Science & Religion (Mark 9: 2-9)

UP ON THE MOUNTAIN, they see Jesus transfigured, wrapped in dazzling light.

Imagine that you are there, that you are one of the three that Jesus took with him up the mountain. This is a dazzling light like you’ve never seen before. Is it real? Or is it all in your head?

Or maybe, as Dumbledore said to Harry Potter, of course it’s in your head; but that doesn’t mean it’s not real.

You can’t explain it; but when you see this dazzling display, you somehow make contact with a deeper understanding of truth. You can’t explain the connection, you just know that there is a connection, a connection between the dazzling light and the clearer understanding that has come to you.

This light is wild. Untame-able. But perhaps you could contain it somehow. Maybe you could build a little booth, erect a tent, or put up some kind of dwellingplace where the light could be stored, and then you could take a little bit of the light out at a time, whenever you needed some mental clarity, or grab a handful of it and take it back down the mountain to show everyone.

But no. You have no idea what you are talking about.

As you walk back down the mountain, Jesus says to you: “Don’t tell anyone about this, about what you have seen. They’re not ready. And you’re not ready to tell them. Just dwell on these things in your heart and in your mind.”

So now you are back down in the valley, with people who haven’t seen the light. You desperately want to show it to them. If only they could have come up with you on the mountain; if only everyone could have been there. But they weren’t.

Well, what if you thought to grab hold of some of the light, when Jesus wasn’t looking, and snuck it into your pocket. You wait until you encounter someone who, it seems to you, is walking in darkness.  You think you are doing them a favor when you carefully pull the light out of your pocket. Wrapped up in your hands, you hold it up, open your hands. The light escapes, rushes out… and blinds the person in front of you before disappearing into the darkness.

Jesus was right. You weren’t ready. And they weren’t ready.

The psalmist said that God’s word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. And that’s the thing: whether it’s at Loch Leven, or on a boy scout camping trip, the younger campers always need to be reminded how to use the flashlights they brought along.

“Don’t shine it in someone’s face. Keep the light down, on the ground in front of you. If you shine it in someone’s face, you’ll only blind them. Shine it on the ground. The ground is what you need to see. That’s the proper way to use your flashlight.”

God’s word is a light unto my path. Jesus, the son of God, the Word made flesh, is the light of the world.

We have seen this light. Many have not. Of those who have seen this light, many don’t know how to use it, with the end result being that they cause more blindness among people, instead of helping them to see. Shining the light in someone’s eyes isn’t any better than keeping the light hidden, and keeping people in darkness. Either way, they can’t see.

Today is a very special day in the life of the church. It is the Sunday before the start of Lent, which itself is a very special time of year; and the Sunday before Lent, traditionally, features the story of Jesus’s transfiguration on the mountaintop.

In many congregations, today is also Evolution Sunday. Evolution Sunday is a celebration of the compatibility of science and religion, and takes place every year on the Sunday closest to the birthday of Charles Darwin.

You may be thinking, “What does evolution and Charles Darwin have to do with the church?” For many years, I thought the same thing. I know that among some Christians, it’s an “either/or” thing: either you believe in the Bible, or you believe in evolution. However, I suspect that few here hold such an opinion, and I certainly do not. After all, our church is one that historically has encouraged folks to not leave their brain at the door when they come to worship.

But this is not the case for all people in our society. Many people believe that the discoveries of science – which state that the earth is billions of years old, and that life has evolved over time – contradict the stories of scripture which suggest that the universe is less than 10,000 years old.  In fact, according to recent polls, about half of American adults doubt scientific claims that the universe is nearly 14 billion years old, that earth is 4.5 billion years old, and that life on earth has evolved over millions of years. Half of American adults doubt these things.

Half of Americans don’t believe that climate change is happening or that it is at least partly caused by human activity.

And one quarter of Americans believe that the sun revolves around the earth.

It’s interesting – and troubling – the number of people who deny science, simply because they don’t agree with it.

Lately, we’ve seen another example of people denying science. I’m talking about parents who refuse to vaccinate their children against diseases such as measles. It’s true, at one time questions were raised about the possibility that certain vaccines may cause conditions such as autism in children, but science has studied those concerns thoroughly and has ruled them out. Yet, many still refuse the vaccinations, basing their decision not on science (which they ignore), but on their own personal fears and ignorance.

The same could be said about climate change. There is disagreement and uncertainty about the rate of climate change and the exact effects it will have, but there is virtually no disagreement among scientists that it is happening, that it is unprecedented, and that human activity is contributing to it.

To claim that climate change is not happening, or that the earth is less than 10,000 years old and that life is not evolving, or that you don’t need to vaccinate your children just because you disagree with the science, is as dangerous as taking that light out of your pocket and shining it someone’s eyes. You think are doing something good, but you’re only blinding yourself and others to the truth.

Let me show you why it’s dangerous. When someone claims that a hurricane of unprecedented strength is God’s judgment, that a record-breaking drought or famine is God’s judgment, and ignores the climate change that contributes to events like these, they’re making it harder for society and for government to address these issues. If enough people believe that climate change isn’t happening, or that it’s part of a natural climate cycle and not an unprecedented event, then that encourages society to do nothing. And without action, climate change will continue to accelerate, which means fiercer storms, more prolonged droughts, and rising sea levels.

And these things, in turn, mean more lives lost.

Another way to say this: Bad theology kills.

Here’s what I know: science is not the enemy of religion. Science is the enemy of bad religion. Bad religion is the enemy of science. Bad religion encourages bad science. But good science, and good religion, belong together.

Those poll numbers are shocking. And they come from the willingness of too many people to leave their brains at the door when they walk into church.

Two weeks ago, I preached on the Nephilim, those giants from Genesis chapter 6 who were the offspring of divine fathers and human mothers. These Nephilim, you may recall, breathed out evil breath, and evil spirits came from that breath. It’s a great story, full of meaning. But is it literally true?

In my research for that sermon, I found websites that showed photos of archaeologists unearthing Nephilim skeletons. These human-looking skeletons were HUGE, at least 15 or 20 feet tall, and the pictures were accompanied by articles written by people who are convinced that every detail in scripture is literally, factually true, and that here was proof.

Well, the photos were obviously photoshopped. This has been pointed out repeatedly. But a lot of people still believe they are real. And they show these photos on website after website, claiming that they prove that the Biblical stories of the Nephilim are literally true.

You see people doing the same thing with other Biblical stories. They jump through so many hoops to try to explain how the earth was created in 7 actual, 24-hour periods, or how Jonah could have survived inside the belly of a giant fish for three days, or how the universe is less than 10,000 years old. They work out answers to questions like, “If Adam and Eve were the first humans, where did their son get his wife?” These are wonderful stories, deep, rich, full of meaning. But literally true?

Let’s go back to the transfiguration story. Did it really happen, exactly as it says in scripture?

Ha. If you think I’m going to say “no,” surprise. I actually don’t know. I wasn’t there. And no one who was there thought to grab a video camera and record it for us.

And you may say, “Well, that’s where faith comes in…”

And you’d be right. That is where faith comes in. But for me, faith is a matter of the heart and the mind. In fact, it encompasses all of one’s being. I can’t stop thinking and simply feel my way into faith. I don’t believe God wants me to stop thinking, stop using my mind.

So when I read the creation story in Genesis – keeping in mind that Genesis actually presents two very different creation stories – and I compare those stories to the discoveries of science, I find that it is a misuse of faith to try to believe that the creation stories in Genesis are meant to be taken literally.

But at the same time I recognize a deeper truth in these stories. In fact, if I were to insist that these stories be interpreted literally, and spend all my time trying to figure out a way to explain how that could be, I might be blinded to the deeper truth. But once I am free from the need to interpret literally, that deeper truth opens up to me, and I see the light in the way it was meant to be seen.

I’m not going to tell you that the transfiguration did or did not happen literally, exactly as described in scripture. As I said, I don’t know. But I do know that the type of light described there is used throughout scripture, and even in non-Biblical writings, to describe being in the presence of God’s glory. The deeper truth – that God’s glory was somehow present, and somehow shone through Jesus – is something I believe in with all my heart and all my mind. And that is the point of the story, something that is true whether or not it literally happened.

Maybe someday science will be able to prove that the transfiguration story did happen exactly as it is described in scripture; or, maybe science will prove that it didn’t happen exactly that way. My faith is fine either way, because the deeper truth that the story presents is unchanged.

Again, I’m only rambling on about this because lives are at stake. Bad theology leads to bad science, and those two kill many people. It is for this reason that I have joined 13,000 other Christian religious leaders in America in signing a letter in support of scientific truth and its compatibility with religious truth. 13,000 Christian clergy, from many different branches of Christianity, agree. Science and faith compatible. The truth in scripture is more than a literal truth, and is of a different order from scientific truth, and religious truth and the discoveries of modern science are compatible and complementary.

The theory of evolution is a foundational scientific truth. To persist in scientific ignorance is a threat to our integrity and to the church’s mission of bringing wholeness to a fragmented world. Denying science has real-world consequences, as the measles outbreak demonstrates. It’s time for the church to stop denying science, and to work with science in creating a better world.