Experience the Awe and Wonder

(Posted 02-16-2012)

 

Mark 9:2-9   The Transfiguration   Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves.  And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them.  And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus.  Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’  He did not know what to say, for they were terrified.  Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!’  Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them anymore, but only Jesus. 
 
When I was in my second year of seminary, I was assigned this passage for my first sermon in preaching class.  First, we had to read the text aloud.  I had not made it through the first line when the professor shouted “STOP!”  When I got the word “high” he asked me if I’d ever seen or been on top of a mountain.  I told him I had, and he said “It sure didn’t sound like it.”  He told me that I needed to visualize the story before I read it.  Think about what it would be like for these four men to climb to the top of a mountain…then you’ll be ready to read it.  So that’s what I did.  I got the mountain part all right, but then halfway through the second line, “STOP!”  This time, I had breezed right past the whole transfiguration thing.  And I had no personal experience to help me with this.  Or so I thought.  This story from Mark’s gospel is filled with mystery.  Many of us can recall a time when we’ve stood in awe, mesmerized by the landscape or a piece of music or a tiny baby.  Some of us have had spiritual experiences, encounters of something divine and fantastic that we can’t quite explain.  That’s what this story is all about.  And my seminary professor didn’t want me to miss that.  More importantly, he said I had a responsibility to the congregation to not let them miss that.
 
Too often the stories of our faith, these sacred texts, are taken for granted, passed over, thought to be irrelevant, or misunderstood.  Often this is because we don’t take time to really understand them.  Or it’s because the person reading them to us doesn’t have a clue, or reads it in such a way it is easy to ignore or to miss the point.  But when we read these holy scriptures, they are meant to open our eyes and ears to the presence of God in our very midst.  Scripture invites us into the story to see for ourselves, to hear for ourselves, to feel for ourselves, to experience for ourselves the awe and wonder of God’s activity in our world.  It is meant to invite us into a relationship with Christ that transforms our lives as much as it did that day on the mountain with Jesus and his three disciples.  Worship is meant to be an opportunity for awe and wonder and praise and celebration for the wondrous, mysterious, and present, relevant activity of God.  We gather around the stories and are invited into a holy adventure that is life-transforming.  If it isn’t, we’re leaving something out.
 
This Sunday we’ll follow Jesus up the mountain…and hope to encounter at least a glimpse of what his traveling companions experienced that day.  Our guest preacher Rev Rick Whitefleet-Smith, will also help us to find the promise and power of life after the mountaintop.  I will be heading for the mountaintops of Maine for a little break before Lent begins…and look forward to being back with you for Ash Wednesday service at 7:30, February 22

 

With Joy!