The Rev. Virginia W. Nagel
Ephphatha Parish of the Deaf
Episcopal Diocese of Central NY
Today is the last Sunday after Epiphany, the last Sunday in Epiphanytide for this year. We will not be seeing green altar hangings and vestments again until after Pentecost. At the end of the service today, we will, in accordance with tradition, "bury the alleluia," by adding two or three "alleluias" to the dismissal before the blessing. We will not hear "alleluia" again until the great Vigil of Easter. The church is reminding us that it's time to stop relaxing in the glory of Christ's coming and growing-up years, to stop enjoying the Epiphany-tide revelations of God's power and glory as shown by Jesus, and roll up our sleeves and get ready for the serious work of Lent.
One problem with today's Bible readings is that they are all so very familiar to us. Because we know them well, we tend not to pay attention to the readings themselves so much. Instead, we are likely to accept the mood that goes with the readings, and not think much about what they mean. So, today, we need to look at meanings, not just feelings. We need to look at realities, not just ambience or atmosphere.
The reading from Exodus tells us how Moses was changed by his long conversation with God on Mount Sinai. Of course, it was not just that 40-day-long conversation that changed him. It was also the years of listening to God, trying to obey God, and accepting all the hardships and hatred that goes with trying to follow the Lord. From the time Moses saw the burning bush and learned that he was supposed to lead the Jewish people out of Egypt, he faced many difficult times. The people didn't want to follow him at first. He was known to be a murderer, with arrest hanging over his head if he went back to Egypt. The people had been in Egypt so long that they'd forgotten God; they had begun worshiping the Egyptian gods. And even though they were slaves there, they had become accustomed to the easier life they had living in a civilized country. When Moses finally led them into the desert, they complained about one thing after another: no food, and then when God provided food, it wasn't the kind they were used to; no water, and when God provided water, it didn't taste good; the long march through the desert, the need to follow God's rules on the way, the enemy nations that tried to fight them off so they would have to go a longer way around. Several times, Moses asked God to excuse him from this job of leading the people. He couldn't take the complaints and arguing any more. And he always wound up agreeing to go on, and praying for the same people that were making so much trouble for him.
And then he went up on Mount Sinai to receive the Law from God, the Ten Commandments we call them. And he came down to find that they were worshiping a golden calf! You really couldn't blame the poor man for wanting to wash his hands of the whole thing. But he endured. And as a reward for allowing himself to be used by God, over and over again, as an epiphany for the people, so that they could learn to know God, he finally was given the gift we read about today: his face glowed with God's love and peace and blessing. Glowed so much that he had to wear a veil so he wouldn't blind people. Moses was, indeed, an epiphany, over and over again...over his own protests, remember; he hadn't wanted the job in the first place, but he did his best, although it was much harder than he had thought it would be, that day when God spoke to him from out of the burning bush. Even with this glorious reward, we need to remember that Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land. He only got to look at it from a mountain outside its borders, just before he died.
Paul, in his letter to the church in Corinth, tells us what love looks like, and it has nothing to do with Valentine's day or cupids, hearts and roses. Love is willing to suffer for the one who is loved. Love is willing to take the blame, accept the lower place, be yelled at, criticized and snubbed. Love is willing to take out the garbage, change the diapers and clean the basement or garage. Love is willing to drive the kids to ballet class and band practice and the soccer game, instead of taking a well-earned nap. Love gives itself up, over and over again. It is actually a marriage of two well-known Bible verses: You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind and all your strength, and you must love your neighbor the same as you love yourself. And, Whatever you do the
least important of my people, you do to me, Jesus. And that is how we are to show ourselves to be epiphanies of God in this world we live in.
Finally we have the story of Jesus' transfiguration on the mountain, Mount Tabor. He met with Moses there, and also with Elijah, two people who had also talked with God on mountaintops, and who had in their lives been epiphanies of God for the people to see and learn from. Jesus knew that he needed encouragement and support. He knew that when he came down from the mountain, he would have to go to Jerusalem and eventually be arrested, tortured and crucified. That crucifixion and his rising from the tomb on Easter Day would be the greatest epiphany ever, the greatest possible proclamation of God's power. But he knew he needed strength and support to do this terribly hard thing. And so, on the mountain, he again showed forth God's power. He became the most glorious living epiphany that could possibly be. It was so powerful an epiphany that it knocked his disciples unconscious! And then he went down to Jerusalem...knowing, as many of us have learned, that the deepest spiritual contentment and peace and the most powerful epiphany we can show to others is almost always the beginning of a time of terrible temptation, pain and "dark night of the soul." We, like Jesus, need the strength of God's glory to help us through the hard times, whether they are times of war, the death of someone we love, or disgrace or suffering of whatever kind we are called upon to endure.
God grant us the privilege of being epiphanies of his love and power. And God grant us the strength to keep on believing and enduring, when we go down the mountain into the realities of life. Amen.
