Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia

Six days later, three of them saw that glory. Jesus took Peter and the brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain. His appearance changed from the inside out, right before their eyes. Sunlight poured from his face. His clothes were filled with light. Then they realized that Moses and Elijah were also there in deep conversation with him.

Peter broke in, "Master, this is a great moment! What would you think if I built three memorials here on the mountain—one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah?"

While he was going on like this, babbling, a light-radiant cloud enveloped them, and sounding from deep in the cloud a voice: "This is my Son, marked by my love, focus of my delight. Listen to him."

When the disciples heard it, they fell flat on their faces, scared to death. But Jesus came over and touched them. "Don't be afraid." When they opened their eyes and looked around all they saw was Jesus, only Jesus.  (Matt. 17:1-8)

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia: a fear of long words. It’s funny that the word describing the condition is longer than the description of the condition itself. And frankly, we fear a lot of stuff. We’re phobic. So much so that, sometimes, we just want a safe God, a tame God, a God that we can manage. The kind of God that we keep in the trunk of our car in case of a flat. We want a God that we can control. We want a God who will bless us and be there when we need Him, but not one who’ll make us feel uncomfortable when He asks us to walk on water. We want enough of God to make us feel warm and cozy, but not so much of Him that our hearts explode and our world turns upside down.

And it seems to boil down to this: the bigger God is to us, and the bigger God is in us, the bolder we become to take on the big assignments. A big understanding of God leads us to big expectations from Him. Of course, the opposite is true as well – a small working of God in us generally leads only to small things.

So, Jesus took three of his disciples and decided to unveil his Glory before them on a mountaintop. He was asking a lot of these guys, and would be asking a lot more of them in the future. Jesus needed the power at work within them to be glorious, to be big, to be powerful, to be holy, to be all-consuming, and to be so big that their fears would be erased.

Come to think of it, just about every man or woman in the Bible who was called to a special work of God had a special encounter with God to strengthen them for what was ahead. For instance, Moses had the burning bush from which he eventually walked away totally believing in the sovereign power of God. Isaiah had an encounter that made him lay down the rest of his existence for God’s purposes. And the three disciples? They were having an experience that would alter their perception of Jesus – forever.

And so for a moment, Jesus peeled back his skin, so to speak, to allow His Glory, His radiance, His majesty, His worth to be revealed. His face was like the sun, and His body like a penetrating light. And the limitations between heaven and earth, and between times past and times present? They were suddenly eliminated as Moses and Elijah appeared with Him. Jesus was taking these earthbound disciples and giving them a life-altering moment.

So, who’s your favorite Jesus? Or, what’s your favorite picture of Him? We all have a tendency to mold and shape Jesus into the way we want to see Him. Some people still use idols to do that, but for Christians? It seems that our preference is to mold Jesus into someone who’s comfortable.

So, I’m pretty sure that the transfiguration blew the disciple’s model of Jesus completely out of the water. And that’s why church can be a dangerous place, because our sweet, tender, affectionate Jesus might turn into the ferocious, holy, sin-hating, glorious King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

That’s what the Hebrew writer meant when he said; See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire." (Heb. 12:25-29)

A consuming fire that eats everything in its path. I’ve seen something like that before. In October, 2003, I was helping a neighbor cut a fire break behind his house during the Cedar fire in Ramona. (By the way, if you’re ever digging a firebreak, don’t wear tennis shoes – they don’t hold up very well.) Using a shovel against a fire that sounded like a freight train, and that traveled just as fast, was like shooting BB’s off an elephant; it wasn’t very effective. But as quickly as the fire came, the fire left – and my neighbor’s house, thanks be to God, was left intact.

Jesus is set apart, sacred, unique and special in everything. We call that “holy.” His forgiveness is more forgiving than any other forgiveness. His power is the most powerful – unique from any other power. His wrath is more dangerous – set apart as the most dangerous. His purity is the most pure – unique in its purity. His greatness is unfathomable and unchallenged. His armies are immeasurable and scarier than any other army. His wisdom is wiser than any other wisdom. His Word is truth – it never changes with time, and always stands as the final word. His judgments are impeccable – they cannot be argued or appealed. His love is unexplainable and all-encompassing.

In other words, what happened at the transfiguration was that the disciples saw His absolute “otherness” – there’s nothing like Jesus, not even close. He is so unlike us in all His ways. His holiness means absolute purity – never a wrong thought, never small and petty in His ways, never ill-will, never a desire that isn’t pure, never a hidden motive. On the mountain that day the disciples saw Jesus’ glory. All their small thoughts of Him had vanished. All their earthly comparisons to other great teachers? Evaporated.

In other words, Jesus jumped out of the disciples’ box that day.

But that’s scary and, frankly, a lot of fears can be pretty poisonous. But this kind of “fear” is different. The disciples were totally amazed on many occasions at what they saw Jesus do. But now? Now they were totally awestruck by who Jesus was. In other words, their “fear” was an awe, a respect, a value, an admiration for Him. Solomon wrote, “Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” (Proverbs 1:7) Translation? If we don’t have God in the right place in our lives, then we’re pretty much stupid. Foolish. If we don’t have an awe of God, a deep respect for Him, then no matter what else we know we’ve totally missed the boat.

The disciples were left speechless. They were so convicted of the smallness of their life, including the smallness of their faith (and maybe their “box,” too), that they buried their heads in their hands. Has that ever happened to you? Think back. When was the last time your knees buckled and you were left breathless because you glimpsed God’s glory? Here, the disciples were terrified and fell face down on the ground. And what was Jesus’ response? “Get up.” “Don’t be afraid.” Now that’s a BIG God.

In the elementary school I attended, there was this bully named Tommy. His face had been horribly scarred by an unfortunate accident, and he carried a huge chip on his shoulder.  Tommy was an intimidator and terrified us kids at school. I remember meeting him in the hallway sometimes and being afraid. One day, Tommy and I got into a fight. I can’t remember who or what started it, but we pretty much fought to a draw.  After that, Tommy and I became pretty good friends. And that’s when it happened – my moment of freedom; my transformation. My walk was different; my freedom was different; where I went was different; how I viewed Tommy was different; and how I viewed myself was different.

In some sense, and probably at one time or another, we’ve been the victims of identity theft. The ferocious, holy, glorious Jesus (God with skin on) that walks with us and never leaves our side has been stolen. And now? Now, we’re left with a puny, demanding, limp, fireless Jesus. So is it any wonder that we’re terrified about the economy, or by the doctor’s report, or the flashing red lights we see in our rear-view mirror?

Even though the disciples would fail again and again, they got enough courage from this one experience to change the world. They went to places that were way outside their comfort zone. They spoke in places, and to people, who would’ve crushed them as they boldly proclaimed the risen Lord. They went through persecution and threats, and even met the devil along the way.

But there was someone with them who said that He would never leave them. Ever. And it transformed their lives. And, that’s nothing new, really. Moses met God and took on Egypt. David met God and took on Goliath. Daniel met God and took on an entire political system, including lions. And Paul met Jesus and took on the Roman Empire.

So, how big is your box? Or, are you just kakorrhaphiophobic? (afraid to fail)

Grace,

Randy