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| Persistent Faith |
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Feb. 22, 2009 As I prepared for the meditation this morning, a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson caught my attention: “I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching.” This morning, we are coming to a time of transition. We are coming to the end of the season of Epiphany, and Wednesday we will embark on the season of Lent. Gathered here this day, we are reminded that the word epiphany means “showing forth.” The readings this morning are filled with God “showing forth.” God showing forth to re-establish our connection to our Creator: The God of whirlwinds, fire and shrouded mountains. We listen to mystical stories of connectedness. We re-establish connections with the places through which our ancestors traveled. Gilgal. Jericho. The Jordan River. We re-connect to the ancestors from whom we received the law and prophecies: Moses. Elijah. Elisha. Re-connected through the showing forth of God. The God who re-connected with us through the life of Jesus. And now, in this time of global transition; in this time of uncertainty; can we be like Elisha and stick with the changes we face with steadfast determination? Or will we be like Peter, and be resistant to change? We look for a happy ending, but there is a shadow looming ahead. Last Sunday was an important day of transition for our congregation, as we shared words of commitment and faith during Pastor Phil’s installation service. One of the things that has stood out for me as I begin my service in the life of this church is the connectedness that the members and friends of this congregation have with the places in the community the Memorial UCC has traveled through. The sanctuary in the basement of the church on Johnson Street. The church on Madison Street. And now, we are about to celebrate another milestone in the history of the church, as on Sunday, April 19, we will gather together and share in the twentieth anniversary of the transition from Madison Street to Fitchburg. Know that in your retelling of the story; the story that embraced the changes your families and this faith community faced as they decided to follow God’s call to serve a growing community; know that it is time to tell the story again as new friends and members come into your midst. In this way your story becomes our story. Know that your connectedness to the past enriches the times of transition by honoring the old in something new. Yet that something new brings along an unsettling of the life that was known. The feeling that something is being taken away. We miss the traditions that we have treasured. In these times of change, these times of uncertainty, fear and grief often tear at our souls. We want things to be set right. We want the future to unfurl as we had planned. There is a whirlwind that separates us from God. A shadow looms. And in the darkness and whirlwind, we become like Peter, and we want to “set things right.” We want to avoid the shadow. Just as Peter wanted a happy ending. There must be a better way. As we glance back a few verses, Mark tells us that in the days before hiking up the mountain, Jesus began to share with the disciples what to expect in the upcoming weeks. He described the suffering and rejection he would face. Jesus began to talk about his death. Jesus began to talk about his resurrection. Peter pulls Jesus to the side and says “no,” there must be another way, another outcome. But Jesus is the way. Peter just can’t see it from where he is. Jesus points this out to Peter saying, “You are thinking about the way you want this to turn out. Look instead through the eyes of God, and see the way God wants this to work out.” Then, before going up the mountain, Jesus turns to the crowd of people and tells them to do three things: to leave behind their old way of life, to pick up the cross God has given them to bear, and to follow him. And that is where we are left. We are left with the crowds. Jesus, Peter, James and John leave us to hike up the mountain, and we are left at the base of the shrouded peak. We are there with the crowd of prophets following Elijah. The crowd of the faithful waiting for Jesus at the bottom of the mountain. The crowd of people being laid off from work. The crowd of military families missing loved ones. The crowd of people facing financial uncertainty. The crowd of people struggling with illnesses, loneliness, medical bills. The crowd of people constantly bombarded with visual and acoustic information as we watch T.V., listen to the radio, plug in our ipods, visit friends on FaceBook. There can be an overwhelming sense of chaos in the crowds. And in the anticipated change, Elisha says to us, “be silent.” And along our walk of faith, Jesus says to us, “be silent.” And God says to us “be silent…be silent and listen.” And so, in the midst of the crowd, we pause, and are silent. In the book Wilderness Sojourn, David Douglas writes about his solo retreat into the high desert of New Mexico, camping in canyon ravines. He recalls that, “Long ago, after my first travels in wilderness, I was inclined to assume it was God who had moved; that God somehow revealed himself more clearly in desert and mountain. Only with reluctance did I conclude that any moving had been done by me.” Douglas then quotes Thomas Merton who states, “As soon as a man is fully disposed to be alone with God, he is alone with God, no matter where he may be- in the country, the monastery, the woods, or the city.” Douglas continues, “Wilderness has never been the only stage where God, in Hosea’s words, ‘speaks to the heart.’ It is just that there, in the shattering stillness, some have been more inclined to listen.” In the shattering stillness, Jesus is transformed before our eyes. But who has been changed? Wasn’t Christ, God’s gift to us all along? Maybe, as Douglas found, it was not Jesus who was transformed, but maybe it is us; maybe it is us who has been moved. Maybe, in the silence, we have become more inclined to listen. So now we listen. And we recall that before going up the mountain, Jesus turned to us in the crowd and asked us to do three things: to leave behind the life we knew, to pick up the cross God has given us, and to follow this Christ who will transform us. As we prepare ourselves to share together in the season of Lent, I was reminded of the Rev. Dr. Sharon Watkins, the General Minister and President of the Disciples of Christ. The Disciples of Christ is a congregational denomination, and is a full-communion ecumenical partner of the UCC. Rev. Watkins spoke at the national prayer service the day after the presidential inauguration. Those of us gathered here at Memorial this morning will each approach Lent from our own place along our faith journeys. I invite you to come to the Ash Wednesday service this week, and then to join together in a journey through the season as we reflect on how our health, the health of our community, and the health of our environment is intertwined with our daily food and faith. Many people will adhere to a fast during Lent, giving up a food item for forty days. Coffee, chocolate, ice cream, alcohol, I even had a friend give up potatoes- which he said was very difficult for an Irishman to do. In today’s world, Rev. Watkins invites us to consider our fast in a new way: “In financial hard times, our instinct is to flight- to hunker down, to turn inward, to hoard what little we can get our hands on, to be fearful of others who may take the resources we need. In hard financial times, which fast do we choose? The fast that placates our hunkered-down soul – or the fast that reaches out to our sister and our brother?” As Christ comes down from the mountain to walk with us, Let us walk together through the season of Lent, And let us prepare to fast in a new way… A fast for the soul, A fast for our community, A fast the reaches out beyond the known, A fast for our world. Today, as Christ is transfigured atop the mountain, we are to be silent. For us, it is difficult to grasp the radical change that comes with the Good News. It is difficult to know what to say. It is difficult to know what to do. But here in the silence, we find something new. Here…in the silence, God strengthens our faith during a time of transition. Here…in the silence, we might find a friend or neighbor who is facing a loss. Here…in the silence, we can listen to God- with our ears, our eyes, and our hearts. We are a people surrounded by the spoken and written word. But over 70% of communication is nonverbal. A smile, a tear, a hand shake, a hug. So much of our communication is nonverbal, we might find that in the silence, We are ready to be moved by God. So Elisha says to us, “be silent.” Watch for God. And Jesus says to us, “be silent.” Watch for more of God’s Word to be revealed. As we approach the season of Lent, may we be silent. May we see, touch, and taste God’s Word. May we not be afraid of the shadow of the cross. |