Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Pastor Bob Henry
April 25, 2021
2 Corinthians 3:18 (The Message)
16-18 Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so, we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.
Good morning Friends, it is good to be with you virtually, once again.
I was asked a while back to speak this weekend at Valley Mills Quaker Meeting here in Indy. Our former Superintendent Wanda Coffin Baker invited me to share how art has influenced my Spiritual Journey. I found it a bit ironic, since this coming week I will be taking a spiritual retreat, and as part of that spiritual retreat I am including an intuitive painting class each evening. So, I thought I would also share with you what I am sharing with Valley Mills this morning. Some of you at First Friends have heard parts of this story when I presented on a similar topic for our Shalom Zone event a couple years ago.
Before I start, I want you to know that I understand there is an art to crafting a sermon and even ministry itself, as well as many other expressions that can be considered artistic, but when I speak of art in this message, I am actually speaking of my own expression through various types of media (such as drawing and painting).
From my earliest of days, art has been a way I have expressed myself, as well as process some of my most difficult struggles. If you would have met me in grade school or even most of high school you might have thought I was bound for art school or at least a career that would utilize my artistic abilities like two of my sons. I won numerous awards and took every art class I was allowed.
Yet, that would not be the path I would follow.
It would be in my junior year of high school that I would attend with my youth group a servant event at our denominational camp. Looking back, I sense servant events were a way to draw young people into ministry.
Servant Events were designed to put youth in vulnerable situations, show them first-hand the deep needs of the world, mix in a little guilt and an over-focus of one’s personal giftedness, and WHAMO! – it is hard not to hear the Call of God on your life.
Before this Servant Event experience, my high school life was consumed by the practice of art. I would get up early and walk to my high school to spend an hour or so before school in the art room. I spent ever study hall in the art room, along with two or three art classes during the day – and I would even stay after school until my art teacher literally left the building. It helped that I lived a block-or-so from my high school campus.
But the Call of God that I heard at that servant event sent me on a new trajectory. Over the next several years, I would slowly put my expression of art away, compartmentalize it, even begin to consider it a “lesser gifting.”
Many people told me that ministry was a much nobler profession, that I would not make any money in art (like ministry is much different), that working for myself would be very hard, and that men have to take care of their families. All things I have come to believe as misinformation and some even outright lies.
So, I began to repress my artistic gifting for this more-noble profession. While in college to become a Director of Christian Education, I found some ways to engage my artistic ability. I designed numerous t-shirts, program covers, and anything that my fellow students requested.
If you know me, or have ever sat by me in a meeting, you will know that I am a passionate doodler. During one of my college classes, the professor literally stopped our class and very angerly began to ask me questions about what he was teaching. He said, “I don’t think you are taking my class seriously – you are distracting the other students with your doodles.” To his surprise, I proceeded to answer every one of his questions – because doodling is a tool that helps me stay focused.
After graduating and entering full-time professional ministry, my art and my desire for art had diminished, to almost nothing. The Call of God and the call to ministry became my soul passion.
On occasion, you could find me doodling during church meetings, but rarely would I engage much else. Actually, for many years my wife did not even know that I could paint or that I enjoyed this artistic expression.
For almost 13 years, my art supplies dried up or were thrown out as we moved from ministry to ministry. Because art ended up not being a career for me and because ministry was so demanding, I looked for a way to stay focused on what I had been told was the greater cause – “saving souls.”
Well, after 13 years and numerous ministry positions, even receiving a Master’s Degree with honors in Spiritual Formation, I found myself in a Family Christian Book Store in Michigan opening a copy of a new book that would begin reengaging my artistic mind. The book was by a new pastor in Grand Rapids, Michigan of all places, named Rob Bell. The reason the book grabbed my attention was both in its unique layout and graphic design as well as its title, “Velvet Elvis.”
I remember standing in the store and reading the entire introduction of the book as Rob explained how a velvet painting of Elvis had inspired him to see theology, ministry, and even life differently. Now, I have to be honest, his words rattled me so much that I read through the book a number of times, even at one point throwing it across the room because deep inside I had not been honest about who I was or what I all I believed.
Looking back, I had simply become a product of a system that solely wanted conformity - something which I have realized has hurt many people, ministries, and churches alike. Too often the church is out to make what I call “cookie-cutter Christians.” I do not believe that was how the Divine intended it to be. I’ve come to understand God as a god of diversity and that we have been uniquely wired with talents and gifts that benefit one another in this journey we call life.
For two years I wrested with Rob Bell’s book. I talked with fellow ministers about it and even led small groups around it at the college in which I was working at the time. But soon Rob Bell’s non-conformity and unique gifting would lead him to be labeled a heretic by other church leaders, including people close to me.
Since my confidence was growing and I was beginning to realize that I was missing a part of myself - instead of grabbing my torch and joining the others in calling Rob a heretic, my wife, Sue and I decided to make a pilgrimage to hear Rob preach on a Sunday morning at his church, Mars Hill in Grand Rapids, MI.
On arrival at Mars Hill, we were greeted by Rob in the foyer, but during worship we were disappointed as Rob introduced two other people from a local college who were going to preach for him that day.
To this day, I have no recollection of the names of those tag-team preachers, but I will never forget the topic of their message. They were talking about “Creativity” and their inspiration was a book by Dorothy Sayers titled, “The Mind of the Maker.”
Even though Dorothy Sayers’ words are excellent and I enjoyed reading the book after buying it when I returned home, the tag-team preachers focused on Madame Le Engle’s words from the lengthy introduction to the book.
In the introduction, Madame Le Engle points out one of Sayers’ main points that
“..the characteristic common to God and man is…the desire and ability to make things.”
I remember as they expanded this idea, feeling a hole deep inside myself crying out. I realized during that sermon, that I had not made or created anything for quite some time that was truly an expression of myself.
Well, as they continued preaching they pointed out how Madame Le Engle quoted the 20th century, Russian and Christian philosopher, Nicholas Berd-ya-ev that would really open my eyes.
Berd-ya-ev wrote:
“God created man in his own image and likeness, i.e. made him a creator too, calling him to free spontaneous activity and not to formal obedience to His power. Free creativeness is the creature’s answer to the great call of its creator. Man’s creative work is the fulfillment of the Creator’s secret will.”
Never once had I thought of myself as a co-creator with God or that my creative freedom was an important aspect (or the fulfillment) of my spiritual life. All I knew at this moment was that I was neglecting and missing an important aspect of my life and I needed to do something about it.
Prior to traveling to Grand Rapids for this life-altering sermon, I had been asked to create a spiritual retreat for the student services department at the college where I worked. One aspect of that experience was still missing. As we drove home from Grand Rapids, I sensed an opening (much like those described by George Fox or other mystics of the faith). I had a clear picture (almost like a vision) in my mind of a set of paintings I felt called and led to paint.
We stopped at a Michael’s on our way home and I picked up 5 canvases and some new paints. After arriving home, I spread them out on our kitchen table and began to sketch out and then paint all five paintings from the images in my mind.
You must understand, this was the first time in almost 13 years that I had painted anything. I painted throughout the night and did not stop until I finished all 5 paintings at about three in the morning.
Art reentered my life in a new way that night and early morning. Since then, I have embraced it as part of my preaching, part of my therapy, part of who I am – a co-creator with the Divine.
This morning, I want you to engage the five paintings I painted that night as a part of our waiting worship. I don’t want to give you much background or my interpretation, rather I want you to experience them for yourself. My hope is that you will see inside your own soul and tap the creative spirit lying dormant or maybe neglected in you. Please know that I share these with you as my expression of art – for you it may be poetry, gardening, singing, or a plethora of other things. I can only share from my experience and what God opened up to me that day.
I hope you will allow these painting to be a type of spiritual exercise where your interpretation and response is connecting with the Divine and possibly God speaking to your condition.
I have had so many rich conversations with people who have experienced these paintings and after the service today, I would love to hear how they spoke to you.
So instead of queries for waiting worship, I have below the 5 paintings for you to reflect upon and expectantly wait for what God may be saying to you.
