The Rev. Dr. Kenneth H. Saunders III
St. James Episcopal Church
Greeneville, TN
I have always loved science. In fact, the first time I went to college many years ago, I was a science major. I loved both biology and the physical sciences (chemistry & physics). The combination of the two led to my first career as a health physics technician. I was hooked since my first experience of looking into a microscope in the 7th grade.
There was a whole other 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 I couldn’t see with my naked eye by using a detector device specifically designed to react to the radiation that the particles were emitting. The clicks on the device would allow me to hear and measure the energy being emitted. Because, of course, 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’ve never read it, you should sit down and read through it. It’s only 72 pages, and it has plenty of pictures. Some of you might say, “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 who know the story know that Horton is an elephant that hears a sound from what he perceives as a speck of dust on a flower. Horton is convinced 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 that the other world is called Whoville, and it is so very tiny, so very, very small, that to Horton, it looks like just a speck of dust, but to the Whos, it’s their entire universe... Horton then decides to protect the small flower and convince others in the jungle of his discovery.
The story of Horton Hears a Who has many levels and dimensions. It’s about being responsible and keeping promises. It’s about being very small in a vast world, but even though you are small, you are just as important as those larger than you. It’s also about every citizen in the community working together for the town’s well-being. It is all multi-level. Multi-levels that are based on different perspectives.
There are lots of levels in today’s scripture stories. We could sit together, study the gospel passage, and look at it in several ways, but I don’t think the two of us would have the same perspective. It’s because our individual lives are often the lens through which we look.
When we comment about what we think or feel, it’s usually done in light of our experiences. It doesn’t make it right or wrong; it just makes it our perspective. Sometimes, to get a different perspective, we have to back up some to see more of the big picture (maybe up a mountain) 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 things have a different perspective when you back up or get closer? We often gain other solutions and can come to different decisions based on new information. When we back up, we see how important the big picture is… and when we get close and listen, then, like Horton, we can hear the Who and protect the flower.
Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a mountain, literally up on a high mountain away from everything, possibly to get a different perspective. There, Jesus was changed before them, transfigured – and his clothes became a dazzling white as nothing on earth could bleach them.
Jesus appears on the mountaintop with Elijah, the Prophet was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire as we heard in our Old Testament Lesson. And there is Moses, the most excellent Prophet that Israel has ever known. The one that led them out of Israel and gave them the Torah… the commandments from God from up on Mount Sinai.
We hear this story but often need clarification about what it really means. We often think this is just a simple sign of Jesus’ divinity. But it is more of a revelation of perspective.
Jesus is there to complete the work that those extraordinary prophets of old started, revealing to them the power, love, and 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, the dimensions that are hidden from us appear, and then we get to take a look at a different reality, gasp with wonder and awe, and then afterward see things totally differently. (N.T. Wright)
Peter, James, and John experienced this transformation and were terrified. They were so afraid 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 dwelling places (or tents), one for You, one for Elijah, and one for Moses.”
They were having a direct encounter with the Kingdom of God, and he got so caught up in the moment that they wanted to house it, shelter it, and hold onto it, keeping it isolated in a tent. Peter doesn’t “get it,” just like sometimes we don’t “get it.”
We take the situations that we experience, the encounters that we have. We want so much for that feel-good feeling to last that we do everything that we can to contain it, preserve it, and protect it, or worse, we try over and over to recreate it instead of just letting it happen and living into it, letting the experience show us and teach us. Instead of learning to look at things from a different perspective and seeing another way or a different reality that may be scary and uncomfortable, we opt for the familiar and comfortable.
It was like the way it was when I was a child, the way it was when we raised our children or the way we think it ought to be based on our own isolated experiences.
For the second time in the New Testament, we hear the voice of God coming out of a cloud. This time, it’s telling us, “This is My Beloved Son; listen to him.” Elijah and Moses paved the way, and Jesus is here to finish the job. If we really listen to Jesus and follow Him, and do what he calls us to do, then we learn to see things differently, with a different perspective... see things through a different lens.
Jesus calls each of us to be molded and formed by our experiences, not necessarily to hold onto them, but to learn from them, and then we are to 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 realize our impact on that world by the things we do or the decisions we make. But we must remember that we are a part of something bigger than ourselves.
As Episcopalians in the United States, we are part of the Anglican Communion. If you put us all together, we are the world’s 3rd largest body of Christians. It means we are not alone out here, floating around like a speck of dust.
It means that there are people all over the world today, some at this very minute out there hearing the same lessons, saying some of the same prayers, sharing the bread and the cup, and engaging in the liturgy of corporate worship.
If we allow ourselves to back up a bit (maybe go up a mountain), change our perspective, and see the more extensive body around us, we just might see how important what we do is and that we are not doing it alone. Then, and only then, we might be open enough to an encounter with the living God who loves us and cares for us so very closely. It’s about perspective!
We can choose to let the four walls of our beloved St. James 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 all work together, like the people of Whoville, to make our voices heard or let our speck of dust cease to exist when the flower drops to the ground…
Even more simply. We can follow Jesus and live for what will be or try to build tents and live for what was.
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