Have you ever felt like you were out of
your element in a big way?
Many of you might not know this
piece of personal trivia but I used to take organ lessons when I was in
elementary school.
Do you remember those days when it seemed
like every shopping mall had an organ store?
Well, every Friday, my parents would drive about twenty minutes to the
York Mall, in York, Pennsylvania to make an organist out of me.
Pat was the name of my organ teacher. I remember her having really dark hair and
had the patience of an angel. She would
ask me about my day, about school, and how things were going. I liked Pat a lot.
She had me practice and practice a
particular piece of music that I was to perform for an upcoming organ recital.
The name of the piece? None other of course, then the classical
piece from the folk genre entitled, “Go tell Aunt Nancy, the Old Gray Goose is
Dead.”
You see, my organ teacher could tell
talent when she saw it, and that’s why I was playing songs like “Go tell Aunt Nancy”
so quickly in my organ playing career.
The lyrics of this beloved piece of music
begins with: “Go tell Aunt Nancy, go tell Aunt Nancy. Go tell Aunt Nancy, the old gray goose is
dead.”
I’ve contemplated long and hard about
those lyrics, but they continue to be a mystery to me.
Penny tells me that she learned this song
a bit differently. Instead of Aunt
Nancy, it was Aunt Rhody. But she’s from
northern Pennsylvania and they taught it the wrong way.
So anyway, I practiced and practiced this
classical piece for hours and hours, and Pat patiently helped me week after
week to get the notes just right. I
mean, after all, this song had two sharps.
I don’t remember what sharps are, but I remember them being quite a
challenge to play.
Well…it was now time for the organ
recital. Pat was just one of several
organ teachers at this organ store so it kind of surprised me as the organ
recital was about to begin, that there were all of these other students packed into
this little organ store, and most of them were a lot older than I was.
We were all waiting until our names would
be called to play our musical pieces for what seemed to be about a hundred
people who were seated out in front of the store in this shopping Mall. It was a Sunday afternoon and they had
reserved this large seating area for this recital.
I was somewhere in the middle of the
program, nervous as anything, when I heard my name called. “Robert McDowell will now play ‘Go Tell Aunt
Nancy.’”
I walk from inside the organ store to the
just outside of the store and proudly jump up on the organ bench placing my “Go
Tell Aunt Nancy” sheet music on the sheet music stand. I look intently at the score and collect my
thoughts.
It was a very good thing that I collected
my thoughts, because, I noticed that my feet were dangling in mid air. My toes could not reach the organ pedals. And then I notice that this organ had a whole
lot more keys than what I had been using for my Friday night lessons. And for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out
which of the three manuals to play.
And so there I sat…just kind of helpless
and not knowing what to do.
And after a few awkward moments, I feel
these hands reach underneath my armpits. And my organ teacher, Pat lifts me from the
giant size organ, and carries me over to the little organ. And honestly, I can’t remember much after
that. It’s all a blurr to me now.
All I know was that I was out of my
element that day, because later in that recital, I heard the bigger kids
playing more advanced pieces of music.
And that’s when I realized that there was a whole lot more to organ
music than Aunt Nancy and a dead goose.
What do you do when you are put in a
situation where you are out of your element?
That’s why I feel for the disciples of
Jesus in our scripture reading this morning.
Those poor guys! They probably
figured that something extraordinary was about to happen when Jesus singled
them out from the other followers to follow him up a high mountain.
“What’s
Jesus going to do? Where are you taking
us? Will we be back by lunch? Hey this
climb is pretty steep! Slow down
Jesus. We can’t keep up.”
And just like that, Mark tells us that
Jesus was transfigured right there in front of the three of them.
Transfigured. I’ve often tried to get a mental picture of
what this probably looked like for the disciples. Mark tells us that just like that, Jesus’
clothes became dazzling white. Dazzling. The Greek word is “stilbo” which can be
translated as dazzling, radiant, shining.
And if that wasn’t enough, Elijah and
Moses, these ancient figures and heroes of the faith from many centuries ago,
appear out of nowhere and they are talking to Jesus.
What are the disciples to make of this
strange and glorious scene?
Mark tells us that the disciples were
scared out of their wits. I can
understand why. This is a life shaping
event and it just kind of happened. No
advance warning. No hints or clues that
this was going to happen. It just
happened. To them.
Peter, not knowing what to say that would
make any sense, offers to assemble some sort of dwelling places for each of
these individuals, a request which goes unheeded by Jesus.
I really feel for Peter in this
situation. It was kind of like his feet
were dangling on the bench of a three manual organ, not knowing how to play the
music that was given to him. He was out
of his element.
Can you imagine the disciples trying to
describe what happened up there on that mountain? “Well,
it’s like this. We were hiking up the
mountain, when we stopped for a rest.
And all of the sudden, there was this ‘white-out.’ We looked around to see if everyone was
OK. But when we looked for Jesus, that’s
when we realized that he was the one causing the white-out.”
If you were one of the disciples, would
you even dare to mention to your friends that you also saw Moses and Elijah? How would you ever explain that?
And what about the voice we heard from the
cloud? Don’t even go there. Try explaining that to someone.
Don’t you feel a bit awkward and out of
your element when you encounter those moments when God is so unmistakably
present? I know I do.
Our small groups are always focused on asking
ourselves the question, “Where have you experienced the presence of Christ this
past week?” It’s an important question because God is present in our everyday
lives. We just need to be open to these holy moments.
We have a name for these holy moments. We
call them, “Thin Place” moments because there is a thin place between heaven
which is God’s space, and our space where we live out our lives. These thin
place moments happen all of the time.
Most of the time, these thin
place moments do not appear to be overly dramatic or life changing events, but
if we take the time to notice them, they do make us stop and say, “Christ was so present in that moment.”
One of my “closest to Christ” moments
occurred when I was driving back from Ohio Wesleyan University after dropping
off our daughter. I was feeling a little
down and a little tired as I began my journey home. From Rt. 42, I got on to 70 West to make the
long journey home. We lived in the Dayton area at the time.
As I continued to go a few miles west on
70, that’s when I had a one of those “thin place” moments. Maybe you have seen this billboard, but as
you go west on 70 toward Dayton, you see a large billboard that says, “Jesus Is Real.” Maybe it’s not there
anymore. I don’t know.
I had seen that billboard many, many times
before that day, but this time, it became something more for me, because one of
the most beautiful sunsets I’ve seen for quite some time, was shining from
behind it. It was so beautiful. It was like God was saying, “If the awesome sunset behind this sign
doesn’t get your attention, maybe this will, Robert. Jesus is real!”
God works in mysterious ways. There are
transfiguration stories like this all around us. And like the disciples, we are
reminded that heaven is a lot closer than we may think.
I wonder how many of these transfiguration
moments I miss. And yet, when I do have the eyes of faith, these ordinary
events all of the sudden become dazzling spectacles of God’s presence.
Several years ago, around this time of
year, a pastor called me to see if I would be open to the possibility of
working on staff with him at a large United Methodist Church in northwest,
Ohio. He invited me to pray about it and
give it some thought.
A few days later, I called him back and
told him that Penny and I wanted to learn more about this new ministry
opportunity and so he invited us to come up, see the church, and have lunch
with him.
On the day that Penny and I were to leave
to visit this pastor and his church, we prayed together that morning, asking
God to show us a sign of what we should do.
Even our devotional reading that morning talked about being open to
God’s presence and that God would help us in making the right decision.
We had a two hour drive ahead of us. It was a strange kind of day
weather-wise. Somewhat sunny, chilly,
but then to the west were these very dark ominous clouds.
We were about another 30 minutes away from
our destination, when Penny and I noticed this large rainbow up ahead of
us. It was in the direction of the church
we were going to visit, this wonderful, dazzling rainbow contrasted by the dark
gray clouds.
This dazzling display of God’s presence
took us both by surprise.
It was like the heavens were telling this
young and naïve couple, “Jesus is real.” Friends, these transfiguration moments
happen all of the time.
Four years ago, while I was attending our
West Ohio Annual Conference up at Lakeside, along Lake Erie, I was able to
spend the day with a friend of mine who was a retired United Methodist pastor.
I served as his associate pastor several years ago and he had been a spiritual
mentor for me over these many years. He died a couple of years ago and I still
miss him greatly.
It was the first time in five years that
he was able to attend Annual Conference due to his failing health. A friend in
his church drove him up from Columbus just for the day. His Leukemia had been
taking a toll on him and he now was walking with a cane.
I told him that I would buy him an ice
cream cone and take him to the pier of the lake since it was a beautiful day
that day. He walked very slowly, but we finally made it to the pier and we sat
on a bench overlooking Lake Erie and taking in the sunshine and the slight cool
breeze.
As we were reminiscing and catching up
with each other, a friend of mine who serves a church in the Dayton area walked
by us. I invited Brian to join us and introduced him to my friend.
Brian asked my friend how long he had been
a member of the West Ohio Conference. And my friend said, “It’s interesting you should ask me that question because this year
is my 60th anniversary of being a member of this conference.”
He then asked him how he came to our
conference since my friend had shared with him that he had been raised in
Philadelphia. And my friend told him
that while he was at Union Seminary in New York, a clergy representative from
the West Ohio Conference had traveled to his seminary in New York to recruit
students to come and serve in West Ohio.
And
when he shared the name of the pastor who recruited him from West Ohio, my
friend, Brian said, “That was my
grandfather.” My friend went on to tell Brian what a great person his
grandfather was and that if it wasn’t for him, he wouldn’t have come to this
conference.
As I listened to this conversation, I
realized that this was one of those transfiguration “thin place” moments. This
was a sacramental and holy time for all three of us; for my friend because he
got to meet the grandson of a dear friend of his; for Brian because he got to
hear what a wonderful man his grandfather was; and for me, because my time with
my friend that day couldn’t have been scripted any better.
Like the disciple Peter, we don’t always
know what to do when we experience these holy moments as we go through our day
to day living. These dazzling displays of God’s presence will often times leave
us speechless.
So if you ever feel a little out of your
element because of these transfiguration like moments, and you kind of feel like
your feet are dangling in mid-air, don’t be surprised if you feel someone
lifting you up, and a voice offering these reassuring words to you, “Get up. Don’t be afraid.”
Happy Transfiguration Sunday!
Out of Our Element
Small Group Questions
Mark 9:2-9
February 26, 2017
Pastor Robert shared about his "out of his element" experience when he shared his organ recital story as a child. These moments in life can be a little embarrassing and humbling.
Share a time when you had a similar experience where you were put in a situation where you felt "out of your element." How did you feel in that moment? Scared? Worried? Confused?
The Transfiguration story is when Jesus was on the mountain with his closest disciples and all of the sudden his clothes became dazzling white. Moses and Elijah appeared beside him, two famous Old Testament figures who had lived several centuries before the time of Christ. The disciples felt out of their element in that moment.
Share a time when you experienced God's presence in a mysterious way. What was that experience like?
Our small groups are designed to be times where we share with each other about the "transfiguration" moments of God's presence in our everyday lives. Some of these moments are more dramatic than others, but clearly, God's presence is made known to us during these times.
Share with each other how your small group helps you to notice these "transfiguration" moments in your life. Also share how these moments can be a blessing to everyone in your group.
The season of Lent begins next week. Our church is encouraging people who are not in a small group to consider joining one of our existing small groups or form new ones.
How might your small group help people in our congregation consider joining your group during the seasons of Lent? Pray as a group that people will sign up to be in a small group. The focus of our small groups during the six weeks of Lent will be on the topic, "Crosses of Jesus." Also, consider attending our Ash Wednesday service which will be at noon and 7 pm this Wednesday.
