Magyar Egyház, 2006 (85. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
2006-04-01 / 2. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 3. oldal Come and see the Glory of Jesus In these summer months, during our vacation, many of us go to the mountains and plains to see the beauty of the nature. When we will be in the mountains we can lift up our eyes “unto the hills” and find refreshment of our body and soul. Many will go to religious conferences, church camps, summer schools, sightseeing, where they will have “mountain-top” experiences, and will feel closer to God than they have ever felt before. This is therefore an apt time to meditate upon one of the mountain experiences of Jesus Christ, known as the Transfiguration. It is thought by many to have taken place on Mount Hermon (which means apart or sanctuary) This peak towers over nine thousand feet; its slopes and snow covered summit dominate the landscape of northern Palestine. To share in this experience, Jesus took with him only the three disciples with whom he was most intimate, Peter, James and John. The same three were with him when the daughter of Jairus was raised from dead, and later were to be with him again in the final agony of the Garden of Gethsemane. This suggests that perhaps visions can come most easily to small groups, intimate friends, or like-minded people. It suggests that when God has something to reveal to the world or when he has something to get done in the world, he works, not through crowds, but through individuals who are really consecrated. As Jesus said, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name I am in the midst of them.” (Mt. 18:20) To this little group Jesus was transfigured - his face changed its appearance - until the fact that Jesus was the Son of God became crystal clear. This was the way in which God across the years had dealt with his people. He had picked out a few individuals and empowered them as his agents - Moses, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the rest. When Jesus came, he selected only twelve disciples, and from those, three were chosen to be the special agents of vision. Taking part of this mountain experience, the disciples reported that they also saw Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. Why these two ? For one thing, both had peculiar circumstances connected with their departure from the world. Moses, while he died a natural death, had apparently been buried by God and “no one knows his burial place to this day”. (Deut. 34:6) Elijah had never known death at all, but had gone directly to heaven in a chariot of fire. But more important, these men were representatives of two elements of Hebrew religious tradition, the law and the prophets. This put Jesus m the direct line of the leaders who gone before him, and suggests that to understand our faith you must have regard for its historical perspective. Christianity is not a matter of years but of centuries. God has always been speaking to men. “Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” (Hebrews 1:1-2) Christianity can only be understood in terms of its long historical perspective (beginning in Genesis) and, thus understood, is seen to be a permanent part of the world - though empires rise and fall and civilizations vanish away. When the mountain experience was over, Jesus and his disciples had to come down. Peter wanted to stay on the mountain and suggested that they “make three tents” and capture the vision: That was a natural human reaction to any high experience: don’t let the light go out, don’t let the vision fade, don’t let the clouds close in - let’s build tents and stay on the mount. But it didn’t happen that way. Moses and Elijah disappeared The light that had transfigured the garments and the face of Jesus went away. The opportunity of the Transfiguration was not to stay on the mountain but to bring something of the mountain back down to the plam. For when they returned, they were faced at once with a boy with an evil spirit whom the other disciples had been unable to heel, and of whom Jesus said: “This kind can come out only through prayer.” (Mark 9:29) Mountaintop experiences are given to us so that we may return to the perplexing problems of each day, strengthened to deal with them in the Spirit of the glory which we have seen. S. Sz Prayer Lord, we worship you as the living Spirit who works in the lives of Christians and in the life of the Church, creating anew, bringing new powers to birth, making human actions and characters the bearers of your purpose. We pray that your Spirit may poured out, not only on those who are already Christians, but on all people. In a world frill of conflicting drives and forces, we pray that your Spirit may take our powers and energies and bring them to fulfillment and harmony in your service, in building and not in destroying. We worship you as the Spirit who makes us aware of our spiritual need and satisfies it. We worship you as the Spirit who does not allow us to give in to our worse selves but develops truly Christian qualities in us. Help us, Lord, to open our lives fully to your influence, and to be the means by which it reaches other people. We pray for all who seek truth, and thus honor you though as yet unconsciously. May your Spirit make true in their experience what Christ has achieved for all the world. We pray for people in all those situations of tension and conflict where the welfare of many depends on the integrity of a few. May your Spirit enable everyone to be honest, and to refuse to put personal advantage above the interests of others. We pray for the poor and hungry of the world, the ill and the anguished, the dying and the bereaved. May your Spirit distribute both the skill and the love which can bring healing and true comfort. Help us to worship you in spirit and in truth. Help us to live more nearly as we pray. To you be glory for ever, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. A 90 éves Staten 1st and- i Magyar Református Egyház temploma
