The third week in Nouwen's book Letters to Marc. Last week I brought into the conversation a song from the musical Big River. this week Nouwen brings into the conversation some art work. I enjoy using other modes of reflecting to help unpack the Scripture lesson. If you want to see the painting Nouwen references in color (it's in black and white in his book), follow this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mathis_Gothart_Gr%C3%BCnewald_019.jpg
1. Nouwen
begins his chapter on Jesus as the compassionate God by referencing the
Isenheimer Altar that was painted
between 1513 and 1515.
a. The altar was located in a chapel at a
hospital for plague victims in the small village of Isenheimer, near Colmar, a
French town in the Alsace region (23).
b. According
to Nouwen, it is not certain who painted the altarpiece, but most authorities
agree that Matthias Grunewald was the artist who painted it (23). Note that the
an Internet search provides resources (including Wikipedia link and the link to
an article from the Smithsonian
magazine, both of which are listed in the resources cites below).
c. As
an aside, if you have seen the movie Monuments
Men, this altar piece is one of the art pieces that the Germans took to a
cave to store for removal back to Germany.
d. Nouwen
suggests that the painting of Christ on the cross with ulcerations would have
made those suffering from the plague or ergotism (skin disease) to connect with
God: “ON this altar they saw their God,
with the same suppurating ulcers as their own, and it made them realize with a
shock with the incarnation really meant. They saw solidarity, compassion,
forgiveness, and unending love love brought together in this one suffering
figure. They saw that, in their mortal
anguish, they had not been left on their own” (25).
e. While
I agree with Nouwen’s argument, I do find his focus on the gory aspects a bit
like watching The Passion of Christ
and its bloody, gory crucifixion. I am
also reminded that the Catholic
tradition usually has Christ handing on their crosses; the Presbyterians
seem to gravitate to the empty cross – both true, but different emphases.
2. As
the front panel opens up, there is a painting depicting the resurrection.
a. Nowen notes that “the tortured body of Jesus,
born of Mary, had not only died for them[those suffering from disease who look
at the altar in the chapel], but—also for them – had risen gloriously from
death. The same ulcerated body they saw
hanging dead on the cross exudes a dazzling light and rises upward in divine
splendor – a splendor which is also in store for us” (25)
b. Nouwen also notes that the other panels reveal
depictions of Chirst’s birth, St. Anthony’s temptations, and the resurrection,
reminding the viewer that to follow Christ means to be tempted, to suffer, to
die, and to be resurrected (25).
Conversation starter: Which has more meaning to you: a cross with Christ on it or an empty
cross? Which evokes more of a sense of
connectedness for you?
3. For
Nouwen, the story of Christ's death and resurrection is the “gospel,” and it
“constitutes the core of the spiritual life” (27).
a. People
have to claim this truth for themselves.
b. Nouwen
suggests that “If you don’t see and feel that [the suffering, death and
resurrection of Jesus as the most far-reaching event ever to occur in history]
then the gospel can, at most, interesting; but it can never renew your heart and
make you a reborn human being (27).
c. Nouwen
notes that “rebirth is what you are called to – a radical liberation that sets
you free from the power of death and empowers you to love fearlessly” (27).
d.
As I hear Nouwen mention rebirth, I am reminded of the story in the Gospel
of John when he tells Nicodemus: “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God
unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but
the Spirit gives birth to spirit”(John
3: 6).
4.
What comes to mind when we think of suffering and death?
a.
Nouwen suggests that we immediately think of these words: “preventing, avoiding, denying, shunning,
keeping clear of, and ignoring.”
b. He notes that we spend so much time and
effort keeping people alive, that we ignore the dead. I would suggest that shift seems to have
intensified in our world where medical technology makes it seem as if
everything can be treated and made death much cleaner and sterile than in
previous generations.
c.
Nouwen indicates Jesus approaches it differently: “Jesus' attitude was quite different. He encountered suffering and death with his
eyes wide open. Actually, his whole life
was a conscious preparation for them. Jesus doesn't comment them as desirable
things, but he does speak of them as realities we ought not to repudiate,
avoid, or cover up” (29).
5.
Nouwen turns to the story in the Gospels when Jesus foretells his
suffering and death, only to have Peter rebuke him (Matthew 16: 23-28).
a. Peter's response reflects the human desire to
avoid death and suffering.
b.
Jesus' response indicates that 'He regards Peter's reaction as the most
dangerous of all for those in quest of a spiritual life” (29).
c.
Jesus continues by noting that those who will follow him must “take up their
cross” and lose their life (Matthew16: 24).
Conversation starter: How would you characterize what it has meant
in your life of discipleship to take up your cross and lose your life?
6.
Nouwen also brings up the story in Matthew (Matthew 12: 38-43) in which
Jesus responds to the request for a sign by noting that the only sign they will
get is the sign of Jonah.
a.
For Jonah to return to God, he has to be transformed by three days in the belly
of the huge fish.
b.
Notice the connection between Jonah's experience and Christ's crucifixion and
being in the tomb three days before being resurrected.
7. Nouwen finally makes his
point: “God sent Jesus to make free
persons of us. He has chosen compassion as the way to freedom” (31).
a.
Nouwen notes that instead of God removing suffering from us, God comes in
Christ to share in our suffering (31).
b.
“God's love, which Jesus wants to make us see, is shown to us by his becoming a
partner and companion in our suffering, thus enabling us to turn it into a way
of liberation” (31).
c.
Nouwen notes the paradox that even as he has wondered why God allows poverty
and suffering, that Nouwen has discovered that “the victims of poverty and
oppression are often more deeply convinced of
God 's love than we middle-class Europeans [I think we American
Presbyterians in Troy would fit Nouwen's profile as well]” (33).
d. Nouwen gives the example of a
real friend who chooses to stand with their friend in need, rather than telling
them what they should do (33).
8. Nouwen again take the truth we
discover in Christ and pushes it to become a challenge for how Christ's
disciples extend themselves into the world.
a. Nouwen notes:
“When you come to see Jesus more and more as the compassionate God, you
will begin increasingly to see your own life as one in which you yourself want
to express that divine compassion” (34)
b. Nouwen connects this with the spiritual life:
“Living for other people in solidarity with the compassionate Christ: that's
what it means to live a spiritual life. In that way you too achieve true
freedom” (34).
9.
Nouwen finishes by connecting the compassionate God with the Eucharist.
a.
This leads to his suggestion that Grunewald chose the altar to do his painting
b. Nouwen suggests that Grunewald “was showing these
mortally ill what it was that the Eucharist really gave them. They had no more need to endure their plague
alone. They were incorporated into the
suffering of Jesus and so could trust also that they would be allowed to share
in his resurrection” (36).
Conversation starter: When you receive the bread and cup during
communion, what images of Christ do they give to you?
Resources:
Meisler, Stanley. “A
Masterpiece Born of Saint Anthony's Fire,” Smithsonian
Magazine, September, 1999. http://www.stanleymeisler.com/smithsonian/smithsonian-1999-09-grunewald.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mathis_Gothart_Gr%C3%BCnewald_019.jpg
Nouwen, Henri.
Letters to Marc about Jesus:
Living a Spiritual Life in a Material World. HarperOne, 1988.
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