Sermon "Something You Can Hold On
To..."
Rev. Dr. Steven A. Peay
Sunday, February 14, 1999
"Something You Can Hold On To . . ."
"Tell no one." Those words, without doubt, have probably been uttered a million times in our nation's capital over the last fourteen months. Yet, as another scripture has it, "that uttered in secret will be shouted from the rooftops," and has that come true! While the nation is breathing a sigh of relief that all of this is finally over, I wonder if we understand the real effect of the events that have transpired in the highest echelons of government? The 19th century French writer Henri-Frederic Amiel is correct in saying that, "Truth is the secret of eloquence and of virtue, the basis of moral authority; it is the highest summit of art and life." S, the consequence of all this is that we're living with a crisis of authority, of what constitutes truth and certitude.
We've seen the nation's highest elected leader stand before millions of people on television and deny certain actions. Then we've seen him turn around and say: "I lied." And, after admitting lying, he is only really now brought himself to apologize for what the American people have been through. So, how true is truth? Should we cast doubt on everything that we see broadcast or in print now? Could it be that the stuff of fiction, like the movie "Wag the dog," is actually what constitutes our reality now? Whom can we believe? What is true and good and what, conversely, is false and evil? If truth is our handle on reality -- where do we get something we can hold on to?
In the face of such basic questions how do we take Peter's words, "For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ . . ."? After all, from the nineteenth century to the present day, scholars pick-apart the Scriptures and seek to tell us that our faith is the stuff of myth. Myths, however, are not fairy stories and can carry the truth deep within them and express it in a way that mere 'fact' cannot. Nevertheless, the apostle is telling us that he and the other apostles "had been eyewitnesses of his majesty." Peter and his companions had discovered for themselves that there was something different about what has happened in Jesus the Christ.
At the core of what we celebrate today, the Transfiguration, there is more than the stuff of great 'Spielbergian' special effects, of smoking mountains and glowing lights. There is no question that what Peter, James, and John witnessed on the mount of Transfiguration was something out of the ordinary. Here was the experience of God's self-revelation, theophany or epiphany, par excellence. Yet, at the core of what they witnessed is the authority of Jesus to speak and to be the source of life for those who choose to follow after him.
Moses, who represents the Law, and Elijah, who represents the prophets, are powerful authority figures for both the apostles, and for us if we take the Old Testament at all seriously. Here Jesus emerges as the greater figure of authority when the heavenly voice says, "This is my Son, the beloved; with him I am well pleased: listen to him!" In Jesus the Law ans the prophets find their completion, their fulfillment. That's why when the smoke clears it is not Moses or Elijah who is left on the mountain top -- it is Jesus. Jesus remains and he is the one who can be held on to, can be trusted. He is the one whose words are "truth and life."
This is precisely the lesson which the writer of second Peter draws from the experience of the Transfiguration. The faith that you and I share, along with countless other believers who gave gone before and will come after, is not the stuff of cleverly devised myth." Rather, the faith that we share is "the prophetic word made more sure." As a consequence we understand that Jesus' authority is greater than that of the Law or of the Prophets and cannot put all of the Scripture on the same level. What is revealed through Jesus gives us the manner by which we are to interpret the Scripture, and indeed all of life. He told us that he had not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to fulfill them. Thus, every time we come to a point of conflict, to a perplexing question, to a crisis of authority, his authority is final: "It was said ... but I say unto you." That's why Pastor Robinson told his flock departing for the new world? "God hath yet more light and truth to break forth from his holy Word."
Few of us have witnessed a transfiguration, but all of us -- especially recently--have experienced a crisis of authority. God knows people throughout history have been hungry for true authority, for that which will give them a sense of what is true and good, that will make them feel secure. Why else would entire nations be mesmerized by the claims of a Hitler or a Lenin? Experience has shown that these authoritarians are not the handles one can hang on to. Only in Jesus' message and his example of self-giving love do we find authority that does not restrict but frees and allows us to become our fullest, truest selves.
Perhaps that is what has been forgotten over these past weeks in our nation's history? What we have seen, I believe, are people more concerned with self-serving rather than self-giving behavior, seeking to avoid what they see as their cross. Every day there are tough decisions to be made. There are hundreds of times that we can choose to tell a "little white lie" to smooth things over. There are many opportunities to duck doing the right, but difficult, thing. All of us are confronted--as was Jesus--with the cross, and if we are to be true to outselves and true to the God that made us, we must take the route that Jesus did. It is only in that act of self-giving, of self-emptying, of becoming transparent by pouring out ourselves, that God is able to shine through us -- just as he shone through Jesus.
Over the years I have been touched by the writings of Joseph Donders, a Dutch missionary to South Africa. Reflecting on Jesus' Transfiguration he writes:
He did not reason, reasoning would be lost in the dark of those nights; he did not make a promise, promises would have remained idle words facing the despair of the millions; he showed what would happen by making it happen there and then, and he said: "Don't tell the others before I come through death myself; but then, tell them!" It was the hope he left to us all. It is with that hope that we should struggle in this world, and in ourselves. We will not only overcome, but one day we, you and I, and all of us, the whole of humankind, we will be transfigured. We will shine as he did, and does.
The promise that we will shine, that we will reflect the very light of God as did Jesus, is something you and I can hold on to. It's something that can make a difference in our world where there is doubt about what is true and what isn't, where authority is in crisis, where "don't tell," and selfishness abound. When Christians seek to live as Jesus did, seek to be the "godly souls" our Puritan forebears sought to be, people notice and people can change. We Christian need to heed Peter's words and "will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises" in our hearts. For Christians, especially when we are assembled as God's gathered people, speak of hope and light and certitude to a world which desperately needs something to hold on to.
The first time I preached in this pulpit I concluded my sermon
with a story from the "Sayings of the Desert Fathers"
and I leave you with it today. Abba Joseph went to see the holy
monk Abba Lot. he said to him, "Abba, as best as I can I do
my devotions, I pray, I work, I fast. What more can I do?"
Abba Lot looked at him, rose from where he was sitting, stretched
forth his hands toward heaven and his fingers became as ten
flaming lamps as he said to him: "If you will, you can
become all fire." If you remember nothing of what I've tried
to teach you in the past three and a half good years -- remember
that. You and I can become wholly on fire for God...his light can
shine through us...and that's something you can hold on to for
life itself. Amen.
