Experiencing God

Listen to the sermon.

When I took my first seminary class, I was 50 years old and thought I was really ahead of the class.  That is until I started reading my first article for theology.  I ended up having to sit there with the paper in one hand and a dictionary in the other hand.  To facilitate retention, I underlined any word I didn’t know and then wrote the definition in the margin of the page.  And with each word I had to look up, I got more and more frustrated.  Finally, I came across the word, “vituperative” and as I turned to the dictionary to look it up, I said a few words that I probably shouldn’t have said – and then broke out laughing as I read the definition, “an outburst of violently abusive language.”  -  Okay, so I had just given myself an example of the word itself.

Now, all that is to say that seminary teaches you big words – big words like “Theophany.”  A theophany is the appearance of a god in a visible form to a human being.  Our lesson today from Exodus is a theophany.  So is the burning bush – you remember the burning bush don’t you?  Moses was out tending the sheep and he saw the bush on fire but it wasn’t burning up.  Moses had lots of theophanies.  But today’s vision of God is a lot different from the burning bush – a lot scarier.  I don’t know, maybe God was just showing off his power because he had an audience this time.

Our gospel lesson is a Theophany also - Jesus being transfigured before the disciples – and the appearance of the Moses and Elijah.  Moses and Elijah traditionally represent the law and the prophets of the Lord.  They are also the two historical figures that were taken up into heaven without tasting death.  

Yes, I know that the book of Deuteronomy reports the death of Moses, but his body was never found.  (Enoch was taken up by God also, but he is only remembered for being the father of Methuselah – but I’m getting side tracked.)  Moses and Elijah are also the only two historical figures that met with God on a mountain. 

So according to our story from Exodus, Moses went up the mountain and the cloud settled on it and it stayed that way for six days.  On the seventh day God spoke to Moses and there was a devouring fire on the mountain.  Now I don’t know what God’s voice sounded like – but the movie, The Ten Commandments, made it sound very loud and scary with lots of lightning and thunder.  

Moses waited for six days before God even spoke to him.  That’s a long time to just sit and wait – sitting in the presence of the Lord, just waiting, nothing to do – personally, that would have driven me crazy.  I don’t necessarily wait well.  I have to get up and move around or find something to do.  If you go off and leave me sitting in an office, when you come back, I will be browsing the bookshelves, or reading the posters on the wall.  So Moses waited for 6 days and then God called to him out of the cloud.  And the glory of the Lord, the fire, could be seen down at the base of the mountain where all the people were anxiously waiting.    

And our lesson says that Moses then entered the cloud and went on up the mountain.  So, after God began to talk to Moses, the people down below had to wait another forty days before Moses came back down the mountain. Well, it’s no wonder the people got restless and decided that Moses had been devoured by God and wasn’t coming back.  They made the golden calf to try to appease this god that had obviously destroyed Moses.  That’s scary stuff.   So Moses is up there for 40 days with fire and thunder and all the dramatics you can imagine.  Our reading doesn’t go very far, but when Moses came down from the mountain, his face shone as bright as the sun.  He had to wear a veil over his face when he came back down the mountain because the people couldn’t bear to look at him.

Now do you remember the story about Elijah?  Elijah was running away from Jezebel – fearing for his life. Matter of fact, he traveled for forty days and forty nights until he reached Mt. Horeb.  Well, at least he had something to do while he was waiting for the Lord – he was traveling.  Sometimes when we are waiting on the Lord, it’s so much easier if we have something to do.

Now Elijah’s experience of God was quite different from Moses’ experience.  There were some dramatic effects – earthquake, a tornado and fire – and Elijah looked for God in all those things. but God was not in them.  When God “appeared” to Elijah – it was in the silence that followed those extreme weather phenomena.  In the silence God met Elijah, speaking quietly about things to come.

Now in our gospel lesson, once again the experience is as much for the benefit of the watchers as it is for the participant.  In Luke’s version of this story they went up on the mountain so that Jesus could pray and the disciples fell asleep.  Matter of fact, every time Jesus went somewhere to pray – the disciples were always falling asleep.  

But for Matthew, the whole point was for the disciples to see this transfiguring.  Jesus was revealing himself to these disciples.  We get the same kinds of dramatic effect of a Theophany, the dazzling white effect, the cloud surrounding them, and the voice from heaven; the affirmation that this is indeed the Son of God and the injunction that they are to “listen to him.”  

Just six days before this happened, Peter had proclaimed that Jesus was the son of God, the Messiah.  And just on top of being complemented by Jesus for getting a right answer – Peter immediately stuck his foot in his mouth and was chided by Jesus.  Why?  Because when Jesus told them about having to suffer and die in Jerusalem, Peter rebuked him – “No, Lord, you don’t have to do that.”  So here, God says, “listen to him.”  

And Peter still gets it wrong, “Let’s stay here and build three booths.”  Peter understands that there is something important, very special happening here, and he’s scared to death, but he’s willing to stay with it – to remain there with God, with Jesus.  That’s when the voice comes, to tell Peter, “listen to him.”  Of course, by this time, the disciples are flat out on the ground trembling with fear.  But Jesus touches them, overcoming their fear – “get up, don’t be afraid.”  And when the disciples look up, they are all alone.  

Each of these people, or groups of people, experienced God in their own way – each one a little different.  Each one involved some kind of waiting – it was six days before Jesus took them up on the mountain.  We are getting ready to enter a period of waiting – the forty days of Lent are a time for reflection, for looking at your life.  This is a time to see where God is speaking to you – ordering your life to touch it and to transform it.  

To help you, I have copies of a small book from the Living Compass called Living Well through Lent 2017.  It has reflections from our own Bishop Andy Doyle and from Fr. Bob Flick, former rector of Lord of the Streets in Houston.  Like grace, it is a free gift.  Please take one home and use it during Lent to grow with the Lord.

Each person is called to make some kind of significant change in their life.  That change is for the purpose of reminding us that we are God’s people and that we, too, have an experience of God.  I invite you to reflect on how God is calling you to experience him during this coming Lenten season.  Amen.

God's call to holiness

Paul tells us, "Do not deceive yourselves.  If you think you are wise in this age...  For the wisdom on this world is foolishness with God."   I've heard it said - if you want God to laugh, just tell Him your plans.  He already knows what his plans are for us - so instead of telling him your plans, ask him to show you his plans.  One of the plans he has for us is that we are his witnesses in the world.

Paul has told us that he has laid a foundation - that foundation is Jesus Christ - and each of us is free to build on that foundation.  But whatever we build has to be based in Jesus Christ and the love that God has shown to us through Jesus.

In our first lesson, we hear commentary on the laws - the commandments - and it ends over and over with the phrase:  "I am the Lord your God."  In this, God is trying to tell the people what he is like - what he wants them to be like - because he does want them to be like him.  This is as true today, as it was in that desert almost 6 thousand years ago.  God wants us to be like him.

Now there's a problem with that - God is spirit - and although we are spiritual creatures -  we can't see God and we can't really know him.  But he does spend this passage trying to help us understand what he is like.  "You shall be holy...  Do not reap to the edges of your fields - leave some for the needy...   Do not steal, or lie, or defraud your neighbor, or render an unjust judgment.  Do not slander or put a stumbling block before the blind.  Do not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.  I am the Lord."  He is saying, "Be like me - this is what I am like."

The Hebrew word is "Kedoshim" - "Be holy, for I, the Lord, am holy." - We are created in the image of God, therefore we are created to be holy.  But mostly as a human race, we fall miserably short of God's expectation.  Because as a human race we didn't really get it - God finally sent Jesus Christ - his own son - to be for us an example and a witness - to God's love, to his nature and to what he wants us to be like.

Jesus was someone people could touch, see, hear.  And he took the nature of God as stated in the Old Testament, and expanded on it.  "You've heard it said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you do not resist, turn the other cheek, give to those who beg.  You have heard it said, 'Love your neighbor.'  But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

You know, that 'eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth' is mentioned two other places in the Bible, in both Exodus and Leviticus.  There are a lot of people that just tie into that phrase from the Old Testament and make it their mantra.  Have you ever heard the phrase, "Don't get mad, get even?"  People use this for an excuse to exact revenge for a real or perceived wrong.  I call it an Old Testament mentality.  It's the same mentality that has kept the Israelites and Palestinians at each other for 4000 years.  It is because they are still living into that eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth concept that they continue to fight, refusing to mediate or even strive for peace - it's just get the next strike in.

It sure is a far cry from what Jesus is trying to teach us here.  It's even a far cry from what God originally intended with the phrase.  In ancient times, if someone felt wronged, then they would go out and take revenge and kill someone or beat them senseless for a minor theft.  Here God was limiting the revenge they could exact from another - only what fit the original crime or injury - no more.

Our first lessons starts with, "Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy."  and the very last sentence of our last lesson says, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."  Our scripture readings today are bookended with an injunction to be like God - to be holy - to be perfect.  And right in the middle, in the lessons from Paul, we here Paul say, "God's temple is holy, and you are that temple."  Not an easy concept to live into.  I guarantee it's easy to forget.  One church I worked for had signs on the mirrors in every restroom that said, "You are the one whom Jesus loves."  It reminded everyone that they are holy and made in the image of God.

It's scary to think that we are being called to be holy - to be perfect.  Actually, the translation on that word can be complete - or whole - or true - or integrated.  I don't know about you, but I'm nowhere near perfect.  And sometimes it's really hard on Monday morning to live into the scriptures we read on Sunday - especially those like today.  But holiness is something that God calls each of us to strive for in our daily life.

We are called to holiness, but is it really possible in our own self to be truly holy?  Not really.  It is only through God’s holiness that we can attain to such a lofty goal.  Let me take out a minute here – call this a teaching moment – or a reminder for some of you – about one very small part of our service.

Every Sunday, just before the lessons, we read a different prayer called a collect.  A collect is a prayer that has three parts.  First it addresses God and makes a true statement concerning God.  Then it makes a request based on the first statement.  And finally it closes acknowledging who God is.

Our collect for today opens by reminding us that “without love whatever we do is worth nothing.”

We must always remember that God is love, and his love for us is perfect.  Then the collect makes the request – “Send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts your greatest gift, which is love.”  It goes on to define what we mean by love, but this is enough.  So in essence, our collect says – without love, whatever we do is worthless, so send us your perfect love…  It is God’s love for us that can overcome our own selfish nature and make us complete.

When we understand that it is God’s love that makes us perfect, then we understand what Paul is saying when he says, “Let no one boast about human leaders.”  It is God’s love working through us that accomplishes God’s purpose here on earth, so our part is now easy.  It is to open up our hearts to receive God’s love in such a way that His love and purpose is made manifest in our lives here on earth.  Amen.

Spreading the kingdom

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Well last week was Super Bowl weekend marking the end of football season.  Now at our house we are getting ready for Nascar to start.  Okay, I have a confession to make.  I am not a Nascar fan, but my husband is.  If we are home and Nascar is on, Sam is usually napping in front of the TV.  As near as I can tell, napping is a good thing to do during Nascar.  To me, a standard race is pretty boring.  I mean, what’s so exciting about being able to go fast and turn left?  And they do this for 400 or 500 laps, or miles, (which may be the same thing.)  Boring!!  Sure there’s the occasional wreck, but mostly it’s watching cars go round and round and maybe ever few laps, someone might pass someone else.

Well, one Saturday night as I was working on my sermon, Sam turned on Nascar – I did a mental eyeroll – and he was telling me that this race was different.  Sam very patiently explained that they were doing what was called a “shootout” with a two car draft.  What caught my attention was that they weren’t all running around trying to pass each other.  They were teaming up.  Now I’m aware that they all have team mates, but mostly in the races, it’s each driver for himself.

But that night, the cars paired up – one would drive up behind another – and push him.  Using this technique I'm told the cars could go on the average 20 miles an hour faster…  So now you have all these cars going around this track at about 200 miles per hour – with pairs hooked up bumper to bumper, driving right next to another pair beside them going 200 miles an hour – and maybe another pair trying to come up between them or around the side.

To make a long story short, in the last lap, there were two pairs out in front, way ahead of the others.  As they approached the finish line, the lead “pusher” decided to make a run for it.  He dropped back, passed his teammate that he had been pushing, and tried to win himself.  What happened was that the other pair stayed “hooked up” and they managed to pass both of the two single cars so that the front car of the second pair won the race.

Now, the question is, why have I just spent the first portion of my sermon talking about Nascar?  It’s because that night, I saw teamwork in Nascar designed to accomplish a purpose - to win.  That’s exactly what Paul is talking about in our lesson from 1st Corinthians today.  Three weeks ago, Paul reminded the Corinthians that they were baptized in the name of Christ – not Paul or Apollos or Cephas.  He picks back up on that theme today.

Sometimes division happens in the church because people divide themselves into little groups, make cliques, over some little differences.   That’s what we find in our lesson from First Corinthians.  Here Paul is doing what he so often does.  He is writing to – responding to – a community that he helped start.  He has received word that there is a lot of bickering going on – people arguing over who they belong to – Christ or Paul or Cephas or Apollos…  They have divided into little cliques, each one trying to prove their importance over each other. They bicker.  And he asks, “Whose name were you baptized in?”  His point is that Paul and Cephas and Apollos were all working toward the same end – to spread the word that Jesus Christ is Lord.  None was greater than the other.  (It reminds me somewhat of people bragging, "I'm an Episcopalian," or "I'm Baptist" or "I'm Catholic" or whatever...)

Paul’s job was to plant seeds and he did that.  Apollos came along later and watered those seeds – not unlike what happens in churches today.  Each person stayed to do their job, then turned it over to someone else to continue the work so that they could go on to the next town and spread the word there.

You might remember the story I told in the Outpost this month about the young rabbi.  I like that in several places our prayerbook says, "The people may kneel or stand."  Because your physical posture doesn't really matter.  What matters is the position of your heart, not your body.  

 Yes, even today churches find members bickering with one another over any number of things. People not only bicker over traditions, they also bicker over things – maybe items donated to the church.  Doesn’t Aunt Sophie’s old couch look great in the parlor?  Or Uncle Bill’s old piano (which no longer works) is a great addition to the parish hall.  Don’t move that dying fichus tree because Grandpa Tom gave that to the church.

I love seeing the playground here and seeing it used.  One church I served bickered over having a playground.  One group thought it was important to have a playground for the children to attract younger couples.  The other didn’t want to have a playground because of the liability factor.  They still don’t have a playground and they still have trouble attracting younger families.

Churches bicker over rules, ideals – they bicker over all kinds of things – whether the new rolling cart with the cutting block top is to be used as a cutting board, or as a decorative serving station.  Our bickering comes from a human need to have others conform to our way of thinking.  Jesus calls us to a higher ideal – that of unity – where we can agree on principles without having to conform to minutia.

One of the worse things we can do, the least productive thing is to compare ourselves to one another.  God judges each of us on our own merit, not that of another.  Each of us is uniquely made - by God - and God's purpose for us will be served - one way or another.  Whether we are called to lead or to follow, to serve or be served, or to design or to build, God uses us to complete his purpose, not ours.  Yes, it may not seem fair that there might be different standards for different people, but God has a purpose for us all

Paul tells the Corinthians, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.  So the one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose… for we are God’s servants, working together.”  We should be hearing the same message – we are invited to be in communion with one another, working for a common purpose, not doing the exact same thing, but supporting each other along the way.

In our Gospel lesson, Jesus tells us,  “If you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment, and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council. . .  When you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.”

 The lesson we didn't read this morning from Ecclesiasticus sort of holds the key for us.  It starts out, “If you choose, you can keep the commandments, and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice.”  We have to remember that we make our own choices, our own decisions about how to act, what to say, whether to respond to others in love or with something less that love.

We have to make the decision of how to respond to those around us – to work with them or against them.  Sometimes there are bumps in the road, and that’s when we leave that gift at the altar and work out our differences.  If we can get past any differences and all work together, then we know that we will be spreading the gospel of Christ – the good news that Christ is alive and well within this church known as Grace.

This month we have a number of things that are going on - the Boy Scout Dinner, the Garage Sale and the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper.  I hope everyone will be here to support our Scouts who do quite of lot for the church.  But we need hands on deck for the Garage Sale and for the Pancake Supper.  Please sign up to help with one or the other.

Now to take this idea even further, During his sermon at the opening Eucharist on Thursday, Bishop Doyle (operating out of the Parable of the Good Samaritan) told us that we are to look for Jesus in that person who has been beaten and left on the side of the road to die.  On Friday in her Plenary address, Francene Young said her church once noticed that Jesus was missing from the crèche after Christmas.  They went out scouring the neighborhood looking for the missing Jesus.  She encouraged us to go out and look for Jesus in the "hood."  All during Diocesan Council, we were told that our mission is to seek out the lost, the broken, all those in need of God's love and care.

We have people at Grace Church who are reaching out in various ways:  We have several who work with Meals on Wheels to take lunches out to those who can't do for themselves.  We also have several who work with The Gathering Place, a ministry to Alzheimer's patients and their caregivers.  We can demonstrate our Christianity by working in one of the these ministries or maybe there is some other way that we can serve.  What other ways that we can be involved (or need to be involved) in reaching out to those in our community who are in need of help?  We are called to seek out those who are not part of us, but who need our help.  Grace Church can be a light to this neighborhood as they see us working together and loving each other and caring for those around us.  Where is Christ calling you to serve?    
 Amen.