February 19, 2012:
Special Effects Potsdam Call: 2 Kings 2: 1-12 Text: Mark 9: 2-9 Read: Transfiguration 258 Special Effects They say that "A picture is worth a thousand words." I am not certain who "they" are And as one with an affinity for words I am not convinced that I fully buy that; I do not buy that it is always true; However, I do buy that there is much insight in the statement And that there are times when a picture can be worth even more than a thousand words. Therefore, of course, there is truth in it. I know and appreciate that Matthew, Mark, and Luke knew and appreciated it as well That is why, when telling the story of the Transfiguration, They have painted - interestingly enough with words - a picture Although they use words instead water or oils The gospel writers don't tell us what it means They simply hang it up for us to see And hopefully learn what God wants us to learn It is a picture For no one can hear this story without visualizing the event. Steve Jobs, who gave great priority to graphics Would have liked this story. Spielberg, Lucas, and Cameron, All of whom place significant emphasis on special effects Would have liked this story Timothy Leary, Who was turned on to hallucinogenic images Would have liked - no, "loved" - this story. Sigmund Freud Who paid attention to dreams Would have been enthusiastic about this story In fact as I visualize the story I see it, I feel it, and I get an understanding of it, somewhat like I do with dreams, somewhat like I would expect with hallucinations Before you get the wrong idea, I want to make it clear that I do not mean to suggest that the transfiguration was a dream or a hallucination I simply mean that the images move without the logical part of our minds controlling them Further, as in our dreams, we keep our own personal characteristics as we "see" the transfiguration. We, for example, are Peter Filled with astonishment and awe Moved by being there And yet interacting as clumsy human beings. And now, hopefully having expanded our minds Or more accurately our perspectives (and without our needing any of Leary's LSD to do that), I share the story as Mark told it [Mark 9: 2-9] Can't you just see this word painting? Aren't you mesmerized by the glowing white? Don't you want to fall to your knees when you see your teacher with Moses and Elijah? Don't you want to hide in fear when you hear the voice from behind the cloud? Doesn't this impact on your emotions? My answers to these questions are Yes, I can see the painting Yes, I am mesmerized Yes, I do want to fall on my knees Yes, I do want to hide Yes, it does impact on my emotions It impacts powerfully. And that is exactly what this scripture is supposed to do. For with pictures, dreams, and visions We are stimulated and taught through our emotions Far more than the logical, deductive parts of our minds In fact, what is happening here is that Christ is reaching and touching our hearts, our minds, our souls, and our lives And we can't quite decide or describe what is happening. It's like what we said last week when we sang the Gaither hymn, "Something happened and now I know" Now, recognizing that we all see things differently Because of our various gifts, make ups, and experiences And trying to avoid the risk of destroying the picture And of lessening or eradicating the impact By getting too analytical Let me offer two thoughts - reminders, actually That I hope will make the scripture picture more vivid And That will help each of us grasp, understand, and learn From this dream-like vision or picture First, I offer the reminder that scripture is not so much the story of God As it is the story of the relationship between God and human beings Remember The Bible begins in Genesis with God as our creator and the Bible ends in Revelation with God as victor over our enemies and ruler over us. In between we have: the instructions to Adam and Eve The unilateral covenant God made with Noah after preserving him from the flood The covenant with faithful Abraham and his family The covenant of the law with and through Moses The covenant with David The prophets' warnings and attempts to save the relationship The promises also through the prophets That there would be a deliverer, a messiah And that there would be a new covenant This one etched in our hearts All these deal with our relationship with God And particularly God's attempt to salvage that relationship Despite our failings, our disobedience, and our apathy And that's just the OT. In the NT we have The promise in Jesus Christ The giving of the Holy Spirit The birth of the church through the disciples The spreading of the word way beyond Abraham's biological descendents. Secondly, I offer the reminder That Christ was sent to teach and inform us about that relationship. and That he fulfilled that task by teaching in many ways Christ taught - and teaches - by preaching sermons For example: The Sermon on the Mount Christ taught - and teaches - by parables For example: ones about the Good Samaritan or the Prodigal Son Christ taught - and teaches - by healing For example: lepers, blind men, woman who was hemorrhaging Christ taught - and teaches - by brief statements resulting from simple occurrences For example: when Martha complained about Mary Christ taught - and teaches - by symbols For example: broken bread and poured out wine Christ taught - and teaches - by answering questions For example: When asked about the greatest commandment And now in this story Christ taught - and teaches - By a dream-like vision that enters us through our emotions By a picture worth much more than a thousand words By special effects that would make Spielberg, Lucas, and Cameron drool. Having warned you earlier about breaking down the story too analytically Having shared the two reminders That Christ's task was to teach us about our relationship with God And that this story was one of the many ways he tried to fulfill it And being confident in and trusting of your ability to discern Let me share how I see this word painting. I see Jesus blowing the minds of his most trusted disciples With the glowing white robes With the presence of Moses and Elijah About whom they had read long before they dropped their nets and became fishers of men I see Jesus tying together Moses' promise that God would raise up a prophet like himself And the words spoken at John's baptism of Christ I see God pleading with them to convince humanity to get its relationship with God right I hear God saying through this picture Look at this glory and how small and inadequate you feel That's because I created you When you messed up our relationship, I sent Moses with the law To straighten you out When you messed it up again, I sent Elijah and the other prophets To warn you of the consequences And you messed up again And so you received the consequences And when you didn't learn even from your punishment I still kept my promise to send you a Messiah And HEAR HE IS The one left after the cloud departed The one I have sent is not just anyone He is my very own son I am pleased with him Now, you didn't listen well enough to Moses And you didn't listen well enough to Elijah and the other prophets But please I beg of you Listen to my son!! And I see Peter, James, and John Realizing that indeed their friend and their teacher is the Messiah and is the Son of God and that they, after his death are to take his mantle just as Elisha took Elijah's And down in the corner of the picture, I see Jim Barnes and the Potsdam UMC congregation Looking even smaller than Peter, James, and John Also recognizing that God expects us to listen to him too And to take on the mantle of the three who were there To be witnesses and to make disciples And to love God by loving our neighbors - all our neighbors What a picture! What a vision! What special effects!