Homily

It began in the 8th century in the Church of Constantinople — the idea that paintings of Christ and the saints, or any other types of artistic representation of the Lord or His holy Ones was a form of idolatry. It was well known that Jews did not allow the use of images, and the new Muslim religion was also opposed to the use of sacred pictures, and this may have helped the Byzantine Emperor Leo III to decide that the Church needed purification from the threat of idolatry. So, sometime around the year 730, he ordered the removal of a well-loved icon from the gate of the Royal Palace in Constantinople. This began a campaign which would last for over 100 years as theologians and politicians and even ordinary citizens debated the question of whether or not the use of icons was forbidden by God or a way to enhance the worship of God and build up our Christian lives. During this struggle as the political authorities tried to wipe out the use of icons, many people were imprisoned, tortured and even executed for their belief in the use of icons in worship and prayer.

The Second Ecumenical Council of Nicea finally put this theological controversy to rest by its explanation that we do not worship material objects made of wood or paint or stone. No, we venerate holy pictures of Christ because they represent Him Who is truly divine and truly human. And since He is truly human, He can be painted. His image can be drawn on wood and paper and stone. We do not worship material physical pictures of the Lord, but we use them to help us worship Him Whom we cannot see. This council’s decision is what we celebrate on the First Sunday of Lent, the Sunday of the triumph of orthodox belief.

The icon-hating emperors during this time, like Leo III, along with many bishops and clergy, felt that by getting rid of icons, they were actually purifying the Church. And I think, apart from other theological arguments, there are two main reasons for their dislike and mistrust of icons: 1) There was the danger of superstition, where people sometimes treated icons as though they contained spiritual powers of their own, apart from God; 2) A basic suspicion that the material world is not suitable or holy enough to bear the image of Christ. Using icons made out of paint and wood seemed to tie Christ to the material world which was not spiritual enough, not holy enough, not sacred enough to bear His image. So the emperors, clergy and lay people who wanted to end the use of icons saw themselves as people who were purifying the faith by lifting it up out of the dirty and tainted material world.

And, since there is no bad idea that is not given a second chance, there was a second great wave of iconoclastic fever that hit the Christian world with the coming of the Protestant revolt in the 16th century. Much like their Byzantine predecessors, men like Zwingli and Calvin saw sacred images as forms of idolatry that should be destroyed in order to encourage a more pure and spiritual worship and devotion. They were also people who tended to believe that material objects and the physical world were not able to serve as conduits of divine grace, so removing them from the church and from the lives of believers made for a purer, more spiritual, more authentic Christian life. That's why, apart from Episcopalians and Lutherans, for the most part, you will not find pictures or statues of Jesus in Protestant churches.

So this idea that the use of material, created things in prayer or worship is somehow not spiritual enough is an idea that has been around for a long time. It is difficult to think that elements which come from the earth can raise and elevate spiritual life, just as it is difficult for our human minds, no, impossible for us to fully understand how God can become a man without losing any of this divinity and without sacrificing anything in His humanity. Truly God. Truly Man. This is a great Mystery. This is a great truth.

First: about icons. Are we using them, and are we using them well? If someone comes into our home will they easily guess that we are Christians because of what they see inside? Let us use the icons we have at home to help us focus on our prayers as we stand before them. Let us take care that they are not simply a part of our home’s decoration and items that are rarely noticed, but let us pay them due honor every day, because by doing so we honor those who we see in the icons. Let us allow them to remind us that the Church is not just here on earth but also in heaven and that our vocation here on earth is to orient ourselves to Christ our God.

Finally, I would like to suggest that this Lenten season is a time for painting and not for iconoclasm. The icons we should be working on are not made of wood and paint, but of flesh and blood, of water and the Spirit, of body and soul – because it is our vocation and our calling to be living icons of Christ our Lord for one another and for the world. We, by our baptism, have put on Christ, and we are called to show Him, in our person, to one another and to the world, and even in our own homes. We are to be icons of our Lord, and it is during this season that we can work even more effectively to continue developing this image and likeness of Christ our Lord. It will not happen if we do not pick up the brush, but if we do pick up that brush, then it is the Church which shows us how to make our strokes and lines, and it is the Holy Spirit Who provides all the paint we need.