February 3, 2008

The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church

Pr. Per Inge Vik

Matt 17,1-9                    

The Highlight

For many years Karin and I were members of The Norwegian Tourist Association. It gave us access to hundreds of tourist cabins in Norwegian mountains. Everybody who pays the member fee in the tourist association gets a universal key, by which one gains entry to all the cabins.

On some occasions we packed our sacks and went from cabin to cabin for several days. As you go deeper and deeper into the mountain district, further and further from “civilization”, nature becomes cleaner and cleaner, the silence more intense and the view more and more spectacular.

Today we have come to the Transfiguration of our Lord. Which is the highlight of the time of Epiphany. I experience these weeks after Christmas as a long mountain hike. Every Sunday as we gather, is like a break and rest, where we get a “new view”. We get to see something else, something more than last Sunday. This Sunday is definitely the highlight.

So it is perfect that we this Sunday can celebrate the annual meeting of our congregation. After worship we will make a review of the year passed. We sum up and by the reports we get good perspectives on the time behind us. Above all such a congregation meeting gives us reasons for gratitude for all the positive things that happen.

I started one day to think about when the last time was that I was at a place where I had a really good view? Then I came to that a couple of weeks ago, I visited the general consul’s office on the 27th floor of the AT&T building! Well, Minnesota has many good qualities, but looking for mountains, we have to go pretty far away…

Perhaps I shouldn’t have mentioned it, in the middle of the flattest Mid West, because it can create a longing for something unreachable. Anyway I dare to say it, because it is reality: All the 3 texts that we have read in the service today, depict experiences of Gods presence on a high mountain.      

First it was Moses, meeting God on Sinai. Next the apostle Peter depicted in his 2nd letter the same incident that we have in today’s gospel text. Peter was one of the 3 disciples that Jesus brought up on the holy mountain with him.

We don’t know for sure, but many think that it was on mount Tabor in Galilee that this took place. It is situated in the heart of the flat Jezreel plain, so for that reason it seems higher than it really is.

Or it could have been the much higher Mount Hermon further north, on the border of Syria and Lebanon. It is in that area Peter came with his brave confession six days before this event: You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God (Matt 16:16).

Peter becomes eager and confident in this case, too. So beautiful! He wants it to last long. When he proposes building dwellings, that’s what he is thinking about. He wants to preserve the holy moment. But perhaps this event in reality only lasted for some seconds. Then it was over, as suddenly as it started. God speaks to people in different ways. What we read about in today’s text, is extraordinary.

As an example of the more ordinary, I want to tell a story. Some of you might have heard it before. It’s a story about a man with a very strong faith. The man lived in a house all by himself in a little town by the mouth of a big river. Once it started to rain enormously, and it didn’t stop. The water level rose the whole time. But the man was not afraid at all, because he had such strong faith!

In the local news on the radio, the inhabitants were encouraged to leave their homes and seek shelter in a neighboring town. It was situated at a higher level, and was not threatened by the flood. When the man heard the weather report, he thought to himself, “I won’t leave. God will take care of me!”

The water continued to rise, and a couple of days later, two men came in a boat towards his house, and asked him earnestly to get on board so they could bring him to safety.

“I won’t go,” the man replied. “God will save me!” So the men left, searching for others that needed their help.

The water continued to rise until the man had to climb up onto the roof so that he wouldn’t drown. A helicopter appeared, stopped over the roof and a rescuer shouted: “Grab the rope ladder, and we will hoist you to safety!” The man shouted back: “Don’t worry about me. God will save me.” So the helicopter just had to continue on.

During the night, the water came further up, so the man drowned. When he came to the gates of heaven, he asked to speak with God. His wish came true, and the man ran towards his Creator and said: “God, what’s happening here? I trusted completely in you, that you would save me. I surrendered everything into your hands. So why didn’t you even give me a sign?” God answered, “I surely did. First I sent a weather report. Then a boat, and finally a helicopter!”

Jesus didn’t come to this earth to fulfill our wishes for extraordinary events. He didn’t come to satisfy our curiosity. He doesn’t use miracles and healing in order to remove every doubt we have that God is almighty.

I have now and then thought about what these three, Peter, James and John experienced, and wished that Jesus would show his face to me, too. But it is unhealthy to be so concerned about the extraordinary things that we do not discover God’s presence in the ordinary, in our daily life.

To live with Jesus day by day is more important than being concerned about signs and miracles. God is powerful, and I am convinced that miracles occur also in our time.

That God reveals his glory to humans in different ways. For example through experiences in nature. Have you ever looked carefully at a snowflake and seen how beautiful it is? Through creation we can see God smiling towards us.

God’s holy presence is not unreachable after all. Even in a landscape lacking tall mountains. In our hearts and our thoughts. In our fellowship he is present. My testimony is that it is not least through other people that I have met God’s goodness. I  saw God’s smile in a helping hand as it was needed. A nice meeting with friends. An encouraging remark. A tasty meal. Or a face shining with friendliness. Or simply through a good hand shake.

The most important, though, is what the voice from heaven spoke: This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him! To listen to Jesus. To welcome his word. Nothing reveals God’s glory like that.

If we want to see God clearly, we ought to search for God’s Son. It is in the face of Jesus we can see God. And perhaps you can see God’s glory at the end of the service today, as you hear the words of the blessing: The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

Glory be to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, who was, is, and shall always be one true God from eternity to eternity. (Congregation:) Amen

The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church ·  924 E. 21st St, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2952 ·  (612)874-0716