February 6, 2005
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Eternal and loving God, just as your people in ancient times sought high places of encounter with you, we pray you will lift us up above the fog of our lives that we might meet you in this hour. If you have instructions for us, we want to hear them. If our lives need a change of direction, turn us around. If there is a prophecy we have ignored, reveal its meaning for us. If the Scriptures hold truth we have overlooked, awaken our attention and grant us courage to respond in new and positive ways. In Christ’s name, amen (adapted from Taught by Love. Lavon Baylor. Cleveland: United Church Press. 1998, p.50). We have gathered in this space at this hour for many reasons. We are here because it is what we do on Sunday morning; it is where we meet our dearest friends, or our family enjoys being in church together. Someone has said, “I’m lonely; this is where I can be with other people; I have gifts to share and here is where I can offer them; I know I can worship God and Jesus Christ and feel the Holy Spirit wherever I am, but it just feels better when I feel the sacred presence of God with like-minded sisters and brothers of the faith.” Whatever it is that brings us to church, everyone of us ought to come open to what God will do, and eager to see the glory of God at work. That is what Transfiguration Sunday celebrates. Transfiguration Sunday is a transitional Sunday. Transfiguration Sunday is about hope as we enter the six week period of prayer and reflection that ends on Good Friday. This day helps us look forward to Christ’s resurrection and it reinforces our faith that nothing is impossible for God to do. “On the last Sunday before the beginning of Lent, when the church prepares for the recollection of Jesus’ suffering and death, it is appropriate to hear once again that the journey to the cross is not all shadows and gloom. There is the vision of the transfigured Jesus, stunning in his majesty, mysterious even in his revelation. Ironically, with Jesus suffering and glory, darkness and light, death and life belong together” (Texts for Preaching – Year A. Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1995, p. 171). One of my favorite hymns is not in the Chalice Hymnal which is too bad because its words are perfect for Transfiguration Sunday. The first verse says: “Look ye saints, the sight is glorious, see the man of sorrows now; from the fight returned victorious every knee to him shall bow. Crown him, crown him, crown him, Crowns become the victor’s brow, crowns become the victor’s brow” (“Look Ye Saints, The Sight Is Glorious, #186 Hymnbook for Christian Worship. St. Louis: The Bethany Press, 1970). Mathew tell us that the Transfiguration occurs six days after Jesus and his disciples have been involved in some intense life-changing ministry. Jesus has according to Matthew 16, refused when the religious leaders challenge him to give them a sign, he will not subject himself to silly and arbitrary tests to prove that he is who he says he is. He has asked his disciples who people say that he is – and has praised Peter who answers the question is words we still use today. “You are the Messiah – the Christ, the Son of the living God”. He has asked the disciples to keep in their hearts what they know about him, it’s not yet time to reveal that he is the Messiah. It is six days after Jesus has told the disciples that he would be killed, a prediction that Peter who has rightly identified as the Messiah, cannot understand, “God forbid it Lord”, he says, “this must never happen to you”. Jesus scolds Peter, calls him Satan, and orders Peter to get behind him, and reminds him to lift his focus to what God is doing so that he does not think on a purely human level (Matthew 16. 21-23). It is six days later, after Jesus has said “if any want to be my followers, let them deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me…” (16.24-26). It is six days later and the disciples who are most often with Jesus, Peter, and the brothers James and John, go up on a mountain with him, and while they are there, they are witness to an amazing sight, they see him transfigured, changed and transformed before their eyes. On the mountain, the disciples see Jesus in dazzling white; and they see that he is not alone. It is no coincidence that when Jesus is transfigured, Moses and Elijah are with him. Moses received God’s word and shared it with the people. Elijah shared God’s power and not only brought the people closer to God, but withstood the prophets of Baal and Queen Jezebel, all on behalf of his God (I Kings 17-21). Moses and Elijah knew about mountains. Moses learned about mountains as he led his people through a dry sea and a dry desert and helped to transform them from a community of slaves to a community of nomads, to a community of faith, spending forty days with God along the way. We need the spirit of Moses here as we move from being enslaved by the fear that we can’t, we won’t, we shouldn’t, there are not enough people, there is not enough money. We have wandered awhile. It is time now to wait for God, to climb up and see what God will give to us. It is time for us to be that community of faith that declares that in the name of our God, we will be freed, liberated, unbound. As we go, we will be bold to look at the needs and the resources around us and say – we can, we will, we should, we will find the money and we will welcome the people. Elijah has a different story. You may recall that Elijah had a moment of crisis. Jezebel wants to kill him. Elijah ran to the nearest mountain, not to seek God; he hid in a cave to save his life. But even there God would not let him stay in his hiding place. God says to Elijah, what God says to us when we want to hide. God calls him out of the cave and says wait for me to pass by. There were signs of the divine presence. The wind blew, the earth shook, fire burned, but God was not there. It was in the silence, in the waiting, in the meditation, in the beating of the heart, the racing of the mind, the openness to what the glory of God can do when we are scared, when only God can calm our fears that we hear what Elijah heard, “go back down the mountain, where the work is, where the need is. Go in my power and be my representative in the world. Elijah finds renewed courage and says what we are called to say when God calms our fears, “I will stand for God and for my faith no matter what comes. God has made me strong, God has given me power, God has not abandoned me; God has not let me hide forever. God has changed Moses, God has changed Elijah. God is changing Jesus. Jesus had been a teacher, and now with Peter’s confession, in the glory of God they are seeing him as he is made known to them as the promised Messiah. He is God’s anointed. Peter responds to the moment with a statement of affirmation. “It is good for us to be here. How sweet to bear witness to a miracle, how wonderful to see you chatting with great leaders of God’s people. This is great. If you want, Jesus, I will make three tents, three booths, three houses; one for each of you. I will mark this spot so everybody will know that you all were here!” But even as he speaks, the voice of God interrupts Peter and says, “this is my son, the beloved”, and then comes the command, “listen to him”. Listen when he says to you, feed the poor, care for the needy, love one another, with bold and holy love. Know that I will die, know that I will be raised from death, pray, hope, see visions, dream dreams. Surrounded by the glory of God, living in the glory of the risen Christ, upheld by the glory of the Holy Spirit, we too have been witness to the transforming power of Christ. We can still listen to Jesus, the one we name as Savior and Lord, and know that like Peter, we cannot always control the moment, or the glory it contains. Sometimes we just receive the glory. Last Tuesday, I was at a Columbus Metropolitan Area Church Council executive committee meeting. That is the organization that sponsors the Racial Unity service we hosted a few weeks ago, and part of the meeting agenda included a discussion of the that service. If you were here, you know that it was a marvelous time of worshiping God. When I told them that the high spirit that made this space so welcoming and so alive that night has hovered here since then, and that our services since that night have been something to behold, one member of the committee said simply, “that church is anointed space”. And so it is. Who was here in church last Sunday? Remember how moving the music was? Did you notice people responding to the singing and the sermon with joy and enthusiasm, out loud in a way we have not experienced in a while? Didn’t you rejoice when Tom and Judy made this house of faith their church home? Didn’t we smile and praise God when we got good news about our budget? Those were glory filled moments. But it didn’t start last Sunday. For months we have sought a vision for ministry and a means by which to achieve it and in the seeking we have prayed and worked and given and sacrificed to help this congregation grow and thrive. The signs of glory are here. God has poured something glorious into us; will we receive it? God has given us these moments, that cannot be marked in hours or minutes or any measurement of time as we know it. These are special moments of enlightenment and glory. But we work these moments out in ordinary time, year by year, month by month, week by week, hour by hour, minute by minute. In this time given to us, we will live surrounded by the glory of God and let the presence of God’s glory change us. We will take this moment because as one writer says, “day after day we are surrounded by the majesty of God, yet our eyes do not see nor our thoughts grasp the wonders of creation or the gift of excellence. God calls us to be eyewitnesses of good news, to believe what we have eyes to see and to trust in the One beyond our knowing” (Bayler, p. 50). Here is how we will bear witness to the glory of God. We have talked in the last months about our vision. Our vision is in our purpose statement, “…as followers of Jesus Christ…our purpose is to be a safe and welcoming place for all people seeking a spiritual home where their relationship with Christ can be nurtured and strengthened”. I have shared with the board and the ministry team leaders and the spiritual leaders of this congregation a goal of growing the membership of this congregation by 100 members by April, 2007; each one committed to regular worship attendance, participation in small groups for study and service, for the financial support of the congregation, and encouraging others to join them at church. The leaders of this church are dedicated to this goal, and we will need your help to reach it, and it will be glorious. I believe we can do this. Might we be afraid to tackle such an audacious goal? Maybe, but let’s do it anyway. When Peter, James and John heard the voice of God, they were so afraid they could not stand up. But the voice of Jesus spoke to them, encouraging them not to be afraid, and when they looked up, the only person they saw was Jesus. On that mountain, Jesus lets three of his disciples see a preview of what is to come. The ultimate transfiguration belongs to Jesus Christ who was changed from carpenter to rabbi to crucified one to risen Christ. Thank God for Jesus who shares the glory with us. At the transfiguration, we get a glimpse of the glory that is to come when Jesus is raised, when God’s people are empowered, when the church lives faithfully in his name. In the meantime, in this time, look up and see Jesus, listen to him. Do not be afraid, and do not stay on the mountain; it is beautiful and peaceful, but it is a place of preparation, not ministry. Moses left the mountain to lead the people to the land promised to them. Elijah left the mountain to be God’s prophet. Jesus left the mountain to go into the city, to get a cross, to go up another mountain to die in agony, and to be changed and raised in greater glory. As he goes, he invites us to go with him and let our own lives be changed. Christ has been raised, we need keep the secret no longer. In fact as people of the resurrection, it is our news to tell. And as we go to see it, let these words rest on our lips and in our hearts, “Look ye saints, the sight is glorious”. Thanks be to God. Amen. Dr.
LaTaunya M. Bynum |
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Broad
Street Christian Church
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