God is up to something

Sermon preached at St. Mark’s Honey Brook, PA

by The Rev. Thomas C. Pumphrey, February 26, 2006

Last Sunday after Epiphany, Mark 9:2-9, 2 Peter 1:15-19 (2 Kings 19:9-18)

Mark 9:2-9 (NRSV): Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!" Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

2 Peter 1:15-19 (NRSV): For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased." We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain. So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

Often times, God is up to something.

Back in college, I had a friend named Max. Max was a Navy ROTC cadet and an engineering student. Max was something of a man’s man—competitive and athletic and engaging. Max grew up with very little exposure to religious devotion, though he was respectful of various traditions. So when he was invited to a Bible study with other ROTC students, he thought he might go and learn more about Christian teaching. After all, Jesus was a great teacher, he thought. In one of those Bible studies, something caught Max’s attention. I think they were studying the passage where Jesus asks his disciples who they say Jesus is. So someone in the discussion said to Max—“Max, who is Jesus to you?”

This may sound like a normal question, but this struck Max in a new way. Something stirred in his heart and drew him to know Jesus as more than the great teacher from a distant past. God was up to something. No longer was this an intellectual endeavor—this was something different. This was not an encounter with an idea or a concept, but an encounter with a person, someone unlike anyone else. So Max became more attentive—he listened and read and prayed and joined in worship. Max came to know Jesus as the Son of God who loves him and knows him deeply. God was indeed up to something in Max’s life.

Many people experience God in their lives in a dramatic change—a pivot point in their lives where they open themselves to God in a life-changing encounter. Many people can tell you that they were saved at a particular time and place—‘March 19, 1973 at the McDonald’s on Main Street’ they might say. Jesus’ words about being “born again” ring true for those who have had this kind of dramatic experience.

For others, the experience of a powerful sense of God’s love and the response of Christian commitment to God is a more lengthy process. Sometimes God speaks not in the earthquake, wind and fire, but in the still small voice. “Born again” in this case reminds us of the long pregnancy that comes before new birth—the mystery and expectation, the fears and discomfort—the sleepless nights and the kicking around that happens before new birth. So it is with so many of us who wrestle with this question: ‘what is God up to? What is God doing in my life?’

Even for long-time disciples, we often discover God in strange and unexpected ways. Passages of scripture that are so familiar suddenly grip us with a strength that we cannot escape. Suddenly the God that seemed so boring since our childhood arrives with startling power. We find that God is up to something, and that when God is up to something, our lives change for the better.

Peter and James and John went through an experience like this that we call “the transfiguration.” These men were the cream of the disciples—leaders among the twelve apostles. Jesus took them to a high mountain by themselves. There, this great teacher that they had known changed in appearance—Jesus’ clothes became dazzling white, and he shone with a radiance like God’s glory. The greatest prophets of the Old Testament appeared and spoke to Jesus—Moses the great law giver, and Elijah the herald of the Messiah. A great cloud surrounded them. Peter and James and John were mystified and almost speechless, and the voice of God spoke from the cloud saying “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!”

This was no longer an encounter with a great teacher—this was an encounter with the Son of the living God. The Old Testament often speaks of God’s presence as the “glory of the LORD.” The glory of the LORD is often described with images of radiance and brightness surrounded and shrouded by cloud. Think of the pillar of fire by night and pillar of cloud by day that the Israelites followed in the wilderness. Think of the complex imagery of smoke and fire that Ezekiel uses to describe the glory of the LORD. This encounter of Jesus was a startling experience of God’s glory and God’s presence in Jesus Christ that even these great disciples had not yet known.

The second letter of Peter makes reference to this experience—we heard this passage in our New Testament reading today. We are told that we would do well “to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” Peter and James and John discovered what Max discovered—that God is up to something in their lives. They discovered an encounter with Jesus Christ that brought the presence of God to them in a way they had never before experienced. What they discovered is not a lesson learned with words, but a relationship built by that personal encounter. God was up to something in their lives, something that changed their relationship with God and brought them new life they never expected.

So what is God up to in your life? To what is God calling your attention? Where is Jesus shining like a lamp in a dark place? You might be new to church, or, like Peter, James and John, you might be a faithful disciple. Any of us, however, can still discover new glimpses of Jesus in our lives. The teacher so familiar to us can break into our lives with the power and love of Almighty God. God may be up to something in your life. God may be preparing you for some new vision of who he is. You may discover some new gift of the Holy Spirit, some new insight that reminds you that God is alive, that God loves you deeply, that God is with you and involved in your situation. What is God up to in your life?

If you feel that tug on your spirit, that tap on the shoulder from God—that inkling that God is up to something in your life—then don’t ignore it. Pursue God in prayer and scripture and worship and ministry. Those three areas that I invited you all to pursue in the church—worship and formation and ministry—these are all venues for discovering what God is doing in your life. We can find great insight in the discussions of Sunday Study or our Wednesday Lenten Dinner Series or in Sunday School or Children’s Chapel or Daughters of the King. Perhaps you might encounter God in your ministry to those in need, or to children or as a leader in the church or your community. Perhaps through your contribution to worship, you might find expression for the prayers that have been stirring in your heart.

Discerning God’s presence is sometimes unavoidable—sometimes God comes to us in powerful and direct ways. Other times, God is building up to something, nurturing us for new growth or a new calling. God’s voice may be more subtle, more enticing, drawing us deeper into curiosity about God and what God is doing. So we are drawn more into prayer. We find our questions for God are more difficult and more passionate, and we are drawn more into study and learning, and facing these issues with faithful brothers and sisters in Christ. Then, like Peter and James and John—like my friend Max, we find ourselves discovering so much more than we expected, and our hearts are moved to worship. Like Peter, James and John and Max and the rest of the church, the encounter with God drives us to serve others with the love that God has shown us.

Every so often, we are reminded that God is up to something. What is God up to in our life together? What is God up to in your life?