Sunday, February 26, 2017

Experiencing God


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.


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