Sermon: "Mountaintop Revelation"
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Third Bishop of East Tennessee

[This sermon by Bishop vonRosenberg was delivered using the following notes.]

Human beings, made in the image of God, gain glimpses of who we are called to be through the experience of revelation. That is to say, in revelation God may be revealed in wonderful ways … but something about ourselves can be revealed as well. Our readings today call us to consider the very important theme of revelation in the Bible - and in our own lives.

We learn from the biblical witness that occasions of revelation are those times in which God reveals Himself in some way. In such revelation, God becomes known more fully. Also, these are circumstances through which the presence of God may define more precisely some particular reality within a human being. Moments of revelation accomplish such wonders, therefore, from two perspectives - the divine and the human.

You remember that dramatic and familiar encounter described in our First Reading - the encounter in which God was revealed to Elijah on a mountain called "Horeb." God was not known in the great wind, or in the earthquake, or in the fire. Rather, God became known - God was revealed - in the "sound of sheer silence." In that silence, Elijah encountered God, the God revealed on the mountaintop. And, we may be certain, also, that Elijah confronted himself in some profound ways as well. Indeed, life was surely changed for Elijah that day.

Then, in our Gospel reading, Jesus was on another mountaintop with Peter, James and John. Jesus was transfigured on that occasion. And, what that means is that Jesus was revealed in the glory that was to be his, following his resurrection. On that mountaintop, Jesus was joined by two others who had already gone to glory - Moses and Elijah, representing the Law and the Prophets. However, the witnesses - Peter, James and John - did not understand. In fact, Peter even offered to build three dwellings or booths because, as we read, "he did not know what to say." But his inappropriate words were corrected by a voice from the cloud - and I imagine that Peter never forgot that lesson!

On that mountaintop, then, the three disciples had a preview of what was to be - Jesus revealed in his resurrection glory, even before the time of his crucifixion. Thus, those three disciples learned some new and important things about Jesus that day … and, although we do not read much about a different angle to the story, I imagine that the three of them confronted some significant things about themselves as well.

Now, let me share with you a personal story of revelation - one that fits the pattern that I have suggested. I learned about God in this encounter … and I confronted something of significance about myself, too.

Seven years ago tomorrow I was ordained and consecrated bishop. Two of the people who enjoyed that event the most were my mother and father, who were present and who participated in the service. The next day, I was seated in the Cathedral as Bishop of East Tennessee. And, then, three days later I went to my first House of Bishops meeting. Now, it is interesting to add to this story that I was pretty sick at the time - having experienced some difficulty in adjusting to my first East Tennessee winter, in the midst of some other things happening at the same time.

In any event, I flew off to Houston for the House of Bishops meeting, and after landing there, we boarded a bus to travel out into the wilds of Texas - to Camp Allen, which was nearly an hour away. At the first general session of our meeting, Presiding Bishop Griswold offered us a meditation - a very timely one for me - on the necessity of being aware that we are loved in order to fulfill our vocation as bishop. That is true of other vocations as well, I am sure, but it was certainly an important message for me to hear at that point in this vocation.

Bishop Griswold then challenged us with this exercise - leave the room, find a quiet place, and think about the first experience we could remember of being loved … the very first in our lives. Well, I left the room, intending to search for a quiet place. However, a map on the wall caught my eye … a map of the Diocese of Texas. So, I thought I would try to figure out where in the world I was at the moment. Eventually I found Camp Allen on the map. And then, my eyes fell on two of the towns closest to this place where we were meeting, this place in which I had been charged to consider the first experience in my life of being loved. Those two towns were Sealy and Bellville - and those are the two towns in which my parents grew up! Suddenly and unexpectedly, I was flooded, in more ways than one, with the awareness of being loved!

May we give thanks to God for those moments of revelation in our lives … those times in which we know in a profound way that God is present … those times, also, in which we confront some very significant reality about ourselves. Revelation in the sheer silence of life, revelation in the transfiguring of a person right before our eyes as we suddenly see and know him differently, revelation in the awareness of being loved in the deep places of our very being - such moments are wonderful gifts to us. Thanks be to God for them! Amen.

Copyright © 2006 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee