rss goof

for those of you who track lectionary...go on rss feeds -

i tried to add a photo to an old post to change my profile photo, and it didn't work. it popped that old post to the top of rss feeds "BCP - make it difficult" is an old post, ignore it.

peace,
sjp

did moses need a shtick?

This passage from Exodus 34 is very interesting to me. Moses is up on the mountain speaking with God, receiving the Law, the Torah, for God's chosen people. As he returns Aaron and the others notice that his face is shining and are afraid. Moses calls the leaders back, and they come. Moses then covers his face with a veil. What is so interesting to me is not the he removes the veil when he approaches God, but that he keeps it off until he reports back to the people on the Word he has received.

By this time, Moses, I have to assume, is a pretty well known figure. He was, after all, the guy who led the people of Israel out of Egypt. He was, after all, the guy who parted the Red Sea, who brought water from the rock, who showed them Manna. He was THE guy in this rag tag group of refugees. So why then does Moses need a shtick? Does he gain credibility because his face is shining? Does he need to gain credibility? Why?


Generally speaking I have a hard time with shticks in religious life. Whether its Bishop Minns holy tambourine or the lavish manual actions of a high church service or even those dresses and sashes and stuff clergy have to wear because we once stood next to kings; I think they are unnecessary. Like Moses, we have an authentic message from God, "God loves you, Jesus saves you, the Holy Spirit restores right relationship." That message should be able to stand on its own. That message shouldn't need inauthentic showiness for the sake of our own comfort (or our own tradition which has, in time, lost the meaning of its symbols in ritualism).

I don't know why Moses reported back to the people with his face shining. I don't know why clergy insist on looking different than everybody else. I do know that the Word of God doesn't need a shtick and we shouldn't cheese it up for our sake, but are called to be authentic bearers of the gospel for the glory of God.

back to work

The story of the Transfiguration is a really awesome story. It tells of Jesus, Moses, Elijah, and God the Father all together with Peter, James, and John. If Paul had some how arrived, speaking in tongues of the Holy Spirit, it'd be the all-star roster for God. It is a story that I would like to hold onto. Its pretty, its funny, its provocative. "It is good for us to be [in the story]." I wouldn't mind living in the story of the Transfiguration for the rest of my life. I'm a lot like Peter in that way.

Yet like Peter, I cannot stay in the moments that make me feel good. Life is not about holding on, but about moving forward for the Kingdom. The way the Lectionary gives us this account in Year C is a great metaphor for life. The Transfiguration makes us want to hold onto it, but we move on, back to work, with Jesus and his disciples.

The returning to work is never pretty. There is always work backed up from while you were away. Email, voice mail, memos, TPS reports, they all await as we return from the mountain to the mundane. Even Jesus is less than excited to be back at work. "You faithless and perverse generation," he says, "how much longer must I be with you and bear with you?" How many times have I wanted to say that to the needy coworker who couldn't accomplish anything in my absence? I can imagine Jesus, in the vulgarity of our time - "Christ people, er, me people, it isn't that hard. Remember, faith like a mustard seed? C'mon."

Yet even in his frustration, Jesus, God's Son, God's Chosen, is faithful. It is not this family's fault Jesus' disciples weren't on top of their game. Jesus is there with a job to do, and he does it. On the top of the mountain, three people were amazed by God. In the midst of that great crowd, where Jesus healed but one boy, ALL were astounded of the greatness of God. Seems getting back to work was worth the aggravation.

to know fully

I'm not sure what happened to the expression "looking through a glass darkly", but I'm sort of glad it is gone. You see, during my first year of seminary it was all the rage to quote Paul's image of partial knowledge. The context in which I heard it was always a senior in all of his or her full knowledge comforting a lowly junior on the journey.

"Don't worry, Steve, where you are now, its like... (dramatic pause as if they're making it up as they go along)... looking through a glass darkly."

I have to admit, I hated this. It made no sense to me. It was usually completely unrelated to my question about a professor's office location. It was overused and trite.

Two years removed from that drivel, I think I'm in a place to understand again Paul's imagery of a glass darkly, or a mirror dimly. This world in which we live is but a faint glimpse of the kingdom of God. In ourselves we see someone made in the image of God, therefore we have some, albeit small, understanding of God. Yet in the age to come we will see God face to face, just as Moses did, and will come to know fully the nature of God; love, grace, peace, and mercy. The double edged sword of knowing God will be ever so pleasing and ever so painful as we recall all the times we turned our back from pure love to our own devices and desires. Surely our hearts will ache within us.

Still, it will be a great comfort to know fully, even as we have been fully known.