“Awe-Filled Basking in the Light of God”
Exodus 34:29-35 & Luke 9: 28-36 ~ Northwood UC February 27, 2022 ~ Rev. G. Scott Turnbrook
Do you fear God? Deep in the silent, still moments of your being, do you hold some sort of fear…or reverence…or awe for the divine? Perhaps you hold a profound reverence of the holy? A feeling of awe being in God’s presence? A fear? It would be understandable if you do as we begin to unpack this biblically, for this was a posture of God’s faithful. We might think of the glory of God that Moses first saw at the burning bush. God’s presence, the burning fire that would not consume itself, was so powerful that the awe-struck Moses took removed his shoes. He knew that he was in God’s full presence and he felt a sense of awe and wonder…and fear. Do you fear God? Another biblical text…We might think of the glory of the Lord shining around the Bethlehem shepherds just prior to Jesus’ birth. The text reports it caused the shepherds to be terrified. The shepherds felt deep fear over the arrival of God’s presence. It caused an angel of the Lord to speak words of comfort: “Do not be afraid, for I bring you good news of great joy…” Do you fear the glory of God? One more text…in this morning’s transfiguration text that Lynn read for us we see the faithful, again, in a state of fear, as the glory of God shone around Moses, Elijah and Jesus. Do you fear the glory of God? Many of the great theologians of the past, I’m thinking of Reformers like Martin Luther and John Calvin, taught us to be fearful of God’s glory. We teach our children to reverently pray at bedside: “now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. And if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.” And to this day, we continue to build amazing temples in an attempt to re-create this sense of awe and fear we hold for God. And we come wearing our Sunday best, priests don robes and gowns, all of us bowing our heads in reverent prayer for when we gather with God we hold out this sense of reverent awe…awesomeness…and fear for the divine presence.
What I love about Transfiguration Sunday is that it provides a spiritual balance to this view of God. Transfiguration Sunday provides a balance to faith-filled living that is not solely based in the fear, reverence and awe of God. Transfiguration Sunday provides the balance of embracing God’s wonderful light in joy. For the disciples, when they first experienced the overpowering light of God…shining through Moses, Ellijah and Jesus, they were afraid. The sense of reverence, awe and fear they held caused them to consider shielding themselves from that light. Peter said to Jesus: “it is good to be here, let us build three dwellings. One for you, and one for Moses and Elijah”. Their initial response was to hide the light away and shield themselves from that pure light of God. For they were afraid, and they adopted a natural posture of reverence and fear. As the wonderful spiritual song we sang goes: “hide it under a bushel…NO!” And as we continue along in Luke’s passage, the next part of the text reads…after Peter’s offer to Jesus to build three temples for the three shining beacons of God’s glory, it continues: “not knowing what he said”. Simon did not know what he was saying to Jesus! Because, the disciples were learning this balance of living in reverence, fear and awe…AND ALSO balancing living in a way that embraces that glorious light of God. Awe, reverence and fear on the one hand. Embracing the glorious light of God on the other. A challenging balance for the faithful …then…and now!
This is what we witness in Moses’ growth in the first text that Lynn read. To be sure, what we witness in Moses’ actions was and incredibly bold action. Recall, that this is the same Moses who when he was first was called by God’s presence in the burning bush…he felt such a sense of fear and reverence that he removed his sandals for he was on holy ground. To see God’s face was too overpowering for any human; to see God’s face was too much for one to handle; to see God’s face was understood to cause one’s death. Yet, Moses in the text, would go in to speak with the Lord and take his veil off! Moses would see the full glory of God shining upon him. And Moses offered the full light of God to his people! Moses would bring the 10 commandments down from Mt. Sinai. Moses would receive God’s light and let it shine before all the people as they would find their way through the wilderness. The text reports that in the face of Moses, they saw him shining; Moses’ face would be radiant; the glory of the Lord would continue to shine…even in the dark, lost period of the wilderness. God’s light radiating from Moses.
What Transfiguration offers is this wonderful balance in our faith-filled living. A balance, on the one hand, to bask in the light and glory of God. And, on the other hand, for us to continue to hold a deep reverence, a sense of awe, fear (in the biblical sense) of God.
We are reminded here of the importance of drawing near to God, certainly with a sense of reverence and awe, but near enough to bask in God’s light. Our closeness to God molds and shapes who we are. Like the potter’s hands working on the clay, we need to find ways to foster an intimate closeness in order for God’s shaping to occur. Or, perhaps like the flowing water which shapes the hard rock surface, we need to let God’s grace flow over us. And as we come to the end of Epiphany’s season of light, when we think of the bright light bleaching out even the darkest fabrics, we need to open ourselves to God’s light in our living. How is it that you draw near to the light of God? What ways, what practices, what opportunities do you create in order that God might be close? Your approach, of course, will change over time…and this is good, as we too are changing! Worship, right here, in if it is effective provides an opportunity for us, individually, to draw closer to God. In personal devotional time, prayer, meditation, scripture reading are some of the many other practices that foster this closeness. Musicians, and those of us who love to listen to music, talk about the opportunity to discover God in the rhythms being felt and played. Nature enjoyed is, yet another, opportunity. Time alone…time with others ~ where 2 or 3 are gathered, all provide opportunities to bask in the light of God; to be further shaped by the hands of the creator; to be blessed by the waters of life running through your soul.
The outcome of such an encounter is this powerful call to live one’s beautiful, unique life as a shining beam of God. We sing the wonderful spiritual: “this little light of mine, I’m gonna’ let it shine”, yet we are reminded that this little light is not ‘just me’. It is the Christ light with us. When we let that light shine, we are reflecting that light of God shining upon us, that is nurtured within us, that others see upon our face. It is helpful to identify a flaw in social thinking that famous people ~ celebrities ~ who offer great acts of charity are so ‘good’. And, indeed they are ‘good’…BUT they are not good because of the thing they have done. They are good because they have released their inner light, to let it shine. Transfiguration Sunday reminds us of the ordering that the faithful must follow. We must begin by coming close to God. And, as we are close to God…as we are in touch with that inner Christ light…as we continue to kindle it, and nurture it, and be aware of it. We next need to release it! Meister Eckhart, the wonderful 14th century German theologian put it this way: “we should not think that holiness is based on what we do, but rather on what we are. For it is not our works that sanctify us, but who sanctifies our works.” You are a holy creation…blessed and shaped by God…whose light God has shone upon…and it is God’s delight when that light is released in the varied ways you live out your amazing life.
I would like to close with an image. My fear amidst this morning’s discussion is that most of us will counter this theology of the transfiguration saying ‘well…I don’t feel very holy…in fact, I feel very normal…disillusioned…blah…(you fill in the blank) The image I want us to take away is printed on the bulletin. It is an unusual painting by Vincent van Gogh. Most of us think of Van Goh’s paintings that depict a starry night, or a vase of sunflowers. This painting, as you can see, is a pair of old work boots. The boots are almost entirely worn out. One can only imagine the labourer who worked, and sweated and toiled in them. The support of the leather is long since gone and the boots are only able to stand up because they lean against each other. These boots seem ordinary and worn out. We, too, might feel ordinary and feel worn out…at first glance. Yet Van Goh shows the light casting upon these boots and proceeds to paint them in intimate detail. Yet, the boots are glorious, not because they are a chic style, but because of the human dignity that the light casting upon them reveals. The labour…the toil…a worker putting food on the table for their family, perhaps. Tending cattle…farming food for our tables. And through all of it, even in the ordinary, the extraordinary glory of God shines.
Amen.