March 4, 2000
Once upon a time there was a young and carefree girl who lived with her parents at the edge of a great forest. One day she wandered into the woods to explore. But she lost her way, and darkness fell. In desperation she ran screaming this way and that, till her legs gave out, and her throat went hoarse. And she fell exhausted and whimpering to sleep in a small clearing.
Meanwhile, her parents were beside themselves with anxiety. They searched the forest, calling out her name. They roused the neighbors to help them comb the woods. They even organized groups from the nearby village to carry on with the quest. But to no avail. No one could find the girl. And by the middle of the night, most folks returned to their homes. But not the father.
He scoured the woods looking for his daughter. He called and called for her, hoping for the best, but fearing the worst. And early in the morning, he stumbled into the clearing where she slept. He raced toward her, crying out her name, and making a great noise as he stumbled over the branches on the ground. The little girl woke up at the sounds. And when she saw her father, she scurried to her feet, and she shouted for joy! She exclaimed: "Daddy! Daddy! I found you! I found you!" (1)
I suspect that Peter, James and John did not have a clue about what was coming when they began their climb up the mountain with Jesus. They may have been more sure that Jesus' relentless journey into Jerusalem was a march into danger. They may have been more convinced that the scribes and pharisees felt threatened by the teaching and miracles of Jesus than they were of their own understanding that Jesus was the Messiah. We are told simply that they were led up a high mountain, apart from the others, by Jesus.
Elijah was in the wilderness because he had to flee for his life. He had just defeated the priests of the false God, Baal, earning the anger of Queen Jezebel who ordered his death. There was no time to savor the victory of the one true God, he won, and he had to get out of town fast. But before he comes to the encounter recalled in our first reading he has wandered and fasted in the wilderness for 40 days. It is after this sojourn that God asks him "What are you doing here, Elijah?" (1 Ki 19:9)
From these stories, snapshots from our family album, let us remember who and whose we are, and let the stories inform our Lenten pilgrimage.
Tom Wolfe has labeled us the "Me Generation." We have been called the "narcissistic society." We are encouraged often to "do your own thing." Our bookstores are full of self-help books. We are enchanted with and indulge in all kinds of things—weekend marathons, massage, nude bathing, assertiveness training, primal screaming, meditations—to help grow or nurture our true selves as if this were the goal of all our lives, to be pleased with ourself rather than to be saved. We call out, without a hint of embarassment, "Daddy, daddy, I found you." Today's readings, this very worship service, our communion, offer a different perspective.
Our Bible opens with the story that tells us that God spoke and everything that is came into being. Without God's word, without God's initiative, nothing would be. Abraham was wandering around the countryside when God called to him and by God's word a new people, God's People, were formed. Moses was tending sheep, successfully avoiding prosecution for the murder he had committed when God called to him and chose him to be the leader to take his People from slavery to freedom. God led his People through the wilderness, fed them, instructed them, loved them, through the wilderness. We are told that God was with them to establish them in the land promised through Moses. God spoke through Isaiah, and Jeremiah and other prophets when his people strayed or lost hope and spoke words of instruction and comfort through them.
At the right time, at the full time, we are told, God took the initiative again and spoke through his Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. And what does Jesus do? The Son of God, after his own 40 days in the wilderness, first went and called others to follow him. Peter and Andrew, James and John. Time and again Jesus would make the first move, take the first step, to offer a word of forgiveness, to touch and bring health, to speak and bring wholeness. In the story we just heard from Mark's Gospel account: Jesus leads Peter and James and John up the mountain.
The lesson is clear: all that we are, all that we have, all that we are called to be begins and ends in God. We are to be ready, as Elijah was, to discern God's presence and call. Looking to the example of Peter and the others, we are to follow when it is clear that God is leading. God will take the initiative, it has ever been his way.
From Elijah we can learn that it is in the moments of defeat and helplessness and wilderness that God comes to hear us, question us, and save us. It is in the low moments of life that we find God. In terror Elijah fled for his life. Not knowing what he was going to eat or drink, not knowing if he could find shelter, not knowing if he would be safe to close his eyes and sleep Elijah fled. And in the defeat, in the treachery, in the wilderness, God was with Elijah. At the right time he called out to him and Elijah was restored.
On the other hand, Peter has figured out who Jesus is. Peter has confessed that Jesus is the Messiah. (Mk 8:29). Of course, he argued with Jesus about whether the Messiah should suffer and die, but mostly, Peter was flush with victory. Things have been going well for Peter and the others. Jesus' ministry has attracted large crowds of people. The crowds like Jesus, they like his disciples, too. The authorities are not too pleased with Jesus and his disciples, but Peter, at this point, is on top of the world.
From Peter we learn that in the moments of victory and comfort, in the moments when everything is working and life is enjoyable, God comes to be with us, to remind us who we are and who it is that claims our allegiance. In the radiant glory of Jesus, Peter becomes a stammering fool—wanting to build 3 dwellings to make the moment last. And what he has seen he will never forget. "We had been eyewitnesses of his majesty." (2 Pet 1:16) Even when he denies knowing Jesus, even when he flees for his own life, even when he sits in loneliness and fear, Jesus sealed up in the tomb after his death, even at this lowest point in his life, Peter cannot forget the glory of God revealed in Jesus. And so we learn that our experience of God in the best moments of our lives will remind us that God is with us in all the moments of our lives.
From Elijah we learn that God is present in glory in the sound of "sheer silence." From Peter, James and John, we learn that God is present in radiant splendor, too dazzling to behold. From both we learn and remember that it is God who takes the initiative in these encounters, God will choose how best to reveal his presence and glory to us, we need only be ready, we need only to have hearts open to his loving presence.
We need to have the mind and heart of the Psalmist: "You speak in my heart and say, `Seek my face.' Your face, Lord, will I seek." (Ps 27:11)
In a few short days we will hear the invitation to keep a holy Lent. Let us do so with the conviction that God is the one who calls us to keep a holy Lent. Let us journey with the conviction that whether we are in fear and our situation seems hopeless or we are full of joy and sure of our way, the Lord is with us to guide, to call, to correct, to comfort, to instruct, to inspire, to love us. Up or down or sideways, the Lord is with us to love us. It has ever been his way.
Let us understand that as the season unfolds, as we seek the face of the Lord, we may be surprised to find him in the sheer silence that overwhelmed Elijah, or we may be surprised to find him in the glorious radiance experienced by Peter and his companions. Yet again, we may be surprised to find him in some unique way chosen by God to speak directly and only to us. Even now he is seeking us out, even now he is with us. It has ever been his way.
(1) From a sermon by Wayne Brouwer quoted in Dynamic Preaching, January, 2000.
The Rev. Daniel Rondeau
drondeau@stmargarets.org
March 4, 2000