Welcome to our sermon series “Creation in Colour”. We begin with the colour purple. When you think of the colour purple, what comes to mind?
Purple: Encased in stone an amethyst waits a hidden and crystalline cluster of grapes. The tint of mystery and of royal might blending both ends of the spectrum of light. Between evening’s blue and the first blush of morning it marks each day of the colour wheel’s turning.
To what extent are our thoughts about the colour purple captured in this poem? What else comes to mind?
Thank you for your thoughts. Now, a bit of science. Light is all about wavelengths, the ways and frequency in which patterns repeat that get interpreted as colour in our brains. Ultraviolet light has such short wavelengths and higher frequencies that it is beyond the range of human sight and yet it can be felt – ever have a sunburn? That comes from UV light. The colour purple is at the edge of the ultraviolet spectrum. It is the last colour visible to human eyes before the wavelength moves beyond our ability to interpret it.
Interestingly, some substances can absorb UV light and then release that energy slowly, shifting it to a frequency we can perceive. This fluorescence can show us hidden patterns in nature that we’re just beginning to understand. For example, check out what happens to these rocks when they are exposed to UV light. What we see is changed, reminding us that there is always more to see, more to learn.
Jesus said: For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace.
There is an implied wisdom and shrewdness in what Jesus is suggesting here. It seems to be an invitation to go deeper, to look beyond, to seek the fullest picture we can get in order to make the best decisions we can make. It is kind of like Jesus pointing us to the colour purple and saying there is more to it than meets the eye – watch, learn, wonder, and then do what you need to do.
What do you think? How might the colour purple and Jesus words help our journey right now?
For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it?
We continue to learn, continue to grow, continue to be transformed by God’s word. The colour purple invites us to look beyond what we think we know, to create space to study further, to open ourselves to opportunities and spectrums that open us to be transformed. May Jesus’ words echo in our lives so that we continue to reflect, learn, and use that learning to better follow Jesus. This we pray as we sing: (VT) 551 Beautiful Things
