Rest on the Flight into Egypt

The Naked Pastor comments on this painting:

I was stopped dead in my tracks by this painting that was hanging in an obscure corner of the museum. My friend lost me and I lost him as I stood before this magnificent piece for over an hour, just absorbing the power of the image. It is the French artist Luc-Olivier Merson’s Rest on the Flight Into Egypt, painted in 1879. I’m normally not into religious art. But this one was different. It completely caught me by surprise. It isn’t your typical holy family portrait. It is painted with a limited palette, dark, and the figures are sensual and somewhat realistic. Joseph sleeps on the desert floor. Mary, perhaps to protect herself and the child, is sleeping up between the feet of the Sphynx. A thin ribbon of smoke rises from the smoldering fire. The donkey sleeps standing. The only intentionally “religious” part of the painting is the glow around the baby. But it is perfect. The symbolism is what struck me. The good news, silently nestled in the arms of a foreign symbol.

Christianity on Sundays when it snows

iMonk blogs about Mark Driscoll’s reflections on those who show up at church on those Sundays when it snows. Gosh, I relate. Question: did the real “hardcore” (as Driscoll calls them) Christians show up and the soft core stay home? Do we have several classes of Christians here?You do know the class sysem, don’t you? The first class is the “barely Christian.” This is the Christian who isn’t exactly a nonChristian. This is the minimum level. Then among the Christians there are several classes. There are the “most of the time in church” Christians. They’re usually there, but if their vacation starts on a Saturday, don’t expect them to work their plans so they show up on Sunday and then travel after that or fly back on a Saturday so they can be in worship on sunday. Then there are the “if the doors are open we are there” Christians who, by the way, would never stoop to using a pew Bible because pew Bibles are for lazy Christians who can’t bother to bring their own Bibles to church. (And who also, by the way, feel no need for the Pastor to refer to the page number for the Bible reading–if you don’t know where the passage is without a page number, then you had better get right with God).

And then there are the “snow day” Christians. These are the Marines of Christianity. Canceling church? What kind of whimp does that? These are the people willing to pay their insurance deductible for any car bumps and bruises that it takes to get to church. Getting stuck in the church parking lot? It’s a badge of honor. 

Like iMonk I think Driscoll is too hard on people who didn’t risk and life and limb to get to church on a snowy Sunday. But I think it’s a good thing for a person to face a challenge and make a decision. How bad do I want to meet for worship? Is this a convenience thing for me? Or is this an opportunity to say to God, “You matter this much to me.”? How much rides on a Sunday anyway?

At least snowy Sundays are an opportunity to say to another Christian, you matter enough to me to show up and be a part of your life and encourage you along the way. And they are an opportunity to give God a gift of sorts, to let Him know, if only for our own sakes, that our Christianity isn’t about us – it’s about Him. I think about these things when I wonder whether or not I should withdraw a Sunday service on account of snow. I might be taking away an opportunity for someone to give God a gift. Or I just might be a narcissist with delusions of grandeur so lofty that I think even weather patterns should work around me. It’s your call.