Be a Pane in the Glass!

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday. January 11, 2008

The new pastor was nervous. This was his first Sunday in the new church, and he wanted to make a strong first impression. The church’s sanctuary had some magnificent stained glass windows, so the pastor decided to make use of them during his children’s message. He talked about how each of us is called of God to help make up the whole picture of life (the life of the community of the faithful). Like the pictures in the windows, it takes many little panels of glass to make the whole picture.

And then he said, "You see, each one of you is a little pane." And then pointing to each child, "You're a little pane. And you're a little pane. And you're a little pane. And..."

It took a few moments before he realize why everyone was laughing so hard. Strong first impression, indeed!

Actually, I borrowed that story. I do not know if it’s a true experience, or an illustration of truth experienced. When you cut through the humor, it is especially revealing truth: we are all “panes” who should be trying hard not to be “pains.”

And too often, we are ready to label another pane a major pain. That other person isn’t supposed to be in MY picture, we think. They’re the wrong size, shape, color; they’re cracked, scratched, dirty. They wear the wrong clothes, they smell bad. They work in the wrong place. They go to the wrong church, or they don’t’ go to church at all. Sorry, don’t fit my picture. Go away!

But do you realize what happens when we have that kind of attitude? WE become the PAIN in their glass! Instead of discovering the beauty of the different shapes that God made us, we present our sharpest edges and cut away anyone who gets too close to us. Or we collect those who look, think, smell and act just like us and end up with a boring monochrome slate of glass that no one cares to view.

Stained glass windows require lots of colors, shapes and sizes in order to form their beauty. Get too close to the glass, however, and you lose the overall picture. The green just looks green. The yellow, yellow, etc. And that’s how we often look at the glass God is creating. We fail to see the bigger picture.

What happens in Pomeroy matters in Racine. What happens in Mason matters to Portland. What happens in Salem Center matters to Tuppers Plains. But what happens in China, India, Africa … they also matter to us. Only God is big enough to see the WHOLE window! So that’s where faith enters the picture. We have faith that somehow, what we do and what others do becomes the means by which God completes this picture.

Stained glass only gets its color and shape through heat, stretching, stirring, and cutting. Of course, glass doesn’t feel; but we do. We feel the pain of heat and cold, stretching our resources when they thin, stirring in experiences of sorrow and joy, being cut from a job or the starting lineup on the team. God uses those experiences to shape our glass; God brings our lives into the focus God wants in order to create the perfect window.

But you have a choice. What color do you want to be? Want to be the ochre of bitterness, anger and envy? Or do you want to be the startling brilliance of golden patience, forgiveness, and self control? How many pieces of shattered dreams do you want God to put back together? And are you resisting His shaping, or participating?

Our lives are spent in the glass factory. And when our end comes, so does the glasswork. Whatever color you are, whatever shape you are, whatever size you are: when you’re dead, you’re done! And God will find some of the glass simply doesn’t fit into the window. He tried to shape it – sometimes for eight or nine decades – but it refused to cooperate. God loves that glass, blew His own breath into it. He tried to bless it with colors, lines and shapes that created beauty. But in the end, that life simply refused to become anything more than sand. When God throws the misshaped glass away, it’s because the glass made the choice to be trash. To be a pain rather than a pane.

The Apostle Paul tells it to us straight: “God ‘will give to each person according to what he has done.’ To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good.” (Romans 2:6-11)

But Paul also gives us hope for when the bad things happen to us in Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

God is shaping each of us according to His purpose. When we give ourselves over to Him, even the bad stuff becomes good stuff. The dark times enrich the colors of our glass, make our glass more resilient, and bring our glass into just the right shape to fill the pane.

So I pray that each of us will work in cooperation with God to become less of a pain and more of a pane. The opportunities to do that are right in front of us. Our relationships – with family, co-workers, boss, friends, acquaintances, and even strangers – are God’s polishing clothes, buffers, mixers, and shapers. Make good choices by spending time with God so that you know what the good choices are. Gather together with people of faith to encourage one another towards good. Look for all the ways – big and little – that you can make a positive difference for someone else. And look forward to the time when God smiles and says, “Wow! What a beautiful stained glass window! Especially that pane called … (will your name be here?)”