Seeing God- Vicar Karen Peterson
For the last several weeks we have been reading from the Gospel of Mark, and still haven’t finished the first chapter. But this week, because it is Transfiguration Sunday, we jump ahead eight chapters in the Gospel of Mark to the mountain top experience where the disciples witness Jesus undergo a dramatic metamorphosis. That’s a huge jump forward, so I think it’s important to give you some context for this story. Jesus has been accused by the teachers of the law of being demon possessed, to explain that he is able to cast out demons. His own family has tried to take Jesus away, saying that he is “out of his mind, and he has denied them, saying his family are those who do the will of God. The Pharisees and Herodians began plotting against him in chapter 3. He’s been speaking in parables, calming a storm, walking on water, raising Jairus’ daughter from the dead, feeding thousands. John the Baptist has been beheaded. And in chapter 8, Jesus heals a blind man, and then immediately preceding the gospel for today, Peter declared that Jesus is the Messiah, after which Jesus told the disciples that the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law would hand him over to be executed, and that he would rise on the third day, after which Peter scolds Jesus for such crazy talk. Jesus replies, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
Sight and perception are an important theme in the Gospel of Mark, especially the lack thereof, especially when it comes to the Jewish leaders and Jesus’ own, hand-picked disciples, and their failure to recognize or perceive the truth about Jesus. In fact, it is fair to say that they are deaf as well as blind. Jesus tells them quite openly and honestly about his approaching death on the cross, and then tells them that “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” But they turn a deaf ear. They have preconceived notions of who God’s Messiah is and what he is fated to do, and they refuse to see or hear anything that contradicts those assumptions and expectations. And this mountain top experience, which ought to transform their own ideas and expectations and conform them to those of Jesus, is similarly dismissed. As far as Peter and the gang are concerned, Jesus is the long promised, fully human God-anointed prophet-king who has come to free Israel from Roman oppression and reestablish the sovereign kingdom of Israel, over which he and his descendants will reign forever. When Peter proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah just six days before the transfiguration, this is what he meant. The disciples are not alone in these Messianic expectations.
The truth is, these are not crazy ideas or outlandish interpretations of these prophecies, if you think about it. God had raised up many rulers and saviors of the Jewish people before this: Noah, who saved two of every living creature on earth; Moses, who freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt; Joshua who led the Israelites and helped them take possession of the promised land; Samson and Deborah and all the other judges, king Saul who defeated the Ammonites; king David who saved the Israelites from Goliath and the Philistines; Cyrus the Great, the king of the Persian empire who set the Israelites free from Babylon and helped them rebuild the temple… all of them totally human, complete with warts and character flaws, most of them warriors, law-givers or leaders of their people, all of them defenders and builders of the nation of Israel. God has always worked through human beings, and does so even today. Once again, the Israelites were living as oppressed, conquered and colonized people, and they wanted desperately to become a free people in a sovereign nation once again. It’s perfectly natural for them to interpret their Messianic hope in light of this dream and this reality. This who they understood Jesus to be, because this is who the Jews wanted, needed and had, for half a century, prayed for the Messiah to be. They believe they see Jesus clearly.
My three oldest boys, Forrest, Dacotah and Ellery, were once sure that they knew who Jesus was too. When Kevin and I began talking about marriage, we started attending a Lutheran church in Fargo. I had always told my boys that Jesus promised that wherever people gathered to worship, he would be there with them. They absolutely believed me, and they kept their eyes open, looking for Jesus. To be honest, I told them that, in part, to get them to pay attention, give them something to watch for, so that I could sing with the praise band and not feel guilty about leaving Kevin stuck with trying to corral three boys under the age of seven and keep them quiet by himself for a whole hour of church. Little did I know that every year during Lent, this church enacted the stories in the life of Jesus, and that Pastor Derek, a tall and fair-haired man always played Jesus, and grew his hair and beard out for this very reason every spring. He looked just like a traditional white Jesus in a painting. To top it off, these plays sophisticated and realistic, complete with market vendors trying to sell us their wares, and Pharisees and Sadducees wandering about in the sanctuary telling us not to listen to Jesus, and dropping real rocks when Jesus stopped the townspeople from stoning the woman caught in adultery. That’s right, my boys were absolutely convinced that Pastor Derek played Jesus, dressed like Jesus, talked like Jesus and answered to the name of Jesus every Wednesday night for at least six weeks every year—Lent and Holy Week. I was able to dispel this misidentification in the older two without too much trouble, but little three-year-old Ellery tenaciously clung to this misconception for at least four years, until we moved and the pastor at our new church was shorter, with black hair and beard, and never pretended to be Jesus. Like the disciples, Ellery was absolutely certain he knew who Jesus was, and nothing anyone said to the contrary could change his mind.
Like Ellery, the disciples saw in Jesus what they wanted to see, what they had been told to expect to see and hope for in the Messiah. But Jesus isn’t the only blind spot these men have. Let me paint the scene for you, so you can see and hear the same thing I do.
Jesus takes Peter, James and John, and they climb to the top of a mountain. On that mountain are two shining prophets, and Jesus starts to shine too, as they are talking to him. There is also a dark cloud that overshadows them on the mountain, out of which emanates the voice of God. Forget about Elijah and Jesus, and just ask yourself, where else in the Bible do you have a shining Moses on a mountain with a pillar of cloud, and the booming voice of God? Raise your hand if you’ve ever seen the old movie “The Ten Commandments.” God shows up in Deuteronomy as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Moses goes up on Mount Sinai/Horeb to speak face to face with God, the pillar of cloud, and when he comes back down with the commandments, his hair and beard are whiter than white and his face shines like mercury headlights on hi-beam, so bright that he has to cover his face with a veil because his shininess frightens his people.
Moses and Elijah are Israel’s two greatest and most celebrated prophets, both of them known to have worked great miracles; both of them dead for many centuries, but believed to be alive in the presence of God in Heaven. Both of them are shining like beacons as they converse with Jesus, another even greater prophet, also shining and dazzling white, in the presence of the cloud on a mountain top. And what are they talking about? According to my professor, Moses and Elijah are telling Jesus about his impending suffering and death. The disciples recognize Elijah and Moses, whether or not they hear any of the conversation. But when God’s voice booms from the cloud, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him,” it seems fairly obvious that this is intended for the ears of the disciples. They witness it all, and not only do they still not understand who Jesus is. Peter wants to build tabernacles, like the tent of meeting in Deuteronomy, and remain on the mountain top with the prophets. Worst of all, the disciples seem to be completely oblivious to the presence of God on that mountain, even though Moses’ shining face should be a clear sign of God’s presence, not to mention God’s voice.
So they go back down the mountain, and not a single word is said about what they witnessed or what it meant. Instead, in the next verse, Peter asks why the scribes say Elijah must come first. What an odd question to ask, after he shows up on the mountain. Jesus tells them to keep it a secret until he rises from the dead, and they wonder what he is talking about, and what that means. They don’t seem a bit different. Jesus tells them about his death twice more, and they still don’t get it. The third time James and John even ask for positions in the kingdom, assuming it is an earthly kingdom.
One of the main jobs of the church is to bear witness to the activity of God in the world—to point and say, I see God there, and describe what God is doing. As Lutherans, we believe God is present and active everywhere, all the time. We claim that Jesus is present whenever we gather for worship. But how good are we at recognizing God in our midst, regardless of whether it’s the Creator, the Savior or the Holy Spirit? How do we know when we are in the presence of God? How do we recognize what God is doing? How good are we at naming it? Are we awake and alert enough to register when God shows up?
When Ellery was a senior in high school, he organized a group of students to do service projects in the community. At Christmas, he arranged for them to go caroling at the local nursing home. Only a couple kids showed up, and he wanted to call it off, but the kids that did show up insisted that they go through with it, so they did. They wandered through the nursing home popping into any room with an open door serenading the residents. One resident began clapping her hands when they finished, and this caused quite a commotion among the residents and staff. This particular resident had been catatonic for some time. She never moved, never spoke—she was completely unresponsive—until those teenagers came in singing Christmas carols. Ellery knew their little group of carolers made a difference that night. Although he has never said it to me, I want to believe that Ellery recognized God’s presence in that room with them that night, working through them to reach this woman who had all but completely withdrawn from the world. I hope he never stopped looking for God or Jesus in the world around him.
Since I came here to FLW, I have witnessed God at work here many times. I saw God’s presence at the big band bash. I know it was God because I’ve been a Lutheran all my life and I am convinced that only an act of God to make Lutherans get up and dance in the sanctuary, especially the Lindy and the jitterbug.
I experienced God’s loving presence in the warm way you all embraced me immediately, and continue to encourage and support me, and worry about my long commute.
I knew God was present in the sanctuary on New Year’s Eve, because, not only did no one fall asleep during my message, but most of you came out discussing what decoration to leave out to help you keep Christmas in your hearts all year.
I saw God at the Wildfire retreat when everybody got super excited and eager to participate in, not just one, but three different mission activities that were proposed.
I saw evidence of God’s handiwork in keeping a little boy from being sucked out of a 747 when the door plug came off in mid-flight and depressurized the plane. And when, right after takeoff a planes engines malfunctioned and successfully made an emergency landing on a highway without any fatalities—I saw God’s fingerprints all over that.
So where have you seen, heard or otherwise sensed God’s presence and activity recently? What signs do you look for that tell you God is present and up to something? Is it an energy in the area? Is it a feeling? A sign of hope? An outpouring of love? An expression of gratitude? An occasion when grace was offered or received? A response to disaster? Unexpected generosity? A helping hand extended to someone in need? An act of heroism? An answered prayer? What turns coincidences into God incidences? When was the last time you pointed out God’s presence or activity to someone else? Where do you see God working in the world, in the country, in the neighborhood today, even in the sanctuary today? Is there someone you want to tell—someone who needs to hear it, who needs you to point God’s activity out for them?