Courage: Part TWO "Architects of Hope & Countercultural Creativity"

I've been in the habit of identifying artists as "The Architects of Hope." This seems fitting. For, it is the artist (yes, that includes you) which shapes our societies through small, creative acts of truth, beauty and goodness. Of course, I realize not all art is infused with hope. Nonetheless, it is our invitation. It has been since our beginnings. According to the Genesis narrative, Adam was given the task of "cultivating" the garden. He was commissioned to "dress" and to "keep" it.


Think of this. God placed Adam in an environment, which required his participation. God didn't make everything to suddenly appear in a ripe or mature state. Perhaps some things did. Or perhaps they grew prior to Adam's arrival. But God gave the seed and taught him how to till the land, how to plant, water and watch for the miracle of growth.

It is fascinating to note, the root of our word "culture" is related to the words, cultivate, cult and agriculture. These all stem from the same Latin family root, "cultura" meaning the tilling of the land. So, in other words, Adam was given the charge to create culture in partnership with God from the beginning.

In Genesis 2:15, Adam is to “dress” and keep the Garden. The word translated here as dress is also used in Isaiah 19:9 to depict the work of the artisan weaving flax and fine fabric. Therefore, to dress the garden means a creative partnership with God in the continuing beautification of the earth. It means making a contribution to the soul nourishing aesthetic of human life. It means we are the beautifiers of the earth, the caretakers of God's art. We are the "Architects of Hope" bringing order from chaos and dressing the world with beauty, justice and the hope of God's love. 

Now. What does any of this have to do with courage? How about Everything. 

If we are called upon to be a transformative and innovative people, courage is at the heart of what is required of us. It takes courage to create. It takes bravery to innovate. It takes a willingness to go beyond what is accepted or taken for granted in hopes of discovering a new and better way of living for the rest of us. 

To create or to innovate is to do something that hasn't been done or hasn't been done in that particular way before - and that can be unsettling to some people. We like the safety of the familiar, many times choosing a dysfunctional familiar over a frightening unknown. But we can't stay here. No story or epic journey ever gets under way with the protagonist staying at home. We have to respond to the invitation. We have to take courage and journey out. Which means we have to be free and willing to make countercultural decisions which cut against the grain of tradition and popular opinion. 

Here's a story from the gospel of Luke.  

In Luke Chapter 1 we see the story of John The Baptist’s birth and his father Zacharias who was a priest. The story tells us John’s mother was unable to have children. Then, the angel Gabriel shows up to Zacharias and tells him his prayers have been heard and his wife, though she is barren, is going to bear a son. The angel goes on to say, you shall call his name John and gives a prophetic declaration about the baby's life and mission.

Zacharias responds by questioning how this prophecy could be possible. I love Zach's careful wording. He says, “I am an old man” and my wife is... uh... well, she is “well advanced in years”.  Ha! He was a smart man. But the angel reminded him, “Zach, I am the angel Gabriel who stands in the Presence of God. Do you think I'm kidding? Or do you think God is limited by the limitations of your own condition?” (That's the Stephen Roach translation. Not yet in print.) 

The Angel goes on to say, "I was brought to give you this news of joy but you couldn’t see past yourself. You were consumed by fear."  And as a result, Zach was mute until the time of his son’s birth. It is important to mention, this was an act of mercy and not harsh judgment. God made Zacharias mute until he could speak with faith because his words had the power to shape reality. 

Here is where I am going with this example. In verse 59, on the eighth day, they were about to circumcise the baby. By the customs of their day, the people present were going to name him Zacharias after his dad. But his mother intervened, saying, “No. His name is John.”  The people protested and argued, “There is no one among your relatives by that name.” So they made signs to Zacharias, hoping he would clarify the situation. He motioned for a writing tablet, and wrote, 

His name is John.

In that act of countercultural courage, his tongue was loosed. He began to praise God and so did everyone around him. In Part One of this series, we mentioned how courage comes from a root meaning heart. Just as the heart pumps blood to every part of our bodies, so too our acts of courage enable the rest of the body to take courage as well. 

John’s parents had to find the courage to go against the grain and follow what the Lord had said. It was out of the box, non-traditional and didn’t make sense to their loved ones. In fact, they didn’t even fully understand the implications themselves. They only knew she was barren, they had prayed, an angel showed up and here they are. 

The result of their courage ushered in a prophetic voice who prepared the way for Jesus. In the same way, our small acts of creative courage prepare the way for Jesus to be made known through our lives and to do something radically different than what the world has grown accustomed to expect. Something the world nor tradition has yet to name. Something named by the father.  

This is the crossroads where many of us may find ourselves today. It is where my life has been this year. And I want to continue to respond with courage, not fear, nor unbelief. I want to step past conformity into a creative partnership with God and cultivate a living hope that will counter the chaos of our day.

Onlookers may complain. Naysayers may protest, "It's never been done this way before." And we can respond, 

Exactly. 

Every work of art requires we stand before a blank canvas or a silent piano or an unfurnished home and we create something out of nothing. We have to reach into the unknown and pull something into the present that wasn’t previously there. We have to let our water be turned to wine.

Let courage lead the way. 

(Part three coming Next Week)