19^th February 2013

Letter to Tom No 1

Dear Brother Tom,
I am coming to understand my problem. I seem to think in a clearer way if I write things but I'm not good at typing. This may not seem like a problem but it is because I know even when I get said what I want to say it is near impossible to read everything that crosses one's path. In short, I understand if you are delayed or put this letter to one side for a while. In fact this could turn out to be the first of a short series of letters that gather a few devotion thoughts together.

The author of the daily notes we are using at present has recently provoked some fresh thoughts and for two reasons I need to reflect on them a little more.

Firstly, I am preparing a sermon on Luke's account of the Transfiguration, a theme I have only briefly looked at previously. (Luke 9, 28-36)
Secondly, I believe in the spirit of prophecy and that God is not silent. God still interacts and speaks to us through the instruments of His choice if we are prepared to wait and to recognise the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

My devotional aid says we need to begin the year by claiming a new vision of God because it is a right perspective on God that results in a right perspective on everything else. In other words we will not see life clearly if our consciousness of God is blurred or unclear. If we dare to honour God as Sovereign over all of life, this seems to make sense to me but this is not an easy quest today. So much of our thinking and the corporate mind of the church has been influenced by what might be described as "a closed view of the universe." By this I mean the church finds it difficult to know God because it is locked into a materialism that only believes in what it can see and touch.

Paul writes that what can be known about God is plain. God's invisible, eternal power and Divine nature is currently displayed and can already be seen but people don't see it. They don't focus or see it because their minds are darkened. Rom 1.20-21. Even those today who are part of God's kingdom have a limited perception and vision because they see in part, in a mirror dimly. 1 Cor: 13:12.

While quantum physics comes close to confirming the possibility of the existence of other realities beyond our current consciousness and ontological experience it seems clear that any comprehension of theophanies, of heavenly visions and voices requires the granting of a special gift, a direct God-given revelation that breaks through our limitations.

In the Transfiguration Peter, James and John were given eyes to see the glory of the kingdom that is usually hidden. Vernon McGee says the glory of the transfiguration does not set forth the deity of Christ so much as the humanity of Christ. As Jesus the man was transfigured so it anticipates the transfiguration of our own humanity. It is clear that this special experience was entrusted to Jesus most intimate friends before the trauma of the cross as a profound reassurance. Tom it seems that this amazing experience of God's kingdom being so close and present continued to live on throughout Peter's life.11 Peter 1:16-18.

I conclude that the intention of this unusual event is also meant to reach beyond the disciples to personally reassure us at this present time, to heighten our awareness of the closeness of the unseen kingdom. This desirable, fulfilling splendour that unites the past and present and that encompasses all those faithful who have gone before is among us now.

There are other recorded stories.

Moses encounter with God when he was given the law.
Isaiah's vision of the majesty of the Lord transformed their lives, stayed by them and shaped their entire ministries.
Paul's conversion experience on the Damascus road,
The Emmaus meal and the post resurrection appearances and
John's special written Revelation, all witness to profound experiences that changed the very being of people's lives.

These dramatic stories and windows into mysteries we find difficult to comprehend involve both personal and corporate encounters that seem strange because they transcend our every day experience of life. Yet beyond mere fantasy there is often an authentic feel to these texts.

Some scholars and academics who prefer to limit truth to the rational cognitive mind seem uncomfortable, even offended by such accounts so they tend to play down the significance of these accounts and supply natural explanations and point to the unreliable nature of subjective experiences.

Luther once said to Erasmus, "Your thoughts of God are too human." In his introduction to a Commentary on the book of Revelation Rev Geoffrey Bingham writes, "There has to be humility of hearing and expounding. We must be aware of trying to interpret prophecy rather than trying to hear it. Prophecy is something we allow to soak into us rather than seek to make intelligible. We must come under prophecy rather than bring it under the canon of our minds.-it will bring its own message."

It has been said that we need to know how to glance at things around us but how to gaze at the glory and majesty of Father God.

Tom all of this makes me think that just as Jesus faced the realities and pain of his suffering in Gethsemane, so it takes a good deal of courage to be occupied with the harsh realities that face us on the journey in this life, yet we need not allow the stresses of time to loom larger in our gaze than the things of eternity.

Selwyn Hughes says, "Isaiah applied the truth of the majesty of God which he learned in the vision in the temple to the lives of the disillusioned and downcast Israelites. He put the question, "Who has understood the mind of the Lord or who instructed him as his counsellor? Put the mistake right says Isaiah, learn to acknowledge the full majesty and greatness of God."

Hughes concludes that the need to wait upon the Lord in contemplation of his majesty is one of our greatest needs in the church at this present time. For it is here that our strength can be renewed and we soar on wings like eagles. Isaiah:40.

Yours on the journey

Letter to Tom No 2

Dear brother Tom,

Some days have past since writing about that strange mountain top experience of the transfiguration recorded in Luke 9, 28-36. I have now prepared my sermon for the small congregation at Emerald, a place as pretty as its name, tucked away in the Dandenong Ranges. When it came to unpacking the passage I was a little overwhelmed and found the story so rich that I could only manage to cover two major points in the course of my message so I am glad of the opportunity to share more.
My last letter covered thoughts about God's self-revelation, our perceptions and the importance of regularly gazing on the splendour and mystery of God rather than catching the glimpse that comes with trying to work God out. In writing these few lines to you now I want to reflect on the events of the transfiguration itself.

What happened is told in a detailed, but natural sort of way that escapes the characteristics of a fairy tale or a pagan mythological story. Its historicity is supported by the fact that it appears in Matthew, Mark and Luke, three of the four gospels. We know the event took place in Caesarea Phillipi and in terms of timing we know that it took place six to eight days after Peter had rebuked Jesus. Matt.16:13, 17.1
In Matthew and Mark's gospel the key word "transfigured" in the Greek is "metamorphoom"---metamorphosis in English. This is an interesting word picture in itself but it is thought that Luke deliberately avoided using the word lest it suggested a similarity to a pagan god. As if the happening was beyond human explanation the Gospel writers expose us to the impact of the eyewitness account without explanation or interpretation. I'm not sure if you can relate to this but I have often found that when I am preoccupied or confused by my present circumstances it helps to step back to view the big picture and I think it helps to do that here.

In the context of the big picture Luke 9:18-20 tells us that the disciples had actually come to the conclusion that Jesus really was the special Messiah!!. It is clear that this marked the turning point in Jesus ministry. ("From that time on Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering" Matthew 17:21) Aware of the approaching trauma, Jesus chose to spend less time teaching the crowds and more time training the disciples. However, as Jesus did this, Peter rebuked him and rejected any thought of future suffering. Jesus insisted that the future would mean taking up a cross and then concluded with these significant words, "There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God." Luke 9:27.

Tom I have concluded that this hint of the special revelation about to take place means the transfiguration is no co-incidence that just happens. It has meaning and makes sense as part of a wider scheme of events taking place. A few days later Jesus arranged a "prayer retreat" for Peter, James and John and they are exposed to an experience of maximum impact that would be indelibly printed on their minds. The fatigued disciples were, "weighed down with sleep." (a predominant apostolic posture) While Jesus was praying his face and appearance altered, he glistened in a penetrating white glow. One translator suggests it was "a dazzling white, flashing with the brilliance of lightning."!!!

The first part of the revelation seems to focus more on Jesus need to converse with Moses and Elijah about his approaching departure and death than it does on any intention to convince the disciples of the meaning of his suffering. Jesus shared an open relationship with the Father in prayer but there was no human friend who understood what the cross was about. Perhaps in the face of hardship and the mysterious link between suffering and glory this suggests Tom that Jesus was strengthened/encouraged by the communion of saints. Perhaps he was encouraged to grasp the pain and to anticipate the glory that was ahead. I suspect that from time to time we need a similar encouragement.

Peter was certainly not a "fast-track" learner because we are told he missed the conversation about Jesus suffering, never the less the disciples had a limited understanding of what was happening. Peter knew it was a good and desirable place to be, an important occasion, so contradicting the importance of Jesus "departure," Peter proposed a distraction that would prolong the present moment. One commentator suggests that Peter's proposal to build three booths and to make everyone comfortable was, "again an attempt to influence the Saviour not to choose the way of suffering but to continue to live in the Divine glory." Geldenhuys. This judgement of Peter probably comes close to our own natural struggle, our reluctance to accept hardship and grief, our preference for denial, and our search for a way out.

The appearance of the Shekina cloud that marked the Holy presence of God and the sound of the voice, "This is my son, my chosen, listen to him." came as another terrifying link to the happenings of the Old Testament. This brief, specific direction, addressed the hesitating reluctance and slow response of the disciples to stick with Jesus. At the beginning of Jesus ministry, during his baptism, there had been a moment when the veil of the present had been stripped away to reveal who he really was. Now at the end of his earthly ministry as Jesus is about to lay aside his Divine glory to suffer death, (Phil 2:7) this glimpse of the glory to come is confirmation of Jesus authority that calls his closest friends to listen to Him.

Mark's account tells us that after it was all over the disciples found Jesus alone. "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." Mark 9: 9.
Tom, it seems to me that most of what the disciples experienced still remains as a hidden mystery. Our lives are lived in what could be described as the present, unchanged valley where dramatic, revelations are few but we can know that we, ourselves, have been changed. I hope to take up this part of the story up next time. Just as the disciples discovered Jesus was still with them as they walked down the mountain so we can be sure of his company in the present moment and like those who have gone before we are called to behold his glory until his Kingdom comes in all its fullness.

Your's on the journey,

Letter to Tom No 3

Before the transfiguration took place Jesus had said that some would see the Kingdom of God. Last letter I recounted the privilege of that special preview that came to Peter, James, and John. I also mentioned how I was preparing a sermon for Emerald. I can now report that the service went well. After unpacking some of the things I have been writing to you about we concluded with Communion and in a special way I was conscious of the significance of the timeless Table, of being united with the Church Triumphant and all the saints who had gone before.
In talking with a colleague afterwards he pointed out that John's Gospel does not record the story of the transfiguration because it is the theme of that entire gospel. It records that the first sign in Cana of Galilee revealed Jesus glory and his disciples believed in him. John described their experience, "We have seen his glory as of the Fathers only son, full of grace and truth." (John I:14) During the transfiguration on the mountain Matthew records that, "Jesus appearance was changed." Matt 17:2. As God changed Jesus appearance and changed the disciples in the process of beholding Him, I conclude Tom that God invites us to gaze upon Jesus so that He can also change us. This change may not be a dramatic but when we enter God's Kingdom a clear change begins as we step from death into a new life.
The arresting truth and beautiful thing about the transfiguration is that it is not just about what happened to Jesus on that mountain but it is also about us. Because Jesus shared our humanity his transfiguration is a sign that anticipates the transformation of our humanity. It embraces our human destiny. Isn't it amazing that the reign of God's Kingdom predicted in the Old Testament was centred on Jesus and that in a dynamic way he has entered human history to defeat the powers of darkness and death to begin a redemptive process in people like you and me!!
Now I know this sounds too good to be true but we may need to adjust our expectations. In the main, rather than a mountain top experience, God's Kingdom still takes a hidden form, and it works quietly among people. It comes enlightening and persuading rather than in overwhelming power. It must be accepted to be experienced, even as ground must be receptive to receive a seed. Though it's present manifestation is small and insignificant (a mustard seed) it continues to work and will one day fill the whole world. (like leaven) What I am saying here and insisting on is that the glory of God that appears in Christ and also touches us regardless of how pale it is, is a manifestation of the Spirit given to each of us. (1 Cor 12:7)
Paul says it is as if we have this treasure and priceless pearl is in a fragile clay jar.-"our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day". (2 Cor 4:16)

Paul Tournier who became a psychiatrist after recognising many of his patients needed more than drugs or surgery, shared a letter from a friend who had just lost his wife after fifty one years of happy married life. "My present experience," he writes " is that eternal life does not begin after death but that we start living it now; only it is masked by our daily cares and it is only on contact with death perhaps that we discover it." Tournier concludes, " It is the personal bond with God established by faith which transfigures old age. He who has one foot in the infinite can accept his finiteness." We are not talking about being glorified here at the end of life but the implantation of Christ's likeness in us now.
Unlike Moses who needed to cover his face after speaking with God Paul writes, "We all show the Lord's glory and we are being changed to be like him. This change in us brings even greater glory which comes from the Lord who is Spirit".(2 Cor3:18) In his book "Reflected Glory" Thomas Smail says, we can learn about the Christian experience by parsing the verb Metamor-phoumetha (we are being changed)
(1) It is present continuous tense. This is a present and progressive being conformed to Christ in which here and now many degrees of his glory appear in us, a ceaseless, progressive reflection of the Lord. God has not given up on us he is in the business of changing our form of life, and our personalities.
(2) The verb is in the passive mood. This is not something we do it is done to us. Lucado says, Our goal is not to make our faces or lives radiant. "Our goal is simply to stand before God with a prepared and willing heart and then let God do His work. And He does.- He mops away the perspiration. Shadows of shame and doubt become portraits of grace and trust. He relaxes clenched jaws and soothes furrowed brows. His touch can remove the bags of exhaustion from beneath the eyes and turn tears of despair into tears of peace".
Tom, I find this encouraging and I hope you are encouraged too to know that each day God is at work making the invisible Kingdom visible through ordinary people like you and me.

Yours on the Journey,