Read the Lectionary Texts

Back to reality.

That’s what everyone was saying that day long ago when we flew home after a great family vacation to Disney World. My wife and I had a truly magical time with our grandchildren – oh, and with their parents, too. We visited all the parks, rode all the rides, saw the shows, and sang “When You Wish Upon A Star”  – well, at least I sang it at the top of my lungs while the rest of the family felt embarrassed and denied knowing me! Grandson Ryan turned 7 while we were there! He and I had fun pretending to be Jedi fighters. He was Luke Rywalker and I was Darth Papa. We had some pretty intense battles with our Star Wars light sabers. Little Becca – our 8-month old granddaughter – was too little to join the battle, but we gave her a Jedi name anyways. We called her Becca Wan Canoli. Oh, what a fine time we had at Disney World! We ate a lot, laughed a lot, and noticed how all the smiling children of the morning turned into crying little brats by afternoon. But almost miraculously – and with the help of some sugar-laced cereal – they were good to go again the next morning.

Oh, what a magical time we had at the Magic Kingdom!

But now…back to reality.

Back to the real world.

Back to life as it really is.

And back to a lectionary text that tells a story about an experience that might be likened to a Disney thrill ride. Yes, Disney World has several awesome mountain rides – Expedition Everest, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and – my favorite – Space Mountain.

But the Bible offers us an equally intense experience – Terror on Transfiguration Mountain – where something very heart-stopping happened on a dark night long ago.

Jesus took Peter, James and John and led them up a high mountain – probably Mt. Hermon which soars up to an altitude of some 9,000 feet. Night fell, and they were alone.

When suddenly…

You know the story. There was a bright flash of brilliant light. Jesus’ appearance changed. His clothes became dazzling white. Peter, James and John gasped and fell to their knees. And in the brilliance of the light bathing the top of the mountain, they realized they were not alone. Two figures appeared out of the shadows, and right away they knew who they were, although the disciples had never seen them before. Moses, the great Lawgiver. Elijah, the great Prophet. And they were talking with Jesus about…his impending death.

The three disciples were scared out of their wits. Peter – who always seemed to react to new experiences by saying stupid things – said something stupid. Let me translate his words into modern American English: “Lord, let’s build a theme park here! We’ll have three kingdoms in it – the Jesus Kingdom, the Moses Kingdom, and the Elijah Kingdom. We can run a monorail between the three and sell people park-hopper passes!”

Or something like that.

But then a cloud descended upon the mountaintop and a voice from within the cloud said, “Hush up! This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!”

Okay. So it wasn’t such a good idea to build a theme park to try to somehow contain and institutionalize this magical experience!

And that’s the difference between Disney World and the real world – the world in which we live. Disney does a wonderful job of packaging “magic.” I highly recommend it for vacation fun! But the truth is, it’s all pretend.

On the other hand, this God-made world in which you and I live – the real world to which we always return – offers something much richer and deeper than make-believe theme park magic.

This is a world overflowing not with magic, but with mystery – with layer upon layer of life-yet-to-be-discovered, and door-after-door of reality to be opened and explored.

When I was a boy, I came home from school one day all excited about something new I had learned. Atoms! Everything is made up of atoms! Even my body was not just a great big blob of 12-year old, but an amazing, mind-boggling, complex assembly of atoms too small to be seen by the naked eye! And each of these atoms consisted of even smaller particles – electrons and protons and neutrons. I remember trying to explain all this to my mother who just sort of shook her head and looked at me with that look that seemed to wonder what kind of Satanic things are they teaching my boy in public school?

Years later, when my kids came home with the news that there are things even smaller than electrons, protons and neutrons – something called quarks – I shook my head and wondered what kind of Satanic things are they teaching my kids in public school?!

This is a world that is bigger, deeper, wider, and far more wonderful than we can even imagine!

Back to Disney World…our family had lunch one day at Epcot – in Germany – at the Bier Garden. While we were enjoying the delicious food, a German oom-pah band started playing. Well, our little 8-month old Becca just about jumped out of her stroller and got up and danced! She loved the music! She was clapping her hands – as best she can clap them – and kicking her feet – and laughing with joy! She was out of control with delight! This was a brand new experience for her in this real world called life, and she loved it! In fact, day-after-day, Becca moves from one layer of reality to another as she learns new things, discovers new abilities, and encounters new experiences. For Becca – the mystery of LIFE is better than even the magic of Disney World!

Now, I know that our reading from St. Mark has a lot of high-falutin theological significance. Theologians tell us the transfiguration of Jesus establishes his true identity as the beloved Son of God. The appearance of Moses and Elijah convey the message that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. There is a literal gold mine of super-sophisticated, sacerdotal, sanctified, spiritual substance in this passage! And it’s all good!

But I’m also attracted to the MYSTERY! The bright lights! The change in Jesus’ appearance! The dazzling clothes! The encounter with spirits from beyond! The voice that sounds like Morgan Freeman speaking from the cloud that swallows them on Transfiguration Mountain!!

Doesn’t it seem to you that this story reveals there is more to life than just what meets the eye? And if there is a subplot to Jesus taking the disciples with him into this mountaintop experience, it has to be that part of our Christian journey is to not be afraid of peeling back the very thin veil of the reality we think we know in order to discover deeper and more wonderful realities – gifts that God has hidden in creation, and invites us to come and discover?

So my generation discovered atoms, my kids’ generation discovered quarks, and Becca discovered the joy of “The Beer Barrel Polka!”

Christians – like children – should be on the forefront of inquiry and discovery. Christians should be leading the way in the pursuit of Truth. Christians should be taking the initiative in finding new cures for diseases, new ways of taking care of the planet, new ways of improving living standards, new ways of bringing people together. Christians should be at the leading edge of progress and solving the great problems and challenges of life.

Part of the excitement of being a Christian is that you get to take hold of that thin veil of reality you currently have before you and pull it back to see what’s behind it! There are plenty of religions that try to do the opposite – rolling back layers of reality in order to grab hold of the past. But Christianity is not one of them. Jesus is always leading his disciples to the top of Transfiguration Mountain where more of life is waiting to be discovered!

This is how God created life to be!

And it is true not only as we face the reality of living, but also the reality of dying.

After all, that’s what the conversation was about up there on Transfiguration Mountain.

Jesus. Moses. Elijah.

They were talking about the end of Jesus’ life.

What do you suppose they were saying?

I’ll take a guess at it, although I know the theologians in the crowd will tell me that I’m not being faithful to the text. And they’re right. I’m stepping outside of the exegetical loop on this one and going way out of context.

But over my years in ministry, I’ve learned something about dying that theology does not adequately address.

It comes from the countless stories told by family members about loved ones who, in their final moments on earth, seemed to be visited by mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, friends who’ve already gone home to God. Just like Moses and Elijah came to Jesus that night to talk with him about his death, these saints have come to our loved ones. One of our church families tells of a little grandson who, in his last moments, pointed to a place in the hospital room where he said he saw an uncle who had died before he was even born.

How do you explain things like that? And in almost every case, the experience of this mysterious kind of visitation is a comfort to the one who is dying. “Don’t be afraid,” the families tell me these saints often say as they welcome their loved ones to heaven.

Our faith teaches that dying is much like living. It is a peeling back of the thin veil of today’s reality to reveal a deeper and richer reality that God has created for us out of love. Our dying is not an ending, but a continuing of this amazing adventure called life.

Back to reality.

That’s what our family was saying that day long ago.

And that is not a bad thing at all! In fact, it is a very good thing!

My wife and I have much yet to discover about ourselves, each other, getting older, and life itself!

Our children have so much to learn about their vocations, about being parents, about their God!

Ryan has much to learn about life as a seven-year old, and about love that values him as a special child even while a new baby sister contends for attention!

And Becca has to learn that there is more to music than “The Beer Barrel Polka!”

How about you?

What thin veils of reality are you ready to peel away in order to probe the deeper mysteries of God’s creation?

We Christians need to be pulling back the veil to better understand our non-Christian neighbors. We need to be supporting the great issue of economic justice and the eradication of the causes of poverty. We need to grow spiritually and to discover the power of prayer and meditation for healing and pain relief and the lessening of anxiety. We need to step into the future and to not be tied to the past. We need to discover how to give ourselves away as Jesus gave himself away, and to trust God for all our own needs.

So come back to reality and follow Jesus to Transfiguration Mountain where the mysteries of life await as you peel back the thin veil of your present realities to discover even more of all that God has created for you in love.

“Don’t be afraid,” say Elijah and Moses and all the saints of our lives.

Peel back the thin veil.

Or as Jesus puts it, “Come and follow me!”