A Propelling Voice

Day of the Transfiguration, Feb. 14, 2010 (Luke (23-48)

 

As a child we would begin every Sunday morning's worship with the same hymn. Do any of you remember or know what that hymn might have been? It began with these words (which I sang) "Holy, holy, holy, Lord god almighty! Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee; Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty, God in three persons, blessed trinity."

 

We don't sing that hymn to begin every gathering of Sunday worship anymore. There's a part of me that embraces such change, that appreciates the diversity of singing a different entrance hymn every Sunday. But something is also lost. We seem to have almost "commonized" God. The sense of God's otherness, of God's holiness, of God's mystery seems nearly to be gone for many people. Luther reportedly said something like this: he nearly fainted the first time he was privileged to serve Holy Communion (the Eucharist). How could he, common maggot fodder that he was, be so privileged as to hold the bread in which Christ's very presence is embodied? Wow!

 

Do you have any sense of this holiness, of the ineffable mystery of God?

 

At different times in his life Moses certainly did. After being consumed by his anger at the injustice of slavery Moses murdered a man. Subsequently he was forced to flee into the wilderness. One day as he was living in that wilderness Moses noticed a burning bush. At first glance this wasn't unusual.  But then he noticed something that was very unusual. The bush was burning but it wasn't being consumed! Moses wandered over to check it out. In that moment his curiousity moved him to investigate. Once he drew closer to the bush he came to was open to an even larger revelation. Moses was standing on holy ground. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof!

 

At different times I have become aware of the holiness of a moment, of God somehow being particularly present in an act, a word, a silence. God is the creator of an amazing universe. In the interior of British Columbia there is a river known as the Adams River. Periodically millions of salmon find their way back to where they have been hatched. They come back to spawn, to lay their eggs and then to die. To be there while that is happening, is to be caught up in God's mystery of new life and death – of the wonder of creation which passes any sense of human control or coincidence. To be present then is to be watching God's work, something holy, something other than just us.

 

I remember too sensing the holy at a particular wedding. The couple was older than many of the couples that I had married in rural communities. The groom was tall of stature and broad of girth. The bride was of short stature and ever so slight.  Now they were to make their promises to each other in the presence of over 150 guests. But in that moment as these two people promised with the help of God, to love, honor and cherish each other for as long as they both would live – it was suddenly as if no one else was there. Instead it was just the two of them and God. As they spoke, as they held each other's hands and looked at each other, their faces were glowing. In that moment I felt as if I shouldn't be there, that I was witnessing a sacred event between just them and God. Wow!

 

 

The early disciples liked to think that they had a sense of God's power. Jesus sent them out with power and authority to heal many who were sick. They had done that. But now they had returned to be with Jesus.  It was in some ways the status quo. People who were hungry, people who were ill and people who were desperate continually gathered around Jesus.  In the face of such demands the disciples became tired, even irritable. Jesus was amazing in the face of such demands. They may have wondered, who is he? 

 

One day Jesus takes Peter, John and James up a mountain. Mountains are amazing places. If you have ever climbed one – or even watched an Olympic Event from one, you will have some sense of what I mean. Sometimes I think of mountains as "thin places" where it seems that we are closer to God, or that at the very least the separation between God and ourselves isn't as great.  There's a mystery about that. The clouds, the thin air, at times the quietness, all may serve to open us to the One who is more than we are.

 

In any case Jesus and 3 of his disciples are up on the mountain. Jesus is praying. Then  something happens. What occurs captivates those 3 tired disciples. Now they are able to see 2 other men with Jesus.  Moses the one through whom God brings the law is there with Jesus. So too is Elijah, the prophet. In these two men we may be asked to see Jesus standing with the summation of the law and the prophets.  We are allowed to eavesdrop on their conversation. They are speaking of Jesus' departure (exodus). This is not about when Jesus will leave the mountain. Rather they are alluding to the reality that soon Jesus will be on his way to Jerusalem. There he will fulfill his mission: to free the captives, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring release to those in prison.

 

But Peter, James and John don't get it. Peter longs to stay in the moment. He wants to cling to the glory he has just observed. That's human nature. But God won't allow Peter John or James to stay there. So, a cloud overshadows them. They are terrified. Then it is that they hear a voice from the cloud: "This is my Son, my Chosen, listen to him!" 

 

Suddenly Jesus is alone. Peter, James and John are dumbfounded and rendered mute.

 

They do follow Jesus down the mountain, back to everyday reality. Once again they encounter pain, suffering, loss – even hopelessness. Now a father, the father of an only son, approaches them. He is crying out to Jesus. He has already tried the disciples for help, but to no avail. He is at his wit's end. Jesus is frustrated not with the man, but with his own disciples, perhaps even with all those who have seen him and yet not seen, who have heard and not yet heard – who believe that all there is, is what they can see, feel, taste, touch and explain. If all there is, is what we can do, where will we, where will "it" all end up? What's it all about Alfie?

 

Now Jesus acts. He acts on behalf of that only child, or even only on behalf of this desperate father. 

 

So I ask you, is Jesus still at work, still acting?

 

One has to wonder. There are many valleys, dark places, dark sides to our human life, individually and collectively. We are tempted as we face such difficulties to not trust or to act as if God doesn't care, doesn't love, is Himself/Herself a stranger to our suffering.

 

You see our grave temptation is to believe that we are in control, that we are so intelligent, so capable, that mustering enough resources we will figure everything out. Oh yes, Jesus is good, a teacher, a healer, an amazing historical figure – but the Son of God, our Lord??

 

Nevertheless God's voice cares to come out of the cloud. Sometimes God's voice  may emanate into the stillness of our being, proclaimed again through Word and Sacrament, or manifest at times to us through some amazing realities of nature.

 

Are we listening? Are we open to God taking on flesh, even dying so that we can know we are not alone, so that we can begin to fathom that God has a dream? God is working to bring about new life. Jesus is going to Jerusalem.

 

Will we listen, follow, see and hear? God help us! Amen.