Preached at Grace Cathedral Auguust 4, 2009.
Today we remember three artists whose paintings “helped the peoples of their age understand the full suffering and glory of your incarnate Son.” They painted a human face on Christ, one their contemporaries could recognize.
All three of these men lived in during the mid 1550s, when the Renaissance and Protestant Reformation swept across Northern Europe. Paintings of Jesus by these three men are a dramatic change from the older styles.
These new works seem to be “paintings that preach Christ.” Lucas Cranach the Elder’s painting that stands over the altar at the St. Peter and Paul Church in Weimar, Germany is marked by radiance and realism.
Matthias Grünewald’s Isenheim Altarpiece in Colmar, Alsace puts a human face on the Crucifixion of our Lord.
Albrecht Duerer's Lamentation for Christ
Albrecht Durer’s Lamentation for Christ, a painting showing Jesus being taken down from the cross, makes clear with chilling realism that this Messiah is truly dead. Each of these artists painted a human Jesus, one which their contemporaries could recognize.
Looking at images of Jesus though the time makes this much clear: through the ages, many people think Jesus looks very much like them.
Think about it: in icons from the Greek Orthodox Church, doesn’t Jesus look just a little … Greek?
In altar panels from medieval Italian churches, doesn’t Jesus look just a little … Italian?
Remember The Head of Christ by Chicago illustrator Warren Sallman – the one that has sold more than 500 million copies – and ask yourself if Jesus doesn’t look just a little like a white Anglo-Saxon protestant who grew up in Chicago?
Back in 2002 British scientists, assisted by Israeli archaeologists, used modern forensic science to envision the dace of Jesus. At least their image looked like a Palestinian Jesus and not a blond, blue eyed Jesus.
We can never know what Jesus really looked like. Some would say all we have to do to see Jesus is to look at the stained glass in this great cathedral. But I say we must 
look elsewhere. Some would say we can see Jesus in icons that have been venerated for centuries. But I say we must look elsewhere. Some would say we can see Jesus in paintings by great artists. But I say we must look elsewhere.
I see Jesus in the face of another person: perhaps a woman picking up food for her family at the church or a husband holding the hand of his dying wife or a person surprised by an act of kindness from a passing stranger. That’s where I see Jesus.
Typically this is where I would tell a story from parish life or my work as a hospital chaplain to bring these words to life. Today is different.
Yesterday I was driving down the Peninsula to pick up a prayer blanket from the quilters of the Church of the Epiphany and deliver it to a woman who is fighting for her life in an intensive care unit.
I was stopped waiting for a light to change, glad for the breeze flowing through my open windows – I haven’t had air conditioning in that car since I started seminary- when a little red Subaru pulled up in the next lane. I was sitting there contemplating my place in the universe when the driver of the little red Subaru yelled out “Go Giants!”
I almost jumped out of my seat. I looked over and the other driver explained “I’m going to the game today!” He had a smile on his face that reminded me of a boy who has just been given the puppy he always wanted.
I’m not much of a sports fan – I barely know who the Giants are – but I had to say something. So I said: “You’re going to the Giants game.”
“Yes!” he said. “This morning I was in South Tahoe and now I’m here and going to the game!”
“You drove all the way from South Tahoe to go to the Giants Game – you are a big fan of the Giants,” I said.
“Well the Giants and the Cardinals,” he replied. “My Dad pitched for the Cardinals in the 60s, but then he quit and went to business school.” His obvious lack of enthusiasm for business school said a lot.
“That happens to a lot of good people,” I ventured. “But it is a great day for a Giants game.”
“Yeah: I am!” The radiant smile returned.
The light changed, and as he drove away I said “Go Giants!” – and that is undoubtedly why the Giants ended their five-game losing streak yesterday with an 8-1 victory over the Arizonian Diamondbacks. Whoever they are.
What strikes me is that, while stopped at an intersection for a few short minutes, I heard another person speak his truth, and his joy. For that short time the barriers that keep us from sharing what is really important in our lives disappeared and we had real conversation, conversation about something that animates part of another man’s life.
The radiance in his face illuminated a side of Jesus I don’t often see as a hospital chaplain. For no one calls the chaplain to rejoice when a baby is born healthy, we are only called to help cope with tragedy.
It is easy for a preacher to say: go look for Jesus in the hungry or the sick or the poor. God is bigger than that: God is bigger than suffering. God takes delight in God’s creation. God enjoys our company. It is harder to say: rejoice with someone who is radiant with happiness. It is difficult to preach that you can bump into God while being filled with joy.
Today we will share a meal at this table and then head out to do the work God has given us to do. May we be open to both the suffering and joy of our brothers and sisters as we live our lives looking to see Jesus in the faces and lives of others. Perhaps this is exactly what the artists we remember did when they painted a human face on Christ, one their contemporaries could recognize. May we do as well in our time and place.
Let the people say Amen.
And “Go Giants!”
