Sermon (Fr. Peay) February 11, 2018

“And he was transfigured before them.”

            The dictionary tells us that to be transfigured means “to give a new and typically exalted or spiritual appearance to: transform outwardly and usually for the better.” Mark’s Gospel recounts the transfiguration of Jesus, his new, exalted spiritual appearance, in terms of his garments: “his garments became gleaming.” The garments reflect the glory of the one who wears them, in other words, what is happening is that the glory of Jesus, the God-man, has been hidden from view right up unto this moment and now begins to come out, to be uncovered and in a spectacular way. The Greek word Mark uses here means to gleam, to glitter, to glisten, and it’s the only time it’s used in the New Testament. The light, the glory that has been unseen – save in the glimpses of his teaching and actions – comes out in full force and it overawes Peter, James and John.

            Some scholars look at this passage and see Mark taking a post-Resurrection experience and moving it back in the narrative. One can’t argue that the transfigured Jesus comes off a great deal like the Resurrected Lord in this passage. However, I, surprise, surprise, hold on to the traditional view that this is a moment of foreshadowing, a moment in which the Lord is fully-revealed to his disciples to prepare them for the horrors of the Lord’s passion and death. This moment, on the mountain, is a foretaste of the glory so that they can endure and hold-on through the events that lie ahead of them. Why do I think that, well let’s look at the text.

            Jesus is joined by two important figures Elijah and Moses. Both of these great prophets suffered because of their faithfulness to God, both of them endured great hardship so that the people of God might be kept in the right path in their journey toward God. It makes perfect sense that these two figures – traditionally thought to represent the Prophets and the Law – come to consult with Jesus as he is preparing to go to Jerusalem and to the cross. What is meant for us to understand here is that in Jesus we encounter the fulfillment of God to the people of Israel, the Law and the Prophets find their realization in the person and the work of Jesus.

            While they’re speaking Jesus is overshadowed by a cloud. The Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament, are loaded with references to clouds, which symbolize God’s glory and power. It also doesn’t hurt for us to remember that, in addition, the cloud symbolizes both hope and life. Why? Because in Palestine it rains only from October to April, the cloud is the sign of the rains that will insure the continuation of life itself. So the cloud reminds us that God is the author of life and the ground of our hope. This God speaks and says that those who would know life and hope must learn to do something – listen. God says “This is my beloved Son, listen to him.” Don’t argue, don’t theorize, don’t balk, don’t anything – listen. Perhaps that is one of the points that we need to take away from this recounting of transfiguration: that we’re to become a listening – and thus an obedient people. Because the root of the word obedience means to “to listen” and when we listen deeply we respond appropriately.

            I guess if we’re going to describe this event, we’re looking at a Christophany. We’re looking at the manifestation, the self-revelation of who Jesus really is and in that moment there’s a connection. That’s what Paul is saying in his writing to the church at Corinth, “For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” God, in Christ, is giving us a glimpse of the inward light to which all of us are called and in which all of us share. This is the reality of the image and likeness of God in which we were created. The difficulty is, however, that we have lost the likeness while we retained the image, and that is why it’s difficult for us to see God at work in us or in the world around us. It’s the reason why God became one of us, in Jesus the Christ, so that we might be restored to the wholeness God intended for us to have.

            John Shea does a great job in summarizing how the late twentieth century Swiss theologian Paul Tillich described the human situation. Shea writes: “Paul Tillich described sin as a state of estrangement comprised of three interlocking factors: In unbelief people turned away from their grounding in God. This left them isolated and turned in on themselves in hubris. This hubris [exaggerated pride or self-confidence] unfolded into a panicky concupiscence [to desire strongly], in which people tried to pull the world into themselves to fill the hole that was created when they turned away from God. Unbelief, hubris, and concupiscence were the deep dynamics of the countless individual sin people commit.”

            Now, think for a moment about life in the world around us. Think about the situation we find ourselves in politically. Do you think that, just maybe, what we’re seeing is the result of the behaviors we saw in Shea’s summary of Tillich? Could it be that our society has so trivialized the concept of sin – turning it into all of the little misdemeanors people have been whacked with for years – that we’ve forgotten that the real sin is the covering of the Divine spark within us through selfishness and self-centeredness?

            When Jesus was transfigured, when the glory in him made his garments glitter, it wasn’t for him – it was for us. To use John’s language, the Light shone in the darkness so that we could see, so that we could come to a new understanding of ourselves in relationship to God and in relationship to each other. The whole point of Jesus work among us is so that we can understand that the light in us isn’t supposed to stay hidden under a bushel, but is to be put out on a lampstand so that others can benefit from the light. The light is inward, but it radiates OUTWARD.

            I came across a wonderful book on the spirituality of Meister Eckhart by Cyprian Smith. It’s called The Way of Paradox: Spiritual Life As Taught by Meister Eckhart. Eckhart’s point, Smith says, is that we come to God so that we can then understand the world around us. The light of God is supposed to be in us so that we can then see and live as God would have us live, in tune with God and with all of creation. Smith writes: “It is possible for human beings, living, thinking, and acting in God, to think, see, and do, as God does. Instead of standing within the created world, looking in it for signs of a God who is outside it, we stand within God, and it is the world which now appears outside. When we stand within the world, God appears as totally transcendent and ‘other.’ When we stand within God, however, it is the world which appears as ‘other,’ but not by any means transcendent; on the contrary, we are greater than it. It appears as a pale and imperfect reflection of the dazzling and brilliant Truth in which we are living and making our home.” That truth – dazzling and brilliant – is our life caught up in and transfigured by the life of Christ, living in us.

            Jesus was transfigured before them, and by extension, us, so that we might benefit and learn that we’re to benefit others. God has restored to us, in Christ, the fullness of our humanity. God has brought the Divine spark in us to the level of flame. The point of the inward light is that it is to radiate outward, it is to light the world and the way to the common good, which brings us into God.

            Each day we – you and I – are to bring the mountain-top down to the everyday. The glitter and gleam of the moment of transfiguration is to come into a world that is alienated, broken and hurting and living in darkness. You and I, Christians, ordinary human beings touched by the presence of God through the Holy Spirit, we are the means by which that inward light radiates outward. We work and grow in the spiritual life not so that we can achieve enlightenment or come to a higher state, or know come to some superior spiritual position. For Christians to be self-centered spiritually is to miss the point, rather we seek, we grow, we work to have in us the mind of Christ, to be in God so that we can embrace, heal, renew and transform this world in which we live.

            Bottom line, what that requires is that we move away from self-focus and move to focus on God in Christ and then outward from there. We do this by practicing the spiritual disciplines – and you can learn more about those all during the Sundays of Lent as I teach a class on Being God’s People -- but suffice it to say, it begins with taking the time to pray, to get into God’s Word, and then to practice our faith through living in an unselfish manner. Jesus was transfigured before them and the inward light radiated outward…..the inward light, in you and in me, needs to shine – so let it.

Sermon (Fr. Peay) February 4, 2018

"I became all things to all men. . . ."

Have you ever wondered how Paul accomplished the task of becoming all things to all people? Was he a master of many forms, a human chameleon, or an incredible con artist? Like the story of Frank Abagnale, Jr. which became the movie “Catch me if you can??” He was able to pass himself off, quite convincingly, as a physician, an airline pilot, what have you, at least for a while. Or, do you think Paul was simply insecure in his own self-hood or possessed of MPD, a multiple personality disorder?

I don't think Paul was a con artist, nor was he mentally ill. Paul was intimate with God and, ideally, one who is intimate with the Creator of all life shares the Creator's intimacy with all of created reality. Paul had the ability to become all things to all people, gained the freedom to submit himself as a "slave to all" because he had entered the freedom of intimacy as a "partaker of Divine nature."

Our society seeks intimacy, but we go about achieving it in all the wrong ways. It cannot be forced and it cannot come as the result of technology. Intimacy, defined by some psychologists as "the strength which allows one to share deeply with others," is the gift of God. God modeled true intimacy for us in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ; when he, literally, "got under our skin." We will begin to achieve true intimacy when we open ourselves to the reality of our ability to share in Divine nature. The great writers of the Christian East knew this and wrote about the internal struggle - what some contemporary scholars might refer to as "cognitive dissonance" - going on inside us. They understood that before one can achieve intimacy with others it must be achieved with the self. The only way intimacy with the self can be achieved is by entering into intimacy with the Creator of the self.

Here is what Gregory of Nyssa had to say: “Man, who among beings counts for nothing, who is dust, grass, vanity, who was adopted to be a son of the God of the universe, becomes the friend of this Being of such excellence and grandeur; this is a mystery that we can neither see nor understand nor comprehend. What thanks should man give for so great a favor? What word, what thought, what lifting up of mind in order to exalt the superabundance of this grace? Man surpasses his own very nature. From a mortal being he becomes immortal; from a perishable being he becomes imperishable. From ephemeral he becomes eternal. In a word, from man he becomes god. In fact, rendered worthy to become a son of God, he will have in himself the dignity of the Father, enriched by all the inheritance of the goods of the Father. O munificence of the Lord, so bountiful. . . .How great are the gifts of such ineffable treasures!”

Elsewhere Gregory tells us how we gain this gift. "For one who is a man becomes a son of God by being joined to Christ by spiritual generation; -- a man puts off himself and puts on the divine nature. A man becomes a son of God, receiving what he has not and laying aside what he is."

What Gregory is talking about here is the process of entheosis or divinisation. This is why Christ came among us. This is the kingdom of God come near that he preached; as he said to Peter, "for that is why I came out." God initiated the concept of intimacy in the Garden of Eden when he called after Adam and Eve, "Where are you?" Now, through his Incarnate Son, he gives us the gift and to a greater degree than anyone ever thought possible.

To be "in God" (entheosis) or "divinised" doesn't change our nature. Rather it builds upon it, restoring our human nature to what it was supposed to be like. Athanasius of Mount Sinai wrote, "Theosis (Divinization) is the elevation to what is better, but not the reduction of our human nature to something less, nor is it an essential change of our human nature. A divine plan, it is the willing condescension of tremendous dimension by God, which He did for the salvation of others. That which is of God is that which has been lifted up to a greater glory, without its own nature being changed."

Think about the implications of this divinization. You and I, creations of the hand of the God upon whom "no one can look and live" are now invited to share his life and to call him 'abba,' daddy! We are given the strength to share deeply with God. How do we achieve this sharing, how do we enter into intimacy with the Divine?

We achieve intimacy by using the means God has given us. First, we must open ourselves to God and stop running away when he comes looking for us. We do that by prayer. Jesus goes out "very early in the morning" and seeks solitude so that he can be solus cum solo - alone with the alone. The second person of the Divine Trinity needed to spend time with the Father. Do you think we can expect to grow or develop in spiritual life and do less? I hope not; we all realize that the key to intimacy is sharing and communication, it's really no different for spiritual intimacy.

We also have to realize that prayer is not just "talking to God," but involves our meditative listening as well. If you want a good little basic book on prayer, I think Anthony Bloom's Beginning to Pray is excellent.

The second means God gives us to achieve intimacy are the sacraments. Through baptism we are adopted into God's family and made part of the covenanted community. Our participation in the Eucharist - God's good gift to us - is truly a 'communion,' a coming into union with God. As Augustine tells us, we are made one with what we see before us on the table. Simple, every day things like bread and wine become living reminders of our participation in the Divine.

The third means God gives us to achieve intimacy, and this one is really part and parcel of the first two, is the Holy Scriptures. The way we can listen for God is by being open to hearing what his Word has to say. While the Bible is the "norm for which there is no higher norm," I think we need to realize that God can speak through a variety of means. Thus, our study should begin with the Scripture and branch out into theology, spiritual writers, and into all the arts and sciences. The God who made all of created reality can speak to us through it, if we have open minds and are listening with the "ears of the heart."

As we begin to grow in this Divine intimacy we will learn to exercise it in freedom. The manner in which we relate to our loved ones, to the community of faith, and to the community at large is going to be markedly different. Where before we had to "protect ourselves," we no longer have to do so, because, as Isaiah so beautifully put it, "those who wait upon the Lord renew their strength," mounting up "on eagles' wings." We can become "all things to all people" because we know who we are in relationship to the God who made all people. The perfect love of God, then, casts out our fears and allows us to see ourselves, and everyone around us, in a new way. I am free to be who I am because I finally know it!

This partaking in Divine nature is not some kind of stunt. Jesus distanced himself from those who simply wanted to see him as a "worker of wonders." He wanted to preach the possibility of Divine intimacy, the nearness of the Kingdom within the heart and life of every human being made anew in the image and likeness of God. Paul caught the same vision, thus his words, "Woe is me if I preach not the gospel!" The freedom of intimacy is compelling.

When Jesus left the village and went off to pray, he did so because the wonders were becoming more important than the Word. The message of change and growth was being lost, so he left and went elsewhere. Over the centuries, even now, we lose the message. We want the effects - the healings, the ecstasies, and the like - but we don't want to change. God should just do this for us.

That's not what it's about. Those who enter into Divine intimacy have to come away different than they were. The greatest wonder is that God empowers us, them, to make a difference. It's unfortunate that so many Christians are still getting caught up in the empty promise of the "wonder working" and missing the greatest gift - intimacy, union with the Divine. The freedom of intimacy comes when we partake of Divine nature, when we allow ourselves to be recipients and practitioners of measureless love.

Sermon (Fr. Peay) January 28, 2018

"He taught them as one having authority. . . . "

What gives someone authority? Some would say that it comes from having mastered a certain field, discipline or craft. Others would say it comes from having the appropriate credentials or connections. There's a story that might give us some insight.

It seems that there was a young government surveyor who, with his theodolite and chart, came up to a local farmer. "Sir, I'm from the federal land survey," he said, "And I need to take a reading in your field." The farmer expressed some reluctance and was about to explain himself, when the young man cut him off. He produced his papers and explained that he had government authority to take necessary readings. "Now," he commanded, "open that gate. I'm going into the field and I'm taking these readings whether you like it or not." Still sputtering about not being responsible, the farmer opened the gate and young man marched in. He set up his theodolite and set to work, but was interrupted by a large, fierce bull. As the officious surveyor went galloping for safety with the bull in hot pursuit, the farmer yelled, "Show him your credentials! Use your authority!" The surveyor may have had authority to enter the field, but he didn't have either the authority or the power to stop the bull!

True authority, I think Scripture tells us, is that which is backed by action. Authority has a certain power to it, the ability to follow through. When Jesus stood in the synagogue at Capernaum he acted and taught with true authority. His words were weighted with action and he demonstrated that a prophet, a new Moses, was in their midst. The authority Jesus brings is not that of the footnote, the thorough review of the literature, or the credential. Rather, Jesus makes the will and the Word of the living God known, making good on the promise found in Deuteronomy. It is possible, still, to hear what God is saying, because God is making his Word known.

Jesus granted this prophetic authority to his living body, the church, which continues to make him present in the world. The guarantee of the authority is the presence of the Holy Spirit, "the Advocate that the Father will send in my name -- he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you" (John 14:26). The Spirit is the living authority within the church so that we might better understand the Lord's teaching and unfold the meaning of his words according to the signs of the times. J-M Asurmundi reflects this in his book on prophecy:

To believe in the relevance of God is to believe in the presence of prophets among us who show the relevance of his word. To believe in the faithfulness of God and in his Church is to believe that he will not let it fall asleep, be overwhelmed, lose its vigor and the dynamism of its hope. And for that reason, Jesus Christ, 'the Prophet' is present through the intermediary of men and women prophets who, in their individual ways, in their places and times, actualize the Word that invigorates all who believe in him. [Le Prophetisme quoted in DAYS OF THE LORD, Liturgical Press, 1993, p. 12]

Thus Paul was acting in a prophetic manner when he wrote to the church at Corinth. Like Jesus, Paul's teaching carries authority because of the action, the life-witness if you will, that accompanied his words. The Corinthians were a cosmopolitan lot and, as such, were rather easy marks for the seduction of intellectualism. In this case a little knowledge was, indeed, a dangerous thing. Paul confronts this squarely when he says that "all Christians" -- not just a select few -- "have knowledge" and that knowledge is that which is mutual, experiential, and edifying.

Augustine comments on this passage in The City of God. He says, "Paul means that knowledge only does good in company with love. Otherwise it merely puffs a man into pride." Love empowers us to act in the right way. We may have more knowledge than someone else, more insight, more authority, but if we're acting in love, we won't invoke these things to that individual's detriment. "Knowledge puffs up, love builds up."

The authority we have, the freedom we have is tempered by the love we have. How do we measure love? Well, I think Francis de Sales said it best, "The measure of love is to love without measure."

The presence of love is what makes knowledge effective and makes belief authentic. Even the demons had knowledge. They cried out, "I know who you are, the Holy One of God," yet they lacked love. Their "profession of faith," as it were, was born of terror at the presence of the living God, who was the opposite of what they were. As Augustine said, "Faith is mighty, but without love it profits nothing. The devils confessed Christ, but lacking love it availed nothing. They said 'what have we to do with you?' They confessed a sort of faith, but without love. Hence they were devils. Do not boast of that faith that puts you on the same level with the devils."

So many people do, however, believe "on the same level with the devils." Their faith is there because of fear. They're afraid of God, they're afraid of death, they're afraid of hell, they’re afraid of the future, they're afraid of themselves, they're afraid of what people might think -- they're afraid. There is no love there, only fear. And, unfortunately, for years the prophetic voice of the church has turned itself more to -- pardon the expression -- 'scaring the hell out of people,' than it has to helping people fall in love with God! There is a I love the story told of one of the desert holy men that delights me. It seems this venerable monk who was seen walking along in the desert totingwith two pails of precious water. Someone called after him, "Abuna, father, where are you going?" His response? "I'm going to go put out the fires of hell so we can find out who loves God for himself alone!" I promise you that you will never hear fear preached in this pulpit, my concern is for us to come to love God and “fear God” in the way the Bible means it, be in awe of, respect, not be scared.

It all comes back to what Paul told the Corinthians, "anyone who loves God is known by him." Our authority, our authenticity grows out of the mutual experience of loving and being loved by God. As the apostle John would say, "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him . . . so we know and believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him . . . There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear." (I John 4:9, 16, 18) And to put the action clause in there, the apostle of love said, "We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen."

Jesus taught with authority because he taught with love and made it evident in his life and in his actions. The witness of the incarnation reminds us that God has embraced humanity, and this embrace extended to the arms of the cross. It's something we cannot forget -- God himself has shown us the way of self-giving loving. Thus, the authority of measureless love will not act to create fear. Rather, the authority of measureless love empowers us to cast out the demons of fear which haunt our lives and the world around us. Demons are real; yes they are, but they aren't the little red devils off the deviled ham can, nor are they the 'catchalls' for everything that goes wrong in the world. No what we must confront and cast out are the real demons of intolerance, of selfishness, of shortsightedness, of ignorance and narrow-mindedness, of spiritual deadness, of low self-esteem, and of self-hatred. Today you and I have the same authority that Jesus had, because he has given it to us and it is our task to cast out those demons through the power of love.

Those who heard Jesus teach and saw his actions knew something was different, "a new teaching -- with authority." We live in an age crowded with new teachings, but few are with authority and most are met with skepticism. There are many spiritual teachers who claim to have "the truth," but their knowledge doesn't seem to build up, but instead it puffs up. Perhaps our little section of the world our families, friends, co-workers, neighbors, will notice the difference if we begin to teach and to live the authority of measureless love? It all began with Jesus taking the fear out of one person. What could happen if that "perfect love which casts out fear" was lived by you and by me? What could happen if we began to rise above the criticism and pettiness, which, too often, cripples God's people and lived measureless love? There's only one way to find out – do it. The measure of love is to love without measure.