(an early photograph of the newly completed church from the 1950's)
The Miles Memorial Window was installed above the altar of the Norton Methodist Church in 1951. It is named in honor of Dr. H.M. Miles and his wife Alpha Hobbs Miles. When Mrs. Miles died on April 29, 1938 the greater part of the Miles estate was left to the Norton Church. The Church received about $33,000.00. Several years later Pastor W.R. Rollins (1946-1951) launched an extensive campaign to finish the building of the Church. The upper floor was completed in 1951 at a cost of $104,000.00. Photographs of Dr. and Mrs. Miles hang in the front vestibule of the church.
The following is the text of a sermon presented by Ken Taylor (current Pastor of Norton United Methodist Church) on November 19, 2006When I first came to this church in 1975, I was like every new visitor here….totally awestruck by the beauty of this place and the integrity of its design style. You cannot sit here without acknowledging the presence of God and his love and majesty. I was quite impressed by the Miles Memorial Window, but it is placed so far away and the limits of human vision prohibit clear study and analysis. So I discussed this issue with Morris Burchette, who kindly took a photograph. Well the truth is I had to bug Morris for about 10 years, but somehow he got on a ladder and took a wonderful photograph. You should have a copy of that today. Hang on to it, because it will help you with the remainder of this talk. There is a lesson in that story too and there is always some tidbit of truth, some meaning, and some spiritual insight in almost everything we do. We need to continually examine our world and our lives to learn meaning and increase our faith and ultimately our ability to serve others. I began what I thought would be an easy analysis of the various patterns and themes in the window, but it has taken me a shameful 15 years to get to this point today, where I am presenting a program to you about the window. I hope that what we learn today will be meaningful to you, help you appreciate the treasure and priceless value of this work of art, and most of all help you grow closer to God.
Lets move along a little bit further. Get out your copy of the photograph and let’s examine a few things.
The shape of the window is that of a Gothic arch. High and pointed, suggesting aspiration, hands folded in prayer, it is pointed upward to God. Arches serve to remind us of the unity of God and man and of authority, or even hospitality and welcome. The shape of the window is in keeping with the other arches throughout the building.
A window lets in light and warmth from the sun, reminding us to be open to beautiful things and to allow God’s goodness within us to shine forth in everything we do. Stained glass windows are an art form steeped in history.
There are various beautiful and brilliant colors in the window. It is bold and colorful. The Blue reminds us of heavenly love. Gold and yellow reflect light, joy and glory. Red is a symbolic of love and suffering. Violet is the color of penance and humility.
The scripture text “Come Unto Me” at the base of the window is found in several sections of the Bible. Musicians present here today may reflect on the selection from the “Messiah” that bears the same words, “Come Unto Me.” In today’s Old Testament text from Isaiah, we find those words and in the gospel lesson from Matthew we hear Jesus using these words to invite sinners to follow his way. There are a number of windows and paintings with the “Come Unto Me” theme. These most often portray Jesus as the gentle friend of children, with him sitting comfortably with youngsters playing at his feet. It is an inviting theme, a welcoming theme, reminding us that we are all welcome in this place and at his feet. I am overcome when I think back on the wonderful people who have stood or bowed in front of this window. Perhaps they received the sacraments, sang or played music, preached, were married, or performed a Bible School play or recital at the feet of this window. When I think of them I know that these are not just words, but he really does welcome us and accept us and love us.
In this window we have realistic figures and English text that we can clearly understand, but there is much more here, requiring us to think and work and ponder. Sometimes we like things easy. Sometimes they are but more often not we have to work a while to achieve our dreams and hopes and ultimately our union with God.
The central figure in the window is Jesus, standing with welcome arms, in an inviting gesture. The shape of his figure is somewhat slender and lean. His arms extend outside the pattern of the window, perhaps giving us more of an image of his ability to step forward and join us as we come to him. He is wearing vestments or garments similar to those worn by Protestant clergy, perhaps reminding us that he is Lord of all times, the Lord of all faiths, the Lord of all people. He is wearing a Red Mantle over his shoulders, which traditionally in religious art represents love and martyrdom. I think of this figure as being Rabbi Jesus, a Jesus who practiced his faith and did work in the Temple. His face is radiant and aglow, and reflective of many emotions. Around his head the artist placed a nimbus or halo. In this instance it is a tri-radiant nimbus, a halo artists used in early times to reflect deity.
Above his head is the Chi-Rho symbol, PX, the first 2 letters in the Greek word for Christ. This symbol is frequently used in Christian art and religious decorations. The use of this symbol clearly tells us this is a portrayal of our Lord. This symbol was adopted by Constantine and used as a shield for his great army.
The symbol at the base of the figure of Jesus was the one that gave me the most difficulty. However after spending hours in the dusty and damp basement library of the Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville, I finally found an old textbook which revealed this as an ancient symbol used in the catacombs. In this symbol we see two birds drinking from a fountain or basin of water.
In early Christian art, birds were used to represent the lives of the faithful. Birds represented man. This symbol was placed on the tombs of some of the martyrs and was found drawn on the walls of the catacombs. The addition of the cross and clusters of grapes to the symbol is reflective of the life and the sacrifice of Jesus. Jesus, the Lamb of God offered himself on the cross and permits the faithful (we, as birds) to enjoy the fruits of his sacrifice. God’s grace flows down to us from the cross. We can think of this in Methodist theology as being both our justification and our sanctification. Water gives us life but also washes us clean and keeps us clean every time we get dirty and need ‘a good washing’, so to speak. We need to drink constantly at the fountain of life, which always supplies adequate love, grace, and mercy.
Around the figure of Jesus we find emblems of the four gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Matthew is portrayed as the “divine man”, a saintly figure who also bears a nimbus or halo. Remember that Matthew was the scoundrel who left his wealthy lifestyle to follow Jesus. His gospel gives us many details about the human nature and the genealogy of Jesus, through his father Joseph.
Mark is portrayed as a golden lion with a nimbus above his head. Mark taught us about the royal dignity of Jesus. Mark begins his gospel telling of the preaching of John, “a loud voice roaring in the wilderness”.
Luke reveals the sacrificial nature of Jesus’ death and is portrayed as an ox, which is the Old Testament animal of sacrifice.
John is symbolized as an eagle because his gospel is rich in theology and thought and the eagle flies higher than any other bird. The eagle can look directly into the face of the sun.
A Biblical basis for all these symbols is found in Ezekiel and in Revelations. Ezekiel you will recall had a vision of four living creatures that had the face of a man, the face of a lion, the face of an ox, and the face of an Eagle. In Revelations, John describes the throne of God as being surrounded by four similar creatures. These four represent countless numbers of persons, including each of us, who have been ordinary everyday people who have responded to the Lord’s call “Come Unto Me.”
Minor symbols in the window add to its beauty and meaning. These include flowers appearing to be Roses and Lilies. Roses are used frequently in Christian art to represent Jesus. In Isaiah, there is a description of a rose blooming in the desert. This is of course Jesus, the coming Messiah. David Barker and the members of the choir may well be preparing lovely advent music for the coming weeks, including several songs that refer to the Christmas Rose such as “Lo How a Rose Ere Blooming”. The Lily is of course a symbol of the resurrection. Palms are symbols of eternal life and remind us of the Palm Sunday parade of Jesus.
The fleur-de-lis, found near the figure of Jesus at the bottom left is a familiar symbol of the Trinity and is also used by organizations such as the Boy Scouts.
IHC is found to the right near the base of the figure of Jesus and is related to the Greek word for Jesus. Over time as knowledge of Greek became less common, the Greek letter “C” was changed to the Latin letter “S”. Therefore we more frequently see the abbreviation used as IHS. You will find this IHS symbol at the center of the Altar Cross in this church.
How do you pull all this together into a congruent message? I believe that Jesus wanted us to think and to use our minds and our creative processes to get closer to his kingdom. He taught mostly in parables and sometimes his teaching seems somewhat like a riddle. He makes you think. A grain of mustard seed is like the Kingdom of Heaven. It is very difficult to teach and understand divine truths without some assistance in grasping for reality outside our common sense. I heard someone say recently that trying to quantify religious experience was like trying to measure a sunbeam with a ruler. I think that came from a book called “Blind Faith”. So in the seemingly complex set of messages, symbols, and meanings we can find not only eye-catching beauty but also do some soul searching. We can have an opportunity to ponder our faith. We can take time to reflect and to think.
I would like to have the opportunity to speak with the artist who designed this window, to learn what message he was trying to portray. What was the lesson he was teaching with the marvelous work? Perhaps you can find other meanings. I challenge you to think about what we have discussed today.
In the end, all Christians are symbols of God. We are all reflected of a deeper meaning. We are all in fact the very best that God has…brilliant, colorful and meaningful. There is a world full of people that need us to show them a higher meaning, a deeper purpose, and to invite them to come and experience the thing we know the best.
Ken Taylor
November 19, 2006
