Thought for Today
Exodus 34:29 Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.
Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
Mark 9:2 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them,
Luke 9:29 And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.
Yesterday was Transfiguration Sunday, so, obviously, my mind this morning is focused on the doctrine of the Immutability of God. For any of you who celebrate Transfiguration Sunday on a different date, this may be a tad confusing. Our faith tradition celebrates Jesus’ Transfiguration of the last Sunday after Epiphany and before the beginning of Lent. Next Sunday is the first Sunday of Lent. Tomorrow is Mardi Gras, “Mardi Gras is the final day of Carnival (also known as Shrovetide or Fastelavn); it thus falls on the day before the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday" (en.wikipedia.org)
The internet tells me that the earliest possible date for Easter is March 22nd, and the latest possible date is April 25th. This year, Easter is April 20th. All of these dates are based on the spring equinox. “The spring equinox, also known as the vernal equinox, is the astronomical event that marks the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere.” (timeanddate.com)
Astronomical events and dates are important and significant. For most of us, more than anything else, they serve as markers for changes in the world around us. We notice the duration of nights and days changing. We notice the temperatures of nights and days changing. The clothes we wear, the layers of clothing we must wear, even the shoes or boots we wear all change with the changes of the seasons.
Some who are reading this are “of an age.” For the rest of you, that phrase “of an age” is the politically correct phrase for “old.” Those of us who are “of an age” find that word change more and more a very uncomfortable word to hear and an even more uncomfortable word to witness. The mathematics of language somehow transfigure ‘change’ into a 4-letter word.
Irrespective of equinoxes, dates, temperatures or variation in hours of daylight, I mark the changes of our seasons by Greta’s decorations on the mantle and around our home. Yesterday, after hearing a sermon on the Transfiguration, she came home and spent the afternoon ‘mothballing’ all of the plastic, faux pinecones and fir branches, all of the plastic holly, and replacing all of the decorations with faux, green plastic ‘grass.’ We now have stuffed rabbits and glitter-covered plastic ‘eggs’ everywhere. I have already picked up numerous stray strips of ‘grass’ from the rug. This morning I was greeted by a stray piece of ‘grass’ atop the cable box in the den.
My Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms defines the immutability of God thusly, “God’s freedom from all change, understood to emphasize God’s changeless perfection and divine constancy.” (pg. 116) When I was young, I never thought much about the changeless nature of our God. To the extent I thought about change at all, it was that things seemed to always be the same and change came at a glacial pace. The school year was interminable. The time between birthdays or Christmases was an eternity.
Now, I view time very differently. All of those winter decorations Greta just stowed away for another year only seemed to have been on display for the blink of an eye. The stuffed rabbit that greeted me from the dining room table this morning as I went out to get the paper will be soon gone. Thankfully, there is one thing in my world that is timeless and changeless. “1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea.”
Stay safe, thank God for always being God, trust God,
Pastor Ray