The Rev'd Kenneth H. Saunders III
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
RCL Year B (Last Epiphany) - February 22, 2009
I have always loved science. In fact, the first time I went to college, I was even a science major. I loved both biology and the physical sciences (chemistry & physics), and that led to my first career as a nuclear technician. Ever since my first experience of looking into a microscope in the 7th grade, I was hooked. There was a-whole-nother world out there that I couldn’t see with my naked eye, and I found it fascinating.
In my nuclear job I took surveys every day, looking for particles that I couldn’t see with my naked eye by using a detector device that was specifically designed to react to the radiation that the particles were emitting, and allow me to hear the energy because I couldn’t see it. It gave me another perspective, another way to find what I was looking for.
Have you ever heard the Dr. Seuss story of Horton Hears a Who? It is one of my favorite Dr. Seuss stories. If you have never read it, you aught to sit down and read through it. It’s only 72 pages, and it has lots of pictures. Some of you may be saying to yourself, “oh, that’s a silly children’s book. I remember reading that to my kids.” But if you have read it, did you ever pay attention to the story? Dr. Seuss does a fantastic job of using perspective to explain things.
Those of you that know the story, know that Horton is an elephant that hears a sound from what he perceives to be a speck of dust on a flower. Horton is convinced that there is something to this, and he listens closely to the small voice coming from the speck of dust. He realizes that there is another world there, and the other world is called Whoville and it is so tiny, so very very small, that to Horton, it looks like a speck of dust, but to the Whos it’s their entire universe...
Horton then decides that it is his duty to protect the small flower and convince others in the jungle of his discovery. There are many levels and dimensions to the story of Horton Hears a Who. It’s about being responsible and keeping promises. It’s about being very small in a very big world, but being just as important as those that are larger than you are. It’s also about every citizen in a community working together for the town’s well-being. It is all multi-levels. Multi-levels that are based on different perspectives.
There are lots of levels in today’s scripture stories. We could sit together and study the gospel passage and look at it several different ways, but I don’t think that two of us would probably have the same perspective. It’s because our own individual lives are often the lens that we look through. When we make comments about what we think, it is usually done in light of our own individual experiences. It doesn’t make it right or wrong, it just makes it our own perspective.
Sometimes to get a different perspective, we have to back up some to see more of the big picture, instead of being up so close that we only see the little speck of dust that is our own little world. Have you ever noticed that when you back up or get closer, things gain a different perspective? It is often then we are able to gain different solutions, or come to different decisions based on new information. When we back up you see how important the big picture is… and when we get close and listen, then like Horton, we hear the Who and can protect the flower.
Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a mountain, literally on a high mountain up and away, possibly to get a different perspective on things. Jesus was then transformed before them, transfigured with his clothes shining whiter than any bleach on earth could make them.
In my nuclear job I took surveys every day, looking for particles that I couldn’t see with my naked eye by using a detector device that was specifically designed to react to the radiation that the particles were emitting, and allow me to hear the energy because I couldn’t see it. It gave me another perspective, another way to find what I was looking for.
Have you ever heard the Dr. Seuss story of Horton Hears a Who? It is one of my favorite Dr. Seuss stories. If you have never read it, you aught to sit down and read through it. It’s only 72 pages, and it has lots of pictures. Some of you may be saying to yourself, “oh, that’s a silly children’s book. I remember reading that to my kids.” But if you have read it, did you ever pay attention to the story? Dr. Seuss does a fantastic job of using perspective to explain things.
Those of you that know the story, know that Horton is an elephant that hears a sound from what he perceives to be a speck of dust on a flower. Horton is convinced that there is something to this, and he listens closely to the small voice coming from the speck of dust. He realizes that there is another world there, and the other world is called Whoville and it is so tiny, so very very small, that to Horton, it looks like a speck of dust, but to the Whos it’s their entire universe...
Horton then decides that it is his duty to protect the small flower and convince others in the jungle of his discovery. There are many levels and dimensions to the story of Horton Hears a Who. It’s about being responsible and keeping promises. It’s about being very small in a very big world, but being just as important as those that are larger than you are. It’s also about every citizen in a community working together for the town’s well-being. It is all multi-levels. Multi-levels that are based on different perspectives.
There are lots of levels in today’s scripture stories. We could sit together and study the gospel passage and look at it several different ways, but I don’t think that two of us would probably have the same perspective. It’s because our own individual lives are often the lens that we look through. When we make comments about what we think, it is usually done in light of our own individual experiences. It doesn’t make it right or wrong, it just makes it our own perspective.
Sometimes to get a different perspective, we have to back up some to see more of the big picture, instead of being up so close that we only see the little speck of dust that is our own little world. Have you ever noticed that when you back up or get closer, things gain a different perspective? It is often then we are able to gain different solutions, or come to different decisions based on new information. When we back up you see how important the big picture is… and when we get close and listen, then like Horton, we hear the Who and can protect the flower.
Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a mountain, literally on a high mountain up and away, possibly to get a different perspective on things. Jesus was then transformed before them, transfigured with his clothes shining whiter than any bleach on earth could make them.
Jesus appears on the mountain top with Elijah, the one taken to heaven in a chariot of fire, and Moses, the greatest prophet that Israel ever knew. We hear this story, but are often confused about what it really means. We often think that this is a simple sign of Jesus’ divinity. But I think it is more of a revelation of perspective.
Jesus is there to complete the work that those wonderful prophets of old spoke about, revealing to them the power, love, and the fullness of the kingdom of God. It is a reminder to us that this world that we live in has many layers, and many dimensions, Sometimes these dimensions that are hidden from us appear, then we get to take a look at a different reality, gasp with wonder, and then afterward see things totally differently. (N.T. Wright)
Peter, James and John experienced this transformation, and they are terrified. They are so afraid that they didn’t know what to do or say. So, Peter says the first thing that comes to his mind, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. Let us make 3 dwellings (or tents), one for You, one for Elijah, and one for Moses.”
They were having a direct encounter with the Kingdom of God, and they get so caught up in the moment that they want to house it, to shelter it, and to hold onto it, keeping it isolated in a tent. Peter just doesn’t "get it," just like we so often don’t "get it."
We take the situations that we experience, the encounters that we have, and we want so much for that feeling to last that we do everything that we can to contain it, preserve it, and protect it, or worse yet recreate it, instead of living into it, and letting the experience show us and teach us.
Instead of learning to look at things with a different perspective, and seeing the different reality that may be scary and uncomfortable, we opt for the familiar and comfortable... Like the way it was when I was a child, or the way we think it ought to be based on our own isolated individual experiences.
For the second time in the New Testament, we hear the voice of God coming out of a cloud telling us, “this is My Beloved Son, Listen to him.” Elijah and Moses paved the way, and Jesus is there to finish the job. If we listen to Jesus, and follow Him and do what he calls us to do, then we just might need to learn to look at things with a different perspective sometimes… through a different lens.
Jesus calls each and every one of us to be molded and formed by our experiences, not necessarily to hold onto them, but learn from them, and then continue to follow, grow in faith and love, and go out and proclaim the Kingdom of God.
We may not see or understand the vast world around us, and we may not even understand what an impact we have on that world by the things that we do, or the decisions that we make. But we need to remember that we are a part of something bigger than ourselves. As Episcopalians, we are a connected part of the 3rd largest Christian body in the world. It means that we are not out here all by ourselves floating like a speck of dust.
That means that there are people all over the world today, some at this very minute are hearing the same lessons, saying some of the same prayers, sharing the bread and the cup, and engaging the liturgy of corporate worship.
If we allow ourselves to back up a bit (maybe go up a mountain) and change our perspective and see the larger body around us, we just might see how important what we do is… and then, and only then, we might be able to encounter the living God who loves us and cares for us a little more closely.
It’s all about perspective! We can choose to let the four walls of our beloved Christ Church Cleveland be the tunnel vision of our experience, and try to shelter it and protect it or we can encounter the living God in bold and bright new ways, letting Jesus lead us to places we may be resistant to go, and experience some of the fear and discomfort that goes along with that.
We can work together, like the people of Whoville, to make our voice known, or let our speck of dust cease to exist when the flower drops to the ground…
Even more simply. We can follow Jesus, or we can build tents…
