On those Sundays when I am able to attend worship services in the parish to which I belong, I am confronted, upon entering and taking my place in the nave, with an artist’s attempt to transport the image of the oldest Christian representation into the twentieth century. It is a painting of the risen and ascended Lord, obviously sitting upon a throne in the heavens, surrounded by a half-halo of angel faces amid the clouds. The pastor and building committee, who commissioned the piece of art, knew what they were doing, what they wanted as the dominant symbol in the chancel of this beautiful colonial church. They wanted the risen and reigning Christ to speak to all the people who enter that place of worship, anticipating the glorious hymn of praise in the Lutheran Book of Worship by over two …