It's too bad
that worship this morning was cancelled due to snow and ice. Don't get
me wrong, it's not the end of the world if Sunday services get
cancelled. I feel pretty confident God would rather us stay home and
safe than risk life and limb trying to get to church on Kansas City, MO
roads which most likely have yet to be plowed.
I think it was a shame though, that we had to miss this particular Sunday--Transfiguration Sunday.
I grew up in a faith tradition that didn't pay attention to the seasons of the church year.
Things like Lent, Epiphany, Pentecost and yes, Transfiguration Sunday
were terms I really didn't know anything about until I went to seminary
and experienced communities of faith that practiced a "high church" form
of worship. I remember when my father, a Southern Baptist minister,
introduced an Advent wreath at our church. No one protested and it
became an annual tradition, but I don't think those Southern Baptists
ever were really comfortable with such a "Catholic" ritual going on in
our church.
Transfiguration Sunday was definitely not something I was familiar with until I was introduced to preaching the lectionary--the
list of scriptures arranged according to the church season over a three
year cycle. Each of the three years has different scriptures for each
Sunday and focuses on a particular one of the Gospels (Year A = Matthew,
Year B = Mark, Year C = Luke with John sprinkled in here and there,
especially around Holy Week).
Churches that pay attention to the seasons of the church year (also
called liturgical seasons) often follow the lectionary. I find in my
preaching that when I pick one of the lectionary passages to preach on
then I avoid the trap of repeatedly picking one of the handful of my own
personal favorite passages. Also, I'm forced to think about and
interpret a passage that is more difficult and which I might rather
avoid.
For many years, the story of the Transfiguration in Matthew,
Mark and Luke was one of those passages I would have rather avoided.
What is there to say about this bizarre story? Jesus takes his three
closest disciples--Peter, James and John--up to the top of a mountain.
There the big names from the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Moses and Elijah
(representing the Law and the Prophets) appear with Jesus. A voice
from heaven speaks, "This is My Son. Listen to him." (A repeat of what
some Gospels say was heard at Jesus' baptism.) Then Jesus is
"transfigured" and he "glows like the sun." (Sort of like the vampires in Twilight;
okay maybe not). Peter wants to stay and hang out with Moses and
Elijah, but when all is said and done, Jesus tells him and his buddies
not to tell anyone about this. Then they head back down the mountain.
It's not
exactly a straightforward narrative to preach on or plan a worship
service around. I used to wonder, "Must we really have a
Transfiguration Sunday every year?"
I changed my
mind, however, when I began to understand where this weird story takes
place in the stories that Matthew, Mark and Luke tell. This moment of
transfiguration--literally in the Greek "metamorphosis"--is the last
thing Jesus does before he heads towards Jerusalem where he will suffer
and die. From this moment forward, Jesus has made a choice to face the
suffering of the world head on.
The
Transfiguration or "metamorphosis" is the moment where we, the readers
of the Gospel stories, get to see who Jesus really is--the divine "Son
of God." His secret identity as the peasant rabbi from Nazareth finally
falls off like Clark Kent's glasses.
Yet this "Son of God" doesn't don a superhero costume and fly off to
vanquish evil; instead he heads back down the mountain to face scorn,
rejection, betrayal, torture and execution. This heroic figure does not
stand (or fly) above the suffering of our world, rather he enters fully
into it.
Within our
church, you can find all sorts of different beliefs about who Jesus'
secret identity is--from those who believe he is the full second person
of the Trinity--"Son of God" and God incarnate to those who believe he
was a Buddha-like enlightened one to those who believe he had no secret
identity and was a human first-century rabbi. No matter which way you
slice it, I think you in the end come out with pretty much the same
answer: Jesus chose to go toward the pain of the world to do something
about it rather than to run away from it.
So, if we had
been at church together this morning, I would have urged you to consider
what following Jesus means? Like Jesus, when God reveals to you your
true identity as a child of God, you cannot run away from the pain in
this world. Instead, you must go towards it and do your part to do
something about the causes of that suffering.
Transfiguration
Sunday is the last Sunday before the Season of Lent begins. On
Wednesday, we will have ashes "imposed" upon us and we will hear the
words "from dust you came and to dust you shall return." We will
remember our mortality and set aside the illusions that say there is
always more time to start living as God would have us live. If we have
been transfigured--undergone metamorphosis--experienced
transformation--then we will go towards the hurting places in our world
and not away from them.
Ash Wednesday
marks the beginning of Lent. The common misconception about the season
of Lent is that it is a time to test one's own willpower by giving up a
bad habit. How typical of us to think that it's all about us! The
season of Lent is supposed to be about God and how we often choose to
live in ways that do not reflect our true identity as God's children.
Lent is a time for us to remember that we have been transfigured and we
have been called to a different purpose--helping God heal a world
scarred by human selfishness and greed.
Perhaps on
this snowy Sunday, even though we did not worship together, you and I
can take some time to remember what Transfiguration Sunday is for.
Chase
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