Second Sight
Sermon
A Clearer Vision
Lenten Midweek Sermons
What was the experience high up on Mount Hermon, which we have come to call the Transfiguration of Jesus? When we modern, technologically-oriented westerners read, we expect to receive objective information that will benefit us and answer questions. We become uncomfortable when what we read raises questions or throws us for a loop.
All the symbolism of inspiration is packed into this short story. A bright light represented God's holiness and his blessing on those whom he had called. It is said of Jesus that "his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white." It calls to mind how Moses' appearance changed when he came down from his encounter with God on Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments in hand. "Moses did not know that his face shone because he had been talking with God. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining and they were afraid to come hear him." That will happen when you are on a mountaintop with God. And, of course, we all remember the great prophet Elijah was caught up into the heights amidst the flashing light of a chariot of fire drawn by fiery horses. Martin Luther King, Jr., testified in his great speech, "I have been to the mountain."
We have also heard before about the bright cloud concealing and yet revealing God to the people of Israel. Sometimes it is "the cloud of unknowing" because the knowledge of God is hid from eyes not ready or willing to see. It resembles the "uncertainty principle." Yet people of faith among the Israelites did follow the pillar of fire by night and the pillar of cloud by day, and that brought them finally through their wilderness.
There is also in this story the familiar "coming down from the mountain." Transfiguration, or as the Greek word in the Bible, "metamorphosis," means change, not as an end in itself, but as a means to propel one forward into a new, a better life. In the case of Moses this meant getting down to business and obeying the new Commandments of God for a better and more orderly life. In the case of Elijah it meant tossing the mantle down to Elisha so that the work could continue. To this day we speak of accepting the mantle of authority or this or that as an obligation, a calling. Jesus refused the luxury of staying in this mountaintop experience in the three booths the disciples offered to construct, a kind of Scout camp away from the city, the pleasures of being out in nature away from the hassles of the masses. "As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, 'Tell no one the vision....' "
What Then Is A Vision?
Some would say that if something is a vision that means it just plain is not true. It did not really happen. It was an illusion (something that deceives by producing a false impression).
The fact of the matter is that there are many kinds of vision. The most elemental vision is physical. "I see a round, red ball six inches in diameter, period." Nothing more and nothing less. As the famous Detective Friday said, "Just give me the facts, ma'am!" This pertains to physical qualities that can be weighed, measured, counted, useful in science for comparing and classifying. Thus objects may be round, square, triangular, and so on.
Another sight deals with a different dimension of experience and meaning. I enjoy seeing my granddaughter swing her arms at random and finally strike the ball so that it goes rolling under the piano bench. We all clap our hands and say what a fine and bright girl she is. It is of little consequence whether the ball is red or blue, large or small. The game of it is the thing we are focusing on. Years later the same girl will be kicking a soccer ball in a high school match; and now it is all much more serious. This is the state championship tournament, and all hinges on her last kick in the final seconds of the game. Will it go through the goal? Hurray! She is not only a fine and bright girl now. She is going to get a big scholarship at her favorite university. Oh, yes, a ball can be seen in many ways.
There is another kind of vision or viewing things that "sees" into the future. Successful Farming tells the following story in its March 1993, issue. Mr. Reeves began farming on a homestead near Garden City, Kansas, in the early 1900s. He saw the potential for a feedlot, which might well have been venturesome compared to neighbors with smaller herds. The story quickly moves on to his grandson, Lee Reeves, who is a visionary of our day. He has seen the potential for recycling that I found exciting. It goes something like this. He now feeds 17,000 cattle at a time. Meanwhile the runoff from the feedlot goes into a lagoon and is pumped back into the fields as fertilizer together with water irrigation. He converts a million bushels of milo a year into two-and-one-half million gallons of ethanol. The production of ethanol results in a large quantity of warm water in which fish thrive; so now he has produced 120,000 pounds of fresh fish for sale. The waste water from the fish is added to the irrigation water and goes back on the fields of corn and other crops; and the recycling starts all over. "Reeves sees a bright future for aquaculture." Ironically, the fish being produced are White Tilapia, the same fish Jesus fed the masses in biblical times. Reeves could not have done this without a vision. This vision includes imagination, creativity, and seeing potential in the future.
Second Sight In The Spiritual Sense
"Where there is no vision, the people perish ..." wrote the author of Proverbs. Another translation interprets it this way: "Where there is no prophecy the people cast off restraint." Here a vision refers to long-range sight and planning, aiming toward a goal. When a nation, or an individual for that matter, heads into the future toward a goal, some restraint is necessary, some self-discipline. The root of the word expressed by perish or casting off restraint means basically "letting go." An analogy would be that of driving horses pulling a carriage. If you let go of the reins the team may run every which way without guidance. They run across the ditch, over rocks at will. You will not reach your destination, if you ever had one. All restraint is cast off.
A people, and individuals who make up that people, need a vision or they wander about aimlessly, often repeating disastrous mistakes from their past history, going in circles. Prophetic persons can see further into the future than most of us; they can point the way. Throughout our Midwest, there were pioneers who had a vision that their district needed an academy, which later grew into a full-fledged college or university. At a Founders' Day banquet reference will be made to the vision of these early leaders in education. They saw a need and had vision of how the need was to be met. Sometimes it was lonely to be the only one in the community with this vision, this sense of fruitful destiny lying in the future, waiting to be realized. Daniel experienced this and reported it in his prophecy:
... I looked up and saw a man clothed in linen, with a belt of gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like beryl, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the roar of a multitude. I, Daniel, alone saw the vision; the people who were with me did not see the vision, though a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled and hid themselves.
-- Daniel 10:6-7
And the messenger in the vision explained that he had come "to help you understand what is to happen to your people at the end of days."
Sometimes, when one has run out of reasons, logical explanations, careful planning, and all the rest, there suddenly dawns upon a person a new insight, a second sight. It may come in an unguarded moment, in a dream, in a vision, or when one is occupied with something totally unrelated. It is an "ah hah!" experience, an inspirational flash that seems to come out of thin air. The Bible is full of these reported experiences. Often this is called a "vision." As in Daniel's case, it is a bit lonely since no one else shares it. It therefore takes a lot of faith to trust it and its message. But we should be open to such inspirational intrusions into our regular life. It may even have been fermenting in our unconscious for some time and then breaks forth at the right time, or as Scripture says, "in the fullness of time."
Do not be discouraged if such a second sight does not come to you. Remember, Daniel was a rare case of prophecy. Jesus took only three out of the twelve to be with him on the mountain. That's only 25 percent. But we should receive it gladly and obediently if it should be our fate to be thus transformed or to see some helpful vision.
On the other hand, we should not be surprised if a vision should suddenly confront us. Some brilliant scientists have made their great breakthrough discoveries quite by accident. While pursuing one question, suddenly an answer to a much different question emerges as if from nowhere. We should also remember that Peter, James, and John were ordinary fishermen by background and trade. They were not noblemen, great generals, high up in government nor in academic circles.
We might be tempted to think that, because we are so ordinary, a life-transforming experience wouldn't possibly happen to us. We could block out the vision with our own arrogance, prejudice, or preconceived ideas, so that no new light could shine in upon our soul. You recall this was not the only vision Peter saw. He saw the sheet of food let down from on high, but unfortunately it was full of what the Hebrew tradition considered "unclean things." The Voice in his vision said, "What God made clean, you must not call profane." He immediately saw the light, had a second sight, saw the Gentiles in a new light because of his life-changing vision. From then on he saw that he must minister to the Gentiles as well as the Jews. It opened up a whole new pathway for the gospel to be spread. Maybe it never would have happened without such a vision. Peter was transformed. He gained much, but also lost something -- his old smug sense of superiority; that was gone forever.
This happens among us today. You may have seen the transformation in the life of someone in your family or at your work or school. Whatever it was, something transformed that person from a pessimist to an optimist, from a self-centered person to an outgoing person, from being selfish and greedy to being generous and caring, from laziness to eager ambition. It may even have struck closer to home, in yourself, and you could mark the time and place of your transfiguration. You have shared the experience with others in all humility, passing it on as a blessing.
What is more, transfiguration, metamorphosis, always happens and will continue to happen whenever and wherever people of faith and expectation allow themselves to be exposed to a vision. I'm not saying we can make it happen by our will and effort. Rather we simply rejoice when Jesus invites us to a mountain and blesses us with a surprising vision -- and then shows us where to go from there. Amen.
All the symbolism of inspiration is packed into this short story. A bright light represented God's holiness and his blessing on those whom he had called. It is said of Jesus that "his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white." It calls to mind how Moses' appearance changed when he came down from his encounter with God on Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments in hand. "Moses did not know that his face shone because he had been talking with God. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining and they were afraid to come hear him." That will happen when you are on a mountaintop with God. And, of course, we all remember the great prophet Elijah was caught up into the heights amidst the flashing light of a chariot of fire drawn by fiery horses. Martin Luther King, Jr., testified in his great speech, "I have been to the mountain."
We have also heard before about the bright cloud concealing and yet revealing God to the people of Israel. Sometimes it is "the cloud of unknowing" because the knowledge of God is hid from eyes not ready or willing to see. It resembles the "uncertainty principle." Yet people of faith among the Israelites did follow the pillar of fire by night and the pillar of cloud by day, and that brought them finally through their wilderness.
There is also in this story the familiar "coming down from the mountain." Transfiguration, or as the Greek word in the Bible, "metamorphosis," means change, not as an end in itself, but as a means to propel one forward into a new, a better life. In the case of Moses this meant getting down to business and obeying the new Commandments of God for a better and more orderly life. In the case of Elijah it meant tossing the mantle down to Elisha so that the work could continue. To this day we speak of accepting the mantle of authority or this or that as an obligation, a calling. Jesus refused the luxury of staying in this mountaintop experience in the three booths the disciples offered to construct, a kind of Scout camp away from the city, the pleasures of being out in nature away from the hassles of the masses. "As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, 'Tell no one the vision....' "
What Then Is A Vision?
Some would say that if something is a vision that means it just plain is not true. It did not really happen. It was an illusion (something that deceives by producing a false impression).
The fact of the matter is that there are many kinds of vision. The most elemental vision is physical. "I see a round, red ball six inches in diameter, period." Nothing more and nothing less. As the famous Detective Friday said, "Just give me the facts, ma'am!" This pertains to physical qualities that can be weighed, measured, counted, useful in science for comparing and classifying. Thus objects may be round, square, triangular, and so on.
Another sight deals with a different dimension of experience and meaning. I enjoy seeing my granddaughter swing her arms at random and finally strike the ball so that it goes rolling under the piano bench. We all clap our hands and say what a fine and bright girl she is. It is of little consequence whether the ball is red or blue, large or small. The game of it is the thing we are focusing on. Years later the same girl will be kicking a soccer ball in a high school match; and now it is all much more serious. This is the state championship tournament, and all hinges on her last kick in the final seconds of the game. Will it go through the goal? Hurray! She is not only a fine and bright girl now. She is going to get a big scholarship at her favorite university. Oh, yes, a ball can be seen in many ways.
There is another kind of vision or viewing things that "sees" into the future. Successful Farming tells the following story in its March 1993, issue. Mr. Reeves began farming on a homestead near Garden City, Kansas, in the early 1900s. He saw the potential for a feedlot, which might well have been venturesome compared to neighbors with smaller herds. The story quickly moves on to his grandson, Lee Reeves, who is a visionary of our day. He has seen the potential for recycling that I found exciting. It goes something like this. He now feeds 17,000 cattle at a time. Meanwhile the runoff from the feedlot goes into a lagoon and is pumped back into the fields as fertilizer together with water irrigation. He converts a million bushels of milo a year into two-and-one-half million gallons of ethanol. The production of ethanol results in a large quantity of warm water in which fish thrive; so now he has produced 120,000 pounds of fresh fish for sale. The waste water from the fish is added to the irrigation water and goes back on the fields of corn and other crops; and the recycling starts all over. "Reeves sees a bright future for aquaculture." Ironically, the fish being produced are White Tilapia, the same fish Jesus fed the masses in biblical times. Reeves could not have done this without a vision. This vision includes imagination, creativity, and seeing potential in the future.
Second Sight In The Spiritual Sense
"Where there is no vision, the people perish ..." wrote the author of Proverbs. Another translation interprets it this way: "Where there is no prophecy the people cast off restraint." Here a vision refers to long-range sight and planning, aiming toward a goal. When a nation, or an individual for that matter, heads into the future toward a goal, some restraint is necessary, some self-discipline. The root of the word expressed by perish or casting off restraint means basically "letting go." An analogy would be that of driving horses pulling a carriage. If you let go of the reins the team may run every which way without guidance. They run across the ditch, over rocks at will. You will not reach your destination, if you ever had one. All restraint is cast off.
A people, and individuals who make up that people, need a vision or they wander about aimlessly, often repeating disastrous mistakes from their past history, going in circles. Prophetic persons can see further into the future than most of us; they can point the way. Throughout our Midwest, there were pioneers who had a vision that their district needed an academy, which later grew into a full-fledged college or university. At a Founders' Day banquet reference will be made to the vision of these early leaders in education. They saw a need and had vision of how the need was to be met. Sometimes it was lonely to be the only one in the community with this vision, this sense of fruitful destiny lying in the future, waiting to be realized. Daniel experienced this and reported it in his prophecy:
... I looked up and saw a man clothed in linen, with a belt of gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like beryl, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the roar of a multitude. I, Daniel, alone saw the vision; the people who were with me did not see the vision, though a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled and hid themselves.
-- Daniel 10:6-7
And the messenger in the vision explained that he had come "to help you understand what is to happen to your people at the end of days."
Sometimes, when one has run out of reasons, logical explanations, careful planning, and all the rest, there suddenly dawns upon a person a new insight, a second sight. It may come in an unguarded moment, in a dream, in a vision, or when one is occupied with something totally unrelated. It is an "ah hah!" experience, an inspirational flash that seems to come out of thin air. The Bible is full of these reported experiences. Often this is called a "vision." As in Daniel's case, it is a bit lonely since no one else shares it. It therefore takes a lot of faith to trust it and its message. But we should be open to such inspirational intrusions into our regular life. It may even have been fermenting in our unconscious for some time and then breaks forth at the right time, or as Scripture says, "in the fullness of time."
Do not be discouraged if such a second sight does not come to you. Remember, Daniel was a rare case of prophecy. Jesus took only three out of the twelve to be with him on the mountain. That's only 25 percent. But we should receive it gladly and obediently if it should be our fate to be thus transformed or to see some helpful vision.
On the other hand, we should not be surprised if a vision should suddenly confront us. Some brilliant scientists have made their great breakthrough discoveries quite by accident. While pursuing one question, suddenly an answer to a much different question emerges as if from nowhere. We should also remember that Peter, James, and John were ordinary fishermen by background and trade. They were not noblemen, great generals, high up in government nor in academic circles.
We might be tempted to think that, because we are so ordinary, a life-transforming experience wouldn't possibly happen to us. We could block out the vision with our own arrogance, prejudice, or preconceived ideas, so that no new light could shine in upon our soul. You recall this was not the only vision Peter saw. He saw the sheet of food let down from on high, but unfortunately it was full of what the Hebrew tradition considered "unclean things." The Voice in his vision said, "What God made clean, you must not call profane." He immediately saw the light, had a second sight, saw the Gentiles in a new light because of his life-changing vision. From then on he saw that he must minister to the Gentiles as well as the Jews. It opened up a whole new pathway for the gospel to be spread. Maybe it never would have happened without such a vision. Peter was transformed. He gained much, but also lost something -- his old smug sense of superiority; that was gone forever.
This happens among us today. You may have seen the transformation in the life of someone in your family or at your work or school. Whatever it was, something transformed that person from a pessimist to an optimist, from a self-centered person to an outgoing person, from being selfish and greedy to being generous and caring, from laziness to eager ambition. It may even have struck closer to home, in yourself, and you could mark the time and place of your transfiguration. You have shared the experience with others in all humility, passing it on as a blessing.
What is more, transfiguration, metamorphosis, always happens and will continue to happen whenever and wherever people of faith and expectation allow themselves to be exposed to a vision. I'm not saying we can make it happen by our will and effort. Rather we simply rejoice when Jesus invites us to a mountain and blesses us with a surprising vision -- and then shows us where to go from there. Amen.
