Listening for the Peace
Jon Burnham preached this sermon on Matthew 17:1-9
at St. John's Presbyterian Church on February 3, 2008
When I was a child my daddy would hold me and rock me in a rocking chair as he sang, "You get a line, I get a pole, honey, you get a line, I get a pole, babe, you get a line, I get a pole, we'll go fishing in the crawdad hole, honey, oh baby, now." I felt totally loved, completely safe in my daddy arms. That is the kind of relationship Jesus had with God, whom he called "Abba" which means "Daddy." We too, may have such a personal and loving relationship with God. That is the kind of relationship God, Pappa, Daddy, wants to have with us.
It was when the disciples, Peter, James and John, were safely ensconced with Jesus, high on a mountain, that they experienced transformation. It came to the disciples in the form of the transfiguration of Jesus. As they were standing by him on a high mountain, Jesus was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. As if that weren't enough for the three disciples to process, suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with them. I wonder what Moses and Elijah said to Peter, James and John. Perhaps they asked them how the fishing was back in Galilee, although we have no reason to think Moses and Elijah were fishers. Rather, Moses was the great leader who took the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt to the promised land of Canaan. Of course, Canaan is short for Canaanite, which was the name of the people who lived in the land of Canaan with whom the Hebrew people had to contend. It is funny how history repeats itself, with the modern day Israeli's moving from holocaust in Nazi Germany or L.A. or New York City to Palestine after WWII. Palestine used to be the name of the place that is now called Israel. It was so called because Palestine was inhabited by the Pealestinians and had been for hundreds of years before their land was sold out from under them by the big boys who were dividing the spoils of war after WWII.
Moses and Elijah were talking to Peter, James and John. Elijah appears in the Hebrew Bible, Christian Bible, and the Qur'an. According to the Books of Kings, Elijah raised the dead, brought fire down from the sky, and ascended into heaven on a whirlwind. In the New Testament, both Jesus and John the Baptist are on some occasions thought to be Elijah. Based on a prophecy in Malachi, many Jews still await Elijah's return as precursor to the coming of the Messiah. (From Wikipedia.com) Elijah and Moses are quite a tag team, both heavy weights from the Old Testament. I wonder what kind of small talk they carried on with Peter, James and John. Perhaps it wasn't small talk at all. Perhaps Elijah and Moses were bearing witness to Jesus, telling Peter, James and John how Jesus really is the Messiah, the real deal, the full meal deal, no kidding. Believe it or not.
Now Peter, feeling completely overwhelmed and totally out of his league, and not being accustomed to small talk with the big boys, he needed to relieve some of the stress building up inside him so he suggested doing the holiest thing he could think of for these holy ones. Finally, when the stress becomes unbearable, Peters says to Jesus, the only one of the three big boys with whom he felt comfortable, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." No one knows why Peter said this but it must be signifcant to have been recorded. I wonder if Peter thought the big boys would need a place to pray and so he suggests building a place for them to pray. It would relieve some of Peter's stress if he could work with his hands. We all want to do something significant when we are in the presence of esteemed holy men such as Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. Let's build something. That is the way we tend think in the church as well. Let's build a family life center and that will solve all our problems. Build it and they will come. We'll bring in the young people. The young families with children. We need a building project to inspire the church.
And just as the building campaign is gaining momentum among Peter, James, and John, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" This is the voice of God to Peter, James and John. This is the voice of God to us today. Put aside your plans for restoration. Give up thinking you can transform the church. The Lord doesn't need our techniques for spiritual success. We don't need to go out an hire a consultant, a church doctor, to restore our health. God's word to us is simply this: "Listen to him." Him being Jesus. Listen to him. When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear.
Instead of feeling secure in God's loving arms, our response to God's intiative is often the same response as Peter, James and John, when a voice from a bright cloud said to them, "This is my beloved Son, listen to him." We fall down to the ground, paralyzed by fear. For to listen to Jesus, we must be quiet. To listen to Jesus, we must silence our own voice. To listen to Jesus, we must admit that we don't know how to build a dwelling place anyway. To listen to Jesus means we were on the wrong trail. We thought God wanted us to do something, to build something, but God only wanted us to be something, to hear something. To listen to Jesus scares us to death because it means we must enter into the silence.
Entering into the silence is a frightening thing. When we sit down, alone, enter into the closet and shut the door behind us, we are alone before God. That is a frightening place to be for some of us. We are afraid to be alone with God. After all, what will we talk about? Once we have spoken our laundry list to God, when we come to the end of the prayer list, one, two, three, four, on the down the list to the end. What do we say then? This is the challenge of building a relationship with God. Relationships grow with time and with trust. We must move beyond our bearded grandfather in the sky image of God if we really want a relationship with God.
A voice from a bright cloud said to them, "This is my beloved Son, listen to him." How often have we been in Jesus' presence but were too nervous to be quiet and listen to him? How would we listen for Jesus? We are not expecting to hear an audible voice such as God spoke to Peter, James and John on the mountain of transfiguration. No, God doesn't normally speak to us in an audible voice. We listen not for words. We listen not for a message from God. We listen for a peace. We listen for the peace that passes understanding. That is how God speaks to us in prayer. God speaks in sience through the peace of Christ that passes understanding.
It is the peace of Christ that passes understanding that gives us courage to get back on our feet when we have been cut down by illness, tragedy, or misfortune. The peace of Christ give us strength to get back up on our feet after we have been betrayed by dear ones that we trusted. The peace of Christ gives us the backbone to stand alone at the gates of hell and we won't back down.
When the disciples heard God's voice in the cloud, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear.
But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Get up and do not be afraid." Jesus, touch us, and take away our fear. Take away our fear of failure. Take away our fear of success. Take away our fear of death. Take away our fear of life. Jesus, touch us, and say, "Get up and do not be afraid."
And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. No more Moses. No more Elijah. Only Jesus. In the end, Jesus is the only one that remains. People come and go, family, friends, and lovers come and go. Only Jesus remains. From here to eternity. He is with us always, to the end of the world.
As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead." There are secrets in Christ's peace. There are secrets in the peace that passes understanding. There are secrets that we may not share with another. For unless they have experienced the peace of Christ, they will not understand. The mysteries of God are worth more than sound bites in the political arena. The peace of Christ passes understanding. Language can't do it justice. Words can't come close to expressing the mystery that we have experienced. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."
In the kingdom of God, as in all else, timing is everything. Timing is everything. We are in no hurry here. God has been at work in this congregation for many years. Now is the time to focus on the peace that passes understanding. We will get to the action. But the action must come out of silence. The action must come out of silence. As we enter into the Lenten season which begins this week with Ash Wednesday, now is the time for silence. Now is the time for seeking and finding the peace that passes understanding. And that is where we find ourselves today, on the cusp of this Lenten season. We find ourselves down on our knees, in our closet, with the door closed behind us, sitting in silence, listening for the peace of Christ.
