over another square, is a symbol used to represent regeneration in many cultures. This star is also connected to the Star of Bethlehem, which also has eight points. So the relation between Easter and Christ’s birth is strengthened. One cannot have one without the other, and the two working together regenerates humanity and all creation.

April 1, 2007 Processional

Philippians 2:5-11 ⁵Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, ⁶who, though he was in the form of God, id not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, ⁷but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, ⁸ he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.

⁹Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

¹¹and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

One of my favorite icons is for this week, Palm Sunday. It is such a great scene because of the humanity of each of the characters. People are climbing up trees for a better view, people are laying down their palm branches and coats. But then you look closer and the scene is full of motion as well. One fellow is climbing up the tree and my favorite fellow is wriggling out of his coat to lay down before Jesus and the donkey. Using this icon as inspiration, I put together my own version in which I used ink and bamboo brushes. The congregation at our church loves to figure things out and I love to simplify things, so we work well together. This week’s piece is one that is left up to the viewer as to what they see, but my inspiration came from the scene of the Processional.