Breathing with God -- FPC sermon excerpt
We Americans love conspiracy theories.
Think of rumors you’ve heard about a CIA conspiracy to kill President Kennedy. Concerns about fluoride in our drinking water. Claims of Jewish involvement in 9/11. The popularity of the television show The X-Files and Dan Brown’s book The Da Vinci Code. All revolve around the belief that powerful people or organizations are secretly manipulating historical events.
Now, if you’re like me, you find that most of this is crazy-talk. But still we find ourselves drawn to it. There is something within us that tries to make sense of tragic or shocking events, and often we try to pin blame on a mysterious group of people — people who are conspiring to do us harm.
We’re Americans, so we think of ourselves as common men and women — you know, “We the people of the Unites States.” We’re distrustful and even disdainful of powerful elites. When something goes wrong, we look for a conspiracy theory to reveal the secrets of the power people. Shankar Vedantam of The Washington Post (June 5, 2006) makes the point that nothing ever happens by accident in the world of conspiracy theories. Instead, he says, “the hidden hand of the puppeteer is everywhere.”
Of course, it’s one thing to see a hidden hand in the assassination of JFK. It’s another thing to see a hidden hand in the story of the Transfiguration. In Luke 9, we catch sight of a powerful puppeteer who is working to build us up instead of break us down. God is orchestrating a shocking event — one that terrifies but also glorifies.
It’s a divine conspiracy.
The story begins with Jesus taking Peter, James, and John up a mountain to pray. Suddenly, God changes the appearance of Jesus’ face, and makes his clothes dazzling white. That’s what transfiguration means — “transformation of appearance.” Moses and Elijah appear in glory, and they speak of Jesus’ departure, which he is about to accomplish in Jerusalem. Then a cloud comes and overshadows them all, and the disciples are terrified. The voice of God thunders, “This is my Son, my Chosen, listen to him!” And as quickly as the stunning spectacle starts, it ends. Jesus is found alone, and the disciples remain stuck in bewildered silence (Luke 9:28-36).
We can call this a conspiracy because it involves a powerful puppeteer, no less a force than the Lord God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. God intervenes in human affairs and manipulates a historical event, turning a mountaintop prayer retreat into an awe-inspiring announcement that God’s Son is Jesus Christ. Look at the story, and you can see that the hidden hand of the puppeteer is everywhere.
But I would call this a conspiracy for another important reason — God does not do his work alone. The word “conspire” literally means “breathing together.” When powerful people plan together secretly, they are “breathing together” — you can just picture them huddling together and plotting away in some undisclosed location. In the same way, when God works with us to advance his will, we “breathe together” with God. God’s ruah — the Hebrew word meaning breath, spirit, or wind — fills us with life, inspiration, and power, and it gives us the ability to push God’s plan into the world.
Think of rumors you’ve heard about a CIA conspiracy to kill President Kennedy. Concerns about fluoride in our drinking water. Claims of Jewish involvement in 9/11. The popularity of the television show The X-Files and Dan Brown’s book The Da Vinci Code. All revolve around the belief that powerful people or organizations are secretly manipulating historical events.
Now, if you’re like me, you find that most of this is crazy-talk. But still we find ourselves drawn to it. There is something within us that tries to make sense of tragic or shocking events, and often we try to pin blame on a mysterious group of people — people who are conspiring to do us harm.
We’re Americans, so we think of ourselves as common men and women — you know, “We the people of the Unites States.” We’re distrustful and even disdainful of powerful elites. When something goes wrong, we look for a conspiracy theory to reveal the secrets of the power people. Shankar Vedantam of The Washington Post (June 5, 2006) makes the point that nothing ever happens by accident in the world of conspiracy theories. Instead, he says, “the hidden hand of the puppeteer is everywhere.”
Of course, it’s one thing to see a hidden hand in the assassination of JFK. It’s another thing to see a hidden hand in the story of the Transfiguration. In Luke 9, we catch sight of a powerful puppeteer who is working to build us up instead of break us down. God is orchestrating a shocking event — one that terrifies but also glorifies.
It’s a divine conspiracy.
The story begins with Jesus taking Peter, James, and John up a mountain to pray. Suddenly, God changes the appearance of Jesus’ face, and makes his clothes dazzling white. That’s what transfiguration means — “transformation of appearance.” Moses and Elijah appear in glory, and they speak of Jesus’ departure, which he is about to accomplish in Jerusalem. Then a cloud comes and overshadows them all, and the disciples are terrified. The voice of God thunders, “This is my Son, my Chosen, listen to him!” And as quickly as the stunning spectacle starts, it ends. Jesus is found alone, and the disciples remain stuck in bewildered silence (Luke 9:28-36).
We can call this a conspiracy because it involves a powerful puppeteer, no less a force than the Lord God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. God intervenes in human affairs and manipulates a historical event, turning a mountaintop prayer retreat into an awe-inspiring announcement that God’s Son is Jesus Christ. Look at the story, and you can see that the hidden hand of the puppeteer is everywhere.
But I would call this a conspiracy for another important reason — God does not do his work alone. The word “conspire” literally means “breathing together.” When powerful people plan together secretly, they are “breathing together” — you can just picture them huddling together and plotting away in some undisclosed location. In the same way, when God works with us to advance his will, we “breathe together” with God. God’s ruah — the Hebrew word meaning breath, spirit, or wind — fills us with life, inspiration, and power, and it gives us the ability to push God’s plan into the world.
posted by Henry Brinton | 2:02 PM
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