“Ta Da!” (Exodus 24:12-18, Matthew 17:1-9, & 2 Peter 1:16-21)

If you have ever watched gymnastics, you know that one of the most important components of any routine . . . it does not matter whether it is the floor, uneven bars, the balance beam, or the pommel horse . . . the athlete has to stick the landing at the end of his or her performance.  Ideally the athlete lands on both feet without a bounce or movement and then lifts up his or her hands over the head.  Though you never see the athlete speak, you know what he or she is thinking after sticking the landing and lifting their hands . . . ta da!

“Ta da!” is meant to draw attention to a fanfare moment . . . to point to some remarkable moment.  It marks the completion of a task.  It can be an exclamation of a surprise.  When a magician pulls a rabbit from a hat . . . ta da!

As a person of great grace, “ta da” has become my signature proclamation in those moments when my grace has been put on display . . . especially during the winter.  Winter seems to be the time of my best “ta da” moments.  Just two weeks ago, walking to the post office, I bit the dust as I stepped onto some ice hidden under the recent snow.  The limbs of my body went every which way and I landed on my butt.  After quickly making sure no one had seen me fall, I jumped up, gracefully reached my arms up, and proclaimed, “Ta da!”

All three of our readings this morning deal with “ta da” moments.  In Exodus, Moses heads up the mountain to have a meeting with God.  The elders watch as Moses ascends the mountain to disappear in the clouds to be gone for forty days and nights.  When he comes down he spreads his arms and proclaims . . . “ta da! The Ten Commandments!”

In Matthew we see Jesus head for the mountain with Peter, James, and John.  There on the mountain the three disciples see some pretty strange things before they descended back down to the other disciples.  They see Jesus change before their eyes . . . “His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as the light.”  Then Moses and Elijah show up before a bright cloud covers them.  Then a voice says, “Ta da! This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Then in Second Peter, it is not so much as a “ta da” moment as it is a confirmation of a “ta da” moment.  Here we hear Peter give credence to what takes place on the mountain with Jesus.  Peter vouches for the authenticity of the moment . . . he saw it with his own eyes . . . he heard it with his own ears . . . Jesus is the one.  Jesus is the crowning achievement of God.  This is it.  God sticks the landing.

Now I am imagining that there are a few of you out there who are thinking that I am going to throw up my arms, proclaim “ta da”, and send you all home . . . after all, what else is there to say?  I’m sorry to disappoint a few of you, but I am not.  No instead I want to challenge all of us to consider our own spiritual journeys as the followers of Jesus.  I want us to think about those moments in our lives where we encountered the holy “ta da!”  I want us to think about them because those are those moments when we found ourselves a little closer to God . . . and, those are the moments which we share with others to help them discover the holy “ta da” in their own lives.

I don’t want us misled by our readings this morning.  Our readings are about some pretty fantastic and powerful examples of “ta da”.  It is pretty dramatic when Moses comes bopping down the mountain after forty days and nights with everyone worrying about where he had disappeared to.  What the disciples saw up there on that mountain was pretty dramatic . . . Jesus changing appearance and two of the great religious leaders of the past showing up to talk to Jesus.  So powerful was the experience that Peter offered to set up three shelters to capture the moment.  Those are pretty dramatic and movie worthy “ta da” moments; but, most of us probably have never had anything that dramatic happen to us in our lives.

As much as we would love to experience something like that, the odds are that our “ta da” moments are probably a lot less dramatic.  At the same time, I tell you that they are just as powerful.  As I stated earlier, being a person of grace, I have bumbled and stumbled into most of the “ta da” moments of my spiritual journey.  Moments like slipping on the ice, landing on my butt, and discovering that though I wasn’t hurt, God has a great sense of humor.

For example, my baptism.  I was really expected a “ta da” moment after all the hype my friend Paul had told me about his baptism.  Doves descending from heaven . . . heavenly choirs singing . . . God proclaiming my worth by declaring, “Ta Da!” . . . something straight out of a Cecil B. DeMille movie.  All I got was wet.  All I heard was my brother crying because he was certain that minister had drowned me.  But, there was no powerful and moving “ta da” moment.

In retrospect I think that my “ta da” moment was made up a whole lot of little movements of God in my life.  When Dana and I were united in marriage before family and friends . . . it was not so much our declaration of love for one another, but the affirmation of those gathered around who blessed our marriage.  The first time that I held my children and grandchildren in my arms after they were born . . . staring in awe at the gifts of life that was now gracing my life.  Standing on a mountain trail, surveying God’s handiwork and beauty . . . breathing that fresh air.  Each time the congregation harmonizes on a hymn that sends shivers up my spine.  Each of these moments, each of these experiences, whether graceful or clumsily encountered, revealed the Holy . . . revealed God.

So, it is for each of our lives.  They are not Pulitzer Prize worthy stories, but they carry the impact that opened each of us to the presence of God and drew us closer to God.  They are more than worthy for telling when we are sharing our faith.  They are our tales of the Holy . . . our encounters with the Holy.  Like Peter, we too, proclaim the validity of our experience . . . or our witness.  And, like Peter, we recognize that these moments, these “ta das”, are not of our making . . . they are the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Each of us has been touched by the Holy Spirit . . . the Holy Spirit that reveals God to each and every one of us.  Each of us has experienced the Holy . . . God . . . in our lives is such ways that we are closer to God than ever before.  These stories are meant to be shared.  They are gifts.  A gift is never realized until it has been accepted and used.

May we each relish in the sharing of our stories of God’s presence in

our lives.  May we share them in such a way that others discover those moments in their own lives.  And, may we tell them with reverence and gusto so that at the end we stick the landing, throw up our arms, and proclaim loudly, “Ta da!”  Amen.