Conversion of Light

Lectionary Reflections for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany (A)

By Michael Battle

Readings for Last Epiphany, Year A, Feb. 6, 2005

Exodus 24:12(13-14)15-18

Psalm 99

Philippians 3:7-14

Matthew 17:1-9    

The problem with us religious folk is that we like to kill each other. On this day on which we celebrate the conversion, transfiguration and epiphany, we see our habits of violence in the disciples, Peter, James and John. So accustomed were they to fight or flight that they even grew afraid in the presence of Jesus' transfiguration. When in the presence of greatness, their only frame of reference to understand the unfolding of Jesus was violent power. Therefore, when God overshadowed the disciples in Matthew 17, they interpreted such darkness as a threat: “they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear” (verse 6).   Their response to God's unfolding was fear. Such a response assumes a worldview full of violence, both received and inflicted by us. It is ashamed that our only response to God is fear. Why are we so afraid?

The other problem with religious people is that we often get confused between self and God. As Ludwig Feuerbach stated, “God often ends up being 'an expression of the idealized human essence.'”

The other problem with religious people is that we often get confused between self and God. As Ludwig Feuerbach stated, “God often ends up being 'an expression of the idealized human essence.'” But what happens when the old certainties of God have gone, and we end up in defensive postures no longer understanding the message of the gospel or the place God can have in our lives? The conversion of St. Paul helps us answer.

In St. Paul we can discover new ways of expressing our Christian faith. Paul doesn't let us transfer our desires into a big self and call them god. Paul understands that we may get our worship techniques down; we may sing the antiphon on key; we may write the dogmatic; we may even anoint sick bodies well . . . but if we do all of these things without the discernment of distinguishing God from self, we inevitably become religious people who like to kill . . . thinking we're doing a good thing. Paul writes:

You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it. I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors (Galatians 1:13).

When religious people resort to violence of heart or hand to defend the faith, there will always be the confusion of trying to be god. Such a god will have to die.

The “Death of God” became the catchphrase to describe a movement started in 1960s England its most famous voice was found in Bishop John Robinson's book, Honest to God (SCM London 1963). Using Dietrich Bonhoeffer's, Letters and Papers From Prison, in which he spoke of the need for a radical revision of Christianity in a secular (Godless) age, the Death of God theologians sought to reconstruct a more helpful Christianity – coining the buzz-phrase, “Religionless Christianity.”

Bonhoeffer had used this term to describe a new approach to understanding the relationship between Christianity and the modern world. People were no longer flocking to a church that appeared irrelevant or who made matters worse. “Religionless Christianity” described a new approach of moving away from unhelpful Christian expression (but not beyond the Christian faith). The Death of God theologians recognized the same needs in their contemporary England as Bonhoeffer had in 1930s and 1940s Germany. Instead of the living God, religious folk created god as the expression of an idealized self who became out-of-date, irrelevant, and made societal matters worse.

No matter what you think of Bishop John Robinson, or the interpretations of Bonhoeffer, one thing is clear, religious people often get in the way of the living God. When witnessing the transfiguration, Peter, James and John got in the way by trying to build shrines. St. Paul knew he got in the way when he asked, “‘Who are you, Lord?' The Lord answered, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting'” (Acts 26:15).

We may think we're doing good by defending orthodoxy. We may think we're doing good by declaring a prophetic utterance of justice. The problem for us religious folks, however, is that our good may in fact be evil because our only frame of reference is a violent world.

We may think we're doing good by defending orthodoxy. We may think we're doing good by declaring a prophetic utterance of justice. The problem for us religious folks, however, is that our good may in fact be evil because our only frame of reference is a violent world. If God's strangeness unfolded before us, wouldn't we also be afraid?

So, how do we know? How can we tell the difference between God and me? How do we know if it is of God or simply indigestion? Paul gives us the answer: “‘The one who formerly was persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy.' And they glorified God because of me” (Galatians 1:23-24). Paul's answer to help us distinguish God from ourselves is the humility of confessing that our religion often gets in the way of God. Religion becomes faith through humility. And humility will keep us from killing each other.  

I close with a desert saying:

At one time there came some to the abba Antony, and the abba Joseph was with them. And Antony, wishing to test them, brought up a controversial issue in the Holy Scriptures. And he began to question, beginning with the younger, what this or that word might mean. And each made answer as best they could. But he said to them, "You have not found it yet."

After they left Antony said to Joseph, “What do you say this word might mean?” Joseph answered, “I do not know.” And Antony praised his brother out loud, “Truly, those who say they do not know, alone have found the right road.”

It is in our unknowing that God is most apparent. Our unknowing stimulates our worldview to light.

The Rev. Michael Battle, Ph.D., is dean of academic affairs and associate professor of theology at the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Va. A regular contributor to The Witness, his books include Reconciliation: The Ubuntu Theology of Desmond Tutu and Spiritual Practices against Racism, co-authored with Tony Campolo. Michael may be reached by email at mbattle@vts.edu.