SERMON, THE TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

Trinity.

When I say that word, what do you think of? God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit? Baptism? Maybe a character in "The Matrix?"

On July 16, 1945, that word had a very different meaning. It was on that day that scientists and military personnel gathered together in the New Mexico desert and witnessed the first detonation of an atomic bomb. That first test was code named "Trinity."

On that day, nobody really knew what would happen. The scientists had predicted the results, of course, based on certain laws of physics. Those laws state that if you fire neutrons at uranium or plutonium isotopes, those nuclei will break apart, generate more neutrons, hit more isotpes, break apart . . . etc etc etc. That process, called nuclear fission, generates a massive amount of energy. Imagine thousands of ping pong balls placed on mousetraps and you toss one ping pong ball into that mix. That would be the non-nuclear physicist explanation of how an atomic bomb works. The laws of physics, apparently, are really very simple.

The next day, July 17, 1945, Leo Szilard, one of the physicists working on the Manhattan Project, and who had also been the first to protest against the use of nuclear weapons, wrote words to this effect:

The development of atomic power will provide the nations with a new means of destruction. Our atomic bomb is only the first step. There is no limit to the destructive power that can be unleashed. We will live in continuous danger of sudden annihilation.

His petition to President Truman prophesied against the evils of nuclear proliferation and predicted the eventual outcome of allowing the nuclear genie to escape from his bottle. That petition was signed by 69 other scientiests.

Three weeks after the Trinity test, on August 6, 1945, a plane bearing the name "Enola Gay" dropped the bomb over Hiroshima, Japan. In a blinding flash of light, the world was changed forever. And for those people who weren't instantly incinerated, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were terrified. In that moment, the laws of physics and the prophecy of nuclear scientists became frightfully clear to those who witnessed it.

Trinity. Of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

After speaking with God, Moses came down from the mountain with the tablets of the covenant in his hand. These tablets contained the Law, and on them were written everything from how to worship, how to dress, social regulations, what to eat, and every other aspect of life. There are something like 613 items in the Mosaic Law and it can get very complicated. But it can also be summed up rather succinctly, such as when Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself." Mosaic Law, apparently, is really very simple.

Elijah is acclaimed as the greatest prophet of ancient Isreal. He lived during the reign of King Ahab who, in a most understated way, "did evil in the sight of the Lord." Ahab's wife was the notorious Jezebel, who was mostly eaten by dogs.

Elijah spent alot of time prophesying against Ahab and Jezebel because of their evil ways and their proclivity for turning all of Israel away from the worship of God to the worship of Baal. He warned them that their actions would have serious consequences and predicted both the downfall of Ahab and the rather gruesome death of Jezebel. Eventually, Elijah was, as we heard last week, taken to heaven on a chariot of fire.

Another mountain, another time . . . and Jesus prayed with three of his very tired disciples present.

Suddenly Jesus and his clothes became dazzling white, and he was joined by Moses, the great Lawgiver, and Elijah, the great Prophet. In that dazzling flash of light, the world was changed forever. And in the moments immediately after, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were terrified.

In that moment, the Law as given to and represented by Moses, and all the Prophets, as represented by Elijah, were unified in one man, Jesus Christ; and that unification became audaciously clear to those who witnessed it.

August 6. One day, two observances.

Trinity. One word, two meanings.

The question is, where are we putting our faith? Do we put our faith in the laws of physics and the unlimited destructive power of sudden annihilation? Or do we put our faith in the law of God and the unlimited creative power of unexpected love? I don't know about you, but I know upon which version of Trinity I place my faith.