"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"
. . . the times in
which Elijah and Jesus lived. Though separated by centuries, the
times in
which Elijah and Jesus lived were at the same time prosperous
and
dangerous---dangerous, especially, for those who chose to follow
the will of
God.
The contrasts and the similarities between Elijah and Jesus
themselves are
striking. Elijah speaks as roughly as he dresses, and his
treatment of his
enemies is even rougher. Following his victory over the
priests of Baal on
Mt. Carmel, Elijah ordered the people to seize and kill his
enemies. This
was a prophet you didn't fool around with! Jesus, on the
other hand, taught
the gentler ways of love, even of enemies. He could be
harsh at times and he
could act forcefully, but he taught that love should be offered
in the face
of hostility, that cheeks should be turned when struck.
Both gathered followers. By the end of Elijah's ministry
he had attracted at
least one devoted disciple in the person of Elisha. Jesus,
from the very
start of his ministry, called "the twelve apostles."
After passing his mantle
on to Elisha, Elijah, went directly to God in a heavenly
chariot. Jesus
passes his authority to the apostles, but he goes to God only
after the cross
and the tomb---after his death and resurrection.
So different was Jesus' message from that of Elijah that some
people have
difficulty in seeing any "connectedness" at all.
Rather, they see a deep
division between Elijah's Old Testament "Way of the
Law" and Jesus' New
Testament "Way of Grace." Furthermore, the violence of
Elijah seems far
removed from the non-violence of Jesus; and yet, in the
mysterious event of
the Transfiguration the gospel writers are able to show a clear
connection.
Moses, "the giver of the Law" stands with Jesus
"the fulfiller of the Law"
and beside them, as a bridge between them, stands Elijah, the
all time "chief
defender of the Law." But, always a defender of the Law
within the context of
a covenant with God that promised "grace" and
"mercy" and "forgiveness" to
come.
The three disciples---Peter, James, and John---whom Jesus takes
with him up
the mountain, are overwhelmed by it all. Peter, wants to hold on
to the glory
by setting up shrines. Jesus brushes this idea aside leaving
Peter to learn a
new definition of glory. Glory for Jesus, after all was said and
done, was
found only in the cross. And while, in the course of
history, the
Transfiguration was to be seen as the confirmation of Jesus'
divinity, many
people have hesitated to attribute divinity to Jesus.
Which might lead one to ask:
"Do I have the eyes to see the kind of grace and glory
that the disciples and Elisha saw?"
"Do I have the eyes to see the kind of purpose and promise
that the disciples and Elisha saw?"
"Do I have the eyes to see the kind of justice and joy
that the disciples and Elisha saw?"
"Do I have the eyes to see the kind of hope and happiness
that the disciples and Elisha saw?"
"Do I have the eyes to see God and the ears to hear him?
One day a minister, who was new to his congregation, went to
visit at the
home of an elderly man who was very ill. When the minister
walked into the
man's bedroom, he saw a chair next to the bed. So the minister
said: "I guess
you were expecting me."
But the old man asked: "Why do you say that?"
The minister pointed to the chair and explained: "Well, I
saw the chair
there, and I just assumed that someone had placed it there in
anticipation of
my visit."
The elderly man motioned for the minister to close the door to
the room. He
then said:
"What I am about to tell you, I have never told anyone, not
even my family.
You see, for the longest time in my life I never really knew how
to pray. But
then a few years ago, a friend of mine told me that prayer
should be like
talking to Jesus. So what he told me to do was to sit down in a
chair and to
place an empty chair across from me, and to visualize Jesus
sitting in that
chair, and spend time talking and listening to him, just like I
would do with
anyone else. I liked that way of praying so much, that that's
the way I've
been praying ever since. But I would ask you not to tell my
family about it,
because they might think it strange."
A couple of days later the minister received a call from the old
man's
daughter, informing him that the man had passed away, saying:
"My father died in his sleep. Yet there is one thing we
haven't been able to
figure out. Just before my father died, he leaned out of his bed
and rested
his head on that chair that was next to him. It took all
the strength he
could summon to do it! Do you have any idea what to make of
that?"
The true majesty of God is to be found precisely in the
mysterious---the
exra-ordinary. In the Gospel Lesson before us this morning we
have before us
not only "God talk," but "God talking!" And,
while it may be true that God
can and does reveal himself most often in ordinary, everyday
happenings, we
come to know him most unforgettably when and if we are
privileged to
experience him in the mysteriously extraordinary.
We must never shy away from experiences that teeter between the
"strange" and
"stranger yet." Instead, we should try to get
caught-up-in anything that
challenges our earth bound senses and sensibilities. Rather than
retreat from
a possible "visionary encounter" with God, we should
plunge headlong into
just such possibilities---whether it be bright lights in the
heavens or,
gathering clouds out of which a voice of absolute authority
might speak. . .
to US!
During my first year of seminary a professor asked the class
what they would
do if their first parish was in rural America and one hot August
day, while
seated at their desk, a farmer-parishioner came in from the
fields to tell
the pastor that God had spoken to him?--spoken to him while out
there working
in the fields?--spoken to him loud enough to be heard above the
roar of the
tractor? We all snickered. Some suggested that they would
excuse themselves
and then go out and ask their secretary to call the police or
the nearest
state mental hospital. Others said that they would simply humor
the farmer
until they were able to convince him that the sun had simply
"gotten to him."
The rationalizations for the farmers strange behavior went
on and on until
the professor finally asked:
"Would not a single one of you ask the farmer what God
said?"
At one time or another we (each one of us) have stood on a
"holy mountain"
without even realizing it---as surely as Peter, James and John
stood on their
"holy mountain." The Transfiguration Event must,
therefore, never be viewed
simply and only as a stray, mythological episode in ancient
Bible history.
While our faith is built on both mystery and reality, it is
first and last a
faith rooted ever more deeply in clear promises than in vague
hopes. We do
not follow cleverly devised myths. We know who is coming again
and where we
are going! (repeat)
If I believed, as did Peter, James and John, that the last
sermon I preached
would be the last sermon I would ever preach I would say this in
conclusion:
"Trust and believe that the Word of God
we know and love is true.
Instruct your children in that truth such that even the strange
and
mysterious is embraced as if it is very real---for it truly
is!" AMEN!
