Unexplainable Things
2/11/24 ~ St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Encinitas, CA
Epiphany-Last (B): 2 Kings 2:1-12; Psalm 50:1-6; 2 Corinthians 4:3-6; Mark 9:2-9
A couple of weeks ago, I was sharing a story with a parishioner about some amazing coincidences, or what we might call “Divine interventions.” As I finished my story, she nodded her head, and said, “Hmm. It’s good that we can’t explain some things.”
We didn’t have time for me to ask, but I would’ve liked to have heard more about what she meant. So, I kept wondering about her comment, and, then, I read this morning’s passage from 2nd Corinthians. I thought, “Wow! The Apostle Paul doesn’t use the words: ‘It’s good that we can’t explain some things,’” but I think he’s, essentially, alluding to the same thing. He says the “gospel is veiled.” The phrase that helps us understand his point better comes a little further into the reading. He continues, “For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord.”
What I think both this parishioner and Paul are getting at is our tendency to explain away mystery and Divine intervention. Paul talks about this from his position of trying to convince the Corinthians to pay better attention to God’s work in the world, and not claim that it is their accomplishment. He says those who don’t acknowledge it’s actually God at work have minds that are “blinded”.
Similarly, I think the parishioner was suggesting that when we can explain something, we put it over here in the scientifically proven category, deciding it no longer has anything to do with God. But when it’s unexplainable—someone showing up in a place where they were least expected, but most needed, for instance—we’re more likely to put that over here, labeling it a “God moment.” All three of our readings this morning—2nd Kings, 2nd Corinthians, and Mark—are talking about God moments—things we can’t explain. Or to use a term that’s a bit more illusive, these scripture passages are about the ways God is “revealed” to us.
I came across a quote recently that explained while we learn a lot about who God and Jesus are through our scriptures, it is through God’s ongoing revelation to us, that our concept of God’s nature becomes more fully developed. I’ll say more about God’s ongoing revelation in a moment.
First, I want to remind us that as we use scripture as our starting point, we have to be careful not to expect the Bible to explain the nature of God in a literal manner. As Episcopalians, we believe it’s important to consider the genre of the writing, the historical and cultural context of the passage, and the intended audience for that particular book or letter. For instance, if we take literal the Hebrew Scriptures (usually referred to as the “Old Testament”), we might be left with the idea that God is jealous, vindictive and punitive. Put in context, however, all of scripture points to the true nature of God, which is generous, loving and compassionate.
So, back to the idea that the God’s nature continues to be revealed to us in our daily lives. In contrast, we often think of revelation as something that only happened in Biblical times to Biblical people—especially when we read stories like these mountain top experiences with Elisha and Elijah, and then with Jesus and the disciples, who happen to have a Moses and Elijah sighting. These images give us the idea that revelation is something that only occurs in the presence of prophets, disciples, Pharisees and Sadducees.
But, in fact, there are still prophets today speaking truth on behalf of the oppressed. There are still disciples trying to live into Jesus’s example—we are among them. Though we don’t use titles like Pharisees and Sadducees, there are also still religious and political leaders around us. And, just like way back then, some of those folks lead us closer to God, while there are some who are blinded by thinking it’s them at work in the world instead of God.
What I love about our Gospel reading is that we can see ourselves in Peter. There he is with Jesus and the other disciples, doing his best to make sense of the unexplainable. In his effort to grab hold of this particular revelation of who Jesus is, Peter wants to memorialize the moment by building a shrine. But this is a God moment. It can’t be explained, and it won’t last forever—even if a shrine is built.
The God moments must be savored. They are timeless in the sense that they are beyond time. And as such, even though our time here on earth is limited—because we are mortal bodies, in a mortal existence—our participation in these God moments also become timeless. In those God moments, as the Apostle Paul explained, the veil is lifted, and we realize we aren’t in control. We can’t accomplish much without God. God is our source and our center.
And through those moments—as that quote I mentioned earlier indicated—we better understand the true nature of God. We remember, for example, that we aren’t alone in our struggle as a stranger offers us a hug, simply because they noticed we were hurting. By paying attention to how God is being revealed on a daily basis, we see that God’s true nature is generous, loving and compassionate.
In the passage from 2nd Corinthians, Paul goes on to proclaim that, though it is God who makes light shine out of darkness, we are responsible for sharing that light. As God’s love and light is shone into our hearts, we, in turn, shine God’s love and light into those around us. Because, here’s the other part revealed to us through scripture: we were created in God’s image. Which, of course, means our true nature—like God’s—is to be generous, loving and compassionate.
We aren’t developing these traits through our hard work, we are working to let God reveal who we really are as we strip away all that we’re not. Our Collect of the Day—prayed at the beginning of worship—boils down that concept. We prayed that we would “be changed into Christ’s likeness.” But, as I said, it’s not so much about learning to be more Christ-like, it’s about undoing all the stuff we learned over the years that has moved us from our true nature.
There are a couple of other reminders in our readings this morning. One is that no matter what we do, we are God’s beloved. We are created in God’s image—even in our feeble attempts to explain away the God moments—we are still God’s beloved.
The other reminder is that sometimes we need a double portion of help. In 2nd Kings, as Elisha says goodbye to his mentor Elijah, he is aware of all that his wonderful teacher has meant to him. At first, Elisha refuses to say goodbye, but when Elijah finally convinces him that the end has come, he asks for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. He has seen the true nature of God revealed in his teacher, and he knows he’s going to need a lot of help to let God’s generosity, love and compassion be revealed through himself.
That reminds me of a prayer I may have shared with you before. It goes like this:
Dear Lord, so far I've done all right. I haven't gossiped, haven't lost my temper, haven't been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or overindulgent. I'm really glad about that. But in a few minutes, God, I'm going to get out of bed. And from then on, I'm going to need a lot more help.
So take heart, faithful people of God, it is good that some things can’t be explained. As we prepare to enter into the holy time of Lent, and as we consider how we are each having God revealed to us, and how we are revealing God to others, be gentle with yourselves. Ultimately, remembering, you were created in God’s image, and you are God’s beloved. Always.
-AMEN
