The Mysterium Tremendum!
Sermon
THE POWER OF DARKNESS
SERMONS FOR LENT AND EASTER (SUNDAYS IN ORDINARY TIME)
A student, evaluating another student's sermon, said, "You talked a lot about God, but I haven't the foggiest notion of what you mean by the word "God!"1 There is honesty in that reaction, an honesty of which many of us are afraid. Yet it is healthier than the ever-popular, cozy familiarity with the Almighty - that kind of familiarity through which God becomes my buddy with whom I have groovy experiences. This is one reason there isn't much difference in our attitude when going to church, or to a movie, or to a lecture. We chit-chat before and after. We make small talk about the weather, vacations, and family. It is the "performance" which determines whether we got anything out of it or not. Anything mysterious going on here today? Hardly. And we leave with our evaluations. "Didn't get much out of it this morning." "Not much inspiration around here. The hymns were awful and the pastor obviously had a poor morning."
Isaiah's anguished cry arose in the presence of the High and Holy One: "Woe is me. For I am lost; for I am a person of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!" (6:5) This tormented cry is replaced by the modern, comfortable response, "Lord, I do the best I can. You know that. I can't do everything. You of all people understand that I am not perfect." Somewhere, I recall reading where C. S. Lewis called this sort of popular response to God a "flabby religion," and so it is.
But the other side of the coin is that many of us desire something more. Many of us are looking for something more substantial in our relationship with God than a relationship with someone whom we can manipulate, or bribe, just by putting in an appearance on Sunday morning. Is there any way in which we can restore some healthy tension between the lowly "Lord who is our pal" and the High and Holy one who is our Lord?
I don't know.
But maybe the difficult and puzzling Transfiguration story might help us. For it is clear, in spite of the great mystery (or maybe because of it) that here the message is not one of coziness and comfortableness, but rather of transcendence and beyondness.
This is a difficult text. It describes a kind of religious happening most of us have never experienced. In Matthew's account, Jesus speaks of this experience as a vision. In Luke's version, Jesus tells us that this mysterious transfiguration change, came about only after much prayer. It is a strange episode, but it is not a stray one. It is written in the three Gospels and it is written in the same chronological place in the three Gospels. It is this place which marks the turning point in Jesus' ministry. Here he makes the decision to go to Jerusalem and predicts his suffering death. In the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, this significant announcement is followed by the journey to the mountain where the Transfiguration takes place. We may be puzzled by this mysterious event, but the early church obviously thought it important.
Could it be that its great mystery is the reason for its importance? We, who do not like mysteries have to have an explanation for everything. We expect to figure everything out with our technology. Maybe this Transfiguration story is for us.
The story is rich in Old Testament imagery. It reminds us of Moses' awesome experience on Mount Sinai. We have the setting of the mountain, the voice, the cloud and the dazzling light. In addition, we have two strong Old Testament personalities in Moses and Elijah. These are two heroes of the faith, both of whom left this world under mysterious circumstances; both of whom talked with God from the mountains of Horeb and Sinai, and both of whom are mentioned in Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament. These powerful, emissaries of God now meet with the One whom Moses looked forward to, and for whom Elijah was regarded as the forerunner. They now meet with Jesus, the Christ. It has been suggestedthat the presence of Moses and Elijah confirm the Messianic mission of Jesus Christ. There seem to be overtones in that direction. But it is more than this. For the experience and the kind of majestic symbolism and language used to describe this experience - suggest a picture of God that is not going to be captured by a Poloroid camera, nor a God that sends warm fuzzies up and down our spine.
Back in 1917, in a book entitled the Idea of the Holy, Rudolph Otto attempted to describe this human encounter with God. He examined religion from the perspective of experience and feeling, rather than from that of intellectual content. He coined a phrase that describes this God-encounter - "The Mysterium Tremendum." The Transfiguration is a "mysterium tremendum" event. Here the majesty of God not only surrounds us, it engulfs us. It goes beyond our experiences. It exists apart from that which we can measure or taste or touch. Here is God beyond the boundary of everything we can figure out. The Transfiguration story is a strong Biblical witness to the otherness of God, to God the holy and invisible one, to God who is supernatural and transcendant.
While he was still speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them with its shadow and the disciples were afraid as that cloud came over them. (v. 34)
Humility, wonder, and fear are some of the proper responses before such a God. We can't know this God as we know, for example, what we had for breakfast or how we got to church this morning. But not only can this God not be explained or proven, neither can we dismiss him. Joseph Sittler rightly sees profundity in this experience and suggests that this is one of the reasons we confess Sunday after Sunday, "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth." We don't know this God. We believe in this God.
In part of the Communion Liturgy, called the Canticle, we have these words:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might:
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed it he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.2
These are not ordinary words with most of us. Neither are they words upon which we can really get a handle easily, nor understand. Yet many times this moment of Communion is something special for me and I suspect similar experiences for many of you. I am saying that in some way, and somehow our routine, humdrum and anxious lives have been intersected, or brought into the focus of this God through these worship experiences. We need more than words. We also need symbols, music and time-honored traditions if we are to begin to experience the transcendant God revealed in Scripture.
For it is this theme of greatness and glory and holiness and mystery that is present in our text and in all of Scripture when the subject matter is God. The Psalmist responds, "In his hands are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are also his, for he made it; his hands formed the dry land." (Psalm 95:4-5) The Evangelist Luke says it simply but profoundly in his famous Christmas text: "Glory to God in the highest heaven." (2:14) When such a God comes near, it is not the time for relaxation, but the time for awe and holy fear. Perhaps this wondering, adoring, fearing attitude is adequately encompassed in the word "praise." Here the moving words of the hymnwriter, W. Chalmers Smith, can help us:
Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days
Almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise!3
But we are not just to praise him. We are also to listen to him. For in this strange story a voice comes out of the cloud saying, "This is my Son, whom I have chosen - listen to him!" (v. 35) The terrifying presence of the Wholly Other has chosen to reveal himself in Jesus Christ! In Christ God has become visible and active on earth. The work of God takes place in this one person.
During the epiphany season, we were reminded of the infant Jesus who revealed the "Kings of Kings" and the lowly carpenter from Nazareth who revealed the Lamb of God. The text for this Sunday points us in the direction whereby Jesus is revealed in his true nature as divine being - the chosen one of God. Though he doesn't say a word throughout this entire experience, it is clear that he is the center of the stage. We have moved from Moses' mountain to Christ's mountain.
We are to listen to him! Paul describes him well in that majestic passage from his letter to the Colossians:
Christ is the visible likeness of the invisible God ... For through him God created everything in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen things ... Christ existed before all things ... He is the head of his body the church; he is the source of the body's life. He is the first-born Son, who was raised from death, in order that he alone might have the first place in all things. For it was by God's own decision that the Son has in himself the full nature of God. Through the Son, then, God decided to bring the whole universe back to himself. God made peace through his Son's sacrificial death on the cross and so brought back to himself all things, both on earth and in heaven. (1:15-20)
We are to listen to him - not just to Jesus, the revolutionary, or Jesus, the Liberator; nor the popular Jesus of American piety, meek and mild, who blesses and forgives everything that we do. No, the Jesus we are to listen to is not "just my pal." He is my Lord. That is a much-needed message for our time. But there is also comfort and strength in this kind of message. Jesus is Christ and Lord. God has entered our world in him. God remains hidden. There is no way of making God obvious to anyone, nor is there any way of proving his reality. But the uniqueness of our faith is that it gives the mystery of God a name. God is the father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
In chapter four of the popular Evangelical Catechism, there are included a number of questions about God. These questions are introduced by these words: "We human beings are always trying to make sense out of our lives and world ... We would like to understand the supreme or ultimate reality that exists behind everything ... What is this reality?"4
These words represent a deep, spiritual hunger that is in our land. If they also describe you and your situation, I suggest that during the coming days of Lent, it won't be business as usual. Why not work your way through the Gospel of Luke? It is one way that we can listen to him.
Amen
1. Edmund E. Steimle, God the Stranger, (Philadelphia, Fortress Press, 1979), p. 45.
2. The Canticle "Holy, holy, holy Lord", p. 69, Lutheran Book of Worship, (Minneapolis, Augsburg Publishing House, 1978). Reprinted by Permission.
3. W. Chalmers Smith, Lutheran Book of Worship, "Immortal, Invisible," Hymn #526, (Minneapolis, Augsburg Publishing House, 1978). Reprinted by Permission.
4. Evangelical Catechism, (Minneapolis, Augsburg Publishing House, 1982).
Isaiah's anguished cry arose in the presence of the High and Holy One: "Woe is me. For I am lost; for I am a person of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!" (6:5) This tormented cry is replaced by the modern, comfortable response, "Lord, I do the best I can. You know that. I can't do everything. You of all people understand that I am not perfect." Somewhere, I recall reading where C. S. Lewis called this sort of popular response to God a "flabby religion," and so it is.
But the other side of the coin is that many of us desire something more. Many of us are looking for something more substantial in our relationship with God than a relationship with someone whom we can manipulate, or bribe, just by putting in an appearance on Sunday morning. Is there any way in which we can restore some healthy tension between the lowly "Lord who is our pal" and the High and Holy one who is our Lord?
I don't know.
But maybe the difficult and puzzling Transfiguration story might help us. For it is clear, in spite of the great mystery (or maybe because of it) that here the message is not one of coziness and comfortableness, but rather of transcendence and beyondness.
This is a difficult text. It describes a kind of religious happening most of us have never experienced. In Matthew's account, Jesus speaks of this experience as a vision. In Luke's version, Jesus tells us that this mysterious transfiguration change, came about only after much prayer. It is a strange episode, but it is not a stray one. It is written in the three Gospels and it is written in the same chronological place in the three Gospels. It is this place which marks the turning point in Jesus' ministry. Here he makes the decision to go to Jerusalem and predicts his suffering death. In the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, this significant announcement is followed by the journey to the mountain where the Transfiguration takes place. We may be puzzled by this mysterious event, but the early church obviously thought it important.
Could it be that its great mystery is the reason for its importance? We, who do not like mysteries have to have an explanation for everything. We expect to figure everything out with our technology. Maybe this Transfiguration story is for us.
The story is rich in Old Testament imagery. It reminds us of Moses' awesome experience on Mount Sinai. We have the setting of the mountain, the voice, the cloud and the dazzling light. In addition, we have two strong Old Testament personalities in Moses and Elijah. These are two heroes of the faith, both of whom left this world under mysterious circumstances; both of whom talked with God from the mountains of Horeb and Sinai, and both of whom are mentioned in Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament. These powerful, emissaries of God now meet with the One whom Moses looked forward to, and for whom Elijah was regarded as the forerunner. They now meet with Jesus, the Christ. It has been suggestedthat the presence of Moses and Elijah confirm the Messianic mission of Jesus Christ. There seem to be overtones in that direction. But it is more than this. For the experience and the kind of majestic symbolism and language used to describe this experience - suggest a picture of God that is not going to be captured by a Poloroid camera, nor a God that sends warm fuzzies up and down our spine.
Back in 1917, in a book entitled the Idea of the Holy, Rudolph Otto attempted to describe this human encounter with God. He examined religion from the perspective of experience and feeling, rather than from that of intellectual content. He coined a phrase that describes this God-encounter - "The Mysterium Tremendum." The Transfiguration is a "mysterium tremendum" event. Here the majesty of God not only surrounds us, it engulfs us. It goes beyond our experiences. It exists apart from that which we can measure or taste or touch. Here is God beyond the boundary of everything we can figure out. The Transfiguration story is a strong Biblical witness to the otherness of God, to God the holy and invisible one, to God who is supernatural and transcendant.
While he was still speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them with its shadow and the disciples were afraid as that cloud came over them. (v. 34)
Humility, wonder, and fear are some of the proper responses before such a God. We can't know this God as we know, for example, what we had for breakfast or how we got to church this morning. But not only can this God not be explained or proven, neither can we dismiss him. Joseph Sittler rightly sees profundity in this experience and suggests that this is one of the reasons we confess Sunday after Sunday, "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth." We don't know this God. We believe in this God.
In part of the Communion Liturgy, called the Canticle, we have these words:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might:
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed it he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.2
These are not ordinary words with most of us. Neither are they words upon which we can really get a handle easily, nor understand. Yet many times this moment of Communion is something special for me and I suspect similar experiences for many of you. I am saying that in some way, and somehow our routine, humdrum and anxious lives have been intersected, or brought into the focus of this God through these worship experiences. We need more than words. We also need symbols, music and time-honored traditions if we are to begin to experience the transcendant God revealed in Scripture.
For it is this theme of greatness and glory and holiness and mystery that is present in our text and in all of Scripture when the subject matter is God. The Psalmist responds, "In his hands are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are also his, for he made it; his hands formed the dry land." (Psalm 95:4-5) The Evangelist Luke says it simply but profoundly in his famous Christmas text: "Glory to God in the highest heaven." (2:14) When such a God comes near, it is not the time for relaxation, but the time for awe and holy fear. Perhaps this wondering, adoring, fearing attitude is adequately encompassed in the word "praise." Here the moving words of the hymnwriter, W. Chalmers Smith, can help us:
Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days
Almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise!3
But we are not just to praise him. We are also to listen to him. For in this strange story a voice comes out of the cloud saying, "This is my Son, whom I have chosen - listen to him!" (v. 35) The terrifying presence of the Wholly Other has chosen to reveal himself in Jesus Christ! In Christ God has become visible and active on earth. The work of God takes place in this one person.
During the epiphany season, we were reminded of the infant Jesus who revealed the "Kings of Kings" and the lowly carpenter from Nazareth who revealed the Lamb of God. The text for this Sunday points us in the direction whereby Jesus is revealed in his true nature as divine being - the chosen one of God. Though he doesn't say a word throughout this entire experience, it is clear that he is the center of the stage. We have moved from Moses' mountain to Christ's mountain.
We are to listen to him! Paul describes him well in that majestic passage from his letter to the Colossians:
Christ is the visible likeness of the invisible God ... For through him God created everything in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen things ... Christ existed before all things ... He is the head of his body the church; he is the source of the body's life. He is the first-born Son, who was raised from death, in order that he alone might have the first place in all things. For it was by God's own decision that the Son has in himself the full nature of God. Through the Son, then, God decided to bring the whole universe back to himself. God made peace through his Son's sacrificial death on the cross and so brought back to himself all things, both on earth and in heaven. (1:15-20)
We are to listen to him - not just to Jesus, the revolutionary, or Jesus, the Liberator; nor the popular Jesus of American piety, meek and mild, who blesses and forgives everything that we do. No, the Jesus we are to listen to is not "just my pal." He is my Lord. That is a much-needed message for our time. But there is also comfort and strength in this kind of message. Jesus is Christ and Lord. God has entered our world in him. God remains hidden. There is no way of making God obvious to anyone, nor is there any way of proving his reality. But the uniqueness of our faith is that it gives the mystery of God a name. God is the father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
In chapter four of the popular Evangelical Catechism, there are included a number of questions about God. These questions are introduced by these words: "We human beings are always trying to make sense out of our lives and world ... We would like to understand the supreme or ultimate reality that exists behind everything ... What is this reality?"4
These words represent a deep, spiritual hunger that is in our land. If they also describe you and your situation, I suggest that during the coming days of Lent, it won't be business as usual. Why not work your way through the Gospel of Luke? It is one way that we can listen to him.
Amen
1. Edmund E. Steimle, God the Stranger, (Philadelphia, Fortress Press, 1979), p. 45.
2. The Canticle "Holy, holy, holy Lord", p. 69, Lutheran Book of Worship, (Minneapolis, Augsburg Publishing House, 1978). Reprinted by Permission.
3. W. Chalmers Smith, Lutheran Book of Worship, "Immortal, Invisible," Hymn #526, (Minneapolis, Augsburg Publishing House, 1978). Reprinted by Permission.
4. Evangelical Catechism, (Minneapolis, Augsburg Publishing House, 1982).
