CAPTURING OUR ATTENTION
Given our presence here in worship this morning, it is true to
say that in one way or another, each one of us has experienced the mysterious
power of God in some way. Something has drawn us here this morning.
For example, a few of us have had dramatic events where God’s
power saved us from certain misfortune. With the advantage of hindsight we later
understood that for whatever reason we were spared to live another day. A much larger
number of us have no had such dramatic events, yet we have also felt God’s hand
guiding and directing our lives in ways we do not fully understand. Regardless, of how we may experience it,
periodically, God’s power breaks into our world in tangible ways. In both
extraordinary form and mundane form it is this in-breaking of God’s power that
draws us into the presence of God; into the act of worship itself.
Turning our attention to scripture, in both the account of
Elijah being swept up into heaven, and in the story of Jesus’ transfiguration, our
scripture passages this morning present us with two dramatic examples of God’s power to invade the created
order. Indeed, these are events where the power of God entered into our temporal
realm in dramatic fashion.
In both of these instances God wanted to capture the attention
of his people in order to communicate His divine will. So, then, as God’s
children in this time and place let us ask ourselves; “Do we seek God’s will?” On
this Transfiguration Sunday, our scripture passages drive us to ask ourselves
the question of whether we are sensitive to God’s claim upon us? Are we
sensitive to God’s will for our lives?
First,
let us look at the story of Elijah and Elisha.
The setting of this account is both exciting and dramatic. Dropping from
the sky, a chariot of fire drawn by horses of fire simply appeared before the
two prophets as they walked along the banks of the River Jordan. In the mere blink of an eye the two men were
overwhelmed by the direct presence of the Holy.
As the younger prophet, Elisha, watched in utter shock and dismay, the
sparkling whirlwind of the Lord gathered up his elder, Elijah, and carried him
off into the heavens.
In that very moment Elisha stood face to face with the very
power of God. As we might expect, in
this encounter he was simultaneously terrified and overcome with joy by
his brush with the Holy.
As he cried out from the riverbanks of the Jordan “Father,
Father” Elisha gave voice to a tumble of emotions. As it is recorded in the Hebrew, his cry
of “Father, Father” is carefully inflected
in such a way that it tells us as the reader that Elisha was both absolutely
terrified and filled with thanksgiving over coming into direct contact with the
Holy and mighty power of God. Elisha was
confused, frightened, and ecstatic by his direct encounter
with the power and majesty of God.
After the moment passed and Elijah was gone, Elisha didn’t know
what to do next. Indeed, what is the
proper response to such a tangible display of God’s awesome power? Quickly, he dropped to his knees and tore off
his clothing. Then he picked up Elijah’s
mantle, or outer cloak, and put it on his back.
This was a symbolic act.
By putting on Elijah’s mantle Elisha was making a statement. By this act
Elisha was saying, “The ministry of the Lord, begun in Elijah, would
continue-only now it would be Elisha carrying the work forward.” Elijah had been a strong voice calling Israel
to remain faithful to its belief in one God – Yahweh (the God of Sinai and the
Exile, the God of the Covenant). Now,
Elisha would be that voice for faithfulness.
Perhaps without even consciously realizing
what he was doing, Elisha discerned that the only appropriate response to this
encounter with the power of God would be to continue the prophetic message and
ministry of Elijah. He would not, could
not, stand still and revel in the power and glory of God, he must push
forward. Yes, he was initially stunned
by his encounter with the Holy, but in some way Elisha quickly understood that
God wanted him to move forward – to continue the work of the Lord in calling
Israel to faithfulness.
The sparkling fire-lights of the divine whirlwind served to
inspire Elisha to serve the Lord in a new and different way. Part of what we learn as we examine this text
is that through this moment God wanted to communicate a very specific message
to him: For Elisha to move out into the world in faithfulness and to carry
forward the prophetic ministry begun by Elijah.
The stunning and somewhat frightening
encounter of Elisha experienced with God’s awesome and humbling power was
similar to what Peter, James, and John experienced as they went up a
mountainside with Jesus.
Our gospel passage today reveals a dramatic in-breaking of
God’s indescribable power. Standing there with Jesus these three disciples were
suddenly exposed to the awesome power of God in a direct way. Right before their eyes Jesus’ Divine nature
was revealed in a way they had never seen before.
Let us not forget the very real context in which this
in-breaking occurred. As the four of them went up the mountain Jesus was their
friend, the same man they sat with at meal times. He was the same man they had walked from town
to town with over the previous three years.
This was the same man they had talked with about their deepest hopes and
fears around the fire late at night.
During the time they had been together,
they knew Jesus was somehow special. He
taught as no one had ever taught before, he seemed to know them better than
they knew themselves, he seemed to understand the scriptures and to know God’s
will in a way that was different from anyone else. Yet, to them, he was still Jesus – their
friend. Before, today, despite many
clues to the contrary he had just been Jesus, the son of Mary and Joseph.
Then it happened, in the twinkling of an eye, everything
changed. Suddenly, Jesus was transformed
from simply being their friend – to their Lord.
In that moment, for them, Jesus became the Christ-the anointed one of
God.
Just as Elisha had been a thousand years earlier, Peter, James,
and John, were witnesses to the unmasked glory and power of God. It was a moment in which the presence of God
was tangible and unmistakable.
Peter, James, John, did not know how to respond. They were stunned. They were as the text tells us,
“terrified”. Confronted by the direct
power of the Holy they were frozen in place.
Peter was first to respond.
He asked Jesus if Jesus would like them to build a monument
commemorating the moment. In today’s
parlance, the equivalent would be Peter asking Jesus if he could take a picture
to capture the moment. But that is not
what God had in mind. Pictures are for remembering. Pictures are for looking
backward. Yet God is the God of the future; the God of tomorrow. God is
dynamic. Pictures are static.
Then, just when the disciples thought they had seen it all, the
scene changed again. Without warning, a
great cloud overshadowed them. They
heard the voice of God speaking to them from the cloud, “This is my Son the beloved, LISTEN TO HIM!.”
Then it all disappeared.
Everything was again as it was before, and it was just the four of them,
alone on a mountaintop. As the four of
them walked back down the mountain Jesus instructed them to keep silent about
all of this until his death and resurrection occurred.
What are we to make of this account? Peter, James, and John
were about to lose their friend. As we
know, the Passion story was about to unfold and it was important that Peter,
James, and John understand exactly who Jesus was. It suited God’s purposes for their lives to
reveal to them Jesus’ divine glory.
You see, God always enters the temporal world for a
purpose. In Elisha’s situation, God
wanted him to continue the prophetic work of Elijah. In the case of the transfiguration, God
wanted the disciples to “LISTEN” to what Jesus had taught them, and what he was
about to teach them in coming days and weeks.
In both cases, God
wanted something to happen. God wanted
to capture their attention in order to send them out to do God’s will. In turn,
then, we are called to “LISTEN” to what Jesus teaches us. It may be in a
dramatic fashion; a supernatural moment. It may be through God’s normal means
of revelation; scriptural study –our interaction with God’s Holy Word. It may
be that we are addressed in a holy moment of revelation through fellowship with
another. Regardless of the vehicle God chooses to utilize to address us the
objective is always the same: Listening
to Jesus means we believe in him as our Lord and Savior. Listening
to Jesus means we are to share the love of God with all those we meet.
“Listening” to Jesus means to accept as worthy those the world
rejects. It means we are to feed the
hungry. Listening is to clothe the
naked. It is to shelter the exposed. In the Greek, God’s command in this text appears
in the imperative. We are commanded to “Listen”. Moreover, to really listen is
to move beyond mere auditory reception and internal reception. To truly respond
to this command we are called to tangibly act.
“Listening” to Jesus means making ourselves vulnerable to
others in the hope of softening their hearts.
“Listening” to Jesus means that we are called into the world to
give witness to the power of God.
“Listening” to Jesus means that when we go through an encounter
where the power of God is revealed to us, we cannot keep that experience to
ourselves, we have to share it with others.
Let us go into the world as people touched by the power of
God. Let’s move forward from the
mountaintop experiences of our lives, whenever and however they happen, and
continue the ministry we have been equipped and prepared for through the work
of our Lord; Jesus the Christ.
Truly, in both large and small ways God captures our attention.
In blazing chariots snatching prophets up bodily into heaven, and in dramatic
moments of revelation unmasking the divine identity of our Lord Jesus, and in
small quiet moments of personal study of the scriptures or in moments of holy
fellowship with one another, God communicates his divine will. May we at all times
be ready to receive it, and act on it, within the particular circumstances of
our lives. So may it be for us. Amen.
Transfiguration
Sunday
February
26, 2006
Trinity Presbyterian
Church
Travelers
Rest, SC