Behold the Lamb.

Behold the Lamb.

My heart is an artist’s heart.  

It beats with the pulse of images, sounds, and more. I grew up in a context that rejected image and elevated word, so I became a lover of words.  But deep within, I still longed for worship through the visual.

Images provoke us into language of groans, shouts, whispers that sometimes have no syllables.  As a preacher, I find words often fail when trying to explain the fullness of the work of Jesus Christ.

My journey with Christ has changed my heart, soul and body. I have experienced great pain and great joy in the journey of following Jesus.  Sometimes, the greatest pain has even come from the hands of my own faith community. Other times, I am deeply wounded via the actions of a cruel world. And then there are the times I fail and flail. Yet, I have never lost sight of Jesus, and He has never failed me. However foggy that view might be.

As an artist, I have wanted to place a picture on my body for years. Over a decade, really. And if any artists are reading this, they will understand my perfectionism and reluctance to do so through the years.

Then, three years ago, in a time of desiring to see Jesus more, I began to draw from my most favorite passages of Jesus.  In Revelation, we are told, “Behold, a door stands open” and there stands a lamb. A little lamb. Murdered. Slain by evil, yet alive and powerful. A posture of vulnerability and submission which upends the whole earth’s order.  In turn, every tribe, tongue and nation pledges allegiance to this Lamb who has conquered. 

My pencil traced out the ancient roots of my faith, my birth into the Catholic Church. The relationship with this expression of the Church has been a huge source of healing and hurt for family members. In my case, many family members have retold the story countless times of praying for my life as I struggled in the NICU.  All my life, I have heard about the miracle my life represents, and how my presence is an answer to prayer.  Even today, my christening cup sits on my shelf, a symbol of blessing. Behold the Lamb who gives His life, that we might have life! As the Gospel’s testify, He has poured out His lifeblood into a cup that overflows, sloshes, with his mercy and grace.

My pencil then moved to the Lamb among the thorns, a symbol embraced 400 years ago by Dutch Anabaptists.  The members of Singel Congregation denoted the location of their hidden church by telling people to find them at the site of the Lamb brewery.  While my spiritual ancestors worshipped in a hidden church, you could not keep them silent about the Lord. They faced the sword, the fire and the water by singing praises and giving honor to the Lamb.  Even when their tongues were screwed to the roofs of  mouths, they sought to testify of God’s love to their enemies.  Behold the Lamb in the Thorns, ensnared, trapped, given over to sacrifice on behalf of the world.  We find Him in the opening scenes of Genesis, standing in for a beloved son.

The pencil then slid over to the flag of victory.  Christus Victor. Vicit Agnus Noster. “Our Lamb Has Conquered, Let Us Follow Him.”  One of the earliest symbols of Christianity, and the central symbol of the Moravians, this Lamb is victorious over death and grave.  Profoundly shaped by Moravian devotional work, it has helped me see Jesus in all of Scripture and in all of life.  Sometimes, it is even without words – in the crosses of telephone poles, in the bathing of a baby, in the scent of the flower.  My vision is crowded with the beauty and grace of Jesus all around me. This is also the Lamb of Revelation, the one who stands in front, behind, beside, above and below. Worthy Worth Worthy is He.

So this month, I raised my own Ebenezer, my own pile of stones of remembrance in the form of an image on my body. A few years ago, I discovered Razzouk Studio, a tattoo artist in Jerusalem who is part of a lineage of artists going back almost 700 years.  Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land would have pilgrimage tattoos made for admission to faith sites and a declaration of God’s presence and work in their lives.  One of their Ambassadors in the US caught my eye with her testimony and work, so I reached out to her. She enthusiastically agreed to work with my design and I proceeded to wait six months for a slot. And now here we are.

I want to thank True Eden Studio/Rachael Cunningham of Franklin, TN for her work. Her testimony of the goodness of God in the face of evil, sickness and trauma is truly a gift from the Lamb.  She noted the Lamb looks back, back at our history and calls us to walk forward, to step into the future. Through her own healed wounds, she now ministers to others through her presence and her artwork.  We experienced the healing and empowering presence of the Holy Spirit in our session together. Thank you, Rachael. I am so thankful that the Lamb continues to draw you to Him. And it was so worth the months of waiting to meet you.

I want to thank my wife Genessa for her unconditional love. She is Jesus to me when I can’t see Him.  She loves me in spite of all my quirks, warts, and more.   She receives me as I am, calls me to give up myself, and challenges me to do better. We’ve been through a lot together, and more will come.  But I sure enjoy looking towards the Lamb together.

Thank you to my church (local and global). Humans are not islands, and we are not made to live apart from each other. Community shapes us for good and bad, and I am thankful for your support and challenge. Whether you are a resident of Goshen, IN or a citizen of Kenya, India, or wherever, under no other name do we gather. In Him we move and breathe and have our being.

And finally, thank you to my friends, family members and even my enemies.  I love you. My heart is big. We may not agree on everything, and we may not be able “to live in the same house” but we are “all in the same neighborhood.”  Your journey with God is your own, and know that I am sharing as an invitation to seek Jesus, to look to the Lamb.  Consider perhaps how your view of Christ may be colored by the failures of humans.  And, if you still don’t embrace Him, that’s okay.  I still love you.