I love the broader Church, the global Body of Christ in all her beauty: some introspective and others highly outwardly expressive. If you’ve followed me for sometime you might have noticed my deeply formational journey of liturgical influences. And yet, I am a Southern Baptist ordained minister (surprise!). But wait, there’s more. I am also a proud third generation Pentecostal. There, I said it. Yep, I’m one of those. I have the t-shirt to go with it. And, like me, if you grew up in a sort of Pentecostal or Charismatic expression, you’ve got some stories to tell. Some beautiful. Some bewildering. Some that still make you wonder what exactly just happened. Here’s the deal, the same miracle working God is present for my Baptist, Anglican, and Pentecostal brothers and sisters, and everyone else in between. Yet, for varying reasons the miraculous can make us nervous, even cynical.
Do you know what? I believe it’s understandable to be a little cynical, this world hasn’t helped us not to be. Look at our pop culture, our news, our politics, and even various schisms and issues in the broader Church. I’ll admit, I definitely have my moments of cynicism. But then I consider what both the Old Testament and New Testament place before us: mountains wrapped in glory, faces shining like the sun, voices speaking from clouds. Mind blowing events! Tell me the disciples didn’t have reason to question what they experienced, and they had the Savior standing right there with them. They saw Him perform miracle after miracle, and still the glory unsettled them.
The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. To the elders he had said, “Wait here for us, until we come to you again; for Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute may go to them.”
Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.
—Exodus 24:12-181
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.
As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
—Matthew 17:1-92
I saw all kinds of crazy stuff as a young man, and maybe some of it was a little cuckoo. But honestly, lives were touched, hearts mended, and people radically changed for the Kingdom of God. Just because we might not understand something doesn’t automatically make it a farce. Of course, by all means, test everything and make sure it aligns (in full context) with the Word of God. There is “crazy” all throughout Scripture. Just admit it. If Sinai or the Transfiguration happened in our town next week, some would quickly label it emotionalism at best, deception at worst. And yet, God was present in the clouds.
The season of Lent is upon us. Maybe Lent isn’t your tradition, and that’s totally okay. But what Lent offers is space, space for deep introspection, space to remember we are dust, space to ask God to convict, form, and shape us anew. As we approach Him asking Him to move in our lives, we must also remain open to how He chooses to move, possibly through the miraculous. As challenging as it might be, break through the protective shell of cynicism. Though I have questioned some of what I saw in my younger years, I remain fully convinced that God was present and real in far more of it than I understood at the time.
Whether you lean into Lent or not, my encouragement is simple: open yourself to the miraculous, in your bodily health, your finances, your mental health, your job, your family, your extended family, and your spiritual life. The miraculous doesn’t have to be weird. Though if God were to visit you in a cloud, like we see in these scriptures, be okay with that, too. God desires to do amazing, even startling, things in our lives. Seek the One who does miracles, not the miracles themselves, and be okay when the “crazy” happens.
Luke Gambill 