Friday, June 26, 2020

Things that [Ultimately] Matter

"Christ Icon."
Sizes/prices of giclée prints
can be found at edriojasartist.com

Copyright © Edward Riojas

Now is the time. If you have ever considered hanging an image of Jesus on the wall of your home, then now is the time. If you have ever thought of using memorial funds to place an image of our Savior in the sanctuary of your church, then certainly now is the time.

A few insistent voices have been urging the wholesale removal of monuments, and it doesn’t seem to matter if those monuments are in opposition to activists’ views or if they actually support the same activists’ cause – they must all come down. Ignorance is more contagious than any virus ever was, and stupidly spreads more rapidly than any pandemic ever could.

Most recently, the targets are ‘images of white supremacy’ – Jesus. This idea is at the urging of BLM activist, Shaun King. King must surely be a conflicted man, because his own mother is white. But I digress.

Iconoclasm – the destruction of icons, or images, of Christ – is as old as the hills. Long before anything seemed to matter, man has fought over whether or not it is right to have images of Jesus; whether or not it is blasphemous. More blood has been shed over images of Christ than even this sorry generation can possibly imagine. Historically, it’s been that bad.

Lutherans, however, are a feisty group. Whether it’s that inbred German stubbornness or cues taken from the blessed Reformer, Martin Luther, we have a tendency to show our mettle when things look dire.
"Crucifixion"
Sizes/prices of giclée prints can be
found at edriojasartist.com

When some insisted that it was NOT the body of Christ on the altar; when they “broke” the Host in full view to represent their theological position, Lutherans suddenly became discreet in that simple act, if only to protest the Protestants’ errant ways. When some insisted that only red wine could be used in the Sacrament of the Altar, many Lutherans instantly switched to white wine. Some churches still use that variety, exclusively. When Protestants started destroying ‘idolatrous’ sanctuary artwork, Luther blew a gasket and lambasted the moronic imbeciles.

It should not come as a surprise, therefore, that this Lutheran artist strongly suggests we up the ante and increase our display of the Only Begotten of the Father. We do not do so to increase His presence among us, for He will be where He promises. We do not do so to show our piety or supremacy in any way, for we openly acknowledge, with Paul, that we are chief among sinners and we are slaves to the Gospel. We place images of Christ Jesus simply to remind ourselves – and the whole world – that some things really DO matter.





No comments:

Post a Comment