The Transfiguring Effect Of Silence
Sermon
Some years ago I remember talking with a teacher who was responsible for religious education throughout the primary schools of North Norfolk. Part of her job entailed training other teachers, and she'd made a video of good religious education practices in schools.
Part of that video remains with me to this day. It showed a group of primary age children sitting on the floor around a candle, meditating. Afterwards some of the children spoke about their experiences. It was very moving, and it was clear that prayer in those circumstances had been very real to those children.
When I commented on this, the teacher said they'd had to stop that type of meditation because there had been complaints from parents. The children loved it, but when they told their parents at home, some of those parents had been terrified. It does seem that for some people, reaching the deep inner recesses of being through meditation is somehow akin to the supernatural or the occult, and therefore dangerous.
Perhaps part of the problem is that visionary people very often seem to fall into trouble. Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed by the Germans during the Second World War. Martin Luther King was assassinated.
Visions can be immensely powerful experiences, life-changing experiences, and as such are perhaps rightly feared. Anyone who learns to touch their own innermost being might well find that to be a life-changing experience.
There is no doubt that Peter and James and John were deeply shaken by their vision on the mountain. Conditions were exactly right for a vision. The mountain was high so they were inevitably tired after their climb, and perhaps the air was quite thin. There was something special about the atmosphere, just the three of them especially chosen to be alone with Jesus.
Perhaps all those things enabled them to experience a state of altered consciousness. The interesting thing is that they all experienced the same vision. Visions are usually personal to individuals, so there must have been something very special indeed about this particular vision.
Everything spoke of God. Jesus' face shining like the sun, the radiance of the garments, the presence of Moses and Elijah representing the law and the prophets, the voice and the bright cloud signifying the presence of God. Way back at the beginning of the Old Testament story, when the ancient Israelites were wandering in the wilderness, God led them during the day by a bright cloud. So this experience of transfiguration linked right back through Jewish history to the very beginning.
And what was the reaction of the three that experienced it? They were terrified! Peter tried to bring it all down to earth by offering to build three shelters. Bringing an experience down to earth, removing the mystical side, does seem to make the experience more manageable. We humans are in control of earth-bound experiences, but we are never in control of mystical experiences. They are under the control of God.
Perhaps part of the fear is the lack of control, and perhaps also the uneasy feeling that these experiences may not be from God, but from some evil source. There seems to be a feeling that the depths of being hold unimaginable horrors, horrors which might escape to the surface if space is allowed, and therefore it's much better to ignore those depths, to pretend they don't exist.
One-way of pretending they don't exist is to tie them very firmly to earth by some means such as building three shelters.
The voice from the cloud, God's voice, reiterated the proclamation heard at Jesus' baptism, "This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him." It's scary hearing God's voice, but without the space and the silence it's practically impossible to hear him or to listen to Jesus.
The trouble is, those who hear God's voice or see his visions will never be the same again. Once you know yourself to have been touched by God, it's very difficult to look back. You lose your old life and your old self. And God sometimes asks difficult and dangerous things from those he touches - Joan of Arc, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King.
I don't believe God only speaks to special people. I believe he speaks constantly to everyone, but very few hear his voice. Some people hear his voice because they are precipitated into a situation which completely changes their priorities. It's as though they're stripped of all their armour of comfort, and suddenly find themselves face-to-face with themselves and their God.
Some people hear his voice through their religious activities, through prayer, Bible reading, Church services. But others attend to those same activities faithfully and regularly throughout their lives, and never hear his voice.
Jesus heard God's voice by regularly withdrawing from the crowd and seeking out a place of silence and stillness. It was this activity more than any other which kept him in touch with God.
By and large, silence has disappeared from our lives in the latter half of the 20th century. We are constantly busy. We have sound on tap - radio, television, CD.
Many people are terrified by silence, and find it difficult to handle even the two minutes of Remembrance Sunday. There are few who sit and do nothing, who simply sit without reading or praying or even thinking. Yet if my mind is focused on my thing, even if that thing is verbal prayer, how can I hear God speaking to me?
There is no doubt that silence can be disturbing and difficult. But as Jesus knew, it's handled more easily if you're in a small group. He didn't ask Peter or James or John to go alone to the mountain to meditate, but he took all three of them together. Together they experienced the disturbance and the fear but also the overwhelming radiance and brightness and meaning and light. Together they heard God's voice, and together they did nothing but sit and watch and listen.
It changed their lives, and it continues to change lives today. If you want to hear God's voice you might consider attending the Church Julian meetings from time to time. Or you might decide to get together with a couple of friends and spend a quarter of an hour so in silence. Or if you have 10 minutes to spare one day, instead of looking round for another job to do or switching on the radio, you might spend that time just sitting and doing nothing, opening yourself to God.
But before you start, you should be aware that God always comes to those who ask him.
Part of that video remains with me to this day. It showed a group of primary age children sitting on the floor around a candle, meditating. Afterwards some of the children spoke about their experiences. It was very moving, and it was clear that prayer in those circumstances had been very real to those children.
When I commented on this, the teacher said they'd had to stop that type of meditation because there had been complaints from parents. The children loved it, but when they told their parents at home, some of those parents had been terrified. It does seem that for some people, reaching the deep inner recesses of being through meditation is somehow akin to the supernatural or the occult, and therefore dangerous.
Perhaps part of the problem is that visionary people very often seem to fall into trouble. Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed by the Germans during the Second World War. Martin Luther King was assassinated.
Visions can be immensely powerful experiences, life-changing experiences, and as such are perhaps rightly feared. Anyone who learns to touch their own innermost being might well find that to be a life-changing experience.
There is no doubt that Peter and James and John were deeply shaken by their vision on the mountain. Conditions were exactly right for a vision. The mountain was high so they were inevitably tired after their climb, and perhaps the air was quite thin. There was something special about the atmosphere, just the three of them especially chosen to be alone with Jesus.
Perhaps all those things enabled them to experience a state of altered consciousness. The interesting thing is that they all experienced the same vision. Visions are usually personal to individuals, so there must have been something very special indeed about this particular vision.
Everything spoke of God. Jesus' face shining like the sun, the radiance of the garments, the presence of Moses and Elijah representing the law and the prophets, the voice and the bright cloud signifying the presence of God. Way back at the beginning of the Old Testament story, when the ancient Israelites were wandering in the wilderness, God led them during the day by a bright cloud. So this experience of transfiguration linked right back through Jewish history to the very beginning.
And what was the reaction of the three that experienced it? They were terrified! Peter tried to bring it all down to earth by offering to build three shelters. Bringing an experience down to earth, removing the mystical side, does seem to make the experience more manageable. We humans are in control of earth-bound experiences, but we are never in control of mystical experiences. They are under the control of God.
Perhaps part of the fear is the lack of control, and perhaps also the uneasy feeling that these experiences may not be from God, but from some evil source. There seems to be a feeling that the depths of being hold unimaginable horrors, horrors which might escape to the surface if space is allowed, and therefore it's much better to ignore those depths, to pretend they don't exist.
One-way of pretending they don't exist is to tie them very firmly to earth by some means such as building three shelters.
The voice from the cloud, God's voice, reiterated the proclamation heard at Jesus' baptism, "This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him." It's scary hearing God's voice, but without the space and the silence it's practically impossible to hear him or to listen to Jesus.
The trouble is, those who hear God's voice or see his visions will never be the same again. Once you know yourself to have been touched by God, it's very difficult to look back. You lose your old life and your old self. And God sometimes asks difficult and dangerous things from those he touches - Joan of Arc, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King.
I don't believe God only speaks to special people. I believe he speaks constantly to everyone, but very few hear his voice. Some people hear his voice because they are precipitated into a situation which completely changes their priorities. It's as though they're stripped of all their armour of comfort, and suddenly find themselves face-to-face with themselves and their God.
Some people hear his voice through their religious activities, through prayer, Bible reading, Church services. But others attend to those same activities faithfully and regularly throughout their lives, and never hear his voice.
Jesus heard God's voice by regularly withdrawing from the crowd and seeking out a place of silence and stillness. It was this activity more than any other which kept him in touch with God.
By and large, silence has disappeared from our lives in the latter half of the 20th century. We are constantly busy. We have sound on tap - radio, television, CD.
Many people are terrified by silence, and find it difficult to handle even the two minutes of Remembrance Sunday. There are few who sit and do nothing, who simply sit without reading or praying or even thinking. Yet if my mind is focused on my thing, even if that thing is verbal prayer, how can I hear God speaking to me?
There is no doubt that silence can be disturbing and difficult. But as Jesus knew, it's handled more easily if you're in a small group. He didn't ask Peter or James or John to go alone to the mountain to meditate, but he took all three of them together. Together they experienced the disturbance and the fear but also the overwhelming radiance and brightness and meaning and light. Together they heard God's voice, and together they did nothing but sit and watch and listen.
It changed their lives, and it continues to change lives today. If you want to hear God's voice you might consider attending the Church Julian meetings from time to time. Or you might decide to get together with a couple of friends and spend a quarter of an hour so in silence. Or if you have 10 minutes to spare one day, instead of looking round for another job to do or switching on the radio, you might spend that time just sitting and doing nothing, opening yourself to God.
But before you start, you should be aware that God always comes to those who ask him.
