P\

Fabeks
2/12/84 ~

A Wead line Cavgur my e
| ye last Senday

NA

\ Rossion Ar\s Sy owe ex hue _ iA\e {
| = Leryn
Dassidvence. .. “New Plays Open -

‘Ses emens j "Y a2r 2. echues M 2 cay

Wal\s }
LL

PATCHES OF GODLIGHT JMB a

Genesis 1 selected, John 1:1-14 BSPC =

February 12, 1984 Cols, OH

"Avante-Garde _Byeena Arts Evolve on the, Brink of
Dissidence." _ seat headline yon Sunday, Times Arts
and Leisuré section caught my eye. "New la open
basemefts, jazz echoes. _in cacroryhy (| th article

described as lommiey art exhibit in the dark basement

eae

of a Moscow apartment house.| [Many of the paintings
erecta a

were simply hung by string from steam pipes, their titles
SSS og —

announced on typewritten scraps of paper glued to the

—

wall." It was the first public exhibition of the works

_\ hk Goiieete

of an artist whose paintings had only been seen secretly

oo

before. \ What made this art so dangerous? \ Why does the

Soviet State have an interest in what people paint, or
LY =

what people chose to look at? \ The Times described the

—

works as “bold canvasses, austere sketches, bright gra-

phics.' . Wardly Aw shofF of subversion. [N.. “Times, a\s\

Joseph Stalin, qai®e-stemmby crushed the arts, GReept
thosesthat —~werved-e the cause—of—Commmicm,| So did the

asi *.. ——,.

carly mask masters of the Chinese Revolution. \ Peophe—who
donbemnwediacusudile, sevorthelgesceconnina. Twat Yves
shenko, Solzhevitsyn. - aét writers whodéte ha earned

‘timm the enmity of eir government.
ea, 3

-—_ —

be

AX

DAC ant

Wes Gyernicn ,
preps wre Agus

~seem=em pose a threat to totalitarianism? Mis

aan Kerem , Wile Abreu on Wromey’s
“ hora my ra garctiw Domb «| ca Fics Lengo
eae

a
L pea » Wu arts Porte ¢ Gverwien | ;
fapleDicasso—profoundiy—~elposea ee ee

Guernses

What is it about art that is regarded with such

Wine’
Tas
respect, such suspicion, such _ fear? Why do the arts

D crdedwre ace -Uapendowsd By ar ecru act

ri a

orgena eS
a deeper significance to

humanity and “kt points _to a source of meaning which tran-

iguaenaiickiinenaal
scends ordinary life. \ Neither Fascism nor Communism
a =r" tts
can stand that for Long. \ In both instances, the state
. ; mc Com We
is ultimate arbiter:\ there +s no truth, no reality except
( “>
\ nl
Men -_
=

that which the state defines and approves. | Because they

cannot and do not conform to that, artists - catongewith

ey

1 tekelbcrcautn 1 Faun, Koue

serious_religious——adheren ts - ~--eustomarity- i g
fou jak Vial ‘
adveertes 0

uf Badia em-whicth-totali tarianism_eannot—allow ‘

~4~ ; . | Out Wir
Maw sow, re wher “Wavyle Picavs wes loom | ~ “* 2 oe |

+ pounurde
work, Banned

of Spa awork,. now quitefamiliar,. -catted by, wn
in,—painted=

Govern
Cugeee 5 whi ok -was=benned “Hemapedn—because ofits seark i

and brucatimagety. for ike eloquat pieked

Twershtnah , Maw ovr Sowee of ey

_—_—

ay DW Bion , Au yes of i= date ener,

ws free & VA Jove os x Piessiom =

mins: Dlaqwrits teprep te -ofbe
Kad Xewusclus jer\ dogeYar -
Gud Somes » My hese, Ore Wa
Quin ih Ste dose co letushp la-staten

Ho we
Redyteian “Tele gian “Vea Gi\\ Wr des pee

Quis See kpem Mur walls of over WAP NT Kon
Or & \ed v> lok out SA ougs MW cloiv}

Wind ws —ane breathe Ms Vn lager ner ‘|

CUA ONPamdcd UVAWrSe ., ‘|Act % lo AM, Gul |
teaolus , are set * ue | +8 Yk. SQ wa an 5 ‘

Kooy \
Sr bly Bivaley, Q Sewn precelin.d
| at Nassau estoy-tore Chur Princes, Md,

|
\ Marl vv, (48

| yA \

purduct Me Get Wek Gort <eomd +t

erg MArwdng om WY die; Ya Kt
Yok stan rp EM te
law +\\\ Sugraes By You Wu cated it
Mee . \Au Lo bw > FeFlectin he EM per teste 5
ia uweypeckd % s petameoy> pleaser, le Called

—

\\ Que Ypy ever SZ eM oe?

<~ sh /
ae . oe CS

Patches of Godlight - “time artistic moments _ when
the truth about God and humanity is—revealed- ee | ’ The

New Testament is full of thems | desus—mas—an ~artbetec

Ted Gill points to that wonderful moment when a woman

al

"Patches of Godlight in the wort of our experience.' '¢ Ad
The phrase was_ heed by S 4 “Lewis: “Gt referred to

experiences 68 unexpect@4_ ‘and spontaneous pleasure that
happen Atong the . way ar and white owt Npitngierings =
aval handiworte: — ATK ever happened =r youa | Have

eSOses
yourever been aseeereas by something so good, so bie,
a Sg

/¥ | we so gracious that you found your whole being responding
ab js wll ee, ae,
is» WAS Y
momo S to it? There are moments of transcendence listening
a
‘ w

yout we ‘ to music for many, moments when humanity in all its depth

yo. . A
(Huw =and God in all his glory seem, for the .moment, to Py ts ae)
ya oS are similar 2 eee oS page
in harmony \\ There areymoments, in nature, in relationship#

aa r

mae an absolut, —— _ \
ve \ cé : with someone whose love is suehee gift of grace,| in athle- we
Ws ; _ ° \\
one tics, in science - whewea_humanity is stretched to its a

1 —, ————s - x ng
<6 .

yor! 16, | full height and for a moment we are caught up in the yy

“ % Tr Frc re eter aly ny ,
{: ¢ glory of God hinsett | That's what art is - a reflection

‘ | of the glory of romani end—that—other glory “we. trave

come tocalieem . Those wyhggue in the Narthéx, through

itich we see the humanity’ of / this eity, rushing by, shuf-

Pbing by, jogging, by, anbulances, comiuters / buses, garbage

Se

CKw 5

qa wt ce . “tucks, street peopbe -/ ‘ant through whieh we see the
(

0 Re Ses images of that other glory, that) Sen, ny 4 creativity
ea on

I /
ye 7 7 e uabcliv Sede eR AE Godlreht."

pos raat qbr > c / | joe
Aerts source £ é on oo _ _
Aut my wbay Wu calh. GOA a+ L 4656

-4-

IS

Our texts this morning are two works of art.| The
Ey ee

~~

first, a wonderful poem which sets out to express. the

sateieteen

most cehocndt ine art of all - the creation of the world.

samen ng

We thought a bit last week about the misunderstanding

rte = ——

which results when that poem is forced to serve as scienti- Sheen.

fic gata. We thought about the Exploding Universe
idea, the receding galaxies, the discirente. hissing the

astronomers at Bell Labs hear on the radio telescopes,
—_—- =

\
echoing the first sound at the moment of a creation -\ We S@ta)

De veAG

Lried—to-—-
see how astronomy and theology baeeges into_one
another at a place asitememers Robert Jastrow calls the

"wall of _nystery," | what Einstein called "a singularity
eens i aaecaea eran You Way Wow read 2 bark
in time - the moment of creation. tion. \\ Theee=—pas ai sad

ey

discussion at Mershon two weeks ago between jrec=expadiiss--

= saps Sere ne

a Scientific Creationist arguing for the literal accuracy

a
——

of Genesie and an $clucionist, the nature GE whose argu-

s eT

ment was not apparent to anyone, according the .gmSfe

i casita

press, c It appears that they

talked past each other. | Genesis I

is a breathtaking work of art - not a primer in science.
er CS ‘> 0) ie 4 Ov =

Its point is not the how the—atrther—dees—not—set_out

te—describe—howithappened. Rether>—the—point—ts~tte-

more impoftant who «| The scriptural account of the creation

mperebeainettasbiisia

i eT

is an affirmation that God a creation belongs

to God, reveals God' S purposes, ) chat humankind is | created

in God's image, belongs to- God, is accountable to God,

god Ww Wh 15 — =
is created to live in eer with ‘664: I and that,

; ia porfawt So mh Phan
I would submit, is singularly more essemtral theatt™ehe

cles woolin tee as
_-—~“gfemows fuss about how long it took .\\ In_fact, at gment

which—seens—__to.be._—fascinating—to so. my not only misses

the point, but diverts attention from the meaning and

intent of the —s Genesis J contains truth, conveyed

artistically, magnificently.\ To treat it like a scientific

description is like confirming your appreciation of a

aiaitaieiliadl

pre nt tee

Renoir to the chemical composition of the point he used.

amen paca

To learn a thing means more than to chink about
it. There’ is an ol scholastic maxim that goes, “nothing
is prese in the inteblect, that. is not,/previously present ( )
in the /senses," a Les don we all yearn when trying to
describy the taste off a Sauce, the sound of a symphony, é

or a tpuch of trove. / and so, to convey the most profound, /

art ake medium. [

Centuries after the creation stories were written,

pan ay Seen a

another man took up the task, this time to convey. 40me-

ey

thing of the prefundity he had experienced in Jesus of
es TT. :

Nazareth. He used the format: “ "In the beginning was

4 G

the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

——.— —_—,

In the beginning was the creative energy of God straining

\

pre

to be expressed. \ In the beginning is God whose nature

t
it is to be making things, saying things, showing~things

eer ee

about —etmwelt . Tn the beginning was the Word "_ and
then - the most astonishing claim anybody ever made;
Wthe Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, full of

ln and truth. a The—scsholers-thiak,fhat -chees- passage
wea prgtaa'
—as—a hymn, that.it was written to be sung, affirmed artis-

tically.

et

clced ts weds) Fatt, lupe, axpireb

Word WUsIic ,ecdor 4 “ Ae iva ADS A

‘al iW

Ae

Xe

( « :
Ne

Py

The-retattonship ~has~-not ~ been--an--intimate~—one-~in~-- |

recent centuries. Time was when most art was about reli-
Ve -

reg

gious condos, Weald for by the church and displayed, played,
i a Seana
read in connection with religious institutions. { But

a ae : ees —_ ;

just as science and theology parted company for a time,

ee

so religion and art were divorced at the Reformation,

a

particularly for those of us who inhabit the Reformed/Pres-

byterian wing of the Reformation. \ In our more _tadical

ee

moments we destroyed the sculpture and carvings in the

—

cathedrals, white- washed the walls and burned the icons.

cmon — a in

In our seeder suspicion of the arts, we paniidhed the

organ and the cmadles and even the cross as potentially

_— ——_

Tae anata and, as one theologian put it, turned the

oe

flesh of the Gospel of Jesus Christ into the one dimension-

al brittleness of the spoken word.

—

Just as we are burying the hatchet with our brothers

- Se err

and sisters in science, however, so there is a new spirit

—-

a ———

of accomodation between religion and art _today. \ It is

—

—— 4

exciting and interesting| / THES church, for instance,

Oh | clinica

ieaniineieai a

cee

invited the artists of the East~Side to use our Facility —-"

EE —_—o
an a

to display...After they recovered from initial incredulity, yA

they responded enthusiastically | Not surprisingly, many

Se ane

had a lot to say about topics familiar to us; ;)God, love,

beauty, justice, Gwar hey are our allies. WWe are

up to the same.-things 4. . AC _aek— ere Tepe
Ye —sorswe Hel - apes Ve” & WHtedow

x
_ All~art-—is—religious in the sense that it. pushes

a,

into. and beyond the ordinery.| /We are works of God's

Beng ts

art, expressions of God's creative energy. \ That image

annem baa ee
\ ‘
of God in each of us is his creativity.) We are the ani-

— ow A Bude Be ladda,”
mals, someone noted, who stopped, picked up a burnt stick

ert ele

and drew a picture of a bison on a cave wall. \ Art is

a eae — & oe
in us. \ We are defind, perhaps most truthfully, as cocrea-
cece a

woe: §

tors with God, co-artists, working on the same canvass,

—,.

a (Biante a

responsible for building, shaping, forming, creating

t
the future of the world.| That is our highest and holiest

een tl = ey

vocationgg.to , fo-crests. “with God, the world we will

— ~
Sa a

give to those \who come after fa to paint and sculpt and

on

—

shape _ and build) the—world ef the futures.

meg

In a recently published scholarly. commentary on

Genesis, the author writes that the relationship of creator

nr
——s —

to creation has always been the issue and etilt seit ts-\) The

oa

——_.
a

expression te the most urgent questions you will ever

— emia: —y

ask; \"0 God, why 1 me? \ Is there anybody there? \ When I

hte AR

die, will anyone care Kiectuseeige \Where did I come from?

Where am I going? Does-—it=metter? \Is anyone _ listening?

Do I matter to anyonef, Whydoes™tife.have to be-seetTijeT?"

nn

J \
ati ( } I
Ged s
The..mabter. of the. geet le relationship to the
of 4 waa th~

creation - is the crux#for every man and every women.
ee

Our oldest truth is that the creation is God' a's. Our
qe

most important truth is thkt the creator God loves the
ja 3.C-
creation, has become part of it,#®has acted in a Way to

make it whole, to give it peace, and love, and_ hope.

We are invited to trust that God of creati + Men Ae
limits intel ae all too | 00 ppt “ose the. "aie
of saiteged € we = oes eu

oe amen UM Cam 4 Uadrsdon d, _ av
leaks of _wiellecl pec dun aK Yeo ‘ca\ . ya ane aed

ae Wr Sve \ Atavus Nes a CYUA Bmw Which,

ecoms \ike wep Migr ~ we are uve
she, L lek, s Cee \ + . |
\s \oake Grouwrd ¢ lost rp owe see aA

iF

Dakebus of GadlickhS Wwe ic. Dies

Avis

IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED
GOD SEPARATED LIGHT FROM DARKNESS
AND THERE WAS MORNING
AND GOD SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD

The relationship of the creator to the creation is the issue, theologically.
We kept returning to it as we reflected on the meaning and significance of the
new space we built - with its natural light, and earth tones, and sunshine, and
plants. The creation is subject of countless works of art - the ceiling of the Sistine
Chapel, the great window at Yorkminster,

Millie Greaves has given us a contemporary interpretation of the truth of
the ancient words of Genesis. She is here today ~ please great her afterward.

As we dedicate the windows we are reminded of the great texts which inspired
them.

It is God's creation, in its movement from chaos to order, its purity and
color and beauty, its sensual lushness - it is God's and it is good.

It is God's good creation we see in those windows - and also through them.
They will always remind us of the connection between religion and life, Bible
stories and human stories, as we look at the shapes and forms in the glass and
the shapes and forms and people of Broad Street, Columbus, Ohio - through them.

As we dedicate the windows to the glory of God we are also reminded of
those who have gone before us - in whose memory these windows are given to
Broad Street Presbyterian Church:

The Halliday Family
The Harry M. Reynolds Family
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Howard Copeland Jr.
The James F. Merkel Family
Marcella R. and Richard V. Willcox

And now in their memory and to God's glory will you join in dedicating these
windows. Let us pray together the prayer of dedication.

John M. Buchanan
Broad Street Presbyterian Church
February 12, 1984