Advent 2B – sermon based upon Psalm 34:1-7, 15-22 & Luke 2:1-20
Good morning. As we continue to make our way toward Bethlehem, we are looking more deeply at some of the gifts that Advent brings. In case you missed it last week, each week in worship we are tying in the theme from the Advent devotional in a variety of ways. The music, liturgy, and even the scriptures have been chosen to walk us through the true gifts of this season. This past week, we've explored the gift of faith. On this second week of Advent we're looking at the gift of peace. And new life and love are the themes we'll connect with in the coming weeks.
So today, we have a story of what it looks like to have nearly everything you think could go wrong, go wrong and still it turns into the best Christmas ever... well, I guess it's the first Christmas ever.
All joking aside, it really is one of those stories that we might be tempted to rush to the happy ending and say it all worked out. But it wasn’t easy to get to that happy ending. A nine month expectant mother and her fiancé had to take a dangerous trip because the government needed to tax them. Upon arrival, there wasn’t room for them in the inn nor did they have the money for a nicer place. We can assume they didn’t have family in the area either. They were all alone and in a bind. But they found refuge in a barn and in the end discovered blessings and a peace they could have never imagined.
Most of us are unlikely to have such an experience that is still being told over 2000 years later but it is much like many experiences we have all had. For example, on the way to what was supposed to be a special dinner out for my grandmother’s 75th birthday, we got a flat tire. Then, I stained my shirt changing the tire. At this point we’re running late and if you knew my grandmother, you’d know that punctuality is next to Godliness. By the time we got to the restaurant, we were so late they gave away our reservations. So, we walk down the road to a greasy spoon diner because it's the only place without a wait and we're tired and hungry and cranky by this point so we go in.
Once inside, we meet a server who smiles and treats us like family. She brings us coffee without asking because she can see we're cold. She tells the soup is no good but the meatloaf is outstanding. And it turns into an evening of comfort and refuge in an unlikely place.
That is a true story and I can tell you lots of others. In my work at the hospital, I meet people all the time who think the worst thing that could ever happen to them would be for their child to be sick and in the hospital. They cry with agony and worry about how they don't think they can handle it. They wonder where God is and why this is happening. They feel alone and lost in a strange place.
But if they keep their eyes open and don't succumb to the despair, what they find is people that have their best interest at heart. They feel hands of care and concern that will hold them in the tough moments. They experience support that comes in unexpected forms and packages. And most importantly, they find God working in their lives, even in this unfamiliar and scary place. I can't tell you how many families when referring to the hospital say to me something like, "This place has been the home we never expected and blessing we didn't know we needed."
Life is like that. Just when it isn't going the way we wanted, we find that God has prepared a place for us where we least expected it. And God is like that. When we toil in the brokenness of the world, God reaches out making a safe harbor in humble and unexpected places.
So, what do we make of all this? Why is it that sometimes we find God in the dark places and sometimes we don't? Is it that God wants to help us some of the time and other times we're on our own? Is it that God picks and chooses on supporting us?
Well, I don't think it works that way. From what we learn in this scripture and what I've seen working at the hospital and in my own life, I believe that God is always reaching and supporting us even if we can't always see it. And more than that, I suspect that we would be far worse off if God weren't constantly reaching toward us to help and support us. Oh, it’s true that sometimes we succumb to despair or become blinded by bitterness or get lost in the mire of worry so much so that we can no longer see God's work and provision for our lives. But when we can stay open to God's work, amazing things happen.
Let’s think back on this story for a minute. If Mary had let the worry of such a long journey overcome her, we wouldn't have such an amazing birth story. If Joseph had let the frustration about having to travel at such an in convenient time blind him, he might have mouthed off to the inn keeper and not even gotten to use the barn. If the shepherds had been more concerned with their own matters, they would have missed seeing the young messiah. Things in this story weren’t going so well for them but they kept journeying forward faithfully. And because they did, they found God’s love and provision laid out for them.
See, this journey toward Bethlehem is one of unknowns and fears like we talked about last week. But faith is journeying forward anyway. Yet, God gives us more than what we need for just a faithful journey. We can find peace along the way. We can know safe havens and helpful nurture. We can experience God's love and work for us that is present and reaching to us even when we can't yet see or receive it. But when we can, peaceful nights of sleep, calm in the storm, and blessings in the midst of difficulty are there for us to claim.
So how do we tap into God’s support for us when we’re just nearly so overwhelmed that we can’t take another step? How do we keep from letting frustration about our circumstances and disappointments get the better of how we deal with it so we can be open to the peaceful refuge God has offered? And what does that refuge even look like?
Well, just like in our biblical story and the stories I told, it requires openness on our part to believe in and see God’s blessing in the tough times. I’m not saying that we have to just be optimistic. Being optimistic is not always realistic. For example, we can’t use positive thinking to take care of mortgage difficulty or brokenness in our relationships. Optimism alone in such situations would leave us homeless and alone.
Instead, openness to the goodness around us is more like faith than optimism. It’s listening to that inner voice to pick up the phone and call a friend for help rather than toughing it out alone. It’s allowing ourselves to see something differently so that we recognize the blessing instead of seeing just another obstacle. It’s knowing that we are really not alone and that if we hold fast to what is truly important, we will find safe harbor even if it doesn’t look like what we expected.
Sisters and brothers, the journey to Bethlehem was a tough one but God provided from them in ways they didn’t know and couldn’t expect. Still today, God is working in our lives to help us along the way. As we journey in faith, may we always be open to the peace and refuge that God offers regardless of what it looks like. May we support one another to ease the burdens. And may we truly experience God’s provision for us when we need it most. Amen.
Showing posts with label blessing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blessing. Show all posts
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
Onward In Faith
Advent 1B - Sermon based upon Psalm 42 & Matthew 1:18-2:12
Good morning and welcome to Advent. This is a season of expectancy and preparation. A season of joy, hope, and promise. And given the themes of our advent devotional and sermon series, it is also a season of faith, peace, new life, and love.
You’re going to notice a pattern in the coming weeks that lead us all the way through Christmas. Each week’s theme that goes with the devotional is going to be lifted up in worship in multiple ways. The devotional theme is The True Gifts of Christmas: The Journey to Bethlehem. The music, prayers, liturgy, and even scriptures will go along with the weekly theme. Each week we'll have a Psalm that captures the emotional experience of the theme and a Gospel passage that tells the story.
But for now, we’re here on the first week of Advent. We enter with the theme of faith and the story told in Matthew about Jesus's conception and birth. If ever there was a story of faith in God, this is it.
Here we have a young unmarried woman who finds out she's going to have a very special baby. The scripture tells us that her fience doesn't want to disgrace her but he's still going to “quietly dismiss her.” After transformative encounters, they both believe in God’s will for this child move forward to have the baby.
From the Luke story of Jesus’ birth we also know that they had to make a journey to Bethlehem for census and taxation. That must have been horrible. Can you imagine setting out on a donkey, a man and a 9 month pregnant woman, in a time when life was so much more treacherous than it is now?
And even after Jesus is born, King Herod sends spies so that he can plot against the young Messiah, Emmanuel, God with us. But they too had a transformative experience rooted in joy and did the right thing to protect this child.
And our Psalm this morning is also a true story of faith. It is about the fear and anxiety we experience when we can’t quite feel God’s closeness to us. We want to lash out as the Psalmist does with “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I walk about mournfully because the enemy oppresses me?” But just as with Mary and Joseph, the Psalmist remembers “hope in God.”
These are some pretty powerful scriptures if we pause to let them capture our feelings and imagination. So, what do they have to tell us on this first Sunday of Advent?
Well, I think one of the messages is that just because we’re journeying faithfully doesn’t mean that it’s smooth sailing. It’s often an anxiety and fear filled path. Even Joseph was going to leave Mary because he couldn’t understand how God’s plan for Mary included him and I imagine he felt a lot of social pressure as well.
How often are our lives like that? Maybe it’s that we know what the right thing is to do but we feel the pressure and embarrassment of what others are saying around us. Or sometimes it’s that we are not sure how we fit into God’s plan. Or sometimes it’s more a feeling like the Psalmist had of wondering where God is in all this and how to remain faithful while it feels so dark. When faced with loss, uncertainty, and other things that raise our fear level, our lives, just like Mary and Joseph’s are filled with moments that make our faithful walk forward feel more like a burdensome trudge.
Whether it’s the journey of the PNC in search of a pastor or the daily work it takes to make relationships last, we are ALL journeying… and sometimes it’s a tough one. But here’s where the story turns.
God reassures Joseph of his part in all this. Then God protects Jesus from Herod. God even touches the wise men and they go on a different path. Hope and joy healed them from their worries, doubt, and uncertainty. In the case of the wise men, quite literally, the story tells us that they were overwhelmed by joy.
I think this is the real heart of our scripture lesson for today. We worry and struggle in uncertainty quite often. And it becomes a cycle that just gets worse if left to our own devices. The more we worry, the more we drag ourselves down. The more we drag ourselves down, the more we fret about digging back out of the hole of fear, grief, and depression. The more we fret about those things, the more ashamed we feel. And the more ashamed we feel… well, that’s just a terrible spiral downward.
But God’s support and love for us is never wrapped up in fear or shame or overly burdensome toil. God reaches out to us with hope and joy offering us help to put one foot in front of the other and continue our faithful journey. That support comes in all kinds of forms. In the case of Joseph, it came in the form of messenger from God and I imagine it also came in the form of support from people around him and most especially from Mary. For the wise men, they found support from God to do the right thing through an intense sense of joy at the witness of a phenomenon in nature right before meeting Jesus. And while most of us don’t have an experience of meeting and angel, I know that all of us have met messengers from God or had experiences that coincided with special event that invigorated our faith.
See, this is what faith is about, whether it’s during the season of Advent or any other time. We are on a journey and each and every day is another opportunity to keep moving forward toward the hope and promise of God while being open to the nurturing support God gives us.
Now, I’m not trying to make this sound easy. I’ll give you a deeply personal example. All my life, even as a little child, I’ve struggled with depression. It seems to be genetic because most of my family struggles with it. Depression has gripped me in ways that I’ve often felt forgotten by God. The way depression chokes off the light is painful. And after feeling the emptiness and darkness months on end, I’ve even thought that it wasn’t that God had forgotten me. I’ve felt that God must be punishing or cursing me. Now logically, I know that isn’t the case. But depression is an illness that tells us lies about ourselves, others, and God.
Having struggled with this illness for most of my 37 years, I can tell you quite a few things about finding God in the darkness and what faith looks like when you barely have the energy to get out of bed. But I can also tell you that faith cannot be stifled or destroyed by darkness, fear, worry, doubt, and uncertainty.
Just like Mary and Joseph, I have found God’s support every step of the way. Just when I thought I couldn’t bear the isolation any longer, God has sent messengers that reminded me who and who’s I am. God has placed people in my life to help me when I couldn’t help myself. When I needed a jolt to point me in the right direction, God has shown me great joy through phenomenon in nature. God has called me forward in love all along the way.
God’s nurturing love and my faith in that love have helped me journey forward every step of the way. In fact, you’ve even been part of God’s work in my life. As you know, I’m a chaplain and I work night shift at Children’s Memorial Hospital. Working night shift is more than a choice. It’s a metaphor for my experience with God. Because I’ve had to work so hard to find God in the long nights of depression, I want to be part of God’s light to others in the night. I never thought I’d work in a church because I thought my place was in the darkness.
But being here with you has shown me that God calls me into the light as well. The way you’ve encouraged me and the relationships I’ve built here have shown me new paths in my own faith journey. My faithful journey is not only that of holding people in the night but also that of proclaiming God’s radiance in the light and you’ve been the ones who’ve helped cultivate that in me and show me God’s way for which I’ll always be grateful.
Now I didn’t tell you all that to spew out my own story. I told you about my journey because I believe it speaks to the struggles we’ve all had. Advent, holidays, faith, journeys, family, church… all of these things are precious but they also stir in us anxiety and fear about the unknown. But God is with us, each and every one of us. God is speaking and leading and calling us every step of the way.
Sisters and brothers, as we move forward in Advent, may we have faith that God is alive and well in all areas of our lives. Even when it feels scary or burdensome, God is with us, offering us support wrapped in love rather than fear. Our job is to keep putting one foot in front of the other on this journey taking the next step in faith and being open to all the ways God is supporting us. Emmanuel, God with us… We welcome you! Amen
Good morning and welcome to Advent. This is a season of expectancy and preparation. A season of joy, hope, and promise. And given the themes of our advent devotional and sermon series, it is also a season of faith, peace, new life, and love.
You’re going to notice a pattern in the coming weeks that lead us all the way through Christmas. Each week’s theme that goes with the devotional is going to be lifted up in worship in multiple ways. The devotional theme is The True Gifts of Christmas: The Journey to Bethlehem. The music, prayers, liturgy, and even scriptures will go along with the weekly theme. Each week we'll have a Psalm that captures the emotional experience of the theme and a Gospel passage that tells the story.
But for now, we’re here on the first week of Advent. We enter with the theme of faith and the story told in Matthew about Jesus's conception and birth. If ever there was a story of faith in God, this is it.
Here we have a young unmarried woman who finds out she's going to have a very special baby. The scripture tells us that her fience doesn't want to disgrace her but he's still going to “quietly dismiss her.” After transformative encounters, they both believe in God’s will for this child move forward to have the baby.
From the Luke story of Jesus’ birth we also know that they had to make a journey to Bethlehem for census and taxation. That must have been horrible. Can you imagine setting out on a donkey, a man and a 9 month pregnant woman, in a time when life was so much more treacherous than it is now?
And even after Jesus is born, King Herod sends spies so that he can plot against the young Messiah, Emmanuel, God with us. But they too had a transformative experience rooted in joy and did the right thing to protect this child.
And our Psalm this morning is also a true story of faith. It is about the fear and anxiety we experience when we can’t quite feel God’s closeness to us. We want to lash out as the Psalmist does with “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I walk about mournfully because the enemy oppresses me?” But just as with Mary and Joseph, the Psalmist remembers “hope in God.”
These are some pretty powerful scriptures if we pause to let them capture our feelings and imagination. So, what do they have to tell us on this first Sunday of Advent?
Well, I think one of the messages is that just because we’re journeying faithfully doesn’t mean that it’s smooth sailing. It’s often an anxiety and fear filled path. Even Joseph was going to leave Mary because he couldn’t understand how God’s plan for Mary included him and I imagine he felt a lot of social pressure as well.
How often are our lives like that? Maybe it’s that we know what the right thing is to do but we feel the pressure and embarrassment of what others are saying around us. Or sometimes it’s that we are not sure how we fit into God’s plan. Or sometimes it’s more a feeling like the Psalmist had of wondering where God is in all this and how to remain faithful while it feels so dark. When faced with loss, uncertainty, and other things that raise our fear level, our lives, just like Mary and Joseph’s are filled with moments that make our faithful walk forward feel more like a burdensome trudge.
Whether it’s the journey of the PNC in search of a pastor or the daily work it takes to make relationships last, we are ALL journeying… and sometimes it’s a tough one. But here’s where the story turns.
God reassures Joseph of his part in all this. Then God protects Jesus from Herod. God even touches the wise men and they go on a different path. Hope and joy healed them from their worries, doubt, and uncertainty. In the case of the wise men, quite literally, the story tells us that they were overwhelmed by joy.
I think this is the real heart of our scripture lesson for today. We worry and struggle in uncertainty quite often. And it becomes a cycle that just gets worse if left to our own devices. The more we worry, the more we drag ourselves down. The more we drag ourselves down, the more we fret about digging back out of the hole of fear, grief, and depression. The more we fret about those things, the more ashamed we feel. And the more ashamed we feel… well, that’s just a terrible spiral downward.
But God’s support and love for us is never wrapped up in fear or shame or overly burdensome toil. God reaches out to us with hope and joy offering us help to put one foot in front of the other and continue our faithful journey. That support comes in all kinds of forms. In the case of Joseph, it came in the form of messenger from God and I imagine it also came in the form of support from people around him and most especially from Mary. For the wise men, they found support from God to do the right thing through an intense sense of joy at the witness of a phenomenon in nature right before meeting Jesus. And while most of us don’t have an experience of meeting and angel, I know that all of us have met messengers from God or had experiences that coincided with special event that invigorated our faith.
See, this is what faith is about, whether it’s during the season of Advent or any other time. We are on a journey and each and every day is another opportunity to keep moving forward toward the hope and promise of God while being open to the nurturing support God gives us.
Now, I’m not trying to make this sound easy. I’ll give you a deeply personal example. All my life, even as a little child, I’ve struggled with depression. It seems to be genetic because most of my family struggles with it. Depression has gripped me in ways that I’ve often felt forgotten by God. The way depression chokes off the light is painful. And after feeling the emptiness and darkness months on end, I’ve even thought that it wasn’t that God had forgotten me. I’ve felt that God must be punishing or cursing me. Now logically, I know that isn’t the case. But depression is an illness that tells us lies about ourselves, others, and God.
Having struggled with this illness for most of my 37 years, I can tell you quite a few things about finding God in the darkness and what faith looks like when you barely have the energy to get out of bed. But I can also tell you that faith cannot be stifled or destroyed by darkness, fear, worry, doubt, and uncertainty.
Just like Mary and Joseph, I have found God’s support every step of the way. Just when I thought I couldn’t bear the isolation any longer, God has sent messengers that reminded me who and who’s I am. God has placed people in my life to help me when I couldn’t help myself. When I needed a jolt to point me in the right direction, God has shown me great joy through phenomenon in nature. God has called me forward in love all along the way.
God’s nurturing love and my faith in that love have helped me journey forward every step of the way. In fact, you’ve even been part of God’s work in my life. As you know, I’m a chaplain and I work night shift at Children’s Memorial Hospital. Working night shift is more than a choice. It’s a metaphor for my experience with God. Because I’ve had to work so hard to find God in the long nights of depression, I want to be part of God’s light to others in the night. I never thought I’d work in a church because I thought my place was in the darkness.
But being here with you has shown me that God calls me into the light as well. The way you’ve encouraged me and the relationships I’ve built here have shown me new paths in my own faith journey. My faithful journey is not only that of holding people in the night but also that of proclaiming God’s radiance in the light and you’ve been the ones who’ve helped cultivate that in me and show me God’s way for which I’ll always be grateful.
Now I didn’t tell you all that to spew out my own story. I told you about my journey because I believe it speaks to the struggles we’ve all had. Advent, holidays, faith, journeys, family, church… all of these things are precious but they also stir in us anxiety and fear about the unknown. But God is with us, each and every one of us. God is speaking and leading and calling us every step of the way.
Sisters and brothers, as we move forward in Advent, may we have faith that God is alive and well in all areas of our lives. Even when it feels scary or burdensome, God is with us, offering us support wrapped in love rather than fear. Our job is to keep putting one foot in front of the other on this journey taking the next step in faith and being open to all the ways God is supporting us. Emmanuel, God with us… We welcome you! Amen
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Of Patriots and Prophets
Ordinary 14A - A sermon based upon Matthew 5:38-48
Good morning. When I left here last week I was aware that we would have patriotic music and a flag pole dedication today. I was also aware that tomorrow is Independence Day so I wanted to work the sermon into the theme.
But when looking at the bible, that’s harder to do than you might think. You see, God, Jesus, and the prophets of the bible spend more time speaking against governments than nearly any other single thing in all of scripture. Yet, governments throughout history have prayed for and claimed God’s favor in the name of their nation.
Truly, the history of humanity has all kinds of governments claiming God’s support and provision. They range from governments like ours which uphold virtues of justice, equality, and liberty to dictatorships and tyrants like Hitler and Nazi Germany. So, how do we know that we’re being patriotic in a way that has honor and integrity?
See, I think we live in a time that it’s easy to be cynical or overzealous about patriotism. Our cultural climate and the events of the world almost make us go to one extreme of excessive skepticism or the other of unencumbered dedication. But national allegiance, like faith is not that easy. Being an engaged citizen of a nation, state, city, community, or even a congregation takes work that can’t be boiled down to either / or kinds of stances.
So, where can we find guidance on what patriotism looks like? Well, I think there are several biblical passages we could look to for guidance on this but for today, we’re looking at part of Matthew chapter 5. As Christians, I think Jesus would tell us that our patriotism should look pretty much like our faith.
The hallmarks of our faith are about glorifying God and living our salvation and freedom from sin in a way that works for the healing and betterment of others. That hymn lyric, “They’ll know we are Christians by our love” comes to mind.
In today’s scripture reading, we get a very straightforward message from Jesus about how to live in community and even in the world. The message is that we love. We love our neighbor. We find ways of loving our enemy. We go the extra mile to care for those in need. We don’t lash out at others. And we humbly acknowledge that God is already working in others and for others in ways we don’t always recognize or understand.
Now that last one may seem like it doesn’t fit in that list but it does. Jesus says, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” God’s provision is being poured out on all, not just the good people or the right nations or a certain kind of people. And we are responsible for being bearers of love in all people’s lives with the hope that we all cultivate greater awareness of the One from whom all blessings flow.
Now that’s a tall order for sure and it leaves some questions that I think we should at least pause to think about even if we can’t answer them with fullness and certainty. The first question we might should think about that comes from applying this biblical passage to our lives as nation citizens is, do we put the names of God and Christ on everything and do we spend time trying to prove God’s involvement in events of the world? I don’t raise that question to sound antagonistic. Given the deeply divided debates in this nation about displaying the ten commandments and prayer in schools, it seems to be a worthy question. Do we spend our time proving that God has a hand in Government and world affairs?
First, I want to suggest that much of what comes up in this sermon looks very different for each and every one of us because we each have different gifts and responsibilities. So what our civic actions look like are different much like we each have different functions in the body of Christ. But to start to answer this question I think we can go back to the question of does it look like our faith? If the hallmarks of our faith are, as was said earlier, to glorify God and to uplift others, does spending so much arguing really do either of those?
It seems that repeatedly the biblical message is about getting out there and doing the work of love rather than arguing whose ideas are better. Perhaps a better use of time for most of us… keep in mind I’ve left the door open to the idea that some of us are called to do that kind of work… but for most of us our time would be better spent being beacons of love, justice, and mercy rather than pouring so much energy into arguing for who’s faith gets the credit.
This leads to the question can a nation claim God? Well, I think nations, groups, and people should claim when they recognize something as being a gift from God but we must be careful to not claim God’s preference for one nation over another. Just like the Matthew text says that God pours out provision on all, we must first hear that God’s preference is for humanity, not a particular nation. It may be that the United States can trace ideals of justice, freedom, and liberty to Christian beliefs but we by no means have a monopoly on God’s desire for all to experience justice and freedom from that which binds us. So, when we claim God’s presence and work in this nation, we must first claim God’s overarching love and work for all humanity.
Now I think we should pause here for a moment and lift up calling in the body of Christ that can really help us here. When asking the question of what nations should be doing and how we as Christians should be participating I left the door open to the idea that some are called to be civically engaged in different ways. And I think no discussion of patriotism is complete without honoring the calling of the prophet.
In biblical times, the prophet did the same as today. This is the person who stands up and says what goes against the flow but brings us back to the ideals of honoring God and making God’s creation a better place. Prophets are the ones who make us see differently and wonder more deeply. They are the ones that often make our blood boil and step on our toes. They are clarifiers and proclaimers of God’s voice in the world and if we are to be both faithful Christians and patriots, we would do well to listen to them.
Take for example, Martin Luther King, Jr. In his Nobel Peace Prize speech, he said, “Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.” Dr. King was a voice that repeatedly called us back to passages such as the one from Matthew. He was saying that we have to find peaceful and loving ways of dealing with conflict. Lashing out is not an option. Embracing our enemies with love is the only way.
And don’t think that there are no living prophets right now. There are plenty. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Susan Burton, and Robin Blakeman come to my mind and if you don’t know who the last two are, don’t worry. They work on local levels and will never gain national attention but they are prophets of God nonetheless.
So what does all this mean for us? What do we need to be doing to cultivate love and glorify God on this Independence day and all days? Well, I think we do get involved. Our Christian calling tells us that we are to act for and on behalf of the poor and the ones without support. We do this within our faith community through all kinds of outreach programs but we can also do it through civic action. What about helping out with after school reading programs or letter writing to politicians for education funding? Some of us even hear God’s call to protect others and go into military or public service. The list of things that our faith might compel us to do when we act as a citizen of the United States is endless.
And that’s a real gift of our faith in this nation. We do have the freedom to grow in our faith out in the light of the world. And because of that freedom to engage our religion so openly, we can do even more to help bring about justice in the world.
Sisters and brothers, it is right and good that we celebrate fellowship with our family, friends, and community this weekend. Celebration is holy and a gift from God. But as we move past the festivities and cook-outs, the invitation of Matthew 5 is to ask what more can we do to bring about an experience of God’s love in the world and then go and do it. And that is patriotism we can live into. Amen.
Good morning. When I left here last week I was aware that we would have patriotic music and a flag pole dedication today. I was also aware that tomorrow is Independence Day so I wanted to work the sermon into the theme.
But when looking at the bible, that’s harder to do than you might think. You see, God, Jesus, and the prophets of the bible spend more time speaking against governments than nearly any other single thing in all of scripture. Yet, governments throughout history have prayed for and claimed God’s favor in the name of their nation.
Truly, the history of humanity has all kinds of governments claiming God’s support and provision. They range from governments like ours which uphold virtues of justice, equality, and liberty to dictatorships and tyrants like Hitler and Nazi Germany. So, how do we know that we’re being patriotic in a way that has honor and integrity?
See, I think we live in a time that it’s easy to be cynical or overzealous about patriotism. Our cultural climate and the events of the world almost make us go to one extreme of excessive skepticism or the other of unencumbered dedication. But national allegiance, like faith is not that easy. Being an engaged citizen of a nation, state, city, community, or even a congregation takes work that can’t be boiled down to either / or kinds of stances.
So, where can we find guidance on what patriotism looks like? Well, I think there are several biblical passages we could look to for guidance on this but for today, we’re looking at part of Matthew chapter 5. As Christians, I think Jesus would tell us that our patriotism should look pretty much like our faith.
The hallmarks of our faith are about glorifying God and living our salvation and freedom from sin in a way that works for the healing and betterment of others. That hymn lyric, “They’ll know we are Christians by our love” comes to mind.
In today’s scripture reading, we get a very straightforward message from Jesus about how to live in community and even in the world. The message is that we love. We love our neighbor. We find ways of loving our enemy. We go the extra mile to care for those in need. We don’t lash out at others. And we humbly acknowledge that God is already working in others and for others in ways we don’t always recognize or understand.
Now that last one may seem like it doesn’t fit in that list but it does. Jesus says, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” God’s provision is being poured out on all, not just the good people or the right nations or a certain kind of people. And we are responsible for being bearers of love in all people’s lives with the hope that we all cultivate greater awareness of the One from whom all blessings flow.
Now that’s a tall order for sure and it leaves some questions that I think we should at least pause to think about even if we can’t answer them with fullness and certainty. The first question we might should think about that comes from applying this biblical passage to our lives as nation citizens is, do we put the names of God and Christ on everything and do we spend time trying to prove God’s involvement in events of the world? I don’t raise that question to sound antagonistic. Given the deeply divided debates in this nation about displaying the ten commandments and prayer in schools, it seems to be a worthy question. Do we spend our time proving that God has a hand in Government and world affairs?
First, I want to suggest that much of what comes up in this sermon looks very different for each and every one of us because we each have different gifts and responsibilities. So what our civic actions look like are different much like we each have different functions in the body of Christ. But to start to answer this question I think we can go back to the question of does it look like our faith? If the hallmarks of our faith are, as was said earlier, to glorify God and to uplift others, does spending so much arguing really do either of those?
It seems that repeatedly the biblical message is about getting out there and doing the work of love rather than arguing whose ideas are better. Perhaps a better use of time for most of us… keep in mind I’ve left the door open to the idea that some of us are called to do that kind of work… but for most of us our time would be better spent being beacons of love, justice, and mercy rather than pouring so much energy into arguing for who’s faith gets the credit.
This leads to the question can a nation claim God? Well, I think nations, groups, and people should claim when they recognize something as being a gift from God but we must be careful to not claim God’s preference for one nation over another. Just like the Matthew text says that God pours out provision on all, we must first hear that God’s preference is for humanity, not a particular nation. It may be that the United States can trace ideals of justice, freedom, and liberty to Christian beliefs but we by no means have a monopoly on God’s desire for all to experience justice and freedom from that which binds us. So, when we claim God’s presence and work in this nation, we must first claim God’s overarching love and work for all humanity.
Now I think we should pause here for a moment and lift up calling in the body of Christ that can really help us here. When asking the question of what nations should be doing and how we as Christians should be participating I left the door open to the idea that some are called to be civically engaged in different ways. And I think no discussion of patriotism is complete without honoring the calling of the prophet.
In biblical times, the prophet did the same as today. This is the person who stands up and says what goes against the flow but brings us back to the ideals of honoring God and making God’s creation a better place. Prophets are the ones who make us see differently and wonder more deeply. They are the ones that often make our blood boil and step on our toes. They are clarifiers and proclaimers of God’s voice in the world and if we are to be both faithful Christians and patriots, we would do well to listen to them.
Take for example, Martin Luther King, Jr. In his Nobel Peace Prize speech, he said, “Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.” Dr. King was a voice that repeatedly called us back to passages such as the one from Matthew. He was saying that we have to find peaceful and loving ways of dealing with conflict. Lashing out is not an option. Embracing our enemies with love is the only way.
And don’t think that there are no living prophets right now. There are plenty. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Susan Burton, and Robin Blakeman come to my mind and if you don’t know who the last two are, don’t worry. They work on local levels and will never gain national attention but they are prophets of God nonetheless.
So what does all this mean for us? What do we need to be doing to cultivate love and glorify God on this Independence day and all days? Well, I think we do get involved. Our Christian calling tells us that we are to act for and on behalf of the poor and the ones without support. We do this within our faith community through all kinds of outreach programs but we can also do it through civic action. What about helping out with after school reading programs or letter writing to politicians for education funding? Some of us even hear God’s call to protect others and go into military or public service. The list of things that our faith might compel us to do when we act as a citizen of the United States is endless.
And that’s a real gift of our faith in this nation. We do have the freedom to grow in our faith out in the light of the world. And because of that freedom to engage our religion so openly, we can do even more to help bring about justice in the world.
Sisters and brothers, it is right and good that we celebrate fellowship with our family, friends, and community this weekend. Celebration is holy and a gift from God. But as we move past the festivities and cook-outs, the invitation of Matthew 5 is to ask what more can we do to bring about an experience of God’s love in the world and then go and do it. And that is patriotism we can live into. Amen.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Of Body and Spirit
Pentecost A – sermon based upon 1 Corinthians 12: 3-13
Good morning. It is so good to be with you on this day of Pentecost. I’ve missed you over the past month but I’ve kept up with some of the happenings and you’ve always been close to my heart and in my prayers. I wanted to make a joke about how long it’s been by how quickly my hair is growing back but I couldn’t really think of anything witty to say so let’s just jump into this scripture.
Today’s scripture passage around the gifts and the body of Christ offers us a familiar image and calling. But like most scripture, we are blessed with a new hearing each and every time we encounter it. So, on this day where we celebrate the birth of the church, Pentecost, what does God want us to hear with newness?
Well, the passage is pretty straightforward and there isn’t much in the way of controversy in its meaning. The passage is very clear that there is one Spirit, one Christ, and one God and that all gifts, services, and activities flow from the one triune God. God is the breather of life, author, & initiator of all gifts and services. Verse 7 tells us, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” Verse 11 says, “All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.”
All of our gifts and callings, every last one of them, come from God and are activated by the Spirit to work in the body of Christ. When we survey our lives, it can be so easy to pat ourselves on the backs for what we’ve done or achieved. But when we use our intuition or wisdom or compassionate heart, we must know that those things flow from God for the glory of God. Actually, the scripture said specifically they are “for the common good.”
This brings us to another point of this passage that reminders us that there are many different kinds of gifts and callings in the body of Christ. Verses 8 through 10 give us a litany of gifts and fruits of the spirit. But why is it that there are all these amazing gifts from God… compassion, healing, empathy, wisdom, leadership, faith, insight, tongues, hope, prophetic voice, and so many more… yet, we each only get a handful?
Well, most of us struggle to master even one or two of the gifts and callings in our lives let alone a bunch of them. As friends and neighbors, it takes hard work to use our particular gifts… the listening ear, perfect timing for distraction, asking intuitive questions, bravely challenging problems. Whatever our deepest gifts are in our friendships, it takes lots of effort on our part to use them well.
And what about our other relationships and roles like work, family, and even our faith community? Pure and simple, it’s just hard to develop a few of our gifts well and get them on the path God is calling us to. And even more difficult than that, when we do master a few, it becomes especially challenging to stay humble and remember from whom these gifts came.
But there’s more than the obvious “human” limitations going on here. We are not called to be individual gods, possessing all gifts and wholeness of the one God. Scripture says, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” The common good... we are called to be joined together for the betterment of all. When we join all our gifts together, we become Christ’s presence in the world… God’s love reaching out.
If we each had all gifts and roamed about as our own mini-gods, we would become increasingly self-centered because we lacked the need to open ourselves to what others can teach and give us. Instead, God wisely gave us each differing gifts in various combinations. That would mean that we could each have some special function but that function is only made whole in the presence of other parts. It is for the common good, the greater good that we have these gifts. And if they are truly made whole by joining together, we will be compelled to reach outside of ourselves.
So what do I mean by this? Take for example the gift of compassion. It is an amazing gift that can produce healing, connection, and fill voids in people’s lives. But how do we have it? Well, a seed of it is planted in us. But to grow that seed, we must water it with the experiences of others. We grow compassion by extending ourselves to others and growing in our ability to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes. What about leadership? Leadership is usually a combination of gifts that come together. Some do it through honing their gifts of good planning and charm. Others lead by being able to articulate big visions and ideas. Regardless, the point is that no one ever became a great leader overnight. It was by extending one’s self to others that the experience was gained to develop that gift.
And the church should be a safe proving ground for such gift cultivation. When we volunteer to set up tables, we’re practicing gifts of stewardship and mutual support and we’re deepening relationships. When we participate in worship, we are doing so in a community that is founded upon grace so we don’t have to get it perfect. We just need to be faithful and the gifts will grow. And when there’s a loss or other crisis here, we can respond knowing that we are part of a community where don’t have to fix anything by ourselves because it can only be healed together.
This brings me to the last point I want to share from this passage. Gifts of the spirit are just like the many members of the body of Christ. It indeed does take all the parts to truly fix or heal or change anything for the better. The scripture says, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body… and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.”
We are completely and utterly bound together. Not just us inside these walls, but all followers. And as awe inspiring as that can sound, it’s also a tough one to swallow sometimes. Think about it. As people of faith, we have spent a great deal of time, energy, and money fighting with one another. For complicated reasons, we get more riled up with one another than we often do with people of no faith. Christians from other backgrounds, people that use different gifts like speaking in tongues, or even other Presbyterians become the object of our frustration and scorn. We think to ourselves, “how can they believe that?” or “they are just sinners.” We try to cut off parts of the body of Christ.
But verse 3 began by telling us “Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says ‘Let Jesus be cursed!’ and no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.” So our utterances of wanting to dismiss or even push away those we don’t understand in the body of Christ do not come from the Holy Spirit. The Spirit calls us together, even when we don’t understand all the parts… even when we can only see one another’s flaws… even when we are tired of listening… even when our beliefs stand in outright conflict with one another.
But we are not called to belief. We are called to faith. Faith that is bound together by the Spirit because we were baptized into one body and drink of one cup. We, all people who have faith in Jesus, are the body of Christ. When we want to dismiss any part of the body, our job is to seek more understanding rather than getting defensive or closing off. When we can’t figure out how someone can call themselves Christian, our calling is to spend time listening. When we’re frustrated with people we don’t understand, a better use of our time would be helping develop our gifts and theirs by working together on what we do agree on… things like poverty and being with the lonely and suffering. When someone tries to cut us off from the body, our calling is to keep living the mission and reaching out.
These acts of reaching out to one another to understand and connect as I said before are the proving grounds for our faith. If we can’t figure out how to work together as a living body of Christ then our witness to the world is also diminished because we’re not working as the whole body. But when we do join together, history shows us over and over again what amazing things can be done. Consider the Civil Rights Movement, the works of the Red Cross, and even close to home think of the amazing ministries of this congregation. Living out our callings together always leads to bigger things than we could have ever done on our own.
Sisters and brothers, This is a huge calling both inside and outside these walls. But lest we get too burdened by this, come back next week and we’ll be talking about our refuge, strength, and nurture inside these walls. But for now, we wear red on Pentecost to symbolize the flames of the Spirit so this quote from St. Catherine of Sienna is fitting. She said, “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.”
On this day where we celebrate the birth of the church, our calling is to develop the gifts that are given to us and to work hard to support the gifts of the Spirit given to others. When we do this, we become a full and vibrant living body of Christ. When we do this, we set the world on fire. Amen.
Good morning. It is so good to be with you on this day of Pentecost. I’ve missed you over the past month but I’ve kept up with some of the happenings and you’ve always been close to my heart and in my prayers. I wanted to make a joke about how long it’s been by how quickly my hair is growing back but I couldn’t really think of anything witty to say so let’s just jump into this scripture.
Today’s scripture passage around the gifts and the body of Christ offers us a familiar image and calling. But like most scripture, we are blessed with a new hearing each and every time we encounter it. So, on this day where we celebrate the birth of the church, Pentecost, what does God want us to hear with newness?
Well, the passage is pretty straightforward and there isn’t much in the way of controversy in its meaning. The passage is very clear that there is one Spirit, one Christ, and one God and that all gifts, services, and activities flow from the one triune God. God is the breather of life, author, & initiator of all gifts and services. Verse 7 tells us, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” Verse 11 says, “All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.”
All of our gifts and callings, every last one of them, come from God and are activated by the Spirit to work in the body of Christ. When we survey our lives, it can be so easy to pat ourselves on the backs for what we’ve done or achieved. But when we use our intuition or wisdom or compassionate heart, we must know that those things flow from God for the glory of God. Actually, the scripture said specifically they are “for the common good.”
This brings us to another point of this passage that reminders us that there are many different kinds of gifts and callings in the body of Christ. Verses 8 through 10 give us a litany of gifts and fruits of the spirit. But why is it that there are all these amazing gifts from God… compassion, healing, empathy, wisdom, leadership, faith, insight, tongues, hope, prophetic voice, and so many more… yet, we each only get a handful?
Well, most of us struggle to master even one or two of the gifts and callings in our lives let alone a bunch of them. As friends and neighbors, it takes hard work to use our particular gifts… the listening ear, perfect timing for distraction, asking intuitive questions, bravely challenging problems. Whatever our deepest gifts are in our friendships, it takes lots of effort on our part to use them well.
And what about our other relationships and roles like work, family, and even our faith community? Pure and simple, it’s just hard to develop a few of our gifts well and get them on the path God is calling us to. And even more difficult than that, when we do master a few, it becomes especially challenging to stay humble and remember from whom these gifts came.
But there’s more than the obvious “human” limitations going on here. We are not called to be individual gods, possessing all gifts and wholeness of the one God. Scripture says, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” The common good... we are called to be joined together for the betterment of all. When we join all our gifts together, we become Christ’s presence in the world… God’s love reaching out.
If we each had all gifts and roamed about as our own mini-gods, we would become increasingly self-centered because we lacked the need to open ourselves to what others can teach and give us. Instead, God wisely gave us each differing gifts in various combinations. That would mean that we could each have some special function but that function is only made whole in the presence of other parts. It is for the common good, the greater good that we have these gifts. And if they are truly made whole by joining together, we will be compelled to reach outside of ourselves.
So what do I mean by this? Take for example the gift of compassion. It is an amazing gift that can produce healing, connection, and fill voids in people’s lives. But how do we have it? Well, a seed of it is planted in us. But to grow that seed, we must water it with the experiences of others. We grow compassion by extending ourselves to others and growing in our ability to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes. What about leadership? Leadership is usually a combination of gifts that come together. Some do it through honing their gifts of good planning and charm. Others lead by being able to articulate big visions and ideas. Regardless, the point is that no one ever became a great leader overnight. It was by extending one’s self to others that the experience was gained to develop that gift.
And the church should be a safe proving ground for such gift cultivation. When we volunteer to set up tables, we’re practicing gifts of stewardship and mutual support and we’re deepening relationships. When we participate in worship, we are doing so in a community that is founded upon grace so we don’t have to get it perfect. We just need to be faithful and the gifts will grow. And when there’s a loss or other crisis here, we can respond knowing that we are part of a community where don’t have to fix anything by ourselves because it can only be healed together.
This brings me to the last point I want to share from this passage. Gifts of the spirit are just like the many members of the body of Christ. It indeed does take all the parts to truly fix or heal or change anything for the better. The scripture says, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body… and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.”
We are completely and utterly bound together. Not just us inside these walls, but all followers. And as awe inspiring as that can sound, it’s also a tough one to swallow sometimes. Think about it. As people of faith, we have spent a great deal of time, energy, and money fighting with one another. For complicated reasons, we get more riled up with one another than we often do with people of no faith. Christians from other backgrounds, people that use different gifts like speaking in tongues, or even other Presbyterians become the object of our frustration and scorn. We think to ourselves, “how can they believe that?” or “they are just sinners.” We try to cut off parts of the body of Christ.
But verse 3 began by telling us “Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says ‘Let Jesus be cursed!’ and no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.” So our utterances of wanting to dismiss or even push away those we don’t understand in the body of Christ do not come from the Holy Spirit. The Spirit calls us together, even when we don’t understand all the parts… even when we can only see one another’s flaws… even when we are tired of listening… even when our beliefs stand in outright conflict with one another.
But we are not called to belief. We are called to faith. Faith that is bound together by the Spirit because we were baptized into one body and drink of one cup. We, all people who have faith in Jesus, are the body of Christ. When we want to dismiss any part of the body, our job is to seek more understanding rather than getting defensive or closing off. When we can’t figure out how someone can call themselves Christian, our calling is to spend time listening. When we’re frustrated with people we don’t understand, a better use of our time would be helping develop our gifts and theirs by working together on what we do agree on… things like poverty and being with the lonely and suffering. When someone tries to cut us off from the body, our calling is to keep living the mission and reaching out.
These acts of reaching out to one another to understand and connect as I said before are the proving grounds for our faith. If we can’t figure out how to work together as a living body of Christ then our witness to the world is also diminished because we’re not working as the whole body. But when we do join together, history shows us over and over again what amazing things can be done. Consider the Civil Rights Movement, the works of the Red Cross, and even close to home think of the amazing ministries of this congregation. Living out our callings together always leads to bigger things than we could have ever done on our own.
Sisters and brothers, This is a huge calling both inside and outside these walls. But lest we get too burdened by this, come back next week and we’ll be talking about our refuge, strength, and nurture inside these walls. But for now, we wear red on Pentecost to symbolize the flames of the Spirit so this quote from St. Catherine of Sienna is fitting. She said, “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.”
On this day where we celebrate the birth of the church, our calling is to develop the gifts that are given to us and to work hard to support the gifts of the Spirit given to others. When we do this, we become a full and vibrant living body of Christ. When we do this, we set the world on fire. Amen.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
A Moment, A Life
A Moment, A Life: <-- Audio file of Transfiguration Sunday sermon based upon Matthew 17:1-9.
Good morning. Today is transfiguration Sunday and if you’ve spent much time at church in your life, you’ve probably heard more than a few sermons from the gospel texts that recount this event in Jesus’ life. It’s a dramatic scene of Jesus, Peter, James, & John climbing to the mountain top. Then Jesus’ face shines with brilliant light and his well-worn robe suddenly glistens with a brilliant whiteness. As if this isn’t startling enough, suddenly Moses and Elijah appear and start talking with Jesus. Now, I don’t know how Jesus stayed so calm in the midst of all this but Peter, James, & John were filled with awe. Peter wanted to stay there and live in the glory of the moment forever. But he had barely said that before the voice of God booms from a cloud affirming Jesus as his son that he is so proud of. At this, Peter, James, & John were absolutely overwhelmed and fell to the ground. Then Jesus comforted them and led them back on their journey… and a remarkable journey at that.
So what is it we’re supposed to get from this story? What is transfiguration? Miriam Webster dictionary defines transfiguration as “a change in form or appearance; a metamorphosis; an exalting, glorifying, or spiritual change.” So transfiguration Sunday marks a moment of spiritual change in Christ. Something big happened on that mountaintop and we mark and honor it. But just as Peter wanted to stay and the moment and found out he couldn’t, we must also recognize that transfiguration Sunday is but a moment that points to something bigger going on. Transfiguration Sunday is about a moment in Christ’s life. But I think it tells us something about our lives as well.
To be transfigured is a moment in time that changes us. It’s a moment that stays with us in ways that we remember. It reveals something of who we are, who we’ll become, or sometimes even what we don’t want to be. To be transfigured is to be open to the moment and letting what that moment has touch us and leave us forever transformed. To be transfigured is but a moment in time but a moment that we can use to push us forward and compel us onward as we gather the energy and direction that it gives us. And I want to suggest that transfiguration happens in our everyday lives.
So as I thought about transfiguration this week, I spent some time looking thinking about how we’ve tried to capture this biblical moment, the transfiguration of Christ as well as how we experience transfiguration in our everyday lives. So, I want to share with you a PowerPoint of some images that capture the transfiguration in many different forms.
I could fill a whole afternoon with artwork where we’ve tried to capture the transfiguration of Christ. But here is just a sampling of a few… like this one from the 1300’s were we see the climax of the scene.
… or this one from the 1800’s
… or this one from a more modern time.
Even look at the cover of your bulletin. Artwork from this event has captured our minds and imaginations for a long time.
But capturing the transfiguration of Christ is only worthy if we can also capture it in our own lives. So here are some images that may resonate with you on a more personal level. Images of moments that transform and give our lives deeper meaning.
See, sometimes we have moments were we realize that we are but small players in something so much larger than us, yet we’re called to be a part of them…
we look on not sure what this moment will bring but we know it will forever change things.
Some moments speak for themselves.
There are moments we never imagined but once we’re there, we rise to the occasion
… there are the moments made in the midst of sorrow
… and the sorrow made better by a comforter.
There are the moments that a whole country will never forget
… and the moments that a family would not be the same without.
There are moments we could not have imagined
… and connections that will have meaning for a long time to come.
Transfiguration is about the experience, the understanding.
Some moments call us to something bigger and hold out a vision
… while others make dreams come true.
There are moments of liberation and pure joy
… and joy
… and joy
… and joy. Joy that takes hold of us and makes us the people we want to be, children of God.
There are moments of triumph to get where we’ve never been
… moments of getting back up when we’re down.
Moments made beautiful by the friends around us.
Moments of attaining what we always wanted
… worked for
… ran after.
Moments no one imagined for us
… moments only before held in our imaginations.
And there are times when no one thought it could be done.
And as we prepare to go into Lent, we should consider all the moments of self reflection where we see beyond the shadows into who we are
… We take who we are to God
… And we climb to new mountaintops literally but mostly figuratively.
We wait for new dawn to show us something new
… something amazing
… or sometimes something quiet yet bold.
And from those Lenten experiences we have new found curiosity about God’s creation
… we wonder what could be or become of our lives.
And we take these moments with us, setting out on a journey, not knowing what will happen and not always realizing that we’ve been in the midst of something transforming.
We journey not knowing what moments will come
… and not always having the answers in those moments
… but always knowing that those moments will forever be with us compelling and moving us forward.
Sisters and brothers, Jesus went to the mountaintop and was transformed in that moment but he came back down the mountain and used the blessing of his father and energy of the experience to compel him forward. We must also do the same. Our lives are filled with moments that impact us and change us spiritually. Our job is not to build houses and try to live in that moment but rather to make a life where the moments lead us and let God lead us to something even more extraordinary. Amen.
Good morning. Today is transfiguration Sunday and if you’ve spent much time at church in your life, you’ve probably heard more than a few sermons from the gospel texts that recount this event in Jesus’ life. It’s a dramatic scene of Jesus, Peter, James, & John climbing to the mountain top. Then Jesus’ face shines with brilliant light and his well-worn robe suddenly glistens with a brilliant whiteness. As if this isn’t startling enough, suddenly Moses and Elijah appear and start talking with Jesus. Now, I don’t know how Jesus stayed so calm in the midst of all this but Peter, James, & John were filled with awe. Peter wanted to stay there and live in the glory of the moment forever. But he had barely said that before the voice of God booms from a cloud affirming Jesus as his son that he is so proud of. At this, Peter, James, & John were absolutely overwhelmed and fell to the ground. Then Jesus comforted them and led them back on their journey… and a remarkable journey at that.
So what is it we’re supposed to get from this story? What is transfiguration? Miriam Webster dictionary defines transfiguration as “a change in form or appearance; a metamorphosis; an exalting, glorifying, or spiritual change.” So transfiguration Sunday marks a moment of spiritual change in Christ. Something big happened on that mountaintop and we mark and honor it. But just as Peter wanted to stay and the moment and found out he couldn’t, we must also recognize that transfiguration Sunday is but a moment that points to something bigger going on. Transfiguration Sunday is about a moment in Christ’s life. But I think it tells us something about our lives as well.
To be transfigured is a moment in time that changes us. It’s a moment that stays with us in ways that we remember. It reveals something of who we are, who we’ll become, or sometimes even what we don’t want to be. To be transfigured is to be open to the moment and letting what that moment has touch us and leave us forever transformed. To be transfigured is but a moment in time but a moment that we can use to push us forward and compel us onward as we gather the energy and direction that it gives us. And I want to suggest that transfiguration happens in our everyday lives.
So as I thought about transfiguration this week, I spent some time looking thinking about how we’ve tried to capture this biblical moment, the transfiguration of Christ as well as how we experience transfiguration in our everyday lives. So, I want to share with you a PowerPoint of some images that capture the transfiguration in many different forms.
I could fill a whole afternoon with artwork where we’ve tried to capture the transfiguration of Christ. But here is just a sampling of a few… like this one from the 1300’s were we see the climax of the scene.
But capturing the transfiguration of Christ is only worthy if we can also capture it in our own lives. So here are some images that may resonate with you on a more personal level. Images of moments that transform and give our lives deeper meaning.
See, sometimes we have moments were we realize that we are but small players in something so much larger than us, yet we’re called to be a part of them…
There are moments we never imagined but once we’re there, we rise to the occasion
There are the moments that a whole country will never forget
There are moments we could not have imagined
Some moments call us to something bigger and hold out a vision
There are moments of liberation and pure joy
There are moments of triumph to get where we’ve never been
And as we prepare to go into Lent, we should consider all the moments of self reflection where we see beyond the shadows into who we are
We wait for new dawn to show us something new
And from those Lenten experiences we have new found curiosity about God’s creation
And we take these moments with us, setting out on a journey, not knowing what will happen and not always realizing that we’ve been in the midst of something transforming.
We journey not knowing what moments will come
Sisters and brothers, Jesus went to the mountaintop and was transformed in that moment but he came back down the mountain and used the blessing of his father and energy of the experience to compel him forward. We must also do the same. Our lives are filled with moments that impact us and change us spiritually. Our job is not to build houses and try to live in that moment but rather to make a life where the moments lead us and let God lead us to something even more extraordinary. Amen.
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