When 16th century Italian artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo painted his first “fruit face,” imagine the reception he must have garnered.[1] His work has to be some of the strangest in the history of art. But it seems, there is an art behind his madness.
In 1562 at the age of 36, Arcimboldo received an invitation to accept a post as Court Portraitist at Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II’s imperial court in Vienna. Suddenly the budding artist was thrust into a rich renaissance-style intellectual and artistic atmosphere, which boasted interchange between botanists, astronomers, physicians, and alchemists. These would influence his art, and soon he would begin churning out vegetable and fruit likenesses of local celebrities and benefactors.
At first, these may seem to us cartoonish and strange. And indeed, Arcimboldo became later known for good reason as the grandfather of surrealism. But as author Ian Shank points out, Arcimboldo’s work is more than just fun with fruit. His images relay the latest in botanical research. They also suggest a theme prevalent at that time –that we are the results of our surroundings. Not just “we are what we eat,” but we are the products of our culture. To that end, we can alter our visage to the world by altering our consumption.
Consumption, or rather as we would call it today, consumerism, would increase dramatically by the time we entered into the industrial revolution. I imagine that if Arcimboldo were alive then, his heads may have looked like an amalgamation of mechanical parts. And if he were alive today, perhaps a plethora of digitized information.
So what does this say about who we are as people? Better yet, what does it say about who we are as Christians?
John the Baptist tells us in our gospel for today, “Produce fruit that shows you have changed your hearts and lives.” That word “produce” is a radical clue. It’s not enough for a disciple of Jesus to claim to “be” different. The only way to tell what lies in a man or woman’s heart is to see them “act” differently. The “proof is in the pudding” so to speak. Our face to the world reveals what lies within our hearts.
Now we’re not talking about having a bad day and snapping at your spouse. Or having an excellent day when you received a raise at the office. We’re talking about lasting, deep changes that permeate our hearts, our heads, and our way of living. They are all undeniably connected. And they are revealed each day through everything we say and do.
Often as people of God, we like to believe that what matters most is the amount of faith we feel in our spirit. But John says clearly to those around him, what you do (or don’t do) matters. Everything that comes out of your mouth….matters. Jesus would say something similar later also to his disciples –that it isn’t what goes in that defiles, but what comes out of the mouth originating in the heart that reveals the nature of the spirit. For our actions to change, our hearts must first change. If our hearts are changed, the way we live will follow. And only God can change our hearts.
When John begins to baptize people on the shores of the Jordan, his baptism is one of repentance –a commitment to lasting change, a commitment to allow God to mold and change the inner composition of our hearts, so that everything we do reveals the nature of that change.
John’s proclamation is a call to action –to live out the faith we claim to have by truly letting God in to determine the kind of fruit that will emerge through our acts.
Our face to the world reveals the germination happening in our hearts, minds, and spirits.
John knows that we cannot figure all of this out on our own. We need God’s help, our creator’s breath, in order to undergo true and lasting change. But he also knows that we too must commit to the process and commit to nurturing and cultivating the seeds of love and kindness planted within us.
When the crowds ask specifically, “what shall we do?” John answers, “share your clothing, give the poor food, don’t cheat in your jobs, don’t harass innocent people for no reason.” In other words, be as kind and loving as your heart changed by God commands.
Then John adds a warning: “I baptize with water, but the one who is more powerful than I is coming. ….He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” He will clear his threshing stone to discern the hearts of many. Jesus’ baptism will be a discernment of the heart committed to God.
The threshing stone is an amazing metaphor in scripture. It was a round, flat, clearing of land, usually on a hill, designed for separating grain from chaff (the lightweight husks that surround the grain). Using a winnowing fork, a kind of large cross between a pitchfork and plow, the farmer would draw it across the pile of grain. In doing so, the empty husks would fly away into the wind. The heavier and nutrient rich grain would be left on the threshing floor and gathered into bins.
Since early biblical days, the threshing floor has been used as a kind of “court” or judging place for those accused of a crime. The threshing floor was also used as a place of decision-making for a tribe, something like a town meeting place.
In the story of Ruth, Ruth is received as Boaz’s wife on the threshing floor, where her good spirit is discerned.
The threshing floor is a place of discernment, in which Jesus can determine the nature of our hearts. One may be able to dupe some by acting as a good person occasionally when convenience strikes, but if inside that person’s heart is still disconnected from God, Jesus will be able to tell. If one claims to love God and worship Jesus but keeps his or her life closed off from others, Jesus will be able to tell.
In a sense, the threshing floor is Jesus’ artistic canvas. You may enter in disguise, but you will exit with the face that reveals the inner workings of your heart.
What kind of face reveals your heart?
Today, our faces may not look like tomatoes or kiwi. But they may look like bags of money, clothes and jewelry, bank statements, or technology. Our faces to God, the great artist of life, will look like the idols we worship most.
John’s proclamation before Jesus’ appearance is a wake-up call to all people. It’s still a wake up call for us today….not to be a “consumer” of things and stuff, claiming to love God but putting our attention on things and our own needs. It’s a call for us to allow God to change our hearts into cultivators of love, kindness, respect, and goodness.
In the garden of Eden, humankind was given a vocation by God –to “till and keep” the garden, to cultivate and nourish our relationship with God and to bear the fruit of that relationship to others throughout all generations.
We are to nurture the God-given kindness and love in our hearts so that the fruit we bear to the world looks beautiful, loving, kind, and giving to God and to others.
Christianity is all about relationships –our relationship with God, with ourselves, with the world, and with others. What do those relationships look like when we cultivate the presence of God in our hearts and lives?
Perhaps like a beautiful garden. Or perhaps like the face of Jesus.
Do you see that face of Jesus in the faces of your neighbors and friends? Will they see Jesus’ face in yours?
That is the question.
May your face to the world be as beautiful as God’s gift to you. And may God’s gift of love to you in the birth of the Christ child resonate in your heart and be revealed in your soul, now and always.
[1] For example portraits of Arcimboldo’s work, see Ian Shank, “The Renaissance Artist Whose Fruit-Faced Portraits Inspired the Surrealists,” artsy.net,Sep 8, 2017.