From the Cloud

Today is the last Sunday in the season of Epiphany.  This week we shall observe Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.  It is a time of transition, a time for progressing from the darkest and coldest days of winter into the longer and brighter days of Spring.  It is a transition from the earlier joys of Christmas and the stories of Jesus’ ministry and his transfiguration on the top of a mountain to the valley of experiencing forty days in the wilderness. Jesus descended from the mountain to encounter temptations and later, arrest, trial, and death.  You and I are invited to enter into the forty days of the wilderness of our lives and with penitent hearts to meditate and reflect on God’s holy Word.

The Biblical story of Jesus on a mountaintop, and the vision of his disciples seeing him with Moses and Elijah on either side while being overshadowed by a cloud is a story of transition.  Moses represents the law, Elijah the prophets, and Jesus is now the one transfigured, changed as the Messiah, the anointed one of God.  “From the cloud a voice said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!’”

Being in a cloud is sometimes an awesome and at other times an anxious experience.  There are times when in an airplane flying from place to place you can look out the window and see the clouds below.  Perhaps they are bright white clouds seemingly sitting there in the light of the sun, or they are dark and stormy clouds signaling bad weather.  There can be times when landing through stormy clouds seemingly takes forever.  There might even be flashes of lightening visible through the clouds before the plane descends below them so you can see the ground below.  Anxiety then subsides and soon you are safely on the ground.

Our readings from the Book of Exodus and the Gospel of Matthew are like that.  “Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the cloud. The appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.  Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain.  Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.”

Jesus’ experience of going up a high mountain puts him within the historical setting of Moses and Elijah.  He took Peter and James and his brother John with him.  While on the top of the mountain “his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.  Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘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.’  While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!’"

Barbara Brown Taylor, an Episcopal Priest and writer says, “The story that we have just heard … is the luminous story of a mystical encounter, not only between God and God's Beloved but also between those at the center of the story and those who watch.  Those at the center are Jesus, Moses and Elijah.  Those who watch are Peter, James and John.  And then, of course, there are all of us watching all of them, most of us laboring under the illusion that our job is to figure out what the story means.”

Peter, in writing a letter told about this experience and what it meant for him. “We have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”   

Barbara Brown Taylor writes that Peter knew what he was seeing “when Jesus lit up right in front of him… The Bible calls it ‘God's glory’--the shining cloud that is the sure sign of God's capital P Presence…. God's glory looks like… a big bright cloud--dark and dazzling at the same time--an envelope for the Divine Presence that would blow people away if they looked upon it directly.” 

Peter said in explaining his experience, “You must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”  His experience of seeing the cloud was beyond any rational explanation.  He was so moved by the Holy Spirit that he only knew what he had seen; God was right there.

This week we move from the mountaintop of God’s appearance to the disciples and the transfiguration of Jesus as the anointed Messiah to the valley and earthly experience of Ash Wednesday and Lent.

Are we prepared to enter into the Lenten wilderness for the coming forty days?  The Good News of Lent is that we are afforded time to turn away from all the frenzied routines of our lives and enter into a time of reflection and meditation. It is a time to focus on what it means to be in relationship to God who was present in the cloud.  It is a time to hear and to listen to God’s Holy Word.

At the conclusion of her commentary Barbara Brown Taylor writes, “Today you have heard a story [that] tells you that no one has to go up the mountain alone.  It tells you that sometimes things get really scary before they get holy.  Above all, it tells you that there is someone standing in the center of the cloud with you, shining so brightly that you may never be able to wrap your mind around him, but who is worth listening to all the same--because he is God's beloved, and you are his, and whatever comes next, you are up to it.”  

Good friends, I pray that the knowledge of God’s presence and God’s love will remain with you as you come down from your mountaintop experiences and enter into the valley of Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent.  Amen.