THE FACE OF GOD

Exodus 34:29-35;  Luke 9:28-36

February 18, 2007

Betty Berghaus

            Moses came down from the mountain after receiving the Ten Commandments from God.  Moses was not aware that his face was shining, but the people saw it and were afraid.  The text tells us that his face was shining because he had been talking with God.  So with face shining, Moses delivered the commandments, by spoken word, to the people.  Then he put a veil over his shining face – until he went to speak with God again.  So his face shone while in communication with or for God.  Moses became the divine messenger, and his face shone with the glory of God.  The Hebrew word for “shining” can also be translated as “horned,” and there are several famous paintings of Moses, by Michelangelo and Chagal, to name two, that show a horned Moses.  But we prefer the “shining” translation, making Moses very alive and vibrant and special as he delivered the living word of God. 

            In the Luke passage, Jesus too seemed to shine.  The text says that the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.  But Jesus was not delivering the word of God.  God was declaring Jesus to BE the Word of God – “This is my Son, my Chosen.”  God had said these same words before in Luke, at Jesus’ baptism.  But then God spoke the words to Jesus, saying, “You are my Son, my beloved; with you I am well pleased.”  (Luke 3:22).  Now God spoke about Jesus, to a select circle of disciples, and he added, “Listen to him!” 

            This shining, this transformation, stresses the importance of this divine messenger of God, the very Word of God in both passages.  And  isn’t that why we are here Sunday after Sunday – to seek to hear, and understand, the Word of God?  Perhaps we seek the very face of God.

            Surely we want to emulate those who have gone before us, who have sought God, and even seen God.  God appeared to Abraham and gave him a covenant promise of offspring and land (Genesis 12:7).  God appeared to Isaac, and to Jacob twice in dreams, once as he wrestled with a man of God (Gen. 26:2, 28:13, 32:30).  After that night of wrestling, Jacob marveled that he had seen God face to face and yet still lived.  Indeed, some have feared seeing the face of God, as if it might be too glorious to see and survive.

The Lord also revealed himself to Samuel (I Sam. 3:21), and Ezekiel had visions of God (Ezek. 1:1, etc.).  Amos saw the Lord standing beside the altar (Amos 9:1).  In Acts, we read that Stephen, “filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God”  (Acts 7:55). 

            God has even urged the people to seek the holy visage at times.  II Chronicles (7:14) says:  “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear them from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”  The Lord told the prophet Hosea (5:15), “I will return again to my place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face.”  Hebrews (12:14) tells us to “Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.”

Scholars say that most people at some times in their adult lives seek something spiritual, something higher than themselves.  There has been a surge of spiritual pursuits in recent decades, in various forms.  People of my generation remember Transcendental Meditation and famous folks like the Beatles following gurus as they sought some higher authority and meaning for life.  New Age spirituality is a more recent seeking phenomenon.  Yoga seeks a serene center, if not a higher being.  There are so many ways that people can find to seek centering and a higher power, and people are indeed searching. 

            And there is no reason to wonder why. Watching and experiencing the world’s events, from natural disasters and diseases to violence and wars, causes us to realize that so much is out of our hands.  Surely there is a higher power that has more of a handle on what is going on.  For Christians, that higher power, of course, is God, manifested in the love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 

            In our passages, both Moses and Jesus shone with the holy glory as they were about to begin journeys. When Moses’ face shone with the holy words, the people of God were poised for departure towards the promised land.  When Jesus was transformed and shone with holy glory, he was about to depart on his journey towards Jerusalem, towards suffering, crucifixion, and death, and, finally, the greatest glory, the resurrection.

            There are generally 4 scripture texts for each Sunday in the lectionary from which we usually get our passages.  There is always an Old Testament, or Hebrew Scriptures, text. There is usually a Psalm or other wisdom reading from the O.T.  (We often use the Psalm reading for our Call to Worship.)  There is usually a Gospel reading, or a reading from Acts, and there is usually a reading from one of the N.T. letters. Honestly, it is sometimes hard for the preacher to see how these texts go together.  But the epistle reading for today very aptly ties both of our readings together, because it goes one step further in the interpretation of this shining.  The message that the apostle Paul tries over and over to convey to us as Christians is that Jesus Christ brought the Kingdom of God to fulfillment, and that we are the kingdom on earth.  We, as the Body of Christ, are God’s ambassadors of good will in our world.  And so WE are the ones who now reflect God’s shining face.  The epistle reading, II Corinthians 3:18 says:  “And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another;  for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.”  Friends, WE are being transformed into the image of God!  The shining need not be veiled anymore. When we worship and study and pray and work to be God’s servants in our world, we “clothe ourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator”  (Colossians 3:10).  In the ever renewing world of Christian faith and works, WE, my friends, are the face of God!

            You don’t believe that?  Have you ever been sick and alone and miserable at home and received a knock at the door from your own special Meals on Wheels friends?  Then you’ve seen the face of God. Have you ever been in the hospital waiting room, anxious about your loved one, and looked up to see church members, or church staff, coming to sit and wait with you (as the Ransfords saw on Friday)?  Then you’ve seen the face of God!  

            It is the work of the church to bear the image of the Christ to our world.  That work does not cease when pastors or staff retire or get sick, because the pastors are not the only ones who reflect the glory of God.  We all reflect the image of our Maker.  That is our awesome responsibility and our privilege!  We are the “priesthood of all believers.”  If we believe in Christ, we minister to one another.

              One of my very favorite faith songs is called “Jesus, My Lord,”  and the chorus says:  “Have you seen Jesus, my Lord, he’s here in plain view.  Take a look, open your eyes, he’ll show it to you.”  One of the verses says, “Have you ever stood at the cross, with a man hanging in pain?  Seen the look of love in his eyes?  Then I say you’ve seen Jesus my Lord.”  Another verse says, “Have you ever stood in the family, with the Lord there in your midst?  Seen the face of Christ on each other?  Then I say you’ve seen Jesus my Lord.” 

            Perhaps our mountaintop experiences of seeing God are much more mundane than we expect or want.  Perhaps we have seen the face of God in each other.  Perhaps we ARE the face of God for someone else. 

Let all the glory be to God.  Amen.