You have probably noticed this icon near the Baptismal font in the sanctuary. This is a special kind of picture of Jesus called an icon.  Icons are common in Eastern Orthodox Churches and provide an ancient way of praying. Back when most people could not read, icons provided a sort of visual Bible to help people to learn about God. That is why it is said that an iconographer does not paint the icon, but instead writes the icon. Icons follow a prescribed pattern, which is believed to have been inspired by the Holy Spirit. The iconographer is expected to follow the pattern, and to be in prayer while writing the icon.

This particular icon is called Christus Pantocrator. Pantocrator is a Greek word, and means Lord of All, so the icon proclaims that Christ is the Lord of All. You can see that Jesus holds the New Testament in his left hand and blesses those who look at the icon with his right hand. His head is surrounded by a halo, which is a visual cue of his holiness. The letters inside the halo in Greek mean “The One”, and signify that Christ is the Lord of Life – He is The Living One, the source of our life.

The first Pantocrator icon we know of was written in the 700s, and still exists in St. Catherine’s monastery on Mt. Sinai. The Christus Pantocrator in our sanctuary was inspired in 2005 and written during Lent in 2006 by the hand of Pastor Chris. In fall of 2006 it was given to Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Ames. When Lord of Life went through Holy Closure last spring, the icon was gifted to Bethesda, and today we introduce it to you.

People pray in many different ways. One way is to pray in the company of an icon, gazing at it in silence. We are not praying to the icon. That would not be right, because we don’t pray to things -we pray to God alone. But we can pray in the company of the icon. It is not uncommon for people to light candles and sit for a period of time to gaze upon an icon and to pray in that way. An icon is sometimes referred to as a window into heaven, and gazing upon the icon is a practice similar to the face-to-face gaze of love we sometimes share with others, for instance newborn infants. A pastor once said to me, “may you always see Christ in your mind’s eye gazing upon you with love.” Prayer in the presence of an icon of Christ can remind us of Jesus’ constant love.