“Sense of the Sacred”
February 22, 2009
Psalm 50:1-6; Mark 9:2-9

The night before he was assassinated, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered a speech in Memphis, Tennessee, in support of striking sanitation workers.  In his speech, Dr. King spoke against war and social injustice.  He encouraged his audience to continue a peaceful struggle and to work together for a more just society. 

Death threats surrounded Dr. King’s trip to Memphis.  He was aware of those and carried on.  He ended his last speech with a reference to Moses.  As you may recall, Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and through their 40 years of wandering in the dessert.  On top of a mountain overlooking the promised land, Moses died, having never reached the promised land. 

Dr. King knew his experience might be similar.  He told the audience in Mason Temple on the night of April 3, 1968, that he too had been to the mountaintop and he had seen the promised land.  He told them that he wasn’t going to get there with them, but that he was happy to have led them this far.  Dr. King lived with a sense of the sacred.

This is the last Sunday in Epiphany, the liturgical season that shows us the light of God shining in the life and ministry of Jesus.  The season begins with Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptizer.  It covers Jesus beginning his public ministry,  calling the disciples, teaching, and healing.  The season of Epiphany ends today with the Transfiguration. 

Jesus, Peter, James and John climbed the mountain.  In the thin air at a higher elevation, Jesus’ clothes became dazzling white.  Moses and Elijah, the founder and the restorer of Israel, appeared.  Shrouded in a cloud the disciples were confused and terrified.  Peter suggested erecting three dwellings, one for Jesus, for Moses, and for Elijah. A voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!”  As quickly as it started is was over.  The disciples and Jesus were left alone to return down the mountain. Jesus cautioned the disciples to tell no one.

Moses and Elijah are key figures in the Judeo-Christian story.  Their presence in this scenario made it clear that Jesus too was an important figure.  Their appearance with Jesus helped the disciples understand, if only for the moment, what a spirit-filled person Jesus was.  This experience certainly helped them have a sense of the sacred.

Mark’s telling of Jesus’ baptism and of the transfiguration offer us a glimpse at the theology of this Gospel’s author.  In the baptism scene, when Jesus comes up out of the water, “he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.  And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’”  In a similar fashion in the transfiguration “from the cloud there came a voice, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!’”  At the baptism, the voice spoke to Jesus.  At the transfiguration the voice spoke to the disciples. And for that sacred moment, they understood.

I love the mountains. There is a power in them that is awe-inspiring. At the same time, they offer sacred space.  In January, when Jim and I were skiing at Whistler Mountain in British Columbia, I was reminded of that sacred space. There is one run in particular that has few skiers on it. I tend to stop on that leg of the run to listen to the quiet, smell the freshness of the ocean air and the faint scent of pine, to marvel at God’s creation. This place fills me with a sense of the sacred.

Joan Chittister talks about the role of religion in society.  Chittister is a theologian and an activist for justice and peace.  She talks about the role of Sabbath as time for us to consider the impact of what we do and how we do it.  It’s time to reflect on life and its meaning.  As Chittister puts it, “Sabbath is thinking time designed to change us. . . . we have to ask the question, ‘What changes are demanded of us now?’” (Joan Chittister, “The Role of Religion in Today’s Society,” aired on Chicago Sunday Evening Club, 11/24/91.)

Chittister sees the Transfiguration as a story that provides some understanding of the role of religion in society.  The mountaintop is typically where people are expected to touch the divine.  And so it is in this story.  Peter, James, and John see Jesus transformed and they see Moses and Elijah. Moses led the Israelites out of captivity to the promised land. Elijah was called “that trouble of Israel” because he condemned those who would compromise their covenant commitments.  These were not ritual elders who showed up on the mountain top, but revolutionaries.  This was unexpected and perhaps a bit disturbing.

It may not take long in the telling of this story but the impact is clear.  This is not just a religion of ritual for us to observe.  A voice is heard that says, “Listen.”  We cannot just listen but are also compelled to act. 

The longer section of the Gospel of Mark, of which the Transfiguration is a part, begins with the healing of a blind man and it ends with the healing of a blind man (Mark 8:22 to 10:53). Jesus came down from the mountaintop to heal an epileptic child.  He did not stay in the thin air of high altitude, basking in the tents that Peter would erect.  Instead he returned to the reality of life on the streets.  He continued to heal the sick and confront the unjust. 

Today, a number of adults from GCC are headed to Biloxi, Mississippi, to help rebuild homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.  These adults will work with Back Bay Mission, a program of the United Church of Christ with which GCC has historic ties.  Two weeks ago, a group of people from GCC spent Valentine’s Day at the Greater Chicago Food Depository, packing beans and school lunches for distribution to food programs throughout the area.  Twice a month GCC cooks and serves food at the Good News Community Kitchen in Rogers Park.  Next Sunday we will collect nonperishable food for Northfield Food Pantry and Iglesias San Lucas.  Soon a couple of our members will join others from the Chicago Metropolitan Association of the UCC to travel to New Orleans to help the wider church in recovery and rebuilding efforts there. Surely those involved in these programs have a sense of the sacred in this work.

As Black History Month draws to a close, we conclude the liturgical season of Epiphany.  We leave behind the season of experiencing the light of God shining through the life and ministry of Jesus.  We move into the season of Lent, turning our attention inward to the ways in which we may have broken our relationship with God.  No matter the focus of our attention, on the life and ministry of Jesus or on our own faith journey and struggles, we are invited to stay in touch with a sense of the sacred.  We are compelled to continue our work for peace and justice.  We are welcome to honor the legacy of Dr. King. 

Touching our sense of the sacred awakens the impulse to action. Ours may not be the mountaintop experience of Moses or Jesus or Peter, James, and John.  But opening ourselves up to that possibility through regular spiritual practice, acting out of loving kindness, standing up for peace and justice mark us as followers of Jesus.