Some look at the earth, but never see the sky. Some see the sky, but never fly. But to some it is given to see and to fly. To some it is given to be an eagle, soaring with strength and power. But I must ask – do you know how empty the eagle is before he flies? From empty to eagle; do you know what that journey is like?
We begin our lives empty. We are as infants, hungry, ravenously hungry. Babies want nothing more than to eat and sleep, eat and sleep, eat and sleep in a constant cycle of satisfying themselves. Babies are not capable of anything more. They are empty; but they are on their way to being eagles. Well, actually there is one more thing that babies do, but we don’t speak of it in polite society. I will just mention that someone has described babies as insatiable at one end and irresponsible at the other, and leave it at that.
We begin our lives empty, hungry and thirsty, wanting others to take care of us. As we grow to adulthood, however, we discover that we have to go to work to support ourselves. We have to get into that daily grind that sometimes seems so mindless, but is necessary. You know what I’m talking about – we get up to go to work to earn a paycheck, which pays for the house, the food, and the clothes we need, so that we are refreshed and can get up tomorrow to go to work to earn a paycheck, which pays for the house, the food, and the clothes we need, so that – never mind. You get the picture. There’s an emptiness there, isn’t there? Day by day drudgery – that’s the unpleasant reality for many people. Their adult years are poured into a job, and they can’t even remember why they do it. Empty. But on the way, nonetheless, to becoming an eagle.
After our childhood and after our adult years, we get to a certain age. They say we are ready to retire. And when that happens, there is a new question to face, there is a new challenge to deal with: what did it all mean? Was it worth it? Did I spend my life in a useful way, or was it just “sound and fury, signifying nothing.” I am just a couple of years older than Henry Stewart, and so I know some of the questions that he must have pondered at this time of life. I too think about whether my life has been empty or full. I know it has not been empty of things to do; there have been plenty of things to do. But do they matter? Are they fulfilling? It is a question that plagues a lot of people in their senior years. But, I say, they are en route to becoming eagles.
I am here today to offer the good news. I am here to reflect with you on Henry Stewart’s life and to measure whether it was empty or full, void or meaningful. For remember, some look at the earth, but never see the sky. Some see the sky, but never fly. But to some it is given to see and to fly. To some it is given to be an eagle, soaring with strength and power. But, as I have said, an eagle starts out empty before he flies.
Henry Stewart was an artist. The artist is a person who sees what other people see, but more. With canvas or clay, through music or dance, the artist sees the earth, but beyond the earth he sees the sky. And if the artist sees the sky, he even sees beyond it to the place where eagles dwell. The artist sees into the heart of God in a way that most of us do not. Henry Stewart was an artist who saw that way, and in order to reflect with you on his life, I am going to use the vision of a Biblical artist. A seer of visions and a dreamer of dreams, John, the writer of the Book of Revelation. John used vivid images to express what God is all about. I suspect that in John, in this painter of word pictures, we will find insights that will help us understand Henry and will teach us how God will take us from empty to eagle.
Listen to John’s vivid vision of what it is like in the presence of God. Only an artist like Henry Stewart could appreciate all of this, I suspect – gemstones and rainbows, robes and crowns, lightning and torches and crystal – what a picture!
Revelation 4:1-6a
So much for the background. Now comes the foreground. Four living creatures – full of eyes in front and behind (only an artist would think of that!). Look with me at these four living creatures, at what they are and what they tell us about life before God:
Revelation 4:6b-8a
I
The first living creature is the lion. The ravenously hungry, always empty lion. Just like infants, who are always empty, always hungry. There is something in us that always wants to be satisfied. There is a side of us that just cannot stop consuming. I’ve been told that Henry had issues, problems. But who of us does not? Who of us does not have inner cravings that just cry out to be satisfied? There is no need this morning to be ashamed or to blame. Let’s just recognize that there is the lion in all of us, that fierce beast that wants to devour. That’s what childhood is all about. Some of us grow up faster than others, some of us make our way from empty to eagle faster than others. But all of us have the lion, the empty lion, in us. Let’s just admit that. Henry felt the lion inside; he had those inner tensions. But the artist – the artist sees more, feels more, than the rest of us. Despite the lion stuff, he is on the way from empty to eagle.
II
The second living creature is the ox. The dull, heavy-footed, plodding ox. For me that represents adulthood. It speaks of that time of life when we realize we have to go to work and support ourselves. If you don’t work, you don’t eat. It’s that simple. And, sad to say, most of us settle for that drab, dull, plodding existence I spoke about earlier. Like an ox tethered to a millstone, going round and round, grinding out the grain, but never getting anywhere. Isn’t that what work is like for so many of us? And yet, here is where in Henry’s life I see the eagle beginning to emerge. The ox is on his way to becoming an eagle, because Henry treated his work as a joy and not as a burden. Henry learned to wait tables in fine restaurants, and to treat that labor as a labor of love. It was not about hauling orders or carrying dishes for him. It was about giving his customers a joyful experience. I am told he absolutely loved to serve people. We can see this too in the way he served his neighbors. Do you see the spirit of the artist at work in this? I do. The ox plods away, dutifully doing his job, and most of us think that’s all there is to it. But Henry, on his way to becoming an eagle – Henry Stewart, the artist – makes even waiting tables into an art. Oh, I tell you, the lion with his emptiness and his tensions, the ox with his dedication to work – they are on their way from empty to eagle.
III
Now turn with me to the third living creature. John the visionary sees at the throne of God a creature with a human face. After the lion, the ox; and after the ox, the creature with a human face. I want you to know today that in Jesus Christ there is a human face to God, and that in Jesus Christ, there is a godly face for man. It is not easy to say all that I would want to say – but I want you to know today that in the Lord Jesus Christ, the far-off, remote, awesome God has become real, has become accessible, has come into our space and our time, has lived our kind of life. I want you to hear that in Jesus Christ we have the sure sign that God understands. The song says, “When I have come to the end of my journey, weary of life and the battle is won; carrying the staff and the cross of redemption, He’ll understand and say, ‘Well done’”.
Henry painted this portrait of Christ. The features of the Christ he painted are, I think, African. The hair is more like that of a Middle Easterner. In the center of His breast there is a heart, and his hand is raised in blessing, as if to say, “Whoever you are, wherever you have come from, whatever you are about – I love you. I care for you. I understand you. And I will redeem you and bring you to myself.”
You see, there is more than one way to express faith and trust in Christ. Some of us go the conventional way of professing with our lips and joining a church. But the artist – remember the soul of the artist – he has other ways. He has other means of expression. This painting tells me that Henry had turned to Christ, in Henry’s own way. Henry saw in Jesus the human face of God; and in turn saw in his own face the face of Jesus. His emptiness is filling up now. He is on the way from empty to eagle.
IV
And so, finally, brothers and sisters, the fourth living creature around the throne is the eagle. That great bird whose strength and power are symbols of life, of eternal life, as he soars into the distance, seemingly beyond time and space. Henry painted the eagle too – as if to say, “I too fly away. I too will soar. I too have life and life more abundantly.” For again, some look at the earth, but never see the sky. Some see the sky, but never fly. But to some it is given to see and to fly. To some it is given to be an eagle, soaring with strength and power. In a mysterious and lovely way, Henry has made it from empty to eagle. Trusting God in his own way, Henry is experiencing today the mercy of the God who wanted him to fly, to live, to be something special.
Look at Henry’s painting of the eagle. It looks to me as though this eagle is landing. This eagle is finishing its flight and is coming home. This eagle is ready for rest. In the father’s house are many mansions, we say; is it not also possible that in the father’s forest there are many nests, and one of them prepared for Henry Stewart?
Praise the God who so loved us that He made us empty, like the hungry lion, so that we could journey all the way from empty to eagle and know fulfillment!
Praise the God who so loved us that He made us workers, like the ox, but not toiling in vain, but with purpose and with joy, on our way from empty to eagle.
Praise the God who comes to us in Jesus Christ and who so loved the world – so loved Henry – that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believes should not perish but have everlasting life – eagle life – and is now at rest. I just sing with all those around the throne and with the four living creatures – “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.” Amen, Lord God; take us each, in our own ways, from empty to eagle.
