Like the famous number “pi,” the numerical value 1.618 also has a name. 1.618 has been called “phi” for centuries, after the Greek sculptor, Phidias, who studied this amazing value so closely. The number, “phi” describes a mathematical ratio, a geometric relationship, a harmony of proportions within systems. For example, take your own height, head to toe, and divide it by your body length from your navel to the floor. The result? 1.618. Take the length of your arm from shoulder to extended middle finger, and divide it by the length of your arm from elbow to finger – again, 1.618.  Take the length of any finger, and divide this by the length from fingertip to second the joint and… you guessed it, phi!

            “Phi” has been observed throughout the known universe, from the human body, to the spiral of galaxies. The Egyptian pyramids and the Greek Parthenon are based on phi. Much of the art and architecture of the western world, along with the melodic and harmonic properties of our music, are also based on this mathematical proportion.

Phi has had many proponents over the years. Listen to one of them who says:

…[phi] presents itself in the very physical nature of Creation. It is seen as the beauty and organization within the cosmos. It is the harmony and glue that holds the unity of the universe. [1]

            It was such high praise of a simple number that led mathematicians, scientists, and artists, to also name phi, “the divine proportion” – for in it, they saw a measurable evidence of a divine creation. There are many people today, theists and non-believers alike, who believe there is a mathematical constancy to the universe.

1.618 may just be evidence that they are right.

            It may have been 400 million years ago that nautilus pampilius evolved into the habitat of the western Pacific Ocean.[2] Though thousands of relatives have died-out since then, the two remaining species of the “Chambered Nautilus” have remained unchanged since before the time of the dinosaurs, yet marine biologists still know little about this beautiful creature who is a close cousin of the octopus. With a body resembling a squid and a shell like a snail, she feeds on plankton in coral reefs, which form high above her home.

The shell of the Chambered Nautilus, growing to about eight inches in diameter, is its most picturesque and interesting feature. As the nautilus grows, it is constantly outgrowing itself, and as it does, it continues to enlarge its home, sealing off its out-grown structures in succession and leaving them behind.  And the increasing size of these chambers reveals a remarkable quality, especially for us this morning. Care to guess what is the ratio of the increase of the size of these chambers? If you guessed “phi,” then you are correct – each successive chamber is 1.618 to 1 greater than the one before it!

1.618 to 1 – Divine Proportion.

Outgrowing yourself in response to God’s call to become – Divine Design.

            By his life, Jesus taught us the importance of community, the necessity of deep fellowship to sustain the soul. Jesus knew how to have a good time, and his very life should be our example.[3] But fellowship is not our calling. By his life, Jesus taught us the importance of disciplined study, of growing in stature with God and with those around us (Luke 2.52). As a boy he mystified the leaders at the Temple with his great knowledge of the scriptures and an ability to engage a dialogue. Jesus taught us to love God with all our minds, and his very life should be our example.[4] But an intellectual pursuit of faith is not our calling, either.

            To be Christian is to follow in the life-giving Way of Jesus Christ. It is to take up our own crosses and follow (Matthew 10.38). It is to acknowledge the claim of our own baptisms, to strive in our own daily living to “practice dying.”[5] It is to live, as Jesus lived, giving ourselves away to one another, and to an entire world that is beyond.

            Is there a Divine Proportion in regards to our individual and corporate growth in service to our community? Will someone police us, to see if we have met some quota, asking if we have done “enough – yet” this year?[6] Certainly not. But if we never outgrow ourselves – if we never push ourselves beyond our “comfort zone” in personal giving, and in practical, Christ-like service, if we never need to claim new programs of ministry for ourselves or for our community, if we never need new or updated facilities to house our ministries – if we never outgrow ourselves, we probably ought to have the honesty to ask if we are really following Christ at all. For Jesus says to his disciples, “It’s the same with you (the same as with servants), when you’ve done everything expected of you,” just say, “The work is done” (vs.10).

The good news for the world is this: Jesus has called his disciples to serve.

            The bad news for disciples is that the work is never done! The homeless, the powerless, the voiceless are ever with us, so let us keep outgrowing ourselves, following the Divine Design of the great Nautilus, and hearing the “heavenly message” which she sings:

Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,

As the swift seasons roll!

Leave thy low-vaulted past!

Let each new temple, nobler than the last,

Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,

Till thou at length art free,

Leaving thine outgrown shell by life’s unresting sea![7]

Have you heard the call?

May it be so!