As this is the first Sunday of the month we will be celebrating Communion. Also as we do on the 1st Sunday of each month we encourage people to support our Local Outreach Fund.
Following worship this Sunday all are invited to remain for our Annual Congregational Meeting.
The Scripture Readings for this week are:
- Exodus 34:29-35
- 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2
The Sermon title is See Through the Veil
Early Thoughts: "Now we are seeing a dim reflection, as in a mirror; but then we shall be seeing face to face" (1 Corinthians 13:12a, Jerusalem Bible)
 |
| ChatGPT Image |
What if 'then' could be NOW? What if we could see clearly and fully, not just a dim reflection? What if the veil were removed and we saw God present in our midst? WHat if we were fully aware that the Shekinah , the divine presence of God was among us?
This Sunday is the last Sunday of the Season of Epiphany, next week we begin the Lenten journey to the cross. One of the traditional themes of the Season of Epiphany is recognizing that God is in our midst. Certainly that is one of the themes for this Sunday.
I invite you to think back to the Sunday right after Christmas (December 29). On that day we heard the story from Luke where Simeon and Anna both run into Mary, Joseph and their new baby in the temple. Both Simeon and Anna recognize who this baby is, and that morning I asked in the reflection "how did they know?". The next week was Epiphany Sunday when we remember the story of visitors from the East who have come to honour the newborn king -- they too knew something, they too recognized that God was present.
 |
| Source |
Now this week we come to Transfiguration Sunday, a day when the Gospel story (which will be told during Children's Time) tells of an experience Peter, James and John have with Jesus on the top of a mountain. They have a vision of Jesus with the full glory of God shining through him. God is revealed in sight and sound in this man they have been following around, this teacher who inspired them to leave their old lives behind.
How might we becomes aware of where God is hiding in plain sight in our world? Do we really want to?
This week's reading from Exodus, which Paul references in his letter to the Corinthians that we are also reading, talks about how the people of Israel responded to seeing the glory of God reflected in the face of Moses. They were afraid so Moses had to veil his face, to mute the glory of God shining in him. Paul, after a slight diversion into what seems like a bit of an anti-Semitic argument about Jews remaining unable to comprehend what God is doing, encourages us to remove the veil, to allow each other to see God reflected in each other as we are being transformed in to who God calls and creates us to be.
Can we take the risk to allow God shine through us? If, as Genesis 1 tells us is true, we are all created in the image of God what keeps that image from being what people see in us? How do we remove the veil(s) that life has pushed on us? How do we see through the veil(s) that other people wear?
I suggest that when Jesus takes Peter, James and John up the mountain Jesus himself is not changed --- the other three get a chance to see more clearly what has been in front of them all along. What have we been missing all along? Where has God been hiding in plain sight? Is this why Jesus says (in Matthew 13)" Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear"?
I think one of the gifts God gives us is the ability to see the world as it is. Sometimes this is unsettling because we don't see what we wish the world was. Sometimes it can also be uplifting when we see God revealed in our midst. In practice I think we see without the veil in glimpses and flashes, but maybe with openness and faith we can see more.
How do we see beyond the veil? Are we willing to take the risk of removing the veils we put up to protect ourselves?
--Gord
No comments:
Post a Comment