Recently I spent some time with a local Eastern Orthodox priest who delved into the role of icons during their times of corporate worship. Icons are used in the normal worship practices of many Eastern Orthodox churches. While most evangelical church services spend their times of worship around music, I was intrigued by the use of art in corporate worship.
The Orthodox priest describes icons as a lens to show the Kingdom.
To me, the icons were, at first, nothing more than old pictures, but for the priest they delivered Him to a place of experiencing the Divine.
Madeleine L’Engle describes icons as vehicles to oft-hidden truths.
On the surface icons are merely pictures drawn anonymously many years ago, but each picture is drawn for the purpose of leading us toward the truths we often miss in life, or the person who brings all of life together. Each drawing is not meant to be an accurate representation of the person, but they each are honing in on a characteristic of this person.
One of my favorite icons is an icon of Jesus showing his left eye to be bigger than his right. While this may have been true of Jesus, the point of the icon is to show that Jesus sees and convicts us of our sin (the left eye and left arm), while at the same time bringing forgiveness and grace for those who come to Him (the right eye and right arm).
Consider the similarities between holy living and icons:
- Our interactions with holy people draw us closer to Jesus and His Kingdom. Each of us likely know people where we walk away from time with them sensing we encountered a taste of the Divine. Being around a truly holy person helps us catch a glimpse of Jesus through the window of their lives.
- Holy people first introduce us to the Jesus inside of them rather than introducing us to their pastor who can teach us about Jesus instead. Icons don’t save us but they point to the person who saves us.
So what does it mean to live a holy life? What does it look like to be pointing others to the One who saves?
Paul tells us to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ,” similarly to the way we clothe ourselves every morning (Romans 13:14 ESV). We are not to merely imitate to the character of Jesus, we should be in such a close relationship with Him that we continue to reflect more of who He is with our lives.
This deep intimacy with Christ should lead us toward devotion to Him infectious enough that those who encounter us cannot help but see Jesus through the window of our lives.
We are windows to the Saving One.
