Truth

 Yesterday I reflected on the need for the charismatic experience --- that is, the mysteries of our faith should lead us to knowing God through revelation.  At one point, Peter said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man."  Once we begin to experience the love of God for us, we also begin to see ourselves as sinners needing to have not only our feet cleansed by him, but also our hearts and thoughts.  

The "sinful man" who was Peter was also invited and taken to the mountaintop where Jesus revealed His Glory in the Transfiguration.  Years later, Peter was to write:  We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain.  Moreover, we possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable.  You will do well to be attentive to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts (2 Peter: 18-19).

Now, here's the crux of the matter:  unless the Son of God comes to us through revelation, through the Gift of the Holy Spirit, we do not and cannot know Him personally, no matter how long we "go to church."  Like the gift of the Old Testament, our church experience must draw us closer and closer to the revelation of Christ and of ourselves.  

We do not begin by seeking the charismatic gifts-- knowledge, prophecy, visions, voices, etc.  We begin by seeking Jesus Christ as God's revelation to us of Who He Is.  The Gift of the Holy Spirit (Wisdom) opens our eyes to seeing Jesus as the Son of God ---and then, our eyes are also opened to see ourselves as less than, but still beloved, sons/daughters of God.  

If we seek visions without this critical understanding of who we are, we are in danger of deceiving ourselves or of being deceived.  So we seek Christ; we seek to know Him -- and then comes the revelation from God:  You will seek Me and find Me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you, and will bring you back from captivity (Jer. 29). 

I am fascinated by the counterbalance Peter offers in his narrative of what happened at the Transfiguration:  "We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain."  ("charismatic revelation")   "Moreover, we possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable.  You will do well to be attentive to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts."

Peter is writing in his later years to a young church, perhaps mindful of the problems Paul had with the Corinthians who were all seeking the charisms poured out in their gatherings.  We seek TRUTH, not visions, when we gather together as church.  The prophetic message will lead us to recognize Christ, and in recognizing Him, we also see ourselves.  The "prophetic message," which we know as the Old Testament, will open our eyes to recognize who Christ is; then He himself will invite us and take us to the mountaintop, where "the morning star will rise in our hearts."