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The Rev'd Jane Bearden
In the name of God, Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier Amen
“And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.”
I think that the worst times of my life have been those times when, for one reason or another, I have felt distanced from God. Just like Moses, Paul, James, John, and Peter in our lessons today – we all have a yearning to be close the holy and yet we are uncertain and fearful of such a powerful experience. Moses encountered God at the burning bush and again on the mountain. Paul came to know God in a profound faith nurtured through personal sacrifice and zeal for Christ. Peter, James, and John witnessed God’s glory in the brilliance of the transfigured Jesus. These are what we know as mountain top experiences. We long for that euphoria of closeness with the Holy and so we ask: How should I seek God? What must I do? Must I retreat into silence or solitude? Should I give away my possessions? Must I volunteer at Joyful Ladle or ACAT once a week or once a month? Yesterday Chris and I attended a workshop in Boston on emerging communities of faith. The keynote speaker, Ian Mobsby, author, priest, and one of the leaders in the emerging church – Fresh Expressions movement in Britain, noted that more people today are seeking some sort of spirituality than before. But a key difference today is that these Christians for a new and different sort are not seeking to be followers of a program such as the church has to offer. Instead they are “Questors” who seek to experience God in all aspects of their lives. They are trying to find their way on the journey to God – not join a believer’s club with no relevance to their whole life.
Abraham Heschel, a mid 20th century Jewish theologian and political activist” wrote that there are three starting points if we are to “seek the face of God”. . .
W The first is the way of sensing the presence of God in the world through our surrounding – our “view” of the world around us, Heschel would often begin an evening lecture by drawing his audience in with excitement… “Ladies and Gentlemen” he would say… “A great miracle has just taken place! The SUN has just gone down” - -- seeking and seeing God's action in the world around us…
W The second is sensing the presence of God in scripture in God’s word spoken through scripture - Heschel was a student of prophetic verse – the lyrical language of the Hebrew prophets especially because it reflected the prophet’s experience of God. - His experience of God
W And the third is sensing the presence of God in sacred deeds - through our deliberate action - our reaching outside of ourselves to do God’s work. Rabbi Heschel is perhaps best known for the work that he did in support of justice and equality.
When I tell stories about Jesus to small children, I always try to end with an “I wonder” phrase. We “wonder” about God creating the world and about Jesus’ love for us. We wonder about the beauty of the pearl of great price and we wonder about the smoke from the extinguished candle filling all the cracks and crevices of the room and of our lives with the ever-present light of Christ. Wonder is a word that is not used very much anymore. Rabbi Heschel called it “radical amazement” “RADICAL AMAZEMENT” What a great phrase!
It was radical amazement that drew Moses into the cloud on top of the mountain. It was radical amazement that spurred Paul to “press on to the goal” and it was that same radical amazement that made poor old Peter jump up and want to build a booth to capture the moment on the mountaintop. Radical amazement does not mean turning away from everyday experience, but rather being open in a new way to the very existence and essence of that everyday experience. In seeking and sensing God we toss away the need to control things around us and to rely on a marvelous sense of amazement at God’s handiwork. If we seek God, we are called to be responsible caretakers - stewards if you will - of our world, to treat God’s creation with respect and awe. If we do not - then chances are - that when God passes by - we will not be looking…..
Throughout Jesus’ life he sought help and guidance in understanding his life and mission through scripture. The scriptures speak of God as our creator, sustainer, redeemer, the loving giver of manna, forgiveness, and protection. The teachings of sacred writings call us into relationship with neighbor and with God. As I consider Rabbi Heschel’s wisdom in seeking God in scripture, I am inclined to fall on my Anglican leaning and include our tradition too. I want to include these because God, I believe, is revealed in our prayers and in our music, in our praise, in our poetry and art and our liturgy.
Each of these and more are human attempts, inspired by an unexplainable transcendence, to describe Justice, Compassion, Grace, Forgiveness, Reconciliation, and above all - an all encompassing, inexhaustible gift of Perfect Love. Scripture and Tradition remind us of the mystery of God, the mystery that attracts us with its fascination and terrifies us with its overwhelming power. When we study God's revealed Word we quiet our own voices, we open our hearts, and we listen for God’s presence in the sheer silence of prayer. If we are to seek God we must intentionally set aside time to spend with God in study, in reflection, and in prayer.
Lastly, we are to seek God through deliberate action. Moses could not remain forever on top of the mountain. He rejoined God's people in the wilderness to continue to follow God's call to them. Peter too did not want to end his experience. He wanted to stay up on the mountain with Jesus, he did not want to face the time when he would be asked to take up his cross and follow. But Jesus reassured Peter that he did not need to fear. He knew that there was work for them to do in offering the gift of Love to the world. If you have ever been on a spiritual retreat you know that there is a longing to hold on to that quiet time, to stay in that holy place. Returning to the world is a scary thing when we have experienced the peace of solitude with God.
Not infrequently, we Christians try to find life in Heschel’s first two paths only to find that our journey lacks spirit and enthusiasm. That is because we have tried to separate our worship and our prayer from our action. But these cannot be separated. We too just like Peter must come down from the mountain to engage the world with the assurance of God’s presence with us on our journey. How well we care about our neighbor is as vital to the spiritual quest as what we do when we are turning inward, in our quiet time. Prayer that does not make a difference in the character of our outward life loses its vigor. A pious life may flourish for a brief time, but unless it leads to a more caring and responsible relationship with other human beings and to efforts to change conditions that cause human want and suffering, it will most likely not endure.
Ian Mobsby says that this new emerging way of being church calls us back to our Trinitarian roots through the focus on worship, mission and community. It calls us to pay attention to the world around us – our context – and to respond in ways that draw us closer to the Holy. To that I say…
Thanks be to God, Amen
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