Have you ever been awestruck? Have you ever found yourself in a situation
where you didn’t have words?
The other day an extremely quiet snow filled morning had
this effect on me.
But have you ever met a celebrity? Or witnessed someone meeting a person of fame
and just stumbling over what to say or how to respond? Often we kind of revert
backto a giddy kid and say something stupid…well at least I have…
MaryAnn McKibben Dana tells of going to a conference once and seeing this statement written on the wall. The statement is; “when the system doesn't know what to do, it does what it knows when a system doesn't know what to do, it does what it knows.” Now what this is talking about is a technical term for any group of people. When a corporation doesn’t know what to do it will do what it knows…when a family doesn’t know what to do it will do what it knows and that can be whittled down to when a person doesn’t know what to do they will do what they know.
“when we don't know what to do. When we are faced with
uncertainty, when we have a number of good options, but no clear way of
deciding or when we are fearful about the future or about change, we will
revert to what we know, what is comfortable and familiar. Sometimes that's a
good thing to orient ourselves somewhere familiar, but we need to be aware that
that's what we're doing because sometimes it's not a good thing to follow the
old pattern.”[1]
It is hard to break old habits and/or sometimes it’s just
easier to do what we know as the saying goes; why try to reinvent the wheel or
if it isn’t broke don’t fix it. We are creatures of habit.
The “transfiguration story stands as a transition between
the Sundays of Epiphany, with the progressive revelation of the power and
presence of the good news of God's kin-dom in this Jesus, and the season of
Lent, with its progressive focus on the journey of Jesus to suffering and the
cross. This is where this story will take us.”[2]
In today’s Gospel The disciples are led up the mountain and
then they experience something just beyond comprehension. This story is rich in
imagery there is a high mountain there are clouds there is Moses and
Elijah. So much going on it is mind boggling. We hear this story
every year on this day and yet, and yet, no one seems to know what to do with
it.
Commentators want to dive into the old testament symbolism,
others want to point out that Peter is still a clumsy thick-headed man who just
doesn’t get it, and still more want to project some headier than conceivable
mysticism on top of it all. Let me just say this…ugh it is exhausting.
So, let’s start simply, gently with the story.
Jesus took Peter, James and John they go to the mountain
top. Most likely Mount Hermon. Just six days before Jesus had spoken
to them of his death and resurrection and now he takes these three up to the
mountain where he is transfigured.
“Peter and the disciples have just witnessed something
completely other worldly. It's so strange. This transfiguration business that
even the explanations seemed downright bizarre. We have this comparison to
laundry. Jesus has the whitest whites, what is the secret? Or we have
descriptions that seem right out of the TV show glee, Jesus is dazzling.
Peter Surveys this scene, mouth agape and is terrified
because he doesn't know what to say. He doesn't know what to do, but does that
stop him from speaking? Certainly not. Let's build dwellings he blurts out
because when a person doesn't know what to do, a person does what he knows and
building dwellings. Pitching tents is part of Peter's vocabulary as a Jew. It
was part of his story. Remember that the Israelites wandered in the wilderness
for 40 years pitching their tents as they went and the Ark of the Covenant
which housed with the Ten Commandments, was placed in a special tent called a
tabernacle. In the time of Solomon that tent became a more grand and permanent
structure. The festival of Sukkot is a Jewish holiday in which people build
small dwellings for worship, even eating and sleeping in them. Sometimes when
something amazing happens, when God makes an appearance, if you're a Jew
currently, chances are you're going to want to build a tent.”[3]
With that in mind I cannot help but wonder what we would
do. Cynically we may question what was in the water we just drank? What
kind of Hallucination is this? More likely we would be scared,
awestruck, and beat a path down the mountain side as quickly as possible and
choose not to discuss it or, even admit that we saw anything.
“Sadly, Peter has been beaten up in sermons on this text for
centuries. Clueless Peter, who wants to put God in a box, stupid peter who
wants to stay up on the mountain forever! Where it doesn't say that he wants to
stay up on the mountain forever! In fact, as anyone who's been on a mountain knows,
you can't stay long. The weather changes fast and you are vulnerable up there.
Peter isn’t saying, let's move in. Peter is responding liturgically,
worshipfully out of the story that he knows best. His own story as a good an
observant Jew. When we don't know what to do, we do what we know. But God, is a
god who disrupts what we know. As quickly as Jesus is transfigured before them,
God drops in a cloud just as quickly and says, OK, never mind. Stop looking at
the scene. This isn't about dazzling visions. What I want you to do is listen,
listen to him. Don't build, don't talk, don't do anything. Just listen when you
don't know what to do.”[4]
Just Listen. OK. (Silence)…. Just as I was
writing this, at this very spot, a thought came to me…We are Children of God,
right? How many here have children, human or otherwise? How well do
they listen? How well do they follow every instruction?
Just think on that for a moment. we are children of God…How
often has God told us to listen? “’let he who has ears’ appears in the bible 7
times. How well do we listen? Do we even know how to listen?
Spiritual practices are the best way to listen to God, and yet, often we do not
take the time, or make the effort to engage in a spiritual life. For
many Sunday is enough!
Marcus Borg, observes that there is a lack of spiritual
practice. “The notion that God is a reality who can be known (and not simply
believed in) has become quite foreign in the modern world and in much modern
theology. Often there is even uncertainty about the reality of God. In
skeptical form, it leads to a vison of Christianity as primarily “ethics.” In
most generic form, the Christian way of life becomes “being Good,” “being
Nice,” “loving people.” In the strong form, it can become a passion for justice.
But whether in generic or strong form, living the Christian life is seen
basically as being about behavior in the world. But Christian practice,
historically, is about our relationship to both God, and neighbor, about both
Spirit, and behavior, about both God, and the world.”[5]
Now Borg does go on to point out that there is a renewal in
north America to recover practice as the center of Christian
life. He explains what he means by practice
“By practice I mean all things that Christians do together
and individually as a way of paying attention to God. They include
being part of a Christian community, as church, a taking part in its life
together as a community. They include worship, Christian formation, collective
deeds of hospitality and compassion, and being nourished by Christian
community. They include devotional disciplines, especially prayer and spending
time with the Bible. And they include loving what God loves through the
practice of compassion and justice in the world.”[6]
As the Federated church of Marlborough, we are really Good
at the latter part, I mean even denominationally our current campaign speaks to
that. The Three Great Loves; a just world for all. This is the
denomination’s opportunity to express how our Love of Neighbor, Love of
Children, and Love of Creation work together to address the inequities in our
current world.
Yet without Spiritual practices, without a way to listen to
God, without a way to stop, breathe, and Listen, we would never know what,
exactly, we are called to address. Without spiritual practices, we
would never have the energy to address our callings. Without
spiritual practices this …this service would never come together.
So how do we listen to Jesus today? How do we
listen to God? We hear and see examples of how to be in the world through the
Gospels. We know of ways to communicate and listen to God through
praying the psalms. We have seen examples of monks and nuns who
through their daily practice, the everyday, and the mundane can be lifted into,
and become a spiritual practice. There is lectio Divina a practice of reading
and listening to the scripture contemplatively. Of course, there is the
contemplative practice itself.
Thomas Merton believes that “Contemplation is the highest
expression of man's intellectual and spiritual life. It is that life itself,
fully awake, fully active, fully aware that it is alive. It is spiritual
wonder. It is spontaneous awe at the sacredness of life, of being. It is
gratitude for life, for awareness and for being. It is a vivid realization of
the fact that life and being in us proceed from an invisible, transcendent and
infinitely abundant Source. Contemplation is, above all, awareness of the
reality of that Source. It knows the Source, obscurely, inexplicably, but with
a certitude that goes both beyond reason and beyond simple faith. For
contemplation is a kind of spiritual vision to which both reason and faith
aspire, by their very nature, because without it they must always remain
incomplete.
Yet contemplation is not vision because it sees
"without seeing" and knows "without knowing." It is a more
profound depth of faith, a knowledge too deep to be grasped in images, in
words, or even in clear concepts. It can be suggested by words, by symbols, but
in the very moment of trying to indicate what it knows the contemplative mind
takes back what it has said and denies what it has affirmed. For in
contemplation we know by "unknowing." Or, better, we know beyond all
knowing or "unknowing."[7]
Ok that is a little heady, spiritual, and out there. Let’s
take Thomas Merton’s words and put in
God it may be a bit clearer … “Contemplation is, above all, awareness of the
reality of [God]. It knows [God], obscurely, inexplicably, but with a certitude
that goes both beyond reason…”
I believe this is what happened to Peter, James, and
John. The realty of Jesus’ absolute divinity is seen, and the voice
of God is heard. They experienced this reality of God in the world, in a brief,
and most sacred moment. No wonder Peter was flustered.
C. Clifton Black professor of biblical theology at Princeton
observes that the transfiguration and
“the voice from heaven orders Jesus’ disciples. This command
recollects Moses’ directive: Israel should heed a prophet whom the LORD God
would raise up (Deuteronomy 18:15). In Jesus, God has done this; Israel’s
successors should respond appropriately. To what should Jesus’ disciples pay
attention?”[8]
Presumably,
everything in that Jesus says and does. Treat people fairly and compassionately.
Do not run from a challenge to your faith.
Keep on the path even though it may seem hard or even impossible. Remember we have to go through a lot of Good
Fridays to get to Aaster Sunday!
Perhaps we should just stop and Listen. “this is my Son in whom
I am well pleased. Listen to him!” This Lenten season what if one took on the
Gospel readings as a contemplative practice. Lectio Divina, it is a
good way to start a contemplative practice. It is a good way to
listen to God through Christ and see what is just being said to you.
“Lectio Divina (Latin for "Divine Reading") is a
traditional Benedictine practice of scriptural reading, meditation and prayer
intended to promote communion with God and to increase the knowledge of God's
Word. It does not treat Scripture as texts to be studied, but as the Living
Word.
Traditionally, Lectio Divina has four separate steps: read;
meditate; pray; contemplate. First a passage of Scripture is read, then its
meaning is reflected upon. This is followed by prayer and contemplation on the
Word of God.
The focus of Lectio Divina is not a theological analysis of
biblical passages but viewing them with Christ as the key to their meaning. For
example, given Jesus' statement in John 14:27: "Peace I leave with you; my
peace I give unto you", an analytical approach would focus on the reason
for the statement during the Last Supper, the biblical context, etc. In Lectio
Divina, however, the practitioner "enters" and shares the peace of
Christ rather than "dissecting" it. In some Christian teachings, this
form of meditative prayer leads to an increased knowledge of Christ.”[9]
In Lectio Divina many people believe the first step is to
read the scripture but actually the first step is to still
oneself. A group I use to go to always started with be still and
know that I am God. Lighting a candle, one begins “be still and know
that I am God” and then there is stillness. Be still and know that I am. And
there is stillness…Be still and know…and there is still ness be still and there
is stillness…be… (offer quiet time) after the time of silence
the passage is read and we listen but not with our ears but with our hearts.
There are moments of silence as it is read about three times often by a
different reader every time and perhaps a different translation every time so
one can hear it the way each one needs too. This becomes less a practice of
reading and more of listening to the inner message of the Scripture delivered
through the Holy Spirit.
In between each reading is the time when one meditates or
ponders the scripture. The scripture is held lightly and gently considered from
various angles. Again, the emphasis is not on analysis of the passage but to
keep the mind open and allow the Holy Spirit to inspire a meaning for it.
Another part or the 3rd movement of lectio is prayer. “In
the Christian tradition, prayer is understood as dialogue with God, that is, as
loving conversation with God who has invited us into an embrace. The
constitution Dei verbum which endorsed Lectio Divina for the general public, as
well as in monastic settings, quoted Saint Ambrose on the importance of prayer
in conjunction with Scripture reading and stated: And let them remember that
prayer should accompany the reading of Sacred Scripture, so that God and man may
talk together; for "we speak to God when we pray; we hear God when we read
the divine saying.”[10]
The fourth movement is the contemplation or holding silence
and experience God’s love I always say it is like lowering your spirit into a
warm quite bath of God’s spirit.
With Ash Wednesday we enter the season of lent it is a good
time to seek out and develop some spiritual practices. Also, if you
do not have one you may want to seek out and try a spiritual director at this
time a spiritual companion to walk with you on this spiritual journey. All this
so that we may Listen to Jesus and prepare to meet the resurrected Christ in
all his radiant Glory.
[1] http://asermonforeverysunday.com/sermons/b12-transfiguration-sunday-year-b-2/
[2] https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=243
[3] https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=243
[4] http://asermonforeverysunday.com/sermons/b12-transfiguration-sunday-year-b-2/
[5] The
Heart of Christianity by Marcus Borg page 188
[6] Borg,
189
[7] Thomas
Merton The new seeds of contemplation, pages 1-2
[8] ] https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3561
[9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lectio_Divina
[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lectio_Divina