February 7, 2016 These Moments By Rev. Wanda Winfield

Does anybody not like a magic show? We celebrate the best magicians: Houdini, David

Copperfield, , Criss Angel, and Penn & Teller. We enjoy the magic, in small doses.

We want to see how it’s done. Like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, we want to peak behind the curtain, to see the reality.

I think the truth is that we don’t really like magic. It upsets our whole view of reality. We want things to be predictable, regular, and solid. Magic is okay as long as we know it is only an illusion. If magic were real, then we couldn’t depend on anything. Reality would be up for grabs.

We do wish for magic sometimes. When a suicide bomber kills 34 people in Pakistan, don’t we wish that the laws of combustion could be suspended? An earthquake in Taiwan destroys buildings and kills people, because magic can’t change the laws of physics. The Zika virus causes deformities in babies, because the rules of biology can’t be overcome by magic.

There is a difference between magic and miracles. Magic requires that we suspend our belief, temporarily. Miracles are about believing even more intensely. Sometimes it is the belief itself that works the miracle. Places like Lourdes in France, and Fatima in Portugal report miraculous physical healings. Are they real? Who knows? Jesus often told people, your faith has healed you. Life goes on, just as our own dear Fay tells us, on and on and on.

The faith of the people of Israel had been tested many times during their exodus from Egypt.

They had also tested the patience of God. In the passage we heard today, this is not the first time

Moses has brought the law to the Hebrew people. In the previous time, he brought the tablets of the law down the mountain and found the people worshipping a golden calf that they had made.

(Ex 24:12) In anger, he destroyed the tablets. (Ex 32:19-21.) 1 1 Page

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February 7, 2016 These Magic Moments By Rev. Wanda Winfield

Some scholars have speculated that there might have been a third tablet. What do you suppose might have been on that tablet? What would you like to see? For myself, I wish there had been a law, “to respect the earth, which was made to be a home to you. Do not take more from it than you give back.” Another one I wish had been there would be, “Be kind to all animals, because they were created before human beings.” Above all, “Take care of all that has been given to you in trust, because I am their owner and creator, you are only their stewards.”

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, his face was shining. Have you ever seen someone’s face shine, with joy, or expectation? I think most of us have. But the people of Israel were afraid, and so Moses veiled his face. Most people think that Moses veiled himself so that they wouldn’t be frightened anymore by the magnificence of God reflected in Moses’ face.

What if it were the other way around—that Moses couldn’t bear to see their fear, and their unbelief? Perhaps it was only in the presence of God that he could reveal himself. The Hebrew testament says that Moses was a prophet unlike any other that spoke to God face to face.

In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he compared the image of the veil on Moses’ face to the unbelief of the people of Israel. In Christ there is freedom, especially from fear. But even in this newfound freedom, one does not come face to face with God, but only as though we were

“seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror.” Does that sound familiar? It recalls the reading we had last week, from 1 Corinthians 13, that “now we see through a mirror, dimly, but then face to face.”

The poet T.S. Eliot wrote that mankind cannot bear too much reality. Perhaps he was right.

Who knows today what is real and what isn’t? Is Julian Assange a martyr or a criminal? Is Jian

Gomeshi on trial, or are his accusers? It’s easy to lose track of reality when you see it so seldom. 2 2 Page

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February 7, 2016 These Magic Moments By Rev. Wanda Winfield

The story of Jesus on the mountain is another one in which we must suspend our judgement and use the eyes of faith. He has just told the disciples that he will go to Jerusalem and die there.

Then he takes three of them to the mountaintop to pray, and there they see his face shining, just like Moses. And then they see Moses, and Elijah with him. They speak to Jesus about his departure, meaning his death in Jerusalem, but they use the word ‘exodus’. This whole story is a visual image of what Jesus has been teaching them, that the Great Commandment depends on the law and the prophets. In other words, it doesn’t exist alone. That is why Jesus appears to them standing with Moses, the lawgiver, and Elijah, the greatest of prophets.

Peter’s response is like what most of us would probably do. We want to make something real, to be assured that the magic moment has not changed reality. Making three dwellings or shrines is exactly what he would be expected to do. But then the cloud overcomes them and speaks the words, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” These words are so similar to what was heard at Jesus’ baptism, but there is an addition. Listen to him, is an admonition we can take personally. It’s much easier to worship Jesus, than it is to follow him.

Like Peter, we want to build bigger and better things, more as a monument to our own egos.

A bigger house, car, or bank account.* Well, you really can’t take it with you!

We also have these expectations of our church. We want it to be fuller, richer, and busier.

That’s fine as long as we don’t forget to listen to Jesus. It would be so much better to want a fuller experience of God’s presence, a richer experience of the Spirit, a life busy with following in the footsteps of Jesus. That is what church growth should be about—not the numbers, but the spiritual growth of people. This spirit is seen by the way we shine upon other people, giving love, hope, and forgiveness. If we hide behind our material values, it is like we are veiling our 3 3 faces. We need to be seen in order to make a difference in this world. Thanks be to God. Amen. Page

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