Jesus and the mushroom cloud

 ‘I have set before you life and death, therefore choose life’. This text based on a passage from Deuteronomy (30:15-20) appears on a stained glass window I was told about this week in a small Monmouthshire church. It obviously speaks of the wonderful invitational nature of God, but it could also be interpreted as being somewhat confrontational in terms of its challenge perhaps. 

I’m certainly going with invitational in terms of us making a decision whether or not to accept the invitation to enjoy a relationship with God, a relationship he maintains with us in spite of our reluctance or even hostility. Tullian Tchividjian wrote, ‘What keeps me connected to God is not that I hold tightly on to him, it’s that he holds tightly on to me even when I let go.’

But back to the window and to the link with Remembrance Sunday. The window is entitled the Risen Light of Christ and of course shows the risen Jesus. It’s a reasonably traditional portrait but what makes this window different is that in the bottom right hand corner there is a mushroom cloud representing an atomic explosion. It’s an extraordinary contrast in the window, highlighting that choice of life or death, pictured here in the choice of Jesus or potential nuclear annihilation.

The window was made in 1961, a time of great uncertainty with the escalation of the Cold War, the perceived threat of the Communist Soviet Union and a world where nuclear weapons, which not too long before had been used to such horrific effect in Japan, were increasingly seen as a possible means of mass destruction.

There was fear of war everywhere it seems, even in a small Monmouthshire village where this window appeared.

Today we live in an uncertain world, a world where there is still too much conflict and pain, too much conflict, suffering and hatred, too much division and inequality. We live in a world where all our lives are impacted by the war in Ukraine to an extent, not to any horrific level of living in fear of bombs dropping on us perhaps, but certainly in terms of our lives at least being economically affected.  

We live in a world where there are all kinds of problems still, different problems to those of 1961 perhaps, or maybe not so different… perhaps different problems to those of the time when Deuteronomy was written, or maybe not… 

As we commemorate Remembrance Sunday again, we are challenged to remember those who have sacrificed so much in the belief that their contributions can help to make the world a better place, to remember those who are still offering so much today, but also to remember to learn the lessons of history. 

And that’s where this window is so striking. The choice of life or death is set before us and there is the recognition that this is a choice we all have to make. Choosing life or death isn’t simply about a personal choice but about choosing to be people who, through our lives, enable others to really live. 

That means to work for peace and justice, not believing that our voice is too quiet or our presence too small, but knowing we can make a difference through our behaviour and example. Where we ignore injustice, inequality, hatred, division, conflict, poverty, and other negative things we can probably all think of, then we are not actively choosing life, because our lives are always interconnected with others. Choosing life means to try and live fully ourselves, but also to offer life to others as well. 

And so faced with this incredible choice put before us in this window, what can we do? Well, there is the picture of Jesus triumphant, having conquered death and offering life to all. He is our inspiration, he is our example but far more than that he is of course our life giver. It is by Him working in and through us that our lives will make a difference. Faced with that threat of the mushroom cloud and the atomic blast, there seems little we can do. How can we influence leaders of nations, how can we stop war? 

And the answer is that we begin to do that with every God-given positive gift we offer through our lives to serve others. We do that as we confidently, with God’s help and strength, offer that message of choosing life or death, choosing love or hate, choosing hope or despair and choosing to do all we can to battle against inequality and injustice, against conflict, against poverty and division. We must respect and remember the sacrifices made in the past to try and make the world a better place, and we must learn the lessons of history, but respecting and remembering and learning mean little without doing. 

What fears were there in the minds of the parishioners of that church in 1961 and in the minds of the designers ? What fears are there today for us ? In the eyes of the parishioners of that time and the designers of that window, the answer seems to be clear that Jesus triumphs over every act of conflict, death, destruction and hatred, and that is our challenge today. Faced with our fears and worries, faced with our world today, may we confidently choose to follow and trust the Risen Light of Christ always and live our lives seeking to love others and helping to make the world, as much as we possibly can, a better place for everyone. Amen