LAST EPIPHANY - Exodus 24:12-18; Psalm 2; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Matthew 17:1-9 –

3 February 2008 – A sermon given by The Rev. Peter A. Munson for St. Ambrose Episcopal Church, Boulder, Colorado

 

Holy Places and Revelation

 

INTRODUCTION – Churches in Israel

 

When I went to Israel in 1999, one of the things that I discovered was that in just about every place where something significant happened in Jesus’ life and ministry, a church has been built on that spot. Bethlehem? The Church of the Holy Nativity. The feeding of the 5000? The Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes. The mountain where Jesus was transfigured ? (today’s Gospel lesson) Well, it ‘s right on top of the mountain – The Church of the Transfiguration. The wedding in Cana? Church of the _____________ (I don’t remember the name of it!) The sight of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness? There's an old, old monastery there. The Church where Jesus prayed and spent his last night, right before he was arrested? The Church of the Mount of Olives. Where Jesus was buried? Well, there’s some difference of opinion about the exact spot. So you have the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on the one hand, and also the outdoor chapel by the Garden Tomb. The place where Jesus ascended into heaven? The Church of the Ascension, naturally. Some of these churches, or at least their original foundations, go way, way back – even as far back as the fourth century. With rare exceptions, a church stands now on each of these holy sites. In fact, the churches were originally built where they were, in large part, because Christians wanted to worship where a holy encounter had happened.

 

When Peter and James and John went up on the high mountain with Jesus, and he was suddenly transfigured before them, and then - just as suddenly - they all had a vision of Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus, Peter said, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." (Matthew 17:4) We often think of this as an impulsive, sort of mumbling and bumbling offer from Peter - the guy who was often thinking out loud, and sometimes putting his foot in his mouth. On the other hand, maybe his suggestion demonstrates that long before the first church was ever built in Israel, there has been this deep desire in man to mark the spot, to designate that place which we find to be holy, even to invite God to dwell there. In Jewish history, think of the first temple, built by Solomon, and before that, the Tent of Meeting. What was the idea? For the faithful to have a place to worship God? Yes, certainly. But not only that. The idea also was for God to have a dwelling place, to have a most holy place where you knew that God was present, where God would reside. Wouldn't you go there? Wouldn't you even make a long pilgrimmage to that place, at least once a year, if you knew that God was there?

 

There are all sorts of holy places in the Middle East. Mt. Sinai comes to mind. Jerusalem, and the Temple Mount, as I've just mentioned. Three great faiths see this city and this particular site as holy. The Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River. For the Muslims, of course, there is Mecca, the birthplace of Muhammed, and Medina, the site of Muhammed's tomb. Every culture, and especially every faith, has its holy places.

 

HOLY PLACES

 

What makes a place holy? And what have been some of the holy places in your life? How did you determine it was a holy place? (wait for answers)

 

A holy place is a place where God shows up, a place where you feel the presence of the Divine.

 

An old friend of mine, Don Hickman, sent me a CD a while back. The CD was by a man named Peter Mayer, and before I got the CD, I'd never heard of him. I figure he's more known by Minnesotans. Anyway, I popped the CD into my car stereo one day, and before long, I was smiling and singing along with the words. You see, Don knows what sort of music that I like. Peter Mayer is a storyteller. There are a number of songs on this CD - Million Year Mind - that I like. One in particular begins like this:

 

When I was a boy, each week

On Sunday, we would go to church

And pay attention to the priest

He would read the holy word

And consecrate the holy bread

And everyone would kneel and bow

Today the only difference is

Everything is holy now

Everything, everything

Everything is holy now

                              "Holy Now", by Peter Mayer

 

The theme of the song is that, as a child, Peter Mayer thought, or was taught, that only a few things were holy. Now, as an adult, he realizes that holiness can happen anywhere, any time. He sees the holy in a questioning child's face, in the new morning, in the sight and song of a red-winged bird, in life itself. Mr. Mayer is right, you know. Any moment has the potential to be a holy moment, because God is with us, and at any moment, we might wake up and notice the presence of God with us.

 

Is St. Ambrose a holy place? Just because you erect a building and put a cross on top of it, those outward things - in and of themselves - don't make a place holy. But if you invite God into the place, and begin to open your eyes and look around, you will see - before very long at all - that the place becomes a holy place, because it is a place where people experience the presence of the Divine.

 

It might be in a small group of us gathered around the altar or in one of the classrooms praying.

 

It might be in the faces and questions and comments of the children during Sunday School, or during one of the children's sermons.

 

It might be in a person talking openly and honestly about a challenge or a joy in his or her life, and others simply listening, understanding, relating, and offering a hug, or a prayer, or a knowing smile.

 

It might be in the middle of a hymn or anthem or praise song, as you let the music take a hold of you and wash over you and in you and through you.

 

It might be as you stand or kneel at the altar, and take the bread, or partake of the wine, and you look around and see all the different kinds of folks around you - different ages, different professions, different personalities, different journeys to get where we are today, some alive and right there next to you and quite visible, some still present with us although they have died - and you know that, despite all our differences, we are one.

 

Yes, this is a holy place, because suddenly - like James and John and Peter - we are aware of God being in the midst of us.

 

God is not limited, of course, to hanging out in a church or a synagogue or a mosque.

 

And so it is that you and I can have holy moments in our cars - listening to music, paying attention to the scenery outside the car windows, or having a conversation with a friend or a member of the family. We can certainly have holy moments out in nature. We can have them in any room of our homes, or out in the street. We can have them as we stop to pray or read Scripture, no matter where we are. And we can have them as we cook and serve food to our families, or to folks at the Homeless Shelter. We can participate in a holy moment when we attend a baptism, a wedding, a confirmation, or a funeral, a graduation, a bar mitzvah or a bat mitzvah.

 

Suddenly, in that moment, we know a peace that we didn't know before. We have a clarity that we didn't have before. We feel strengthened or healed or touched by the Divine in a new way, and we know that we are not the same.

 

THE OPPORTUNITIES OF LENT

 

We are about to start another Lent together. It is a time for reflection and self-examination. It is time to take a look within, and take stock of where we are in our spiritual walk with Christ. It is also a time to be on the lookout for holy places and holy moments. As we reflect on not only our own relationship with God, but as we walk once more the Way of the Cross - and reflect on Jesus' life and teachings, his arrest, his sufferings, and his death - it is a time to be on the lookout for God, the Holy One. I suppose it is a truism, but we cannot be in a holy place or have a holy moment without the Holy One.

 

The Holy One comes into our midst. The Divine comes to be with us. We might think of the presence sometimes as masculine, sometimes a feminine, but it is always a holy presence, a wholly-other, different-from-us kind of presence. And yet, this Holy One wants to keep company with us! May we be paying attention, whether we are here at church, out and about in the world - working, playing, doing errands, being with others - or in our own homes. Any moment can be a sacrament. There can be a revelation of God at any time. There just has to be someone who will notice, and take in the moment, and be grateful. May that someone be you. May that someone be me. May we, as a community, be mindful of the presence of God. And may we welcome the Holy One, and be exceedingly grateful.