Today is the second out of four sermons about the symbols on our banners and related scriptures and concepts. If you are new to our fellowship, these were recently created for the church by a member who lives part of the year in Colorado and has become part of our online congregation since the outbreak of COVID 19.
I mentioned last week that the worship committee gave her some themes and asked her to let the Spirit guide her, which I believe she truly has done. Sunne chose some ancient symbols of the church that we often only see on our Chrismon Tree in Advent, so I wanted to take some time and make sure we understand these symbols as more than just a creative design.
Of course, there is great value in any act of creativity – because we are created in the image of the Creator – but these symbols are here, in this place, to tell us about our relationship with God the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer.
This week we have an anchor and a fish. You’re probably used to the fish. You may even have one on your car. It is probably the most common and easily marketable symbols of Christian faith outside of the cross – especially when it comes to stickers and emblems you can put on a car. There are fish with crosses in them and schools of fish following larger fish to show that it is a Christian family. Sometimes the name of Jesus is inside the fish, and sometimes the Greek word for fish – Ichthus – is inside the fish.
Even if the fish doesn't make sense to you (more on that in a minute), why in the world would we have an anchor as a symbol for Christian faith? The word “anchor” is only used once as a metaphor for faith in the whole Bible, and we read that passage today. Apart from that, Paul talks about using anchors to weather a storm that eventually leaves everyone on the boat alive but wrecked upon the shore.
I think that’s how a lot of us feel these days – alive but wrecked upon the shore. I realize that it’s kind of a luxury for me to say that. Lafayette may still have some issues left over from the floods of 2016 – and there may be more to come given the drainage issues that we have yet to resolve – but over the last two years we’ve been in the clear while Lake Charles got hit with Lilly and Delta and exactly a year later dozens of small communities around New Orleans were ravaged by Ida on the sixteenth anniversary of Katrina. In fact, there have been 5 named category 4 and 5 storms to hit between Florida to Texas since 2017!
Add to that the homecoming from Afghanistan that was not what anyone wanted (except for those seizing power in our absence), and all the culture wars that assail our ability to follow Biblical mandates of care for immigrants (Leviticus 19:34) and managing the health of our community (Leviticus 13:45-46), and I imagine that we all might feel either washed up on a shore or adrift in a sea and really, really needing an anchor.
I don’t know how well the original recipients of this letter might have understood the concept of an anchor, but clearly, enough of them did that it made sense to use it. These were certainly knowledgeable people. It’s unclear who wrote it and to whom exactly, although it was written in the style of Paul’s letters and most believe it was intended to be shared amongst those followers of the way of Jesus who were also Jewish. In the first part of chapter 16, the letter lays out some assumptions about their belief and compares them to a well-tended garden that is either going to yield a good crop or thorns.
Thorns are, of course, useless to anyone but themselves and will be purged from the ground, perhaps even with fire so they can at least chemically enrich the ground. That sounds kind of threatening until you remember that we are still the ground and might have another chance to produce a good crop after the farmer removes the selfishness of the thorns. That’s kind of the point of our passage. In verses 16-18 we have the assurance that God is trustworthy even when we are not, and God has promised us redemption through Jesus Christ.
Then in verse 19, we’re told that the promise of God to redeem is like an anchor of hope that we can depend on. Later, in chapter 11:1 we are reminded that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for; the assurance of things unseen.” Then again in Romans 8:24-25, we are reminded, “For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”
The anchor reminds us that we can trust in these promises. The anchor reminds us that we can wait out the storm. The anchor assures us that even if we end up washed up on the shore we will survive, and not only that but we will once again thrive if we trust in the redemption that has been given to us through Christ Jesus.
Let’s talk a little about this Christ, Jesus. Hebrews 6:20 ends by calling Jesus a “Priest in the order of Melchizedek,” and that gets unpacked in the next few verses (which I encourage you to read) but this essentially means that in Jesus are combined both the priestly role of intermediary between us and God and leadership with divine authority. Melchizedek also had a particular role in restoring peace, and he established a treaty over broken bread and sharing wine long before the Passover. We might explore that more on another day, but for now, let’s just say that Jesus was (and is) God’s anointed one who restores peace in our lives even now.
That takes us to the next symbol of faith – a fish! It is said that during times of persecution, followers of the way of Jesus would draw an arc in the sand and let another person draw the second arc underneath it to complete the symbol of the fish as a secret code – but why a fish? It may have been connected to his invitation to become fishers of people or some other insider information that has since been lost, but the reason that most historians believe Christians used a fish is that the Greek word for fish is an acronym.
Each letter stands for a word that forms not only the name of Jesus, but the title, “I ēsous Ch ristos th eou hy ios s ōtēr” meaning Jesus Christ Son of God Savior. Each of these words tell us something about the work of God through the person of Jesus.
Iēsous was a man, a person. Christos means anointed. Theou hyios means “son of God.” The anointed person named Jesus was “of God.” He was God’s self-revelation. Why? In order to save us. He is the Sōtēr, the one who saves. All of them are fish, huh?
The Christian Fish is not found anywhere in the Bible, but it is a unique expression of what the Bible tells us about Jesus as God’s self-revelation. Cool. Let’s all put it on our cars. That should make God happy, right? I’m joking of course, and I don’t have anything against a bumper sticker declaring faith. In fact I kind of like them.
What really matters though, is that we don’t lose sight of who the fish points toward and what it means for Jesus to be God’s self-revelation and to save us. We’ve been given this anchor of faith in Jesus, but what’s the point, right? Well, all we have to do is look to Luke’s gospel and see what Jesus points to as his understanding of his purpose.
The blind are given sight, the poor and oppressed are cared for, and the year of jubilee – the forgiveness of debt – is declared! In fact, Jesus repeats this again in Luke 7:22 when John sends disciples to ask if Jesus is the one they have been waiting for. “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them.”
Here’s what it all comes down to for you and me, though. If Jesus is the Christ – the anointed one of God – and we are Christians (literally meant “little Christs or Christ-like” in origin), then we have been anointed with that same mission. So, while the anchor reminds us that we can rely on God, the Christian Fish reminds us that God has also chosen to rely on us to proclaim the favor of God for those who are in need, for those who are oppressed, and for those who may be washed up and washed out by the storms of life!
But fear not, God does not expect us to do it alone like someone yammering out online or in a train or on a street corner. God has given us one another, and God has given us God’s self in the person of Jesus, whose body is the church.
I hope you will be encouraged and comforted by the fact that God has chosen you for God’s team, but even more so as someone that God believes is worth saving on the shore – even if it’s just so that you can tell others that you’re alive!
Join me now in giving thanks for that and asking God’s blessing upon these banners. Gracious God, you are our strength when we are weak. You are the anchor for our faith and the source of all hope. Let every stitch of these banners stand as a testimony of your love and calling to demonstrate grace and mercy and restoration. We pray these things in the name of Jesus, the Christ, who is your Son and our Savior. Amen.
I mentioned last week that the worship committee gave her some themes and asked her to let the Spirit guide her, which I believe she truly has done. Sunne chose some ancient symbols of the church that we often only see on our Chrismon Tree in Advent, so I wanted to take some time and make sure we understand these symbols as more than just a creative design.
Of course, there is great value in any act of creativity – because we are created in the image of the Creator – but these symbols are here, in this place, to tell us about our relationship with God the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer.
This week we have an anchor and a fish. You’re probably used to the fish. You may even have one on your car. It is probably the most common and easily marketable symbols of Christian faith outside of the cross – especially when it comes to stickers and emblems you can put on a car. There are fish with crosses in them and schools of fish following larger fish to show that it is a Christian family. Sometimes the name of Jesus is inside the fish, and sometimes the Greek word for fish – Ichthus – is inside the fish.
Even if the fish doesn't make sense to you (more on that in a minute), why in the world would we have an anchor as a symbol for Christian faith? The word “anchor” is only used once as a metaphor for faith in the whole Bible, and we read that passage today. Apart from that, Paul talks about using anchors to weather a storm that eventually leaves everyone on the boat alive but wrecked upon the shore.
I think that’s how a lot of us feel these days – alive but wrecked upon the shore. I realize that it’s kind of a luxury for me to say that. Lafayette may still have some issues left over from the floods of 2016 – and there may be more to come given the drainage issues that we have yet to resolve – but over the last two years we’ve been in the clear while Lake Charles got hit with Lilly and Delta and exactly a year later dozens of small communities around New Orleans were ravaged by Ida on the sixteenth anniversary of Katrina. In fact, there have been 5 named category 4 and 5 storms to hit between Florida to Texas since 2017!
Add to that the homecoming from Afghanistan that was not what anyone wanted (except for those seizing power in our absence), and all the culture wars that assail our ability to follow Biblical mandates of care for immigrants (Leviticus 19:34) and managing the health of our community (Leviticus 13:45-46), and I imagine that we all might feel either washed up on a shore or adrift in a sea and really, really needing an anchor.
I don’t know how well the original recipients of this letter might have understood the concept of an anchor, but clearly, enough of them did that it made sense to use it. These were certainly knowledgeable people. It’s unclear who wrote it and to whom exactly, although it was written in the style of Paul’s letters and most believe it was intended to be shared amongst those followers of the way of Jesus who were also Jewish. In the first part of chapter 16, the letter lays out some assumptions about their belief and compares them to a well-tended garden that is either going to yield a good crop or thorns.
Thorns are, of course, useless to anyone but themselves and will be purged from the ground, perhaps even with fire so they can at least chemically enrich the ground. That sounds kind of threatening until you remember that we are still the ground and might have another chance to produce a good crop after the farmer removes the selfishness of the thorns. That’s kind of the point of our passage. In verses 16-18 we have the assurance that God is trustworthy even when we are not, and God has promised us redemption through Jesus Christ.
Then in verse 19, we’re told that the promise of God to redeem is like an anchor of hope that we can depend on. Later, in chapter 11:1 we are reminded that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for; the assurance of things unseen.” Then again in Romans 8:24-25, we are reminded, “For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”
The anchor reminds us that we can trust in these promises. The anchor reminds us that we can wait out the storm. The anchor assures us that even if we end up washed up on the shore we will survive, and not only that but we will once again thrive if we trust in the redemption that has been given to us through Christ Jesus.
Let’s talk a little about this Christ, Jesus. Hebrews 6:20 ends by calling Jesus a “Priest in the order of Melchizedek,” and that gets unpacked in the next few verses (which I encourage you to read) but this essentially means that in Jesus are combined both the priestly role of intermediary between us and God and leadership with divine authority. Melchizedek also had a particular role in restoring peace, and he established a treaty over broken bread and sharing wine long before the Passover. We might explore that more on another day, but for now, let’s just say that Jesus was (and is) God’s anointed one who restores peace in our lives even now.
That takes us to the next symbol of faith – a fish! It is said that during times of persecution, followers of the way of Jesus would draw an arc in the sand and let another person draw the second arc underneath it to complete the symbol of the fish as a secret code – but why a fish? It may have been connected to his invitation to become fishers of people or some other insider information that has since been lost, but the reason that most historians believe Christians used a fish is that the Greek word for fish is an acronym.
Each letter stands for a word that forms not only the name of Jesus, but the title, “I ēsous Ch ristos th eou hy ios s ōtēr” meaning Jesus Christ Son of God Savior. Each of these words tell us something about the work of God through the person of Jesus.
Iēsous was a man, a person. Christos means anointed. Theou hyios means “son of God.” The anointed person named Jesus was “of God.” He was God’s self-revelation. Why? In order to save us. He is the Sōtēr, the one who saves. All of them are fish, huh?
The Christian Fish is not found anywhere in the Bible, but it is a unique expression of what the Bible tells us about Jesus as God’s self-revelation. Cool. Let’s all put it on our cars. That should make God happy, right? I’m joking of course, and I don’t have anything against a bumper sticker declaring faith. In fact I kind of like them.
What really matters though, is that we don’t lose sight of who the fish points toward and what it means for Jesus to be God’s self-revelation and to save us. We’ve been given this anchor of faith in Jesus, but what’s the point, right? Well, all we have to do is look to Luke’s gospel and see what Jesus points to as his understanding of his purpose.
The blind are given sight, the poor and oppressed are cared for, and the year of jubilee – the forgiveness of debt – is declared! In fact, Jesus repeats this again in Luke 7:22 when John sends disciples to ask if Jesus is the one they have been waiting for. “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them.”
Here’s what it all comes down to for you and me, though. If Jesus is the Christ – the anointed one of God – and we are Christians (literally meant “little Christs or Christ-like” in origin), then we have been anointed with that same mission. So, while the anchor reminds us that we can rely on God, the Christian Fish reminds us that God has also chosen to rely on us to proclaim the favor of God for those who are in need, for those who are oppressed, and for those who may be washed up and washed out by the storms of life!
But fear not, God does not expect us to do it alone like someone yammering out online or in a train or on a street corner. God has given us one another, and God has given us God’s self in the person of Jesus, whose body is the church.
I hope you will be encouraged and comforted by the fact that God has chosen you for God’s team, but even more so as someone that God believes is worth saving on the shore – even if it’s just so that you can tell others that you’re alive!
Join me now in giving thanks for that and asking God’s blessing upon these banners. Gracious God, you are our strength when we are weak. You are the anchor for our faith and the source of all hope. Let every stitch of these banners stand as a testimony of your love and calling to demonstrate grace and mercy and restoration. We pray these things in the name of Jesus, the Christ, who is your Son and our Savior. Amen.
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