There are some moments of life that are forever engraved on our hearts and in our memories. Somehow a place or a person or a smell or an atmosphere has been captured and recreated in our heads in a way that we can visit again and again. That at least is my experience. There are certain artists who in their handling of light and colour convey a sense of eternity, a moment in time captured forever in paint, and Vermeer is the master of this art. ‘The Little street’ c1657 – 1661 is a time capsule in which Vermeer has distilled the essence of life in Delft. In our minds, we can almost walk into the scene and peer into the house. In fact, that is what Vermeer was doing, as it is thought that the house depicted was opposite his own, and he is painting from his studio on the top floor. It reminds me of a Chilean artist who captures the street life of Valparaiso in bold woodcuts. They too recreate a moment of time but seem to contain eternity at their core. At the bottom of each woodcut in this series he writes ‘Como si la vida fuera a durar para siempre’ - as if life were to last forever. George Herbert, 1658 – 1633, an Anglican clergyman, talks about glimpsing ‘High heaven …through a stable door… and calls me through the voices of the poor. Herbert is speaking of the humble God we know in Jesus Christ, a God whose glory is hidden in the ordinary and everyday. Vermeer captures the same quality of ‘Heaven in ordinary’ a sense of the eternal in an earthly home. ‘The Little street’ is an elegy for a moment which—unless Vermeer had captured it—would have slipped away forever: the women busy with their chores, the children entranced by their game, the clouds filtering the sunlight, two doors and one window open, and air wafting through the house. It also reminds me of another George Herbert poem, ‘the elixir’ which we sing in Church as ‘Teach me, my Lord and King’. It has that memorable line: ‘A servant with this clause makes drudgery divine: Who sweeps a room as for Thy laws, makes that and th’ action fine’. The drudgery of the housework that we see the two women engaged in is transformed into a sacred moment. The ‘Little Street’ captures quiet, contemplative moments of a day, and although there is no religious imagery we too are quietened and calmed as if in meditation or even worship. You may well ask what on earth has this to do with the wedding at Cana? The story is a familiar one and has even become a byword for turning the ordinary, water, into something special, wine, but there is a disturbing episode in the story that never fails to make me stop and try to imagine what is going on. Whatever may have been the cause of the shortage of wine, Mary the mother of Jesus feels responsible and goes to Jesus with a plea for help. This gives rise to a strange exchange between them. Jesus answers her with a rebuke! “Woman, why do you involve me?”... “My time has not yet come” John 1:4 Jesus, who Mary knows can help, wants to remain in the shadows rather than perform a miracle that would draw attention to himself. “This is not the time” he says to reveal who he is. That time will come, a day when the world will see what the glory of God looks like but it is not now. Silence: When God hides and we confront this silence we must first remember that Jesus himself came up against the silence of God, his Father. In the garden of Gethsemane, he prayed: “If it is Thy will let this cup pass from me”. Luke 22: 42. At the centre of our Christian lives, we will discover the silence of God, but the silence is not a rebuke but an answer. The response of Jesus in the Garden was: “Not my will, but yours be done” Luke 22: 42. Prayer: This was also the response of Mary. Mary gives us the perfect model for our prayers. In response to the apparent refusal of Jesus, she teaches us what it means to trust in God ‘His mother said to the servants “do whatever he tells you” John 2: 5. There will be many times in our lives when we are asked to trust God in the silence. Glory: So what was God doing on this occasion? The answer comes right at the end of the story. ‘This was the first of his miraculous signs ... He thus revealed his glory.’ John 2: 11. Jesus reveals himself now, though in a hidden way, through the ordinary stuff of life. Wine at a wedding becomes a sign of God’s Kingdom transforming the ordinary into the Eternal. The moment when all seemed lost, as at the Wedding in Cana, is in fact the moment when God reveals His Glory. The first of Jesus' miracles points to the Cross, the ultimate disaster when all really did seem lost. The Cross experience lies at the centre of our Christian experience. It is usually in times and places like loss or disaster that we often find God opening our eyes. It is often in the humble and ordinary that God’s glory is revealed. The Best: Mary’s prayer is answered, but not in the way she expected. That is usually true of every experience of God, revealed in the unexpected places and people we meet each day. The silence of God takes us to that place where we like Mary and the disciples learn to wait on Jesus to see what he will do. Rev. Simon Brignall We pray today for those preparing for an operation and those recovering from one. Prayer for Ukraine God of peace and justice we pray for the people of Ukraine today, and the laying down of weapons. we pray for all those who fear for tomorrow, that your spirit of comfort would draw near to them. We pray for those with power over war and peace, for wisdom, discernment, and compassion to guide their decisions Above all, we pray for all your precious children at risk and in fear, That you would hold and protect them. We pray in the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Amen -- Best wishes Rev Simon Brignall I am contactable from Thursday to Sunday.
Our gospel reading this week shines more light on the experience of John the Baptist as he comes face to face with the cousin he did not know!“I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptising with water was that he might be revealed” John 1:31The gospel writer John, as always has a way of getting inside the head of his characters so that we not only see what they see but see what they did not see. Here he reveals to us what is only visible through the eyes of faith. ‘The Lamb of God’Think for a moment of something we believe to be true – that the earth rotates, but we cannot see it unless we have the advantage of looking at the earth from space! The French scientist Foucault demonstrated this in a simple experiment in 1851. He hung a huge pendulum from the roof of the Pantheon in Paris. Underneath he placed a clock face. As the pendulum swung from side to side from its great height the plane of its swing moved across the face of the clock at the rate of 11 degrees each hour. The experiment made the rotation of the earth visible to all. It has been reproduced in the Science museum in London if you want to see it for yourself!The artist Cézanne was arguably the first to explore the way we see. Traditionally artists portrayed their subjects from a fixed angle as if taken from a camera, but this is not the way our eyes work.In Still Life with Fruit Dish (1879-80), the rim of the water-filled glass is shown in a distorted perspective, the background wallpaper appears to be in front of the fruit dish, and the white tablecloth feels like it is suspended in space and not draped realistically over the table's edge. Cézanne is showing us that he doesn't want to see the scene from one consistent angle, but has embraced a roving gaze, fixating on each element at a time, so that when pieced together we can see the inconsistencies.In doing so he changed the traditional notion of the eye as a passive 'camera' and replaced it with the idea of perception as fallible, mobile, time-based, and always personal. As we discover how the eye interacts with human consciousness Cézanne's probing art makes sense. The truth, the way we really see, has to be revealed. John tells us that he set up a demonstration so that the world might see the ‘Lamb of God’. “I came baptising that with water ... that he might be revealed” John 1: 31The figure of the Messiah had been known for centuries through the prophetic witness of the Old Testament, but who was this figure and how would we know him when he came? The one who would combine justice with mercy, kingly authority with gentle love, a mighty Saviour, and a suffering servant?John’s baptism revealed all. As Jesus identified himself with sinful humanity by submitting to John’s baptism, God sends down on him His Spirit as a sign of his true Sonship. The one who is made sin for all, John proclaims, is also the one who raises us to Sonship with God by his Spirit.Scientists and artists through the ages have changed the way we see the world and this has led to a profound change in the way we live in the world.The dramatic impact of John the Baptist's proclamation 'Look, here is the Lamb of God' is made immediately apparent as Andrew who witnesses this scene turns to Jesus. ‘What are you looking for?’, Jesus asks. The beginning of faith is always a search for truth, an exploration of the way we see and make sense of the world. The invitation of Jesus is significant ‘Come and see’, Andrew and his brother Peter begin a journey of exploration which will change the way they see and the way they live.Rev. Simon Brignall We hold in our prayers those who are experiencing ill health, those awaiting operations, and those recovering at home. Prayer for UkraineGod of peace and justicewe pray for the people of Ukraine today,and the laying down of weapons.we pray for all those who fear for tomorrow,that your spirit of comfort would draw near to them.We pray for those with power over war and peace,for wisdom, discernment, and compassion to guide their decisionsAbove all, we pray for all your precious children at risk and in fear,That you would hold and protect them.We pray in the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Amen
“The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there”, wrote L.P Hartley in his 1953 novel “The Go- Between'. Whether we are reading scripture or looking at paintings from the past we will need the same skills as an anthropologist and a linguist. It will help if we have some clues about the ways they do things in the strange country we are visiting. As Clare and I were preparing to live in Peru we read up on the culture, the history, and even the table manners but we made plenty of mistakes! Our passage today from Matthew is so familiar to us that we forget that it contains a mystery that even John the Baptist could not understand. Why should Jesus require Baptism if he was the beloved Son of God as proclaimed by the voice from heaven? Here we need not just clues but an Epiphany, or ‘Fresh light’ inspiration from above. ‘The Arnolfini wedding’ painted by the artist Jan Van Eyck appears to be a wedding portrait with the happy couple already expecting a baby. But appearances are deceptive. Some art historians now think this is not a marriage or betrothal portrait but a memorial to a dead wife as Nicolao’s wife, Constanza, had died in childbirth the year before the portrait was painted. Van Eyck has placed around the room clues to the sad events surrounding the painting. In the candelabra the candle on the side of Nicolao is alight, the candle on his Constanza’s side has been snuffed out. On the mirror behind them, there are scenes from the life of Christ on the side of Nicolao, but on Constanza’s side, they depict the death and resurrection of Christ. The rich clothing they are wearing is for winter wear though the cherry tree outside the window is in full bloom. The apparent bulge in Constanza’s dress was a fashionable feature of a rich woman’s wardrobe as it showed how much fabric had gone into the dress. The meaning of this portrait has been endlessly debated but the truth will always now be a mystery. At the centre of our account of Jesus' baptism is another mystery. Baptism as preached by John the Baptist was a sign of repentance from sin. His powerful message warned the Jewish people of the judgment of God. As he speaks of the Messiah to come he speaks in terms of fire and a threshing floor on which the chaff will be burnt. John the Baptist thought he knew who Jesus was and what he had come to do, but he was wrong. He needed a fresh light and a flash of inspiration. At first, he refuses Jesus' baptism. Thinking rightly that the ‘Lamb of God who comes to take away the sins of the world’ (John 1:29) cannot himself need to be washed clean by baptism, but Jesus is insistent. Jesus' words can be understood to mean ‘this is what God has ordained for all to be put right with Him’ Still confused? Yes but now John in obedience to Jesus baptises him. No fresh light here, no flash of inspiration just humble submission. Revelation or epiphany follows on from obedience. All the great saints have followed John not by seeking faith by understanding but rather by seeking understanding through faith in Jesus Christ. Then the fresh light, the revelation of God: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him, I am well pleased” Matt. 3:17 These words recall two passages of scripture, Psalm 2: 7 ‘You are my son’. To this is added a verse in Isaiah 42:1. ‘Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight’ The first speaks about the royal kingship that God has given His Son. The second speaks of the suffering servant who will bring justice and peace to mankind as he is ‘pierced for our transgressions... crushed for our iniquities' Such a person, such a possibility had never been considered, that Jesus could be both Son and sacrifice for sin was beyond their understanding. In baptism, Jesus ‘fulfills all righteousness’ in a way that can only make sense as we see him as the sinless one who becomes sin for us, the divine Son who becomes man that man might become a son of God, the one from above who comes amongst us that we might be lifted into the presence of God. In the Arnolfini portrait, we see a couple apparently celebrating the beginning of married life, sadly it tells us another story. The Baptism that John preached was all about fleeing from God’s wrath but in Jesus, we hear another voice announcing God’s love and mercy. Baptism is now seen in a different light. As we begin the season of Epiphany we are encouraged to live by faith in the one who gives us this light, the light by which we see and understand all things. Rev. Simon Brignall We pray today for those recovering from operations or preparing for an operation. Prayer for Ukraine God of peace and justice we pray for the people of Ukraine today, and the laying down of weapons. we pray for all those who fear for tomorrow, that your spirit of comfort would draw near to them. We pray for those with power over war and peace, for wisdom, discernment, and compassion to guide their decisions Above all, we pray for all your precious children at risk and in fear, That you would hold and protect them. We pray in the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Amen I am contactable from Thursday to Sunday.
‘Plus Ça change, plus c’est la même chose’, so say the French, ‘The more things change the more they are the same’. As Jesus speaks about the end times in this passage and warns of wars and famines we recognise not only our own times but all the ages in between now and then. We live in changing times but we face the same old issues that have always plagued mankind. Pablo Picasso’s painting ‘Guernica’ recalls a specific historical event in May 1937, the bombing of the village of Guernica in the Basque country. It is also an allegory of war, a story of war in every age. Drawing inspiration from Rubens’ painting ‘The consequences of war’, painted in 1639, and Goya’s ‘May 3rd’ Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ is a timeless piece that could have been describing the bombing of Ukrainian towns and villages only last week. The woman on the right of the picture is taken from Rubens and the composition itself is a reversed version of ‘The consequences of war’. Goya’s painting, ‘May 3rd’, depicts an event during the French occupation of Spain in 1808, but the stigmata on the outstretched hands of the soon-to-be executed man speak of the suffering of Christ. This soldier can be found again in Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ in the outstretched hand of the dying soldier on the left-hand side of the painting. He too has the marks of the nails in his hands. All are scenes of horror and destruction reminding us that war brings misery in every age. We had hoped for a better world in which the cycles of violence would end. Bob Dylan spoke prophetically for a generation that saw significant changes - a new age was dawning in the words of another song. Some have called it the Age of Aquarius, the water carrier in ancient mythology, some have called it the age of the Spirit. Both images conjure up a new agenda for our world, a hope held out for a better world. There have been changes. Culturally materialism is out spirituality is in, consumerism is out and ethical shopping is in, permissiveness is out and political correctness is in. There’s a new atmosphere, a new sensitivity to a reality that is out there somewhere, or maybe within us. It is a hope that is held out in the midst of war and, uncertainty about where we are heading. But alarm bells have been ringing for a number of years of which the world’s current economic turmoil is only the latest. Scientists, historians, climatologists, and sociologists speak of change in the air. There is uncertainty about what our future holds. In these times we need a more constant light than the changing cultural scene, a light that Jesus held out in his changing times. A new spirituality and a new uncertainty marked the birth pangs of the new age that Jesus heralded. The Pax Romana, like the Pax Americana today, was beginning to break up, and a new world was taking shape. When Jesus spoke to this tiny unnoticed group of disciples they did not know that they were to shape the world that was coming into being, but they held onto the hope he gave them through the upheavals to come. “As in the days of Noah so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man” Matt 24:37. ‘Watch’, be ready stand firm are the watchwords they are to live by. By 'watch' or 'wait' as it is sometimes translated Jesus meant to be attentive as a waiter is attentive, watching for the signs. God is speaking to His church today. ‘Be ready’ as Noah built his Ark to the astonishment of those around him so we are to build the church. God continues to love His world and plan for its future a future that will be shaped by the church. ‘Stand firm’ To illustrate this world Jesus gives us a picture of two women working, one will be saved the other not. There is no apparent difference between them, but one is ready the other is not! The Christian stand is not to be distinguished by the kind of eccentric behaviour that some adopt but by a quiet faithfulness to Christ and his Kingdom. John Wesley when asked what he would do if the world was to end tomorrow said, “I hope I would be able to continue with what I was already doing”. In the centre of Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ there is a light, not the lightbulb hanging from the ceiling, that is in fact a bomb exploding in the sky. (The Spanish for lightbulb is bombilla). To the right of the bombilla is a small lamp held out by the hand of destiny. It is the source of light in the whole painting stretching out of the darkness to reveal not only the horrors of war but the hopes for peace. As we enter the season of Advent let us remember the light that shines in the darkness, is the light of Christ, bringing hope to the world and promising a better world to come. This is the hope that Christ told his followers to keep their eyes on. It is the only constant in a changing world. Rev. Simon Brignall Prayer for Ukraine God of peace and justice we pray for the people of Ukraine today, and the laying down of weapons. We pray for all those who fear for tomorrow, that your spirit of comfort would draw near to them. We pray for those with power over war and peace, for wisdom, discernment, and compassion to guide their decisions Above all, we pray for all your precious children at risk and in fear, That you would hold and protect them. We pray in the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Amen I am contactable from Thursday to Sunday.
