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August 12, 2017A theophany is the manifestation of the divine. In the Gospel, the disciples are terrified when they see Jesus walking on the water. In the first reading, Elijah feels a strong wind, and earthquake and fire. He covers his face at the sound of a “tiny whispering sound.” But God is not any of these. God is not a storm on a lake, gravity or any other created thing. God is not a natural force or power. God is what it means to exist and all things exist only in him.
God is not gravity or anything in the created order!
Stephen Hawking, a prominent atheist phycisit, in his recent book, The Grand Design wrote, “Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist…It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going.” Hawking is right, God is nothing in creation; neither gravity, storms nor wind. The stories told in First Kings and the Gospel of Matthew make the same point. The readings today are about the nature of the divine. The make the same point that Hawking made in his book. God is not a cause or power within the created order. He is the reason for the existence of the created order. The question Hawking ought to ask is not just how creation comes into being, but why anything exists at all?
Elijah and Yahweh against Baal and Ahab
In the first book of Kings, Elijah, one of the most prominent prophets in the Hebrew scriptures, opposed the ‘powers that be’ in Israel. Speaking for Yahweh, he challenged King Ahab that it would not rain in Israel until Yahweh ordered it to do so. A three-year drought followed. Why is that challenge so fundamental? Ahab is an Israelite of the Covenant who was corrupted by his wife Jezebel, apostatized and became a worshipper of Baal. Jezebel and the people surrounding Israel worshipped nature gods. A nature god is a divine power collapsed into a natural power. So for the Greeks, the god Zeus was the reason for lightning. Neptune was the god of the oceanic powers. For Jezebel and Ahab, Baal was the reason it rained. An agricultural society needs rain to survive. When Elijah challenged Ahab, it was a proxy fight between Baal, the god of lightning and rain, and Yahweh, the God of the Covenant.
Elijah and the clash on Mt. Carmel
The climax of this clash occurred on Mt. Carmel, a long ridge separating Lebanon from Israel. There Elijah challenged the priests of Baal to a fire lighting contest. The prize was the people of Israel. The terms of the contest were thus: each contestant would build an altar, pile wood for the holocaust and place a slaughtered bull on the pile of wood. The catch? Neither party was permitted to light the fire. Lighting the fire was left to Baal and Yahweh to prove who is God in Israel. The priests of Baal went first praying, imploring, dancing and cutting themselves. Nothing happened. Then Elijah’s turn came. He poured water on the wood, called the people closer to the holocaust, looked to heaven, uttered a prayer and a lightning bolt from heaven ignited the fire immediately consuming the sacrifice. The rain followed in abundance. At the end, Elijah ran down the muddy road, through the rain, leading Ahab’s chariot with his fist in the air, rubbing it in all the way to Jezreel. Jezebel was not pleased.God is not a force of nature
Jezebel was so displeased that she sent her army to kill Elijah. He fled to Mt. Horeb, the place where Moses received the law, to hide. The story told in the first reading begins there. The story reminded the people of Israel that Yahweh is not a strong wind, an earthquake or fire. God is not any power or force. Yahweh is like ‘a small, whispering sound’ present in all creation. So in the Gospel today, the apostles were reminded of the divine nature. Jesus walked on the chaotic waters but was not the water. The winds obeyed him, although Jesus is not the wind.
God is the ground of all existence
Like Stephen Hawking, we can focus on all those powers that shape our lives. Gravity, the economy and job security. We can do much to shape and use these powers, like a sailboat crossing a lake, to accomplish our will. Those powers can all turn on us. The road to frustration is confusing these powers that exist in creation with the reason why they are there in the first place. Hawking is right. God is not any power in creation.
Do we focus on God or the storm and wind
The church for 2,000 plus years has been buffeted by storms, persecutions and terrors of every kind. The Gospel today reminds us of the importance of prayer and faith when facing the destructive powers in the world. When Peter focused on Jesus, he walked on water. When he thought he could do it by himself, he sank. How we do something is a matter of some importance. Focusing solely on the wind, the storm and the earthquake brings worry into our lives. We can walk on water and live the life God intends for us if we overcome our fears and focus on him.
If you are interested in issues of faith and science, I recommend a great website maintained by the Vatican Observatory Foundation. Just click on the link or copy and enter this url into your browser.http://vofoundation.org/I like to watch the videos and read the articles. An excellent site to bookmark. I especially recommended is this lecture by Brother Guy Cansolmagno, S.J. given at Campion College in Regina, Canada. Peace! Fr. John