BETWEEN THE WINDOWS

I don’t know who made the decision about which Biblical scenes would be depicted in the stained glass windows of the sanctuary (I’ve been told the windows are painted – not stained), but in my opinion they chose well.

The west window, above the balcony, shows Jesus at prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives.  This moment in the life of the Galilean takes place immediately before the temple guards enter the garden to arrest him.

In Matthew 26:38 Jesus says, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.  Stay here and keep watch with me.”  Luke 22:43 says Jesus is in anguish.  “His sweat,” the gospel writer reports, “was like drops of blood falling to the ground.”

Most of us have had  -or are now having-  a Garden of Gethsemane chapter in life.  We may know what it feels like to be overwhelmed.  We may know what it is like to be faced with a choice that is almost unbelievably difficult.

So the window to the west reminds us of the moments in life that are full of anguish.  I’m glad the window is there.  Because it is a reminder that our faith takes seriously the human condition, the reality of sin, the presence of pain.  A faith that pretends that stuff isn’t real would be a lie…wholly inadequate.

The window on the south side of the sanctuary is a resurrection scene.  The Risen Christ is outside the tomb, and we see the two women  -Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary” (Mt. 28:1) who have gone there to anoint the dead body of their friend.  They’re surprised to find Jesus alive and well
-even if he does bear the wounds left behind by the spear and the nails.

The artist is reminding us of the truth of Easter.  The resurrection defines the cosmos.  It is neither myth nor wishful thinking, but the triumph of God over death, sin and injustice.

Having this picture in the sanctuary of the building at 4^th and Washington is a good thing because sometimes the world is so broken, and our hearts/bodies so worn down, that the very idea of the empty tomb and new life seems beyond the realm of possibility.  So we need to be reminded.  So God taps us on the shoulder as we enter this sacred space and says, “Look to your right.  Look up and to your right, and know this is true…”

We live our lives between the windows, don’t we?  We are a community of both the broken heart, the anguished spirit, and the joy of the empty tomb!  All of our life is lived between the windows….

In Christ and for Christ,

Mark