Mark Trotter - "A Student's Guide to Mountain Climbing" (February 25, 1990)
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Transcript
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- | Good morning and welcome to the service | 0:06 |
of worship here at Duke University chapel, | 0:08 | |
on this Transfiguration Sunday. | 0:11 | |
We're delighted to be able to worship with each of you | 0:13 | |
as well as those of you in our radio | 0:16 | |
and television audiences. | 0:18 | |
We welcome as our guest preacher this morning, | 0:20 | |
the Reverend Dr. Mark Trotter, | 0:23 | |
senior minister of the First United Methodist Church | 0:25 | |
in San Diego, California. | 0:28 | |
- | Dr. Trotter is known throughout the country | 0:30 |
for his outstanding preaching ability. | 0:32 | |
He last visited this chapel in 1986 | 0:35 | |
when he preached at the alumni convocation | 0:38 | |
of the Duke Divinity School. | 0:40 | |
We are pleased to welcome him back to our pulpit. | 0:42 | |
I'd also like to thank our elector, Mr. Eric Dozier, | 0:46 | |
who is president of the Black Student Alliance. | 0:49 | |
This afternoon at five o'clock p.m., | 0:52 | |
an organ recital will be presented here at the chapel | 0:54 | |
by Dr. Peter Williams, university organist. | 0:57 | |
Admission is free. | 1:00 | |
Please note the remaining announcements | 1:02 | |
as they are printed in your bulletins. | 1:04 | |
And now let us continue our worship. | 1:06 | |
♪ Sent from heaven ♪ | 1:11 | |
♪ Thy rays were given ♪ | 1:18 | |
♪ On great and small to shine. ♪ | 1:23 | |
♪ O light divine ♪ | 1:28 | |
♪ May each soul in sorrow's night ♪ | 1:34 | |
♪ See the heavenly light ♪ | 1:41 | |
♪ Thou blessing to all creation ♪ | 1:46 | |
♪ Lead us to our salvation ♪ | 1:53 | |
♪ All those whose feet may falter ♪ | 2:01 | |
♪ Lead unto the sacred altar ♪ | 2:10 | |
♪ Oh shine from above ♪ | 2:18 | |
♪ Divine light of love ♪ | 2:22 | |
♪ Show us the way ♪ | 2:27 | |
♪ Unto our God, we pray ♪ | 2:32 | |
♪ Thou our beacon and guide shalt be ♪ | 2:39 | |
♪ Light divine, we praise Thee ♪ | 2:50 | |
(organ music) | 3:06 | |
(muffled choral music) | 3:38 | |
- | Oh God who before the passion of your only begotten Son, | 7:28 |
revealed his glory upon the holy mountain, | 7:32 | |
grant to us that we beholding by faith the light | 7:36 | |
of his countenance may be strengthened to bear our cross | 7:40 | |
and be changed into His likeness from glory unto glory | 7:44 | |
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives | 7:49 | |
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit. | 7:52 | |
One God, forever and ever. | 7:54 | |
Amen. | 7:57 | |
- | Please join with me this morning | 8:09 |
in our prayer for illumination. | 8:12 | |
Open our hearts and minds O God, by the power | 8:16 | |
of your Holy Spirit, so that as the word is read | 8:20 | |
and proclaimed we might hear with joy | 8:23 | |
what you say to us this day. | 8:27 | |
Amen. | 8:29 | |
Our first lesson this morning comes from Exodus 24:12-18. | 8:34 | |
The Lord said to Moses, | 8:45 | |
come up to me on the mountain and wait there, | 8:47 | |
and I will give you the tables of stone with the law | 8:50 | |
and commandments which I have written | 8:53 | |
for their instruction.. | 8:55 | |
So Moses rose with his servant, Joshua, | 8:57 | |
and went up on the mountain of God. | 9:00 | |
Moses said to the elders, | 9:03 | |
wait here for us until we come to you again. | 9:05 | |
And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you, | 9:08 | |
whoever has a call should go to them. | 9:12 | |
Then Moses went up on the mountain, | 9:15 | |
and the cloud covered the mountain. | 9:18 | |
The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. | 9:20 | |
And the cloud covered it six days, and on the seventh day | 9:23 | |
the Lord called to Moses out of the mist of the cloud. | 9:26 | |
Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord | 9:30 | |
was like a devouring fire on top of the mountain | 9:32 | |
in the sight of the people of Israel. | 9:35 | |
And Moses entered the cloud and went on up the mountain. | 9:41 | |
And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights. | 9:44 | |
May the Lord have a blessing on the reading of His word. | 9:48 | |
- | Please stand as we join together in singing responsively | 9:56 |
Psalm 2:7-12, | 9:59 | |
found on page 739 in your hymnal. | 10:04 | |
(gentle organ music) | 10:08 | |
♪ I will tell of the decree of the Lord. ♪ | 10:14 | |
♪ Who said to me, you are my son. ♪ | 10:18 | |
♪ Today I have begotten you. ♪ | 10:22 | |
♪ Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance ♪ | 10:26 | |
♪ And the ends of the earth your possession. ♪ | 10:33 | |
♪ You shall break them with a rod of iron ♪ | 10:37 | |
♪ And dash them in pieces like a potter's missile. ♪ | 10:42 | |
♪ Now, therefore, oh kings be wise. ♪ | 10:48 | |
♪ Be warned all rulers of the Earth. ♪ | 10:53 | |
♪ Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate ♪ | 10:57 | |
♪ Humble yourselves before the Lord ♪ | 11:02 | |
♪ Lest God be angry and you perish in the way ♪ | 11:06 | |
♪ For God's wrath is quickly kindled ♪ | 11:12 | |
♪ Blessed are all who take refuge in the Lord ♪ | 11:16 | |
(gentle organ music) | 11:25 | |
♪ Glory be to our creator ♪ | 11:34 | |
♪ Praise to our redeemer Lord ♪ | 11:41 | |
♪ Glory be to our son savior ♪ | 11:49 | |
♪ Ever free and ever one ♪ | 11:56 | |
♪ As it was in the beginning now ♪ | 12:04 | |
♪ And evermore shall be ♪ | 12:13 | |
- | Our second lesson comes from second Peter 1:16-21. | 12:34 |
For we did not follow cleverly devised myths | 12:43 | |
when we made known to you the power and coming | 12:49 | |
of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses | 12:52 | |
of the Lord's majesty. | 12:55 | |
For when Christ Jesus received honor and glory | 12:57 | |
from God the Father, and the voice was born to Christ | 13:00 | |
by the Majestic Glory, | 13:03 | |
this is my beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased. | 13:05 | |
We heard this voice born from heaven | 13:09 | |
for we were with Christ on the holy mountain | 13:11 | |
and we have the prophetic word made more sure. | 13:15 | |
You would do well to pay attention this | 13:18 | |
as to a lamp shining in a dark place | 13:21 | |
until the day dawns and the morning star arises | 13:24 | |
in your hearts. | 13:26 | |
First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy | 13:28 | |
of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation | 13:31 | |
because no prophecy ever came by human impulse, | 13:35 | |
but people moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. | 13:38 | |
(soft organ music) | 13:48 | |
(ethereal choral music) | 14:15 | |
♪ Holy light ♪ | 14:33 | |
♪ Holy light ♪ | 14:36 | |
♪ Holy light ♪ | 14:41 | |
♪ Holy light ♪ | 14:46 | |
♪ And let the voice of God come ♪ | 14:51 | |
(muffled choral singing) | 15:00 | |
♪ Holy light ♪ | 15:57 | |
♪ Holy light ♪ | 16:04 | |
(muffled choral singing) | 16:12 | |
♪ Holy ♪ | 16:42 | |
♪ Light ♪ | 16:50 | |
- | Our gospel this morning is found | 17:23 |
in the book of Matthew 17:1-9. | 17:26 | |
And after six day Jesus took Peter and James | 17:33 | |
and John, his brother, and led them up | 17:36 | |
a high mountain apart. | 17:38 | |
And Jesus was transfigured before them, | 17:41 | |
and His face shone like the sun, and His garments | 17:43 | |
became brilliant as light. | 17:46 | |
And there appeared to them Moses | 17:49 | |
and Elijah talking with Jesus. | 17:50 | |
Peter said to Jesus, | 17:53 | |
Lord, it is well that we are here, | 17:55 | |
If You wish, I will make three booths here. | 17:58 | |
One for you and one for Moses, and one for Elijah. | 18:01 | |
Peter was still speaking | 18:05 | |
when a bright cloud overshadowed them | 18:06 | |
and a voice from the cloud said, | 18:09 | |
this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased. | 18:12 | |
To this one, you shall listen. | 18:15 | |
When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces | 18:18 | |
and were filled with awe. | 18:21 | |
But Jesus came and touched them saying, | 18:23 | |
rise and have no fear. | 18:25 | |
When they lifted up their eyes, | 18:28 | |
they saw no one, but Jesus only. | 18:29 | |
As they were coming down the mountain, | 18:32 | |
Jesus commanded them, tell no-one the vision until the son | 18:33 | |
of man is raised from the dead. | 18:38 | |
- | It's my great pleasure to be with you | 18:54 |
on this morning worship this morning | 18:56 | |
in this historic and beautiful church | 19:02 | |
and among those who I recognize as friends from years past | 19:07 | |
and new friends. | 19:12 | |
I'm quite honored also to be in this pulpit, | 19:15 | |
distinguished pulpit. | 19:18 | |
When I was much younger I was inspired by | 19:20 | |
the preaching of James Cleland, Dean of the Chapel | 19:22 | |
in those days, and now in these latter days | 19:25 | |
Will Williamson has stimulated not only me, | 19:28 | |
but the thinking and the conscience of the whole church. | 19:31 | |
I am most grateful for his invitation | 19:34 | |
to be with you this morning. | 19:37 | |
As Nancy mentioned, I was here three years ago preaching, | 19:40 | |
but that was to preachers and this is to real people. | 19:42 | |
(audience chuckling) | 19:46 | |
So it is a much greater thrill to be with you this morning. | 19:47 | |
If you keep track of such things, this is the last Sunday | 19:52 | |
in Epiphany, Transfiguration Sunday. | 19:55 | |
Next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, | 19:57 | |
the beginning of the season of Lent. | 20:00 | |
The season of Epiphany comes to a proper climax | 20:03 | |
this Sunday with the reading of the gospel lesson | 20:07 | |
of the Story of the Transfiguration. | 20:10 | |
Epiphany is a wonderful season. | 20:14 | |
What a beautiful word, epiphany. | 20:15 | |
It means manifestation or revelation, | 20:17 | |
used mostly nowadays by poets and literary critics | 20:20 | |
outside of the church, but the word belongs to us | 20:25 | |
and we had better use it or lose it. | 20:29 | |
If advertising ever gets ahold of it, it's gone. | 20:32 | |
It's like charisma. | 20:35 | |
Another beautiful word that also used to belong to us. | 20:37 | |
It's in our heritage, but that's gone now. | 20:39 | |
We left it lying around carelessly, unattended, unused, | 20:42 | |
so Madison Avenue picked it up and it appeared | 20:47 | |
in some ad before that we noticed that it was even gone. | 20:50 | |
I hope we are more careful with epiphany. | 20:54 | |
Beautiful word. | 20:57 | |
The season celebrates the many ways it was manifested | 21:00 | |
who Jesus really is. | 21:03 | |
The season begins on January 6th. | 21:06 | |
The gospel lesson then is the story of the visitation | 21:09 | |
of the wise men to the Christ child, | 21:12 | |
and the Sunday immediately after the Epiphany | 21:13 | |
we read the story of the baptism of Jesus by John | 21:18 | |
in the River Jordan when the heavens are opened, | 21:21 | |
the Spirit descends on Jesus gently | 21:23 | |
as a dove alights to Earth, and God's voice said, | 21:26 | |
this is my Son with whom I am well pleased. | 21:30 | |
Now that's an epiphany, that's a revelation | 21:34 | |
of who Jesus really is. | 21:36 | |
Now on the last Sunday of the season like a reprise | 21:39 | |
of a showstopper in the last scene of the first act | 21:43 | |
just before the curtain comes down, once again, | 21:46 | |
the heavens open and God sings, this is my Son | 21:48 | |
with whom I am well pleased and with these added words, | 21:52 | |
"Listen to Him," which sound like the words of frustration | 21:57 | |
as in how many times do I have to tell you | 22:01 | |
or how many epiphanies do I have to give you? | 22:04 | |
This is my Son, dummy, listen to Him. | 22:07 | |
The words are addressed to all of us, | 22:11 | |
but originally to Peter. | 22:14 | |
I would suggest that, for this reason, | 22:16 | |
that the scene immediately preceding the Transfiguration | 22:18 | |
in all the gospels is the so-called confession of Peter. | 22:22 | |
It takes place at Caesarea Philippi. | 22:26 | |
It comes at the end of a whole series of epiphanies. | 22:28 | |
The healing and the exorcisms and all the miracles | 22:31 | |
that took place during the Galilean ministry. | 22:34 | |
The halcyon days when the living was easy. | 22:37 | |
When it was easy to be a disciple. | 22:40 | |
Next comes the march to Jerusalem and the cross, | 22:44 | |
that's what comes next in the second act of the gospel. | 22:47 | |
The confession of Peter at Caesarea Philippi | 22:51 | |
and the transfiguration scene form the literary hinge | 22:53 | |
on which the plot of the gospel turns. | 22:58 | |
At Caesarea Philippi as if giving a midterm quiz, | 23:02 | |
Jesus asked the disciples, who do people say that I am? | 23:06 | |
They reply with what they have seen and heard, | 23:10 | |
some say that you're Elijah, some John the Baptist | 23:12 | |
and some Jeremiah and all the other prophets. | 23:15 | |
Then Jesus asked, and who do you say that I am? | 23:18 | |
Peter eagerly raises his hand and says, you are the Christ, | 23:21 | |
the Son of the living God. | 23:25 | |
Jesus says, nice work Peter, you got it right. | 23:26 | |
Here are the keys to the Kingdom, which is like receiving | 23:30 | |
an A on the midterm exam. | 23:33 | |
But the first part of the course is always easiest. | 23:36 | |
In the first part of the course | 23:39 | |
you just get the introduction, you learn the language, | 23:41 | |
you memorize the formulas and the terms. | 23:44 | |
The second half of the course, | 23:47 | |
you have to put it into practice. | 23:50 | |
The second half is in the lab, and for disciples | 23:52 | |
the lab is in the world. | 23:56 | |
The second term begins immediately | 23:59 | |
after the Transfiguration. | 24:01 | |
Jesus announces I am going to Jerusalem to die | 24:03 | |
and on the third day be raised. | 24:06 | |
Peter jumps up again, filled with confidence now | 24:07 | |
having gotten the first question correct. | 24:10 | |
He says, God forbid it can't happen. | 24:12 | |
You are mistaken, nothing like that could possibly happen, | 24:15 | |
thus revealing that confessing one's faith is one thing. | 24:18 | |
Understanding the full radical implication of faith | 24:21 | |
for life in this world is quite another thing. | 24:25 | |
Oh it must have been an ugly scene. | 24:29 | |
The verb used to describe the dialogue is rebuke, | 24:32 | |
which is the verb Jesus uses to condemn the demons. | 24:36 | |
It's as if Jesus and Peter were | 24:42 | |
in a contest of name-calling. | 24:45 | |
Peter rebukes Jesus. | 24:47 | |
Jesus turns around and says get behind me Satan. | 24:48 | |
That's heavy stuff. | 24:54 | |
Have you ever let your emotions take over | 24:56 | |
and cause you to say something that you wish | 24:59 | |
that you hadn't said? | 25:01 | |
It's happened to me and I can still dwell | 25:04 | |
on those moments when it's happened. | 25:06 | |
I apologized to the person. | 25:08 | |
It makes no difference, it still haunts me. | 25:09 | |
I wish that I had never said it. | 25:12 | |
It must have been something like that, an ugly scene. | 25:15 | |
The meeting of the disciples quickly adjourns. | 25:18 | |
They file out quietly, heads down, no one speaking | 25:20 | |
to anybody else. | 25:23 | |
That's what happened at Caesarea Philippi | 25:26 | |
and the very next verse, our text for this morning, | 25:29 | |
begins like this: After six days Jesus took with him | 25:32 | |
Peter, James and John. | 25:37 | |
That's like the executive committee, | 25:38 | |
but it's Peter's presence there that is important. | 25:40 | |
He led them up to a high mountain apart. | 25:44 | |
He was transfigured before them. | 25:48 | |
His garments white as light. | 25:49 | |
That means he was surrounded as glory, | 25:52 | |
which is what he will be at the end-time | 25:54 | |
when all nations recognize Him as Lord. | 25:57 | |
There appeared beside Him on one side Moses | 26:01 | |
and on the other side Elijah, and if you're Jewish | 26:04 | |
you knew immediately what that meant. | 26:07 | |
Moses represents the law, Elijah represents the prophets, | 26:09 | |
the two source of authority in Jewish life. | 26:12 | |
It's as if two former presidents come onto the platform | 26:16 | |
at the convention, one on each side of the candidate. | 26:20 | |
Each one raises one hand of the candidate | 26:24 | |
and with the other hand they give the victory sign, | 26:27 | |
flashbulbs popping, crowd cheering, band playing | 26:30 | |
Happy Days Are Here Again. | 26:33 | |
It's Peter who wants to preserve this incident. | 26:36 | |
It must have been Peter's recollection | 26:38 | |
that's the reason we have this scene. | 26:41 | |
For what follows is Peter's infallible signature. | 26:43 | |
He gets it wrong again. | 26:47 | |
He messes up the situation, misreads the occasion, | 26:49 | |
does the inappropriate thing. | 26:53 | |
He asks the three of them if they would like to have a chair | 26:54 | |
or something to sit on. | 26:57 | |
Maybe he could build tents for them | 26:58 | |
so they could settle down here. | 27:00 | |
You see, when he sees those three together, | 27:02 | |
he thinks the Kingdom has come. | 27:05 | |
That's why Moses and Elijah are here. | 27:08 | |
It's all over. | 27:10 | |
The Kingdom is here | 27:11 | |
and without a shot being fired or anything. | 27:12 | |
It was so simple. | 27:15 | |
It was a piece of cake. | 27:16 | |
Just like Peter knew it would be, | 27:18 | |
without any pain, without any suffering, | 27:20 | |
without any cross. | 27:23 | |
See Jesus, he says, I was right. | 27:25 | |
It's the way I knew it would be. | 27:29 | |
The three just stare at Peter, don't say anything, | 27:31 | |
they don't need to. | 27:34 | |
Peter says, I've done it again. | 27:36 | |
This is an epiphany Peter. | 27:40 | |
This is so you will finally get it. | 27:43 | |
This is so you'll understand. | 27:46 | |
That's why they brought in the heavy-hitters, Moses | 27:48 | |
and Elijah, so that finally Peter you'd get it. | 27:50 | |
Then to make sure, all subtlety is abandoned. | 27:56 | |
The baptism is reprised once again, the heavens open, | 27:58 | |
a voice proclaims this is my Son, listen to Him. | 28:02 | |
That last sentence bounces off | 28:06 | |
all of the surrounding mountains. | 28:08 | |
Listen to Him, listen to Him, listen to Him. | 28:09 | |
Then the vision dissipates like a morning mist | 28:14 | |
and Jesus is there alone with Peter, James and John | 28:18 | |
kneeling at his feet. | 28:22 | |
They start down the mountain, and Jesus says to the three | 28:24 | |
you better not tell anyone what happened up here. | 28:29 | |
You ever had an epiphany? | 28:34 | |
If so, you probably know the wisdom of Jesus' advice. | 28:37 | |
Don't tell anybody. | 28:41 | |
It's probably good advice for several reasons, | 28:43 | |
not the least of which is our society | 28:46 | |
no longer expects epiphanies. | 28:48 | |
In our time an epiphany is a literary device. | 28:50 | |
In other times, an epiphany was a life-fulfilling, | 28:53 | |
life-confirming, life-directing moment in a person's life. | 28:57 | |
George Leonard, a psychologist, tours around the country | 29:04 | |
making speeches and when he does, he asks his audiences | 29:07 | |
how many of you have had a mystical experience? | 29:12 | |
And he says about 10% raise their hands. | 29:15 | |
Then he asks, how many have never had a mystical experience? | 29:18 | |
And about another 10% raise their hands. | 29:22 | |
He says that means that 80% don't know if they've had | 29:25 | |
a mystical experience or not, or if they've had one | 29:29 | |
they've resolved never to tell anyone about it. | 29:33 | |
Then he tells about a woman from Monterrey, California. | 29:37 | |
She was washing dishes in her kitchen and all of a sudden | 29:41 | |
she was overwhelmed with an awesome feeling of bliss, | 29:45 | |
accompanied with a conviction, we are all one. | 29:49 | |
He said she was overwhelmed, | 29:54 | |
it was such an incredibly beautiful experience for her. | 29:56 | |
She rushed out of the kitchen, called her family together, | 29:58 | |
told her family what had just happened to her. | 30:01 | |
They put her in a car, took her to the hospital. | 30:05 | |
The psychiatrist heard her story, he agreed, she's nuts. | 30:09 | |
I mean how many people have the conviction | 30:14 | |
that we are all one while washing the dishes? | 30:16 | |
So the psychiatrist committed her. | 30:20 | |
In the hospital, she kept insisting we are all one. | 30:22 | |
What's more, she felt good about it. | 30:26 | |
She felt wonderful as a matter of fact. | 30:28 | |
Physically, she said, she never felt better | 30:31 | |
in all of her life. | 30:33 | |
She felt like she was young again. | 30:33 | |
She felt like she was reborn. | 30:36 | |
Every day they would bring her out of her room | 30:40 | |
and ask her, what in your opinion is the state of humankind? | 30:42 | |
She would say, we're all one. | 30:46 | |
They would ask then, how do you feel? | 30:49 | |
She'd say, I feel wonderful, I feel like dancing. | 30:51 | |
Back you go, they lock her up again. | 30:53 | |
She was not obnoxious about it. | 30:56 | |
She did not bore people with it. | 30:58 | |
I've heard testimonies that are literally boring. | 30:59 | |
They oughta lock those people up. | 31:02 | |
But hers was not that way. | 31:04 | |
(audience laughing) | 31:05 | |
She didn't frighten anybody with a confrontation. | 31:07 | |
She wasn't aggressive in any way. | 31:10 | |
She simply told people what happened to her | 31:11 | |
when people would ask. | 31:14 | |
One day she wised up. | 31:17 | |
They threatened to do things to her | 31:19 | |
that she didn't want done to her. | 31:21 | |
So she decided she'd had enough. | 31:24 | |
She stopped saying we're all one, | 31:25 | |
and when people asked how are you feeling today, | 31:28 | |
she said I feel terrible. | 31:32 | |
They said, you're cured. | 31:34 | |
(audience laughing) | 31:36 | |
They released her. | 31:38 | |
She told Dr. Leonard I still have the conviction | 31:40 | |
we are all one, I just don't tell anybody about it anymore. | 31:44 | |
Our society no longer expects epiphanies, | 31:50 | |
but does not the church set aside a season | 31:53 | |
to announce expect an epiphany. | 31:56 | |
Doesn't the church have a season | 32:00 | |
to say expect something to happen, to see something, | 32:03 | |
hear something, sense something | 32:07 | |
that makes what God revealed to all real to you. | 32:10 | |
The Transfiguration is most often interpreted theologically | 32:17 | |
as the evidence for the establishment | 32:21 | |
of the theological claims about who Jesus is. | 32:23 | |
He is the Son of God. | 32:25 | |
It's an unequivocal statement in the Transfiguration | 32:26 | |
from an unimpeachable source with three witnesses. | 32:30 | |
Some say it's simply a misplaced resurrection appearance, | 32:36 | |
which I always thought odd. | 32:41 | |
It seems to me that a confrontation | 32:42 | |
with a resurrected Christ | 32:45 | |
is something that you would hardly misplace. | 32:47 | |
I think you would probably remember it, | 32:50 | |
like Pascal remembered his epiphany. | 32:52 | |
He wrote it down. | 32:54 | |
The year of grace 1654, Monday 23 November, | 32:56 | |
Feast of Saint Clement from about half-past 10 | 33:00 | |
to half-past midnight. | 33:04 | |
Fire. | 33:06 | |
You're not likely to forget that kind of thing | 33:09 | |
and so to make sure he would never forget it, | 33:11 | |
he wrote it down as a memo to himself and he put it | 33:13 | |
in the tunic, sewed it into the tunic, his garment, | 33:16 | |
into the hem, so that he would always remember it. | 33:20 | |
I would imagine it would be something that like | 33:24 | |
and that's why I think Peter remembered this incident | 33:26 | |
and contrary to Jesus's instruction, | 33:30 | |
he told other people about it, though much later | 33:33 | |
while he was visiting the churches as the head of the church | 33:36 | |
the first among the disciples, the one chosen by our Lord, | 33:38 | |
the one venerated in the church. | 33:42 | |
I can imagine that after the preaching and after the meal, | 33:45 | |
they ask Peter wherever he went, they asked Peter, | 33:49 | |
tell us about Jesus. | 33:54 | |
What was it like with Jesus. | 33:57 | |
He would have occasion to tell them the stories | 33:59 | |
that are now contained in the gospels, | 34:01 | |
but particularly he would tell them about Caesarea Philippi. | 34:04 | |
How he got it all wrong, | 34:08 | |
burst out the most insensitive remarks | 34:09 | |
and how Jesus rebuked him and Peter spoke harshly in return. | 34:11 | |
It was just terrible and after a few days, | 34:15 | |
the text says six days, but that's to line up this story | 34:18 | |
with the story of Moses going up to the mountain, | 34:21 | |
Mount Sinai, I imagine it was sooner. | 34:24 | |
I would guess it was the next day. | 34:27 | |
Jesus said we better have an executive committee retreat, | 34:30 | |
and so up the mountain they go. | 34:35 | |
Jesus reiterates His mission, how He has to go to Jerusalem, | 34:38 | |
how he has to confront the authorities, | 34:41 | |
how he's going to be crucified and on the third day | 34:43 | |
be raised from the dead and was up there with Peter | 34:45 | |
trying to understand all this, trying to reconcile | 34:48 | |
all this with what he had been taught | 34:51 | |
ever since he was a boy, everything he believed | 34:53 | |
about Messiah and about Kingdom of God had been challenged | 34:55 | |
during these last few days. | 34:59 | |
Therefore, what he was going to do in his life | 35:01 | |
had also been put up for challenge | 35:05 | |
and questioning his loyalty to himself, his loyalty | 35:08 | |
to other people, his loyalty to Jesus, | 35:10 | |
the promises that he had made, all this had been questioned. | 35:12 | |
It's all there, and that's when the heavens were opened | 35:16 | |
and this vision came, and the voice said, | 35:21 | |
this is my Son, listen to Him. | 35:24 | |
And Peter would tell the church, I knew then | 35:30 | |
what I had to do. | 35:34 | |
I knew then that though the way would be hard, | 35:35 | |
that I would stay with it. | 35:38 | |
I knew then that I would follow him, no matter what. | 35:39 | |
When I erred and strayed and stumbled and forgot Him, | 35:43 | |
but I have always followed Him. | 35:49 | |
It must have been that way. | 35:52 | |
It happened to me, something like that. | 35:54 | |
I didn't tell anyone about it either, not many anyway, | 35:56 | |
not until recently. | 35:59 | |
I was in college, torn over vocation and love | 36:01 | |
and lackluster grades, stumbling along like Peter. | 36:05 | |
I went up to a mountain, to a hill really, | 36:10 | |
it was called College Hill. | 36:12 | |
It was the eastern perimeter of the campus. | 36:14 | |
I went up there every evening to watch the sunset. | 36:17 | |
I resolved that I was going to do that | 36:19 | |
as a spiritual discipline. | 36:21 | |
I had to do something I concluded or end up a bum. | 36:23 | |
I sat there every night after supper for about six weeks. | 36:27 | |
I sat there in prayer, meditation, some Bible reading | 36:32 | |
and the longer I was there, the less my prayer was verbal | 36:36 | |
and the more it was listening. | 36:40 | |
Toward the end I got real good at it, | 36:42 | |
blocking out all else, focusing on a question, | 36:44 | |
like a mantra. | 36:48 | |
I didn't know what a mantra was in those days, | 36:49 | |
but it was like a mantra, | 36:51 | |
the question what would you have me do? | 36:53 | |
I didn't see a vision, | 36:57 | |
although I would later on on another mountain, | 36:58 | |
at a similar critical juncture in my life, | 37:00 | |
but I did hear a voice. | 37:03 | |
An inner voice. | 37:05 | |
My own voice I suspect. | 37:07 | |
But not my own. | 37:10 | |
That said something | 37:12 | |
that probably means little to anyone else, | 37:13 | |
which is the best reason for not telling someone, | 37:15 | |
for such experiences are always ineffable. | 37:18 | |
But what it said to me was, | 37:22 | |
be yourself, it's okay. | 37:24 | |
Be yourself. | 37:29 | |
Which I later came to understand is the experience | 37:31 | |
of justification by faith in God's grace alone | 37:34 | |
and not in your own works. | 37:40 | |
It was the same experience that Luther had | 37:44 | |
and Saint Paul had before Luther and millions and millions | 37:46 | |
of other type A, uptight, compulsive other-directed people. | 37:49 | |
Even later, I came to see that baptism | 37:54 | |
is announcing the same thing. | 37:58 | |
This came after I began baptizing babies | 38:00 | |
and preaching baptism sermons, especially on the Sunday | 38:03 | |
of the baptism of our Lord, and I finally got it. | 38:08 | |
What happens in our baptism is a type | 38:11 | |
of what happened at Jesus's baptism. | 38:15 | |
God says to each one of us, this is my daughter, | 38:18 | |
this is my son. | 38:23 | |
Then some day you and I sooner or later | 38:25 | |
will find that moment, or that moment will find us, | 38:29 | |
when on a mountain alone or in our room after a bad day | 38:32 | |
or traveling down the Interstate toward home | 38:35 | |
or maybe even in church, it can even happen in church, | 38:38 | |
but it will happen if we expect an epiphany. | 38:43 | |
What happens is a confirmation | 38:48 | |
of what you've probably already known | 38:50 | |
and what you've already confessed, but need to know now | 38:54 | |
in your heart as well as in your mind | 38:58 | |
and the heavens will open | 39:02 | |
or something like that will happen. | 39:03 | |
No one can predict how or when it will happen, | 39:06 | |
but what needs to be said is that it will happen. | 39:10 | |
It needs to be said, especially in an age | 39:15 | |
that has reduced all experience to dimensions | 39:18 | |
the dullest of minds can understand, it needs to be said, | 39:21 | |
especially in an age which tries to stuff all experience | 39:25 | |
into narrow categories that reason is able to grasp. | 39:29 | |
It needs to be said there are epiphanies. | 39:33 | |
To this kind of age we should say that God can still speak | 39:38 | |
to us through all of our faculties | 39:41 | |
and the enlightened person is not the one | 39:45 | |
who exclusively has an open mind, | 39:48 | |
although that's a good place to start, | 39:52 | |
but true enlightenment comes when all the portals | 39:53 | |
of our life are open and God's light can illumine | 39:57 | |
the whole of us. | 40:01 | |
I think we're moving toward that in our time. | 40:04 | |
There's evidence that the frozenness of the enlightenment | 40:07 | |
is cracking up. | 40:10 | |
When Einstein can say there is no logical way | 40:12 | |
to the discovery of these elemental laws | 40:15 | |
except through intuition. | 40:18 | |
Imagine that. | 40:20 | |
And the German scientist Kekule | 40:22 | |
who discovered the benzene ring in a dream, | 40:25 | |
said to his fellow scientists, | 40:28 | |
gentlemen let us learn to dream. | 40:30 | |
Or the artist who said, I look upon my mind as a tenement. | 40:34 | |
My job is to keep it prepared for a visitation. | 40:37 | |
Maybe that's why the Transfiguration Story is there, | 40:43 | |
to get us to prepare our lives for a visitation. | 40:45 | |
It can still happen. | 40:49 | |
It may happen like this. | 40:52 | |
When you aren't sure about who you are, | 40:54 | |
or what you're supposed to do, | 40:56 | |
when what you have been taught since you were a child | 40:58 | |
seems to be challenged, you aren't sure | 41:01 | |
what God wants you to do in your life. | 41:04 | |
You aren't even sure about God anymore. | 41:06 | |
Get ye to a mountain. | 41:09 | |
That's what this is saying. | 41:13 | |
Expect an epiphany. | 41:16 | |
A man named Anthony Brant, scientist, a man of reason, | 41:20 | |
child of the enlightenment, went up into the Catskills | 41:23 | |
with a group of people for the weekend. | 41:27 | |
He said he spent most of the time up there by himself | 41:31 | |
which surprised him, it even surprised him more | 41:33 | |
than he spent the time in silence and almost in meditation. | 41:37 | |
The time came to leave, he said it was a cold, | 41:42 | |
rainy day in November, about five o'clock in the afternoon. | 41:46 | |
We left the cabins and were walking towards the cars | 41:50 | |
and before getting to the car he said, | 41:54 | |
I took one last look around the surroundings | 41:57 | |
and all of a sudden the hills looked like waves. | 42:00 | |
They hung there as it were on the rim of the world | 42:04 | |
and I had the feeling that these waves | 42:08 | |
were carrying us, all of us, everything, all together | 42:10 | |
in one harmony, | 42:14 | |
and then it ended. | 42:17 | |
It lasted just a brief moment. | 42:19 | |
But listen to what he said about it. | 42:22 | |
It was the first time that I've ever really know who I am. | 42:25 | |
It's an epiphany. | 42:32 | |
Something like that ever happen to you? | 42:35 | |
I didn't notice. | 42:40 | |
I got here so late last night, I didn't have a chance | 42:41 | |
to notice, are there any mountains here | 42:44 | |
on the Duke campus? | 42:48 | |
Let us pray. | 42:51 | |
We take our lips and speak to through them, | 42:54 | |
take our minds and think through them, | 42:56 | |
take our hearts, set them on fire, | 42:57 | |
help us to be the masters of ourselves | 43:00 | |
so that we might be the servants of others. | 43:04 | |
Through Christ our Lord, amen. | 43:07 | |
(gentle organ music) | 43:12 | |
♪ Christ, whose glory fills the skies ♪ | 43:46 | |
♪ Christ, the true, the only light ♪ | 43:51 | |
♪ Sun of righteousness arise ♪ | 43:57 | |
♪ Triumph o'er the shades of night ♪ | 44:02 | |
♪ Dayspring from on high be near ♪ | 44:08 | |
♪ Daystar in my heart appear. ♪ | 44:14 | |
♪ Dark and cheerless is the morn ♪ | 44:21 | |
♪ Unaccompanied by Thee ♪ | 44:27 | |
♪ Joyless is the day's return ♪ | 44:33 | |
♪ Till Thy mercy's beams I see ♪ | 44:39 | |
♪ Till Thou inward light impart ♪ | 44:45 | |
♪ Cheer my eyes, and warm my heart. ♪ | 44:50 | |
♪ Visit then this soul of mine ♪ | 44:58 | |
♪ Pierce the gloom of sin and grief ♪ | 45:04 | |
♪ Fill me, Radiancy divine ♪ | 45:10 | |
♪ Scatter all my unbelief ♪ | 45:15 | |
♪ More and more Thyself display ♪ | 45:22 | |
♪ Shining to the perfect day. ♪ | 45:27 | |
Nancy | The Lord be with you. | 45:37 |
Congregation | And also with you. | 45:39 |
- | Let us pray. | 45:41 |
Oh eternal Spirit, from whom we come | 45:53 | |
to whom we belong and in whose service is our peace. | 45:57 | |
We worship thee. | 46:02 | |
Mysterious indeed is this vast universe | 46:04 | |
into which without our asking it, Thou has ushered us. | 46:08 | |
We stand in awe before Thy power, which is beyond | 46:13 | |
our ability to measure. | 46:18 | |
Yet, even as we fail to comprehend a magnitude | 46:21 | |
of Thy glory, Thou has known us and loved us | 46:24 | |
since we were knit together in our mother's wombs. | 46:29 | |
Therefore, we lift these prayers unto Thee, | 46:33 | |
beseeching Thee to hear us and to answer. | 46:36 | |
Almighty God hear us as we pray for all who are hindered | 46:41 | |
in the race of life through no fault of their own, | 46:45 | |
for the disabled, the handicapped and the weak. | 46:48 | |
Let us pray for all whose livelihood is insecure, | 46:54 | |
for the hungry, the homeless and the destitute, | 46:58 | |
for those who are overworked, downtrodden | 47:02 | |
and disappointed in life. | 47:05 | |
For little children whose surroundings hide from them | 47:08 | |
your love and beauty, for the fatherless, the motherless, | 47:12 | |
and the unwanted. | 47:17 | |
Let us pray for prisoners and captives | 47:19 | |
and for all who live within war-torn countries, | 47:22 | |
for all who are suffering because of their faithfulness | 47:26 | |
to truth, and for those who have | 47:29 | |
to bear their burdens alone. | 47:31 | |
Let us pray for those who are in doubt | 47:35 | |
and must endure the dark night of the soul. | 47:38 | |
For those who are mistrustful and cynical, | 47:42 | |
for those who suffer through their own wrongdoing | 47:45 | |
or self-pity. | 47:48 | |
Let us pray for all who do not pray for themselves, | 47:51 | |
for all who do not have the consolation | 47:55 | |
of the prayers of others and for all whose anguish | 47:57 | |
is unrelieved by the knowledge of Thy love. | 48:01 | |
Let us pray for the infirm and aged, | 48:05 | |
for all who are growing weary with the journey of life, | 48:08 | |
for all who are passing through the valley of death | 48:12 | |
and for those who walk with them. | 48:15 | |
Let us pray for those burdened with the weight of malice | 48:19 | |
and ill-will, for those harboring deep resentments, | 48:22 | |
who know not the grace of forgiveness. | 48:27 | |
Let us pray for the unspoken needs of this congregation | 48:31 | |
and for all who are forgotten by us, but dear to Thee. | 48:35 | |
Our kind and gracious God, Thou has revealed | 48:40 | |
Thy passion for us and Thy glory through Thy coming | 48:44 | |
and in Thy going. | 48:48 | |
Trusting in Thy eternal power to save us, | 48:51 | |
we beseech Thee to pray for us | 48:55 | |
when we cannot pray for ourselves. | 48:58 | |
In the holy name of Christ, we pray. | 49:01 | |
Amen. | 49:04 | |
As a forgiven and reconcile people, | 49:08 | |
let us offer our gifts and ourselves unto God. | 49:11 | |
(soft orchestral music) | 49:15 | |
♪ O be joyful and seek unto the Lord all ye lands ♪ | 50:18 | |
♪ Seek Him, Seek Him and praise His name ♪ | 50:29 | |
♪ All ye nations give praise ♪ | 50:40 | |
♪ All ye nations give praise ♪ | 50:45 | |
♪ Praise Him, rejoice ♪ | 50:54 | |
♪ Praise Him with songs of peace ♪ | 50:58 | |
(muffled choral singing) | 51:05 | |
♪ Of the Lamb of God ♪ | 51:11 | |
♪ For He has mighty (mumbles) of glory ♪ | 51:14 | |
(muffled choral singing) | 51:23 | |
♪ Into all the world the Thy likings have gone forth ♪ | 51:38 | |
(muffled choral singing) | 51:47 | |
♪ Into all Thy lands Thy likings have gone forth ♪ | 51:54 | |
♪ All nations have seen (mumbles) ♪ | 52:01 | |
♪ Almighty God ♪ | 52:11 | |
♪ Holy and mighty of our God glory ♪ | 52:37 | |
♪ Our God ♪ | 52:45 | |
♪ That you as one must be ♪ | 52:49 | |
(organ music) | 53:02 | |
♪ Praise God for whom all blessings flow ♪ | 53:48 | |
♪ Praise Him all creatures here blow ♪ | 53:55 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 54:01 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 54:04 | |
♪ Praise Him above ye heavenly host ♪ | 54:09 | |
♪ Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost ♪ | 54:16 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 54:22 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 54:25 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 54:29 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 54:32 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 54:36 | |
- | Gracious God whose love is unfailing | 54:48 |
and whose mercies are new every day, diverse though we are | 54:51 | |
in age and outlook, we are one in our desire | 54:55 | |
to voice our gratitude unto Thee. | 54:59 | |
We thank Thee for everything that speaks to us of Thee, | 55:02 | |
for this splendor of this house of worship, | 55:06 | |
for the affection and constancy of our friends, | 55:08 | |
for the inspiration of great art and natural beauty | 55:12 | |
and most especially, for the revelation of Thyself | 55:15 | |
in Jesus Christ and for the sending of His spirit | 55:18 | |
into our hearts. | 55:21 | |
Give us such an awareness of this all-encompassing love | 55:23 | |
that in all times and in all places we may sing joyfully | 55:27 | |
Thy praise forevermore. | 55:32 | |
This we pray in the name of the one who taught us | 55:34 | |
to pray with confidence. | 55:36 | |
Our father who art in heaven. | 55:38 | |
Hallowed be Thy name. | 55:41 | |
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done | 55:43 | |
on Earth as it is in heaven. | 55:46 | |
Give us this day our daily bread | 55:48 | |
and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those | 55:51 | |
who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, | 55:54 | |
but deliver us from evil for Thine is the kingdom | 55:59 | |
and the power and the glory forever. | 56:02 | |
Amen. | 56:05 | |
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you. | 56:08 | |
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you | 56:11 | |
and be gracious unto you. | 56:13 | |
May the Lord lift up his continence upon you | 56:15 | |
and give you peace. | 56:18 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 56:25 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 56:29 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 56:33 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 56:36 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 56:47 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 56:51 | |
♪ Amen ♪ | 56:58 | |
(uplifting organ music) | 57:12 | |
(muffled choral singing) | 58:17 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 58:59 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 59:02 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 59:07 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 59:12 | |
♪ Hallelujah ♪ | 59:18 | |
(muffled choral singing) | 59:23 | |
♪ Let us go forth in the name of Christ ♪ | 1:02:44 | |
♪ Thanks be to God ♪ | 1:02:49 | |
(loud organ music) | 1:02:56 |