Seeing God with our own Eyes

February 23, 2020 Seeing God with our Own Eyes 2 Peter 1:16-21 Year B Transfiguration Sunday Children’s Time I am wearing my shiny shoes today, because today is a special Sunday. Transfiguration Sunday – the day that God told us a very special secret. The secret is that God loves us. God sent Jesus into our world – to who that love. Jesus was with his friends one day, and they noticed that there was a bright light, and they heard a voice say this is my son whom I love and I am proud of. Jesus asked that no one tell that story – was he embarrassed that his dad spoke to him? God’s secret. But is a story that God tells pretty often, there are a few times when God spoke about Jesus in public. Jesus told his friends to keep this a secret until the right time. The time is now – we all have a job to spread the secret until everyone in the world knows that God loves us all! Stewardship Moment As a little child we are all taught how important it is to share and to not be selfish with the things that we have. It is easy for us to think that the bible reinforces that lessons of not being selfish. But Jesus actually does not say a whole lot about being unselfish, Jesus tells us to be loving and giving. What is the between being unselfish and being loving – one is the a negative, and the other is a positive. One is a list of things not to do, one is a list of things that we should do. When we are not being selfish – we think about what we have and chose to give what is left over. When we are loving and giving, we help others in spite of what we have. God does not give to us out of what God has left over, God gives out of God’s heart. God does not give out of what God has, but out of what we need. If God can do that for us, then surely, we can do that for others. As we give today – give to the mission of our church to reach out, to make a difference and God has given to us…. scripture 2 Peter 1:16-21 Common English Bible (CEB) Christ’s return is true 16 We didn’t repeat crafty myths when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Quite the contrary, we witnessed his majesty with our own eyes. 17 He received honor and glory from God the Father when a voice came to him from the magnificent glory, saying, “This is my dearly loved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.” 18 We ourselves heard this voice from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 In addition, we have a most reliable prophetic word, and you would do well to pay attention to it, just as you would to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Most important, you must know that no prophecy of scripture represents the prophet’s own understanding of things, 21 because no prophecy ever came by human will. Instead, men and women led by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible Sermon I was on facebook a few days, and saved this post on how to identify fake news. 1. Read Past The Headline 2. Check What News Outlet Published It 3. Check The Publish Date And Time 4. Who Is The Author? 5. Look At What Links And Sources Are Used 6. Look Out For Questionable Quotes And Photos 7. Beware Confirmation Bias If a story looks suspicious or claims to reveal major news, search to see if other news outlets are also reporting the story. A single article from a suspicious source making a grand claim should be viewed with heavy skepticism. If no reliable news outlets are also reporting the story, then it’s very likely fake. 9. Think Before You Share Fake news sites rely on readers to share and engage with their articles in order for them to spread. In extreme cases, these fake articles can balloon out of control and have unintended consequences for those involved in the stories. After fake news stories claimed that Hillary Clinton was sexually abusing children at a Washington, D.C., pizza restaurant, the business owner and his employees received death threats and vicious online harassment. The staff is still under attack even though these false claims have been debunked. More Resources For Spotting Fake News: • Snopes.com • Melissa Zimdars’ List Of Fake News Sites • On The Media Fake News Handbook • FactCheck.org • Poynter’s Tips For Debunking Fake News • TinEye Reverse Image Search • Washington Post Fact Checker In the world that we live in, we hear lot about fake news. And as we hear news everyday – and we can struggle with what to take seriously. Why are people telling us this story. The phrase fake news is a modern term, but the concept is not new. It has been going on for many years. Our scripture for this morning - 2 Peter was written to address this situation. Just who was this Jesus Christ anyway? And if he has not come back, is he really going to return? Some preachers were saying that he was coming back and some were not? In such a divided political climate, who do we believe? The author of 2 Peter makes the point that Peter was a witness to the transfiguration of Jesus. He was there, he heard the voice of God speak, he saw the face of Jesus shine and transform. More importantly – his life was changed from being present at that moment. In other words, Peter was not speaking from heresay, but personal experience. Peter was establishing himself as an authority figure on preaching the gospel. The words of Peter could be trusted. I don’t preach on this scripture very often, but it does offer a very different persective. Each of the gospels tell the story of the transfiguration. But this is the only reference to that day in the rest of the new testament. Peter tells this story in order to dispel the fake news of the day. Just as I gave the nine rules of spotting fake news. Peter says that he is an authority. The story of Jesus transfiguration and resurrection is not a myth – it is truth that Peter say for himself. He heard the voice and saw that sight for himself. The stories of Jesus should be a light to our understanding of the world. “This is my Son, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” 2 Peter 1:17 After the experience on the mountain, The Voice tells the disciples to "listen to Him (Jesus)". Discipleship is nothing more or less than “listening to Jesus.” To move forward in faith is to listen to Him, to recognize His voice, The Voice that is a transfiguring power, the same power that created the world out of nothingness. This is The Voice that transfigures sinners into saints, that heals the broken-hearted and makes the wounded whole human beings. The Voice is the voice of change, of transfiguration, The Voice that transfigures water into wine, and wine into blood, and death into life, and transgressive people into transfigured people. Can you hear the voice of Jesus in your life? In our culture? Do you have a hearing problem? Can we hear the voice of Jesus over the drone of voices calling you elsewhere? Listening for Jesus voice is "serious" [siri-ous] business. To “Listen to Him” we need to do four things. 1) We need to mute other voices. 2) We need to learn to listen and be silent. 3) We need to recognize The Voice. 4) We need to megaphone The Voice. 2) Twenty-one centuries after Peter, we are still called to a voice-activated faith. Today the voices we hear may not be declaring, “This is my Son,” but they are declaring “these are my children, my sons and daughters.” The voices we are now hearing may be declaring, “I need help.” Or “my children and I are sleeping in our car.” Or “I’m not able to show and share my faith with my family.” Those are all voice-activated calls to faith that demand a faith response. It is not an accident that this story takes place on a mountain top. Jesus went up on the mountain top in order to find God, just as moses and Elijah before him. As a matter of fact, both of those prophets join him on the mountain top. Meanwhile, Peter, John and James are also there sitting in a corner watching all that is going on. This moment actually changes their lives, and inspires their ministry from this day forward. It is the moment where everything becomes clear and makes sense. We all have had those moments in our life when everything makes sense, and we can see clearly. Those moments when everything in the world seems to come together, and we believe that everything will be alright. We have all had those moments, but have you every realized that those moments in life don’t last forever. There come and they go. Peter, James and John wanted this moment to last forever, they wanted to stay on that mountain forever, and yet Jesus said it was time to move on and come off the mountain. Just as quickly as the moment came it passed. Just like it does in our life. I just learned about this, this morning. But if you climb a mountain. If you stand between a cloud and the sun, then a halo will develop around you. A round circle with a rainbow on the outside. The phenomenon is called a glory. But isn’t that how we spend most of our lives, somewhere in the middle of a cloud and sunshine? We all have those moments of sunshine, but most of our lives are lived in the clouds – of confusion, or yearning or wanting better. We see some clarity, and then it is back into to the clouds. Glimpses of God When I first heard Chet Atkins play guitar, it made me want to be a better guitar player. The intricate way that he played made me want to learn his style and to try to make a guitar sound that way myself. But the first time I heard B.B. King play guitar, one simple note at a time, hung out in the air, sighing breathlessly or screaming in pain, it made my heart hurt – and it made me want to ease the pain that caused that sound. When I see the babies who are brought to the altar rail here, I have to smile at them. They make me want to touch them and to tell them how beautiful they are. But when I saw my own children as babies, they made me want to be a better person, so that I could be what they deserved as a father. Glimpses of God call us to alter our lives and to begin to see and do things differently. John Bedingfield, Little Epiphanies An Hour of Glory on a Windswept Hill Dr. William Stidger once told of a lovely little 90-year-old lady named Mrs. Sampson. Mrs. Sampson was frail, feeble, even sickly. But Dr. Stidger said that when he was discouraged he always went to visit Mrs. Sampson. She had a radiant spirit that was contagious. One day he asked this 90-year-young woman, “What is the secret of your power? What keeps you happy, contented and cheerful through your sickness?” She answered with a line from a poem, “I had an hour of glory on a windswept hill.” Bill Stidger said, recounting this experience, “I knew she had been in touch with God and that was the whole reason [for her cheerfulness].” Listen again to her words: “an hour of glory on a windswept hill.” It sounds very much like the experience Peter, James and John had on the Mount of Transfiguration. King Duncan, Collected Sermons,www.Sermons.com We Can’t Live on the Mountaintop A young woman made an announcement one morning to her co-workers, "My honeymoon is over and I am so relieved. Now we can get on with our marriage." That's the way it is with our mountaintop experiences. We can't live there forever. The light is too bright, the pace too frantic, and the demands too great. It is a relief to return to normal lives where we can be ourselves and let others be themselves, but that doesn't mean the honeymoon is forgotten. Just because we don't live on the mountain all the time doesn't mean we forget what happened on the mountain. William B. Kincaid, III, And Then Came The Angel, CSS Publishing Company The point of those moments of sunshine is to give us strength to live the rest of our lives. It gives us an experience of God that will stick with us for the rest of our lives. The transfiguration, was a glimpse of the glory of the resurrection. When the disciples left the mountain, the vision of Jesus stuck with them for the rest of their lives. Each of them had their own ministry. Each of them was willing to tell their story. What is interesting about the scripture in 2 Peter, it was written to address the fake news of the day – that Jesus was not coming back. It says that I Peter was a witness to the transfiguration – the moment when Jesus became the Christ, the messiah the one loves by God and called to bring salvation to the world. What is interesting is that this scripture was not written by Peter. It was written by a disciple of Peter, someone who was not a witness to the transfiguration. But the point of our lesson for the day – is that we should act and believe, not out of what we have heard , but what we experience in our hearts. We should all seek the personal experience, when God speaks directly to us to inspire us and give us the courage to go on. That moment of sunshine is our assurance that life is unfolding as it should. That God is leading us to a place where it will all make sense and we will understand God and God’s love. Faith Gives off Light A few months ago I read the best-selling novel Lying Awake by Mark Salzman. It is the story of Sister John, a cloistered nun, who is slowly drawn into the intimate presence of God through stunning, dazzling, disintegrating visions. An ordinary woman becomes a quivering mystic, disappearing into "pure awareness." She became an ember carried upward by the heat of the invisible flame ... until the vacuum sucked the feeble light out of her. A darkness so pure it glistened, then out of the darkness ... nova.... More luminous than any sun ... all that was her ceased to exist. Only what was God remained. Unfortunately for Sister John, there is a complication. Along with her visions come excruciating headaches, which demolish her for days at a time, making her unavailable for the work of the cloister and causing her to be a great burden to the other nuns. Finally, a doctor diagnoses her with epilepsy, a condition that will get worse unless she chooses an operation - an operation that will relive the pain, but most likely destroy the visions. What should she do? After an intense wrestling match, Sister John chooses the operation. Why? With great reluctance, she denies herself, for the health and well-being of the larger, convent community. And sure enough the debilitating pain disappears. But so, too, does the exquisite passion - those intimate, ecstatic encounters with God. She goes back to the ordered, plodding life of the community where she is but one of many, serving God in the mundane moments of daily discipleship. In a final moment of wisdom in the book, the Mother Superior offers Sister John words that sustain her after the mountaintop moments have disappeared, when her daily faith journey seems dull and tentative: "We stretch out our emptied hands to take hold of the Light. We may feel that our prayers are arid, or that God has abandoned us. Although we suffer deeply, those become our most precious hours, because only in complete darkness do we learn that faith gives off light." Susan R. Andrews, The Offense of Grace, CSS Publishing Company Consulting an oracle God presence is with us all of our lives – but we have to take special times to learn to move and navigate our way through the thickness and beauty of the Shekinah glory – of god’s presence on earth. Lent is one of those times. Time to get in touch with the cloudiness of God. In the midst of cloudiness many people consulted special people to get the answers to your questions. Perhaps you are still thinking about what to do in Lent – so I have a special way to help you think about what to do for lent…… Okay some of the suggestions may not really be helpful – you will have to eat something in 40 days, and it is probably not a good idea to stay in bed for 40 days. Only God can truly tell you what to do- to see God more clearly in your life. ( not used) May you enter into the clouds of lent, discover the sunshine of Christ in your life- and be willing to keep God’s little secret to yourself until after Easter. Amen. Let us pray…. Amen. Additional Illustrations Sermon Opener – The Voice-activated Life - 2 Peter 1:16-21 When parents are trying to teach their very young children basic social skills one of the first big lessons is “Use your words.” Instead of grabbing, hitting, screaming, or crying, we teach our children to communicate their needs and desires through the use of words. Instead of snatching a toy away from another child we teach our kids to say “May I please play with that for a while?” Instead of screaming and throwing a tantrum, we teach our children to say, “I’m really mad,” or “He was mean to me,” or “She hit me!” The power of our voices, the power of words, is the first power we want our children to tap into. Verbal communication is uniquely human and is a uniquely empowering gift. Despite all the image-based advances in technology, “The Voice” is still the driving force in electronic developments. Voice power is still the ultimate power. Every new, successful emerging technology — for the past seventy-five years -- knows that voice power means market power. Remember RCA? RCA famously advertised its first record player, the “Victrola,” by showing the family dog with its head cocked in curiosity as it listened to a record player. The advertising tag line was, “His Master’s Voice.” The “next best thing” in the past few years has almost always been a voice-based development. We now all routinely talk to our cars… Transfigured: Who Changed? Laurel A. Dykstra, a scripture and justice educator living in Vancouver, British Columbia, wrote the following in an article for Sojourners Magazine: "My first night at Guadalupe House, a Catholic Worker “transition house” where I spent nearly 10 years, I sat at the wobbly-legged table amid a circle of men’s faces, black and brown and white, and looked at the peeling linoleum, tattered sheer yellow curtains, broken couches, and roach-filled corners. I had never seen a place so ugly. After a week of hospitality, laughter, community, and connection, I sat in the same seat and caught myself thinking, 'What a kind and homey room this is.' Transfigured. "So I wonder: In Matthew’s story of the mountain, was it Jesus who changed or was it that John, James, and Peter could now see the face of God shining in the man they knew? Did the thin air and the elevated perspective contribute to their clarity of vision? When they came down from the mountaintop, did they take their new capacity to see into the low places and crowded city streets? Can we? And when we see the face of God shining through those who are familiar to us, do we truly, deeply listen to them?" Laurel A. Dykstra, "See and Listen," article in Sojourners Magazine Sermon Opener - Lessons from the Mountaintop Frederick Buechner in his book, Peculiar Treasures, writes about Moses in the following way: "Whenever Hollywood cranks out a movie about Moses, they always give the part to somebody like Charlton Heston with some fake whiskers glued on. The truth of it is, he probably looked a lot more like Tevye the milkman after 10 rounds with Mohammed Ali. Moses up there on the mountain with his sore feet and aching back serves as a good example of the fact that when God puts the finger on people, their troubles have just begun! Hunkered down in the cleft of a rock, Moses had been allowed to see the Glory itself passing by, and although all God let him see was the back part, it was something to hold on to for the rest of his life." Mountaintop experiences in our faith journey become those moments of revelation that give us something to hold on to for the rest of our lives. That certainly is the kind of experience Moses had on Mount Sinai, and the kind of experience our Lord had with Peter, James and John on the Mount of Transfiguration. Any experience in which we recognize the Living God can be a transfiguration. It may take place on the summit of a mountain, or as we kneel in prayer on a wooden floor at sea level. It can happen in the midst of a service of worship where God becomes dramatically real to us, and we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Christ is our Living Lord and Savior. So as we celebrate the Transfiguration of our Lord, let us consider some spiritual lessons from the mountaintop. 1. The Value Of Spiritual Mountaintops 2. The Mystery In Mountaintop Experience 3. The Temptation Of The Mountaintop 4. The Urgency Of Spiritual Mountaintops Robert A. Beringer, Something's Coming...Something Great, CSS Publishing There is a story told of an old man and his grandson who were walking down a business street in a downtown district. As they walked along, the grandfather suddenly stopped, turned his head slightly, and tweaked his ear. After a moment he said to his grandson, “Follow me.” They slowly moved from where they were standing to a small planter box next to a sidewalk café. The planter was filled with various seasonal plants, but as the old man gently pushed back the flowers, behind them was revealed a small bird’s nest filled with baby chicks, their chirping almost indistinguishable from the din of lunchtime dinners and people on the sidewalk. No one seemed to pay any attention to the old man, his grandson or the little nest, but the grandson was amazed. After watching for a few minutes and then moving away the little boy looked up at his grandfather. “Grandpa, how did you hear the birds? There is so much noise, so much happening, how could you hear?” Without saying a word, the old man took several coins from his pocket and tossed them on the ground. With the tinkling of the coins on the sidewalk it seemed everything came to a stop. People turned around. Diners stopped eating to look their way. Several almost seemed to want to reach down and pick up the dropped coins. Then as quickly as it had happened – everything went back to the way it was. That’s when the old man spoke, “It’s all in what you are listening for, my child, it’s all in what you are listening for.” 4) We need to megaphone The Voice. This sanctuary is a sacred place to most of us. We meet God here. For some of us this is the most beautiful and meaningful hour in our week. We could pitch our tents and stay here all week long. Some of our most active members are thinking to themselves, “I might as well, as much time as I spend here.” But we need to remember the time-honored story of the lady who happened in on a small Quaker congregation. They were sitting in silence. “When does the service begin?” she asked a man sitting near her. His answer: “As soon as the meeting is over.” Hannibal was the son of a general around 220 B.C. in the days of the Roman Empire. His father, a Carthaginian officer, trained the young Hannibal to disdain the Romans. Later, after Hannibal's commander was assassinated, Hannibal, at age 26, was named commander in chief by the acclamation of those under his command. The Carthaginian leadership quickly affirmed the field promotion. Hannibal strengthened his armies until they were ready to confront Rome. Leaving Spain with approximately 40,000 troops, horsemen, and 38 elephants, he made his way through southern France (Gaul) and prepared to enter Italy from the north over the Alps. We remember Hannibal as the one who took the elephants over the mountains, but few remember the challenges he faced along the way. First the river. He crossed the Rh“ne using commandeered boats for his troops, and for the elephants, he built earth- covered rafts. But how would they find their way in the Alps? Some friendly, local Gallic leaders assigned guides to help with the complicated Alpine passes, but many Alpine natives were hostile. As Hannibal and his ten thousands threaded the precipitous mountain paths, local residents rolled heavy stones down upon man and beast from the heights above. His descent on an icy base covered with fresh snow caused animals and soldiers to founder, and a landslide blocked their narrow path, delaying progress for a day. After fifteen days crossing the Alps, Hannibal descended into Italy, with 26,000 troops and a few of the original elephants. So, Hannibal got the elephants over the mountains, with mixed results. For some time he controlled large sections of Italy, but he never reached Rome, and finally was driven from there. Unwelcome at home because of his perceived mismanagement of the Roman campaign, he died a man on the run, pursued by When Hannibal came down from the mountains to the plain of northern Italy, he expected to find there the enemy. And the enemy he did find: endless struggle, conflict, eventual defeat -- he was driven from that place. A temptation for us is to think that taking the elephants over the mountains will leave us the same -- unchanged. And that simply we need to arrive upon the plain and be on our way, which is never the case. We can, however, plot a new course and travel the plain differently and successfully. But there are a few things to keep in mind. When Peter, James, and John came down from the mountain, they saw only Jesus, which meant that their view of everything else had changed. Eventually Peter's ministry took him far and wide to unfamiliar places and people. When we come down from the mountain, learn the terrain. Learn in a new way the interests, the appetites, the gifts, of those around us and the special opportunities afforded by this location. Thoreau reminds us that the entire world may be seen in a few acres of ground if we will only see. So learn the terrain. Secondly: say "yes" to the plain. Hannibal came down from the mountain and expected to find the enemy, and he found strife and conflict, misery and defeat. Peter, James, and John came down from the mountain and saw Jesus only. When we in our life journey have taken the elephants over the mountains, who will we be and where will we find joy? Whom will we see? Whom will we expect to meet on the plain? Will we be ready to receive the treasures of a new place? Will we be ready to receive the blessings which are ours to receive as changed people? Will we patiently and gently come to know the worth of those we meet who are differently gifted than ourselves? And will we be free in an unexpected place to touch the fringe of his garment? From the lofty places to the plain, our descending approach can make all the difference. And Jesus, who Peter, James, and John saw differently on the mountain, after the Resurrection said to his disciples, "I am going ahead of you and I will meet you on the plain." ________________________________________ 1. "Hannibal," The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1993 edition, vol. 5, pp. 683 - 685. My Special moment I have two questions for you – have you ever had that time in life, when everything came together for you? When life just seemed to make sense. It may have been your wedding day, or graduation, or birthday or some other special day that you felt that you were on top of the world. My second question is if you could talk to any two people, dead or alive to get advice, who would you ask. For Jesus those two people were Elijah and Moses. Thursday was that moment for me. I have not been that excited about anything in a very long time. I have not had a chance to sit on edge, and watch such an exciting scene unfold before me. A moment of intrigue, a moment where I question what is real. A moment where you can clearly see that there is a thin line between life and death, between the past and the future, between what you expect and what you don’t understand. It was that moment where you realize that there are those rare moments in our lives where all of our questions are answered, where we realize that the anticipation of waiting is finally fulfilled. But most of the time you realize that you have to spend most of your life in a cloud of confusion, that never goes away, because the answering of one set of questions, just brings about more questions. Perhaps Jesus did not have the season premier of the television series lost in mind when he bought his most trusted disciples with him to a mountaintop to pray. Season premiere or no, Lost is just a very clear mind game that is not scheduled to end until 2010. But Jesus must have known that there are those moments in all of our lives. The moments where the true identity of the Christ becomes clear to us. The transfigurations story When Jesus took his disciples up to the mountain – it must have seemed like a very cruel mind game to them. Jesus takes those 3 of the brothers that we talked about last week – Peter, James and John to the top of the mountain…….. The significance of clouds In the gospel, God talks to the disciples through a cloud and encourages them to listen to Jesus. In the Hebrew gospel God also talks and acts through a cloud. Moses takes his trusted helpers with him to Mount Sinai to talk with God to get the Ten Commandments. No one is allowed at the top except Moses. But once again a cloud covers the mountain for six days, and on the seventh day – a special day Moses comes out of the cloud with a message for the people. Now we tend to think of clouds as a bad thing- a bad time in our lives, a time of uncertainty, a time of confusion, a time when we are not able to see things clearly. What are the things that cloud your vision? What are the clouds in your life that prevent you from doing what you really want to do. The Shekinah Glory Clouds are actually a good thing in the bible. A cloud signifies the presence of God on earth. The presence of God was somewhere far away on a throne on heaven, but there is also a presence of God here on earth. God’s earthly presence is called the Shekinah glory – and you knew the Shekinah glory was present when you saw a cloud. It was a cloud that guided the Israelite to freedom by day and a pillar of fire by night. It was in a cloud in the mountain that Elijah was able to find the silence of God, it was a cloud that constantly talked with Moses to give him instruction to lead the people, it was a cloud that talked with the disciples to tell them that he was his beloved son listen to him, and when you think about it is that cloud of confusion, doubt, questioning, misunderstanding that constantly stays with us and shapes our faith journey. Cloudiness is a way of life for us. Moments of Sunshine When you think about it – those moments when things are totally clear and obvious are few and far between. An organization that I am a part of calls them moments of sunshine- those times when you are totally happy, when you are on the top of your game, when all of your questions have been answered, when you see life very clearly. The disciples hold onto that moment We are a lot like the disciples in those moments – we want to worship them forever – do you know anyone who still talks about that moment in high school. We want to build a temple so that moment can last forever, so that we can keep that feeling of clarity, so that we can live in that high of understanding. When the disciples asked if they could build temples for the appearance of Moses, Elijah and Moses, Jesus says no. Jesus usually reminds us that those moments in our lives are not intended to last forever. They come to give us perspective on the clouds, they come to give us a sense of hope to go on, and they come to give us special memories. But they always come to end Most of our lives are lived in a cloud Most of our life is to be lived in the cloud – a cloud of confusion and questions – because life is to be lived in the presence of an awesome, overwhelming, unknowable, mind boggling God. A God so big and so wonderful that we will never find the words to describe God. And yet a God who cares so much for you – that God is with you all of the time.