February 14, 2010
Rev. Lori Tisher
“Shiny Faces”
Exodus 34:29-35
How many of you have heard of transformers? They are toys, like this one, robot heroes, that can change or transform with just a little effort into all sorts of things – cars and trucks, airplanes and boats!
Another word for transform is “transfigure.” Literally, it means changing the figure of something. Did you know that in the Christian calendar, today is Transfiguration Sunday? Often times on this day we talk about Jesus’ transfiguration. Jesus had gone up to the top of a mountain to pray and while he was there, the appearance of his face changed and his clothes became dazzling white. And then Moses and Elijah, who had died long before that, appeared and began talking to Jesus. And then a cloud came over him. Jesus entered the cloud and God spoke out of the cloud and said, “This is my Son, my chosen one.” It was a moment in Jesus’ life when he was set apart from others; when he was transfigured.
Instead of focusing on Jesus this morning, though, I want to talk about the transfiguration of another very important person in the history of our faith. In the scripture passage we heard this morning, Moses had just spent forty days and forty nights praying to God on Mount Sinai. He didn’t eat or drink anything during those 40 days and those nights, but was sustained by the spirit of God. When he came down from Mount Sinai, he has been transformed and was able to give the Ten Commandments to the people.
In ancient cultures, there was a common belief that human beings could not directly look at God and live after that experience, because the divine presence was so powerful and so overwhelming. Moses did it though; he climbed Mount Sinai and talked with God and miraculously he did not die!
Even though he did not die, this experience did have a physical affect on Moses. When he came down from the mountain, the scriptures tell us that something had happened to his face. Scholars have argued over translations of the text at this point. Some have suggested that Moses’ face may have been shining, but others say that it could have actually been burned or scarred from the experience and still others say that it was not shining, nor burned, but that horns had started to grow out of his head.
You see, when you write in ancient Hebrew, it’s almost as if you are writing in shorthand; the words are written without the vowels. The problem with this is that when a word is written with only some of the letters in it, it could have several meanings, depending on the letter combination. It’s kind of like texting today. Anyone know what LOL means? Laughing out Loud. Anyways, in the scripture passage we heard this morning, the Hebrew word “krn” appears several times. Vowels can be added to this word in several ways. If we add “a”s, we come up with karan, which means shining. If we add “e”s, it becomes keren, which means horn. From this, we can determine that either Moses’ face shining or he had begun to grow horns as a result of his experience with God on the mountaintop.
Either way … in any case, Moses was transformed by this experience. Just like Moses, when we encounter God, we never come away from those experiences without being profoundly changed, in some way.
Have there been times when you’ve noticed the face of someone who’s been in God’s presence? When we spend time connecting with God, it can’t help but show. Maybe we’ve spent time praying, studying the Bible or worshipping, and we come away from those experiences with a certain level of peace or even a new level of energy that is really reflected in how we speak or act. When you participate in a mission trip or help someone in need, you’re so excited to show pictures or tell about your experience. Your enthusiasm for helping others shows forth! The people you encounter, see and experience God through you. Maybe you have helped someone learn to read, sat at the bedside of a sick loved one, attended the funeral of a friend who touched your life, or noticed the beauty of perfect snowflakes falling outside. All of these things move you, and that shows on your face and in your actions in such a way that someone else might notice. Your face shines in a special way! And others see the compassion and the amazing works of God through you!
Think of a time when you have been transformed by of your faith ... I don’t suppose that an actual ray of light appeared around your head and I sure hope that you didn’t start to grow horns ... but we are indeed transformed – changed – because of our relationship with God. Ever have a moment in your life when everything changed, because of your faith? Maybe it was just your outlook on life that changed or maybe it was something way more significant than that. It may not have required you to stop eating for 40 days, like it did for Moses. But maybe there has been a time in your life when your faith has helped you get sober or clean. Maybe journeying with God has made it easier to deal with a death of a loved one. Maybe it has been easier for you to forgive someone close to you because of your relationship with God.
Sometimes it seems like it can be difficult to talk with God. We cannot physically see or touch God like we can do with the people and things all around us.
There is a story of a man who was dying. His daughter had asked the local minister to come and pray with her father. When the minister arrived she found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows. An empty chair sat beside his bed. The minister assumed that the old man had been informed of her visit.
“I guess you were expecting me,” she said.
“No I wasn’t. You are you?” he said.
“I’m the new minister at your church,” she replied. “When I saw the empty chair I figured you knew I was coming to visit.”
“Oh yeah, the chair,” said the bedridden man. “I often find that it is easier to pray if I place a chair beside me and imagine that God is sitting in the chair right next me.”
A few days later, the daughter called to tell the minister that her father had passed away that afternoon.
“Did he die in peace?” the minister asked.
“Yes. When I was leaving for the store, he called me over to his bedside, told me he loved me and kissed me on the cheek. When I returned an hour later, he was gone.” She continued, “But there was something that was strange about his death. Apparently just before he died, he leaned over and rested his head on the chair next to his bed. What do you make of that?”
The minister, wiping a tear from her eye, said “I wish we all could go like that.”
The dying man needed to imagine God physically sitting in that chair next to him to really know God and connect with God in a meaningful way. Sometimes when we reach out to God we need a little help from something as simple and concrete as a chair sitting next to us.
Our relationship with God is unlike any other relationship that we have. Getting to know God is not always easy. It’s not something we always know how to do, without much practice and patience.
At times it seems like we need those major mountaintop experiences, like Moses and Jesus had, in order really connect with God and bring about transformation in our lives. We tend to like to divide things up neatly into two compartments: mountaintop experiences – extreme highs, and times in the life’s valleys – the extreme lows of our lives. But don’t forget there is a whole world of flat land out there – ordinary time, when we can still build a relationship with God and know God in ways that will make a significant difference in our lives.
Moses did not know what he was going to experience when we went up to Mount Sinai. He did not exactly know how his life would be changed that day. He didn’t realize that connecting with God on such an intimate level would have such an affect on him. There are so many ways that our faith transforms us every day of our lives, without us even knowing it or being prepared for it. Thanks be to God!
