Mark 12:13-17
March 15, 2009
Patrick Preheim
Icons and Epigraphs
Saskatchewan has some big icons. I have noticed a number of them as I have
traveled the provincial highways. Perhaps you too have seen some of the
monuments that grace our towns.
In Davidson, for example, you will find the Giant Coffee Pot standing an
impressive 24 feet high. The reason for its existence: "To symbolize Davidson's
friendliness and hospitality." Or maybe you have seen the Giant Grasshopper in
Wilkie which stands 15 feet tall, 18 Feet long, 6 feet wide and weighs 4,000
pounds. According to Big Things Saskatchewan it is a monument to economic
development brought about by manufacturing excellence and innovation in Wilkie.
Perhaps my favourite is the Giant Gopher of Eston which stands 8 feet tall and
weighs a staggering 3,000 Pounds (now that is one big gopher). The gopher was
chosen as a suitable monument for the main street of Eston because of the world
gopher derby. (www.bigthings.ca/bigsk.html) These towns may have wonderful
people, they may have excellent restaurants, they may have outstanding schools,
but I do not know them by any of these things. These towns are remembered by me,
and thousands of others, not by their substance but by their icon. The epigraph
(the inscription, the title, the claim to fame) hung in our minds for these
places is home of the large gopher, the huge grasshopper, or the big coffee pot.
How different than the epigraph I would give to a woman seeking to donate a
liver. In the past week I have been following updates on the Sorbara family.
Mother Sorbara is in need of a liver transplant on account of Wilson’s disease.
Finding a close enough match for the transplant has been difficult, so the 19
year old daughter conducted interviews in the papers and on television. After
their story appeared “more than 100 people stepped forward to offer a piece of
their liver to help save [people with liver diseases]”. (www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2009/03/05/
8634611-sun.html). In an interview with one of these would be donors last
Thursday (March 5) the reporter asked a woman why she is willing to donate.
“Legacy” she said (5:30 pm Global TV interview clip). This potential donor sees
more to posterity than assets and possessions. When she dies this potential
donor wants to be remembered as self sacrificial, willing to give of herself for
others. And very possibly this will be the inscription used to describe her at
her funeral. It is worth considering what we want for our legacy and our
epigraph. What are the creations we seek to build, our icons, that we hope will
say something about us? How will people remember us?
I reflect on epigraphs and icons because they play a prominent role in today’s
passage. In Mark 12.16 of today’s scripture Jesus asks whose epigraph appears on
the coin. In this instance the NRSV translates “epigraph” as title. 1st Century
Christians would have known the words on the coin, but we don’t have Roman coins
to get the slogan. Fortunately some 1st century Roman currency survives in
museums and we know the inscription on the coin to have been “Tiberius Caesar,
son of the divine Augustus” (Robert Taannehill, commentary on Luke, p. 293). In
this epigraph Tiberius claims to be of divine origin. Mark’s gospel identifies
Jesus as a divine son in four different places, most recently in the parable
preceding today’s scripture. Three times Jesus is referred to as the “beloved
son” of God (1.11, 9.7, 12.6) and once simply as God’s son (15.39). The term
“epigraph” is used one other place in Mark’s gospel, verse 15:26. There the NRSV
translates epigraph as an inscription hanging above the cross of Jesus with the
words “The King of the Jews”. Jesus and the writer of Mark’s gospel are drawing
attention to two different understandings of what makes for a divine son. Is a
divine son one who has authority to tax, authority to confiscate, and authority
to crucify? Or is a divine son one who advocates for the weak, sacrifices for
the lost, and who does not consider equality with God as something to be
exploited but who empties himself taking the form of a servant? Mark’s gospel,
and the whole of the New Testament, argues that it is the later which truly
makes a person divine among the people of God. The words used to describe us,
our epigraph, will be linked to which divine son we choose to follow. Will we
follow Tiberius or Jesus?
The contrast between the divinity of Caesar and Jesus is accentuated when Jesus
referred to picture on the coin. Icon is the word Jesus used. Jesus literally
asked, “whose icon is this?” I understand why the NRSV translates this word as
head, but I think Jesus was asking something deeper. In the beginning when God
created humankind the Septuagent says that we were created in the icon, the
image, of God. An icon is more than just a physical print; it transmits a
spiritual quality. The biblical languages differentiate between icon and a
graven image: an icon imbues an essence rather than the graven image which is a
lifeless creation. An icon contains elements of the spiritual realm. It is our
souls, the spirit of God breathed into us, that reflect our divine image of
God—not our physical appearance alone. When Jesus asked about the iconic nature
of the coin I wonder if he isn’t making a spiritual statement.
Mark’s text makes clear that there is a close relationship between icons and
epigraphs. Those things that we allow to shape our Spirits will lead to the
titles, the words, the epigraphs people use to describe us. The connection
between image, action, and description plays out in our world. A little over a
week ago CBC aired a program on The Fifth Estate about virtual video gaming (Top
Gun; Friday, March 6). The report explored the story of Brandon Crisp’s gaming
addiction and how this technological icon shaped behaviour and relationships. In
Brandon’s case the spirit of the gaming icon so infused him that he stopped
attending school, ran away from home when his parents confiscated his X-box, and
wound up dying alone in the woods rather than live without his game. Family
therapists and psychologists interviewed attested to the negative effects of
unrestricted video gaming. Is isolation and domestic discord the fate of all
X-box gamers? No. But like all things, the spiritual dimension of virtual gaming
needs to be taken seriously. Icons will shape us. It is a matter of which icons
we allow into our consciousness.
In the same vein, I was struck by a March 7 article appearing in the Star Phoenix with the title, Alcohol on TV Driving Viewers to Drink. Reading from the article:
Watching films and ads in which alcohol features prominently drives people to immediately reach for the bottle themselves, Dutch researchers said on Wednesday. An experiment with students showed that volunteers exposed to a film and commercials where alcohol featured predominately drank an average one-and-a-half bottles of beer more during the hour they were watching. The findings highlight a potential need to explicitly warn people -- and parents -- if movies contain alcohol use because such portrayals have a direct effect on drinking.... "Implications of these findings may be that, if moderation of alcohol consumption in certain groups is strived for, it may be sensible to cut down on the portrayal of alcohol in programs aimed at these groups and the commercials shown in between," (Rutger Engels and colleagues wrote).
The images we take in with our eyes and ears transmit their spiritual
essence. They mould us. They motivate us to act. We need to consider the icons
we set before ourselves.
Not all icons are bad. On a positive note, the Eastern Orthodox Church is well
known for their historic belief that meditation upon religious icons can edify
the spirit and enable a person to be more Godly. Focusing one’s attention on a
religious icon allows it to shape spirit and soul.
The words of Jesus about icons and epigraphs come in a section in which
religious and secular authorities are seeking to undermine his identity.
Starting back at the end of chapter 11 you have a steady stream of
confrontations. In Mark 11:27-33 the chief priest, scribes, and the elders
engage Jesus. In 12:13-17 the Pharisees and Herodians seek to trap Jesus. In
this same section we see the struggle between Caesar and God. In 12:18-27 the
Sadducees challenge Jesus. Under this kind of pressure a normal person might
crack. But Jesus is in the last week of his life. He is not interested in
compromising the good news. When a person’s life is near the end there is a
freedom to simply do the right thing. The litmus test for Jesus on which icon to
follow is laid out at the end of all these challenges: love of God and care of
neighbour. These two directives should guide our actions. There is nothing
greater than these two things. If a person follows this icon the epigraph will
take care of itself.
The truth is that some of us are entering the last year of our lives, or even
possibly the last week. From the accident involving the Borden Basketball team
little over a year ago we know that teenagers can die, and die suddenly. From
the death of Matthew Epp we know that children too can die. And then there are
those of us with worn out hearts and blood vessels. We are all terminal. We are
all in the last years of our lives. How do we want to be remembered? What will
be our epigraph? If I were to die this week I would hope Patty would say that I
was a good husband, or at least a husband who tried to do well. I would hope
people of my congregation would say he made an effort to connect with us and
encourage us. I would hope people would say I tried to love God and my neighbour.
These are the icons that guide me and shape me into the person I want to be. How
neatly I keep my garden in summer, or the number of quarts of preserved
vegetables in my cellar, or the size of my investment portfolio is of little
consequence. They are like large coffee pots, grasshoppers and gophers. They are
icons which throw me off the trail of those things I profess to be important. In
the last week of his life Jesus clarifies the central image, the central icon,
of his life: love of God and neighbour. In so doing he prepares himself for the
ultimate sacrifice. His meditation on the good icons allowed him to do what
needed to be done in confrontation with the chief priests, scribes, elders,
Pharisees, Herodians, Caesar and the Sadducees. The good icons allowed him to
die well. The epigraphs that follow testify to who he was and who he is to those
who follow after: the good shepherd, the King of love, the prince of peace. How
do you want to be remembered?: one who defended the weak, one who challenged
racism or militarism, one took time for a child or grandchild, one who
volunteered, something else? Take a moment right now and consider [silence].
Perhaps over noon meal or at faspa you can share with others the epigraph you
would want for yourself. And then this week meditate upon the good icons which
will enable you to be this person. Do this and you will be remembered well.
Amen.