I am an admirer of Christian and sacred art. I like it especially when artifacts can be found in the worship space that reflect the richness of local traditions and customs, and link them to the message and theology of the Gospel.

For instance, at the Catholic church of Sts. Peter and Paul in Eltville (a cozy village in a wine growing area upon the Rhine river in Germany) one of the stained glass windows depicts Jesus dying under the wine-press, not on the cross. This scene is actually quite appropriate and not as far-fetched as you might think. Red wine resembles blood. But you must cut the skin of the red grape in order to produce red wine. The Gospel of St. John tells us that “a sudden flow of blood and water” came out of Jesus' side when a Roman soldier pierced it with a spear.

When I visited our sister-congregation in Elista, Russia, a few years ago, I was also introduced to the priest at the Catholic church of St. Francis. In that church, there is a painting, which shows a series of scenes from the Creation of the world to the beginnings of the Church. This sounds rather bland. But what caught my attention was the emphasis of features that are typical for the Republic of Kalmykia. Some biblical scenes are placed in the rugged, mountainous landscape of this region. All the biblical characters in that painting have Eurasian looking faces. Jesus was born in what seems to be a yurt (a circular nomad's tent), not a stable. (Although, this is quite similar to many Western medieval paintings of Jesus' Nativity where we can see how the painter included the typical landscape and other local elements of his own time in the background.) And the person who pierced Jesus' side is not a Roman soldier but a Mongol warrior.

As a third example, I want to mention a Lutheran church in the Reno, NV, area that uses a coin tray from a slot machine as their baptismal font! I find this approach to Baptism intriguing (for its originality), but also problematic. Keeping in mind what God has done for us when he paid the price for our redemption not with gold or silver but with the precious suffering and death of his only Son, Jesus Christ, I can see the value of this “peculiar” baptismal font. The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is truly a God we can trust.

Visual arts can be a powerful form of proclaiming the Gospel. Different regions utilize local elements and styles to pronounce that same message of God's promise and story of salvation through the means of art.  Where can you spot sacred art on Vashon? Where do you find local visual expressions of art in our church?  What other element(s) from the region could we use for expressing the biblical message through art?

Yours in Christ Jesus,
Bjoern E. Meinhardt, Pastor