Last night Fr. Wood and I, two counselors, and 23 of our young people returned from another amazing week at St. Michael’s Conference. We have a tremendous group of bright, talented, loving, devoted young people and it is a pleasure and an honor to spend a whole week with them, and it’s exhausting!
Imagine a train traveling on a track which has been going on forever. At one point you hop on. You’re on the train for a while and then you hop off.
Lay aside this image of the train. We are worshipping on Sunday. We normally think about worship as being a part of our routine. It’s something we do as part of our spiritual lives or something we do as a family together.
But I’d like for you to look at it from a much broader point of view. We use a form of worship that Anglicans all over the world use, which means there is probably no time in a 24 hour period, on a Sunday, when Mass is not being celebrated in an Anglican church. Furthermore, the Mass is the principal form of worship not only for Anglicans, but also for Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and other branches of Christendom. But wait, there’s more! Not only is that the case today, but also it has been the case for 2000 years—from the very beginning of the Church.
Our Lord Jesus set it up that way. He made it possible for us to be in communion with him for all time, for whenever we celebrate the Mass, not only is Jesus present, but also through the Sacrament he enters our lives anew.
Let’s go back to the train, my metaphor for heaven. Everyone who is in heaven—angels, archangels, cherubim, seraphim, apostles, martyrs, all the saints, and all departed who have entered into heaven are there. Everyone there is worshiping the Conductor all of the time. The Conductor is actually three persons but one Conductor.
When we participate in the Mass, we are hopping on that train. After we come to the end of the service on Sunday, we hop off the train. Our experience of Heaven has come to an end for the time being until, once again, we gather together for Mass.
God created us, alone of all his creation as far as we know, to have the ability to have one foot on earth and the other in heaven. God has given us the ability to see beyond ourselves and to contemplate the eternal; and even to be in contact with our Creator. We have far more ability to do that than we use, because of our self-centeredness. The more self-centered we are, the harder it is not only to see those around us, but also to be in communion with God, for to be in communion with God the self can’t be in the center; only God can be in the center.
Jesus came to this earth in order to reunite us with God, and we access that relationship through our Lord Jesus Christ through prayer, meditation, and especially through the Mass. And when we celebrate Mass we are celebrating not just with those in our parish, but also with those in every place who are doing the same thing. We are doing it with all who are in heaven, the whole heavenly host. We draw attention to this fact of our worship at every Mass as the Celebrant says, “Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, who for ever sing this hymn to proclaim the glory of your Name: “Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory.'” We can say that we are praising God with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven because that is what angels and archangels and all the company of heaven do. They’re on that train that has no beginning and no end and whose sole activity is the worship of the Conductor.
Whenever we experience the presence of God, you might say we have one foot on earth and one foot in heaven. When speaking of the Mass, we might call it a foretaste of the heavenly banquet. Others have called it a “thin place,” where the barrier between earth and heaven becomes very thin.
The disciples had been with Jesus for three years, seeing him in all kinds of situations, experiencing his miracles, hearing his teachings. They knew this man was unique, and they probably had the idea that he might be the Messiah. The Hebrews, however, did not believe that the Messiah would be divine; they believed he would be a ruler in the line of King David and with the charisma of a divinely-chosen and directed ruler.
When Peter, James, and John went with Jesus up on a mountain to pray, they experienced a very thin place indeed. They saw Jesus along with the two greatest figures of the Jewish faith, Moses and Elijah. Jesus was transfigured; his clothes dazzling white and his appearance radiant. In other words, they saw Jesus revealed as God.
After having just returned from St. Michael’s Conference, I believe our young people would all say that they experienced a “thin place,” not as dramatically as the disciples, but still a foot in heaven, a ride on that metaphorical train. They were given a great gift, just as the disciples were given a great gift.
What do we do when we’re given such a gift, whether we’re speaking of the Mass, Saint Michael’s Conference, or some other “thin” place?
When Jesus and the three disciples left the mountain they were immediately confronted with a child who was possessed, and Jesus healed the child.
Why are we given glimpses of heaven? Two reasons: to lift us beyond ourselves to the presence of God and to give us strength for God’s service, just as Jesus was led to serve.
Sermon preached by the Very Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
The Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota Florida
12th Sunday after Pentecost (Transfiguration of Our Lord, transferred)
7 August 2016