This week’s gospel text brings us Matthew’s startling account of the Transfiguration. While a superficial reading might focus on the transformation in Jesus’ appearance, the Matthew passage suggests a much more revealing theme... literally. Far away from the prying eyes of the crowds who seek healing miracles, it seems that what Peter, James, and John experience is a brief glimpse of the full, unvarnished reality of Jesus -- even though they apparently aren’t able to completely grasp what that means. As if to underline that it’s all about the revealing of Jesus’ true nature, God tells them that Jesus “is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5). Jesus is cognizant of how incendiary this revelation will be -- so he makes a point of telling his disciples on their descent from the mountain that they are to keep quiet about what they’ve seen until after the resurrection. In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Leah Lonsbury compares the Transfiguration story and the effect it had on Peter, James, and John to the revealing of explosive truths in our society, ones which turn our world upside-down and challenge our entire context for understanding things... and which as a result can shake us to the core.
Team member Dean Feldmeyer shares some additional thoughts on the Transfiguration and Peter’s curious reaction. His initial impulse -- to start building temporary housing for Moses and Elijah -- reveals just how little Peter understands about what he’s just witnessed. But as Dean notes, we’re not all that different in the way we respond to things that we just don’t know what to make of. What do we do? As hard-charging Americans with a “can-do” spirit, we typically want to rush into action... even before we know the full story. Dean points out that for Christians, the Transfiguration may have some pointers for how we might want to approach seemingly intractable issues that we don’t know how to solve... especially when our initial response may mirror that of the disciples: falling to the ground and being overcome by fear.
Transfiguration Shakeup
by Leah Lonsbury
Exodus 24:12-18; Matthew 17:1-9
Last week, less than an hour after I submitted my sermon illustration for The Immediate Word about Olympic skier Bode Miller, I read an article a friend had posted on Facebook that gave me a fuller picture of the unvarnished reality of Miller. What I originally saw in the news and wrote about was this champion skier’s compassionate, turn-the-other-cheek response to a reporter’s insensitive and repeated questioning about Miller’s recently deceased brother. What I read less than an hour later radically changed my take on Miller, and now I’m not sure what to make of that sermon illustration at all. Would I have written it if I’d known then what I know now? I’m not sure.
As our passages from both Exodus and Matthew’s gospel point to this week, when the essence or inner truth of God (or anybody else for that matter) is revealed, nothing is as it was. As the disciples prove and was probably true of Moses as well, those who observe such an unveiling or transfiguration often don’t know what to do with it. They are shaken loose from the understanding they held before and have not yet had a chance to process the change and grasp what it means.
With Moses, as with Jesus, the inner truth that is revealed is apparently quite explosive. If the truth revealed in the transfiguration could shake Jesus’ close friends and followers and appear as “a devouring fire” to the Israelites, imagine what it might do the wider community. Jesus knows this when he says, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead” (Matthew 17:9).
This week we’ll look at how a revelation of the explosive truth of God can threaten the status quo, challenge the current context we have created for meaning-making, and leave us scrambling for how to react. We’ll also look more closely at Miller’s story and other current headlines that show how revealing truth can really shake things up and force us to rework or reform our opinions, reactions, and possibly our lives.
In the News
Bode Miller is a champion skier and a six-time Olympic medalist. He’s also the oldest Olympic alpine skier to take home a medal, and this distinction came after he fought his way back from a serious injury in 2012 to be in Sochi. This is what I knew about Miller before last week’s Immediate Word deadline.
Almost immediately after sending off my sermon illustration on Miller, I learned that he’s also the father of two children by different women, one of whom he is now fighting in an ugly custody battle over his toddler son. I also learned that Miller and his model and professional volleyball player wife, Morgan, became engaged shortly after former flame Sara McKenna told Miller she was pregnant. The fiancés became husband and wife just five short months later.
This second round of information certainly complicates my initial understanding of Miller, as does an additional article revealing the nasty and very public fighting that has gone on between McKenna and Miller. They even disagree on the toddler’s name. McKenna named him Samuel Bode Miller-McKenna and calls him “Sam.” Miller petitioned a court (and won) to have “Nathaniel” added to the baby’s moniker, after his recently deceased brother. He calls the baby “Nate.”
Even more troublesome is Miller’s behavior around his relationship with Sam/Nate. McKenna has publicized a text she received from Miller after inviting him to an initial ultrasound appointment. It reads, “U made this choice against my wish.”
Figuring she was in this alone and needed to make a career change that was more conducive to being a parent, McKenna applied and was accepted to a program set up to support parents at Columbia University in New York City. She was seven months pregnant at the time.
When Miller found out about McKenna’s move, he filed for custody of the “child” still growing in McKenna’s body. Then, in an unusual turn of events, a family court referee in New York ruled against McKenna for her “unjustifiable conduct” in moving across the country and away from the baby’s father while still pregnant. The referee then said that while McKenna “did not ‘abduct’ the child, her appropriation of the child was irresponsible and reprehensible,” and awarded custody to Miller.
Nearly six months later -- over half the child’s lifetime -- a five-judge appeals court panel in New York said McKenna’s basic rights had been violated, adding, “Putative fathers have neither the right nor the ability to restrict a pregnant woman from her constitutionally protected liberty.”
McKenna was then given back the child. When questioned by the New York Post about the experience, she said, “I’m happy to have him back now. He’s got a tooth and he can crawl. I didn’t know.”
McKenna and Miller have since worked out temporary custody of Sam/Nate, but the alarm bells set off by the case have not yet stopped ringing for champions of women’s rights. They have called the early decisions questioning Ms. McKenna’s behavior a threat to the autonomy of pregnant women and have applauded the appeals court reversal.
“Especially with current political pressures to recognize separate legal rights for fetuses, there will be increasing calls on the courts to fault a pregnant woman for moving, to restrain women from living their lives because they’re pregnant,” said Sarah E. Burns, the head of the Reproductive Justice Clinic at the New York University law school.
Burns might have been referring to stories like that of Rep. Steve Martin of Virginia, whose Facebook post responding to a Valentine he received from reproductive rights advocates referred to pregnant women as “hosts” and called their reproductive rights “nonsense.”
My alarm bells have been set off too -- as an advocate of women’s rights, a mother, and a writer that took up Miller’s cause before learning the wider story. The revelation of Miller’s truth and his essence (as much as the media can or will accurately portray anyway) proved to have an explosive effect on my take on the skier and father, and I’m finding it’s not as easy to draw conclusions on Miller or make meaning around him as it was a week ago. Perhaps there’s a transfiguration of sorts at work here?
Other current news stories fit this pattern in their own ways as well -- truth revealed; status quo and context for meaning-making turned upside-down; and an ensuing scramble to reform reactions, opinions, and lives...
* Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman did an interview last week with African-American transgender activist CeCe McDonald and transgender actress Laverne Cox about McDonald’s experience in prison for killing 47-year-old Dean Schmitz in self-defense. In Minnesota in 2011, Schmitz and his crowd of friends hurled racist, homophobic, and transphobic slurs at McDonald as she and a friend tried to walk by. McDonald was hit in the face with a bar glass and left with a cut that required 11 stitches. A brawl ensued, and McDonald defended herself with a pair of fabric scissors that were in her purse. In the courtroom, McDonald faced up to 80 years in prison for this act of self-defense, so she took a plea deal that put her in prison for 41 months instead. The judge in her case rejected key evidence, including the swastika tattoo on Schmitz’s chest; his three prior convictions for assault; and the meth, cocaine, and alcohol in his system at the time of the attack. When these details are considered, as well as the factors of gender, sexual orientation, race, and class and the statistics that say trans individuals are at increased risk for bullying violence, domestic abuse, assault by law enforcement, and hate violence, a different kind of truth emerges from McDonald’s case. This is the kind of truth that could have brought a different verdict and whole different path for the defendant. Transfiguration also shows up in the stories McDonald and Cox tell toward the end of the interview about learning and embracing their own inner truth.
* Since the “bridgegate” scandal involving New Jersey governor Chris Christie was revealed, Christie’s approval ratings have dropped to 50%. (They were at 70% just a year ago.) More than half of New Jerseyans now say he is more concerned with his political future than with governing as well. Christie’s ratings on his handling of Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts, a past cornerstone of his widespread bipartisan support, are down to 55% from 73% last year. The truth of bridgegate is changing Christie’s whole political experience, and perhaps his political future as well.
* New polling data released on Monday reveals that a large majority of West Virginians think that last month’s chemical spill, which left 300,000 people without access to safe water, was a blaring wakeup call on the need for better regulations. From an article by reporter Kate Sheppard:
The poll, conducted by Hart Research Associates and commissioned by the Sierra Club, found that 73 percent of residents polled agreed that the state “has paid too little attention to addressing threats to air and water,” and felt that the spill was a signal that “things must change.” Seventy percent of the people polled also said they thought other incidents like this would occur if efforts are not made to prevent them. “What we found was this was a pretty big shock to the system for West Virginians,” said Jay Campbell, senior vice president of Hart Research.
The poll touted numbers closer to 87 and 97 percent when it came to addressing plant regulations and water quality standards. It also appears the spill may influence future elections, because 62 percent of respondents said that they favored a hypothetical candidate who “favors strong regulations and enforcement.” This is a big change for a state with a reputation for electing officials that have spurned just such regulations in the past.
In the Scriptures
Let’s be truthful. The story of the transfiguration can be a tough one to try to digest, even for the mystics among us. Douglas John Hall writes in Feasting on the Word, “Whether we admit it or not, even those of us who think ourselves especially open to mystery feel uneasy in the presence of texts like this” (Year A, Vol. 1, pg. 452).
Moses’ story can strike us in the same way. It’s full of repetition, and the timeline gets a little convoluted, and there’s the whole thing with the Lord calling to Moses out of a cloud and God’s glory (how exactly do we define that again?) appearing like a “devouring fire.”
Both stories can be hard to believe if we’re looking for everyday sense-making and something resembling cold, hard fact. So maybe what these stories are witnessing to is more about the disciples’ and Moses’ experience of their encounters with the holy and what they hear the voice of God saying to them. These are Jesus’ intimate friends, and they have drawn away with their teacher before this mountaintop experience. They are in familiar territory, or so they think. And Moses on the mountain shoots right up in the midst of many chapters of mundane and meticulous details about the moral life of the covenant community and the way it should order its worship. Allen McSween writes of this, “Suddenly we are startled by the mystical in the midst of the mundane -- the awesome amid the ordinary, the breathtaking amid the boring. That is about as good a description of pastoral ministry as I know” (Feasting on the Word, Year A, Vol. 1, pg. 436).
We’ll save that pastoral stuff for the “In the Sermon” section below, but let’s attend to the inbreaking of the “mystical into the mundane” here. These accounts are the result of the covenant community’s collective memories of the miraculous glory of God busting into everyday life and the life-altering relationships with Jesus that his followers vividly and enthusiastically recalled. The stories, then, must reflect the shock of such divine contact. They must jolt the hearer or reader and give them a similar shaking, causing disruption and even disorientation. For when the explosive inner truth or the essence of God is revealed, it knocks things off-kilter, causing the walls of meaning-making we have built to crumble so that we must rebuild anew in the strangeness of divine possibility.
That possibility is love, direct and tender, as the voice from the cloud shows -- “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” -- and the touch and words of Jesus communicate so clearly. “Get up and do not be afraid,” he directs.
Love’s possibility is by its very nature unfamiliar, even if we have known abundant human love. It makes us tell wild mountaintop stories and head toward Jerusalem’s threats with Jesus (wherever that may be in our lives today) despite our best efforts to hunker down and dwell apart from dis-ease and danger. It makes us drop our nets and follow somebody who says they’re out to catch people, and it captures the hearts and the imaginations of believers over 2,000 years later through the Word we discover in texts like these and in each other. It transfigures us, how we live and tell our ever-surprising stories, how we hope and dream in the outrageous foolishness of God, and how we reach for one another as beloveds of the Beloved.
In the Sermon
This week, the preacher might consider...
* how the revelation of the explosive truth of God threatens the status quo -- the Church’s, that of the people in the pews and in the pulpit, the wider community’s, and that of our nation and our world. If we lived what we know of God in Jesus, what would necessarily change? How would it shake us up and create holy disorder? How might we experience the unveiling of God’s glory in our lives as a “devouring fire”?
* Douglas John Hall’s assertion that...
To be sure, at one level of perception the experience of the transfiguration is not entirely beyond the ken of most sensitive people. Who has not known moments of surprised illumination when, through some outwardly ordinary act, episode, or fragment of conversation, someone we thought we knew fairly well is suddenly revealed in a completely new light? Often in retrospect one is moved to consider the life of someone no longer living -- a parent or grandparent, a friend or mentor -- and to realize how inadequately, even perhaps how wrongly, one has grasped the real character of that one, or how one has missed the depths of meaning that he or she held for one’s own life (Feasting on the Word, Year A, Vol. 1, pgs. 452, 454).
What are the stories of transfiguration from our own lives and relationships? What are the stories of transfiguration that grow from our relationship with the one who calls us “beloved”?
* how we experience the cloud that overshadows us. How does it make us finally shut up about our own plans for domesticating the divine or building a safe, little dwelling and listen for God’s voice? What do we hear when we finally quiet ourselves and open our ears? What is it telling us?
* where we are in our reactions to the transfiguration or the revealing and upsetting truth of God. Are we still discombobulated, in pieces? Are we still without a rebuilt context with which to make meaning and build a life in Love’s possibility? How do we get to rebuilding? Or, are we reforming our opinions, our reactions, and our living? Where are we really with that step? What has our encounter with the essence of God done, and how have we responded?
* how we are being transfigured by the touch and claim of the Beloved. As we share in his baptism and his journey down the mountain (or wherever he may lead), how are we also claiming our status as the beloved of God? How does that transfigure us? What of our own truths does it reveal?
* what we learn from the stories of transfiguration in world around us. How are we changed or challenged by Bode Miller or CeCe McDonald or another person’s story? How do they reshape us? How will we live differently as a result? What keeps us from being transfigured by the truth we see being revealed around us or the truth we find within?
SECOND THOUGHTS
Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There!
by Dean Feldmeyer
Matthew 17:1-9
“Poolside,” the new Cadillac ELR commercial that was made for and launched during the Olympics, features blond, handsome, and cocksure actor Neal McDonough touting not so much the car as the people who made it... and more importantly, the people who can afford to buy it. It’s about hard-driving, innovative, creative Americans, and it pokes a playful stick in the eye of those laconic, lazy Europeans.
The ad opens with a casually dressed McDonough standing beside a backyard swimming pool as he poses these questions: “Why do we work so hard? For what? For this? For stuff? Other countries, they work, they stroll home, they stop by the café, they take August off. Off. Why aren’t you like that? Why aren’t we like that?”
He then walks into and through the house as he answers himself: “Because we’re crazy-driven, hard-working believers, that’s why. Those other countries think we’re nuts. Whatever! Were the Wright brothers insane? Bill Gates? Les Paul? Ali? Were we nuts when we pointed to the moon? That’s right, we went up there, and you know what we got? Bored. So we left. Got a car up there, left the keys in it. Do you know why? Because we’re the only ones going back up there. That’s why.”
After entering a room and immediately re-emerging wearing a business suit, he continues as he walks outside to his car: “But I digress. It’s pretty simple. You work hard, you create your own luck, and you gotta believe anything is possible.”
Getting in the Cadillac ELR, he observes: “As for all the stuff, that’s the upside of only taking two weeks off in August. N’est-ce pas?” (The ad concludes as he drives away.)
We Americans are doers -- inventors, creators, problem-solvers. We don’t like to “overthink” our problems... we like to solve them.
And we are impatient when the doing slows down.
In the News
Take the Keystone XL pipeline, for instance.
When it is completed, this 2,147-mile pipeline will carry crude and synthetic oil from Alberta, Canada to refineries in Nebraska, Illinois, and Texas. The first three of four phases are finished, but things are stalled at phase four.
Environmentalists in Nebraska are afraid of the pipeline’s impact on the environment, and they are particularly concerned about possible breaks and spills. Others, however, insist that the Keystone will bring inexpensive and plenteous oil into a US economy which is still largely dependent on foreign oil.
President Obama rejected the application for phase four in 2012 and TransCanada, the corporation that is responsible for the construction of the line, made changes to “minimize disturbance of land, water resources, and special areas.”
The new route was approved by Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman in January 2013, but no construction permit has been issued to date. And last week, Nebraska judge Stephanie Stacy issued a ruling that the new plan, approved by Governor Heineman, is unconstitutional.
Experts say that further action on phase four should not be expected before the end of 2014, and certainly not before the midterm elections in November.
Lots of talk, no action. Americans become impatient, while late-night talk show hosts have a field day.
Along the same lines, no one seems to know what to do about “fracking.”
Should states allow it? If so, where? Near population areas? In state or national parks? How about in wildernesses?
In this controversial process, deep wells are drilled and explosive charges set off far beneath the surface of the earth. The bedrock is fractured (hence the term “fracking”), and hundreds of thousands of gallons of water are pumped into the fractures, forcing out oil and natural gas.
It seems like another example of good old American ingenuity and can-do spirit.
Only now we are hearing claims that in some areas fracking has permanently disturbed and polluted the aquifers -- underground lakes from which we get our drinking water. And in Oklahoma, where fracking is widespread and common, the number of meaningful earthquakes more than doubled from 2012 to 2013. They had 222 quakes last year greater than 2.5 magnitude, and at the current rate will have nearly 800 in 2014. Some argue that fracking is the obvious cause, while others point to heavy rains as the reason.
And in the meantime, the fracking goes on and the legislators wring their hands and argue. Lots of talk, no action.
Ukraine is exploding. Should the United States do something? What?
Syria has exploded. What, if anything, should be the role of the USA in this conflict?
A recent report from the United Nations says that imprisonment, torture, and even murder have become commonplace in the way the North Korean government keeps its citizens under control. The report even went so far as to say that North Korea is another Holocaust in the making and that the world’s superpowers have a moral obligation to step in, to do something. But what?
The urge to do is not limited to the macrocosm of national and international news. Parents face it every day with their children -- young or old. Do we step in? Do we say something? Or should we keep our mouths shut and our opinions to ourselves? Let them learn as they go?
To do something or not to do something. What’s a person -- especially a Christian -- to do... if anything?
In the Scriptures
Jesus is transfigured; Peter is transformed. This week’s gospel passage is as much about Peter and his response to the transfiguration as it about Jesus.
Peter witnesses something about as amazing, as awesome, as powerful as anything that has ever happened in human history. So it is not surprising that his impulse is to do something.
We 21st-century Americans can understand that perfectly. We’re doers, after all.
First, he offers to do something that is traditional, helpful and... well, religious. Appropriate, no? It is what any of us would do upon having an eye-opening, mind-bending, consciousness-raising, spiritually electrifying experience. We would do something, and the something we would do would probably come out of our past experience. It would help us return to the world as we know it.
Matthew has homogenized the Peter’s outburst, but Mark says it plainly: “He said this because he didn’t know what to say and he was afraid” (Mark 9:6). In other words, when Peter doesn’t know what to say, he talks.
His first offer, to build shelters or altars, is refused outright. He is told, in kinder terms, to “shut up and listen.” Stop running around doing things. Stop talking. Stop! And listen to Jesus.
Then, on the way down the mountain it’s as though Jesus can read Peter’s mind. Jesus knows that he won’t be able to keep his mouth shut. He’s going to want to talk about his experience, to share it with others, to invite them to help him think it over and explain it.
But Jesus stops Peter before he can get started: “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
The experience on the mountain cannot be fully understood until after Easter. You can’t really talk about this experience until you know the whole story, in other words.
In the Pulpit
The admonition to wait until you know the whole story is sage advice. Don’t go off half-cocked. Don’t talk before you know what you’re talking about. Be sure you know all the pertinent facts before you speak.
As Christians we would often do well to “wait for Easter” before we speak or do.
It is Easter that sets the context for everything that we do and say. We are resurrection people, and it is the resurrection that should speak through our every word and action. Without it, we are just opinionated.
It is tempting to move, to act, to do, especially in response to a spiritual high like the one Peter must have been feeling as he descended from the mountain that day. But Jesus advises caution.
It is not so much our duty to speak about the resurrection as it is to let the resurrection speak through us.
Sometimes at that moment a wave of light breaks into our darkness, and it is as though a voice were saying: “You are accepted, accepted by that which is greater than you, and the name of which you do not know. Do not try to do anything now; perhaps later you will do much. Do not seek for anything, do not perform anything, do not intend anything. Simply accept the fact that you are accepted!”
-- Paul Tillich, “You Are Accepted,” from The Shaking of the Foundations
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Ron Love:
Matthew 17:1-9
In the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics at Sochi, one of the five giant snowflakes that were to then morph into the Olympic ring logo failed to unfurl, forcing organizers to jettison their fireworks display to cover the malfunction. This is what was seen by those who were at the stadium. But for individuals at home who were watching the event on Russian state-controlled television, the ceremony appeared to go as planned. This is because footage of five perfect unfurling snowflakes from a practice session prior to the games was aired.
Application: Peter, James, and John make it an outspoken point that they were eyewitnesses to the transfiguration of Jesus. They implored people to believe what they had witnessed. Truth is discovered in those who have seen and believed, but never in a fabricated story.
*****
Matthew 17:1-9
After 20 years of surveying using the latest satellite technology, it was discovered that the border between South and North Carolina must be redrawn. The 334-mile state line was originally established by a decree from the King of England, and it was delineated by hatchet marks on trees and the course of creeks. Since that time, the trees no longer stand and the course of the creeks have significantly changed. This presents a problem for both homeowners and businesses. For some it will require a change in tax status, voting district, which schools children will attend, college tuition rates, and one’s driver license. It will also affect the price of gasoline, the cost of cigarettes, and the ability to sell fireworks. As a result, there are multiple cases now pending in the courts and legislative proposals before Congress.
Application: The gift of the eyewitness account that Peter, James, and John attest to is that there can be no dispute as to what took place when Jesus went to the mountaintop and was transfigured.
*****
Exodus 24:12-18
In 1984 Surgeon General C. Everett Koop called for a “smoke-free society” by the year 2000. That prediction failed because it lacked legislative and societal initiative. Health officials are now calling for a smoke-free society by the year 2050, using terms like “end-game” and “tobacco-free” generation. There are a number of reasons for this change in outlook. Taxes on cigarettes have made them unaffordable for many. Tobacco companies are no longer immune from the courts. Smoking is no longer considered normal behavior. And unfortunately, cigarette smoking is being replaced in some quarters by a preference for marijuana.
Application: Moses came down off of the mountain a changed man with a new agenda for society -- the Ten Commandments. We can never stop believing that things can change.
*****
Exodus 24:12-18
Russian President Vladimir Putin called the preparation for the Olympics at Sochi “the world’s biggest construction project.” The games, at a cost of $50 million, were the most expensive in Olympic history. Yet even as the games were being played, construction continued on swampland that had to be reclaimed. And the problems of an unfinished work site were evident everywhere. For instance, many guests stayed in rooms plagued by periodic power outages and a lack of consistent hot water.
Application: Moses came down off of the mountain with a new set of commandments for a new generation. Generations hence, the words engraved on those tablets are found to still be under construction in a disobedient society.
*****
Exodus 24:12-18
Ever since the death of Martin Luther King Jr., his children have been in constant conflict with one another. Their disputes often require court action for settlement. The issues almost always revolve around the money associated with King’s estate, official papers, and memorabilia. The latest matters under contention are King’s personal Bible and his Nobel Peace Prize medallion. This infighting is not reflective of the heritage of their father, who promoted peace and reconciliation. Recently daughter Bernice said regarding herself and her siblings, “I believe that one day we will set the example you hope we would provide.”
Application: The Israelites could see Moses atop the mountain covered in smoke and fire. When he came down off the mountain they could read and understand the instructions that God had set before them. But the Israelites, along with the Christians who followed, have yet to set the example placed before them.
***************
From team member Chris Keating:
Exodus 24:12-18
Something Other Than “Awesome”
The clouds, the glory, the majesty of God -- all of it was spectacular. Breathtaking.
But was it “awesome”? Though a certain catchy praise song would have us think otherwise, the word “awesome” is a bit overworked in our daily language. Working through the visions of theophany, we are left wondering what “awesome” really means.
When I ordered a waffle recently, the server replied, "Awesome." With that endorsement, I was expecting a truly stunning breakfast creation. Yet it was just another way our language has watered down the meaning of "awesome." Is awesome a great waffle, a decent hotel, or something that truly exceeds expectations? Author Neil Pasricha has compiled three books called (not surprisingly) The Book of Awesome. He's also the keeper of the website 1000 Awesome Things, which provides a weekly countdown of all things amazing. The recently concluded Sochi games provided a few spectacular moments on the mountains, some of which were considered "awesome" by BBC sports.
Awesome may have its place, but as a piece on Ragan.com notes, there are at least 45 words that can be used instead of "awesome." Next time I may order a "dazzling" waffle instead of one that is merely awesome.
*****
Matthew 17:1-9
Transfigured Tabernacles
Though Peter wanted to construct dwellings or tabernacles to honor Moses, Elijah, and Jesus, a building project could not contain God’s glory. Jesus understood that the glory that was being revealed could only be comprehended after his resurrection. In response, he calls the disciples to get up and go down the mountain -- God’s glory cannot be contained within human structures.
The truth of how fleeting our human attempts at containing glory are was revealed last week as USA Today posted haunting images from the abandoned sites of the 1984 Winter Games in Sarajevo. Twenty years after the Bosnian war, the toll of that ugly conflict and time have exacted a heavy price on the ski slopes and luge tracks. Graffiti and bomb blasts mark the sites where the world converged. Hotel walls have collapsed, and the medal platform is overgrown with weeds. It is a sad reminder of how war overcomes the bright hopes of peace sparked by the Olympic torch.
*****
Matthew 17:1-9
Rest on the Mountain, Spasibo!
The disciples were overcome with fear as they witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration. It was transforming for them as well, and no doubt they longed for a taste of something familiar. They weren’t sure what was happening, an experience not dissimilar to one New York Times writer John Branch had during the Olympics. Branch writes that he had planned to meet American snowboarders Danny Davis and Greg Bretz on an Alpine slope to discover how they unwind after competing in the halfpipe. Early in the morning, he made his way down the slopes until he encountered a Russian man who offered him a foamy beverage from a backpack:
He wore a backpack that had a tube protruding, and he poured himself a malty-looking beverage. There was a bit of foam at the top. He took a sip. He pointed to it and raised his eyebrows, the international gesture to ask if I wanted a cup, too. In broken English, he said that it made him ski better. I used two of the three Russian words I knew: Nyet, spasibo. No, thank you. The last thing I needed at 10:30 in the morning was a beer.
But then along came a woman who gladly accepted the man’s offer. Branch looked at the woman intently. She raised her cup and said, “Chai.” It was just tea. “I turned to the man,” said Branch, “Yes, of course. Please. Spasibo.”
*****
2 Peter 1:16-21
Eyewitness Accounts
Eyewitness accounts, such as the one Peter provides in the epistle, are powerful and compelling. They are narratives that prompt further transformation and action. That is one factor which motivated director Steve McQueen to create the movie 12 Years a Slave. The movie, which has been nominated for this year’s Best Picture Oscar, is being used in high schools to prompt students to become witnesses for justice. The National School Boards Association is working with the movie’s producers and distributors to make it a vital part of high school social studies classes:
David A. Pickler, NSBA president, said the organization is honored to partner with Fox Searchlight Pictures and Penguin Books to ensure that high schoolers have the opportunity to stare the stark realities of slavery in the eye through books and film. “We believe that providing America’s public high school students the opportunity to bear witness to such an unrelenting view of the evils of slavery is essential toward ensuring that this history is never forgotten and must never be repeated,” he said.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by George Reed
Call to Worship
Leader: Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain?
People: The rulers take counsel together against God and God’s anointed.
Leader: God says to us, “You are my children; today I have begotten you.
People: Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage.”
Leader: Serve God with fear, with trembling.
People: Happy are all who take refuge in God.
OR
Leader: God calls us to the time of worship.
People: We hear God’s call and offer our praise to God.
Leader: God comes among us so we may know God.
People: With joy we welcome God’s presence.
Leader: God invites us to let ourselves be known.
People: We open our lives to God and one another.
Hymns and Sacred Songs
“Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise”
found in:
UMH: 103
H82: 423
PH: 263
NCH: 1
CH: 66
LBW: 526
ELA: 834
W&P: 48
AMEC: 71
STLT: 273
Renew: 46
“Be Thou My Vision”
found in:
UMH: 451
H82: 488
PH: 339
NCH: 451
CH: 595
ELA: 793
W&P: 502
AMEC: 281
STLT: 20
Renew: 151
“God of Many Names”
found in:
UMH: 105
CH: 13
W&P: 58
STLT: 198
“Lord, Speak to Me”
found in:
UMH: 463
PH: 426
NCH: 531
ELA: 676
W&P: 593
“Lift Every Voice and Sing”
found in:
UMH: 519
H82: 599
PH: 563
AAHH: 540
NNBH: 457
CH: 631
LBW: 562
ELA: 841
W&P: 729
AMEC: 571
STLT: 149
“Lord, Whose Love Through Humble Service”
found in:
UMH: 581
H82: 610
PH: 427
CH: 461
LBW: 423
ELA: 712
W&P: 575
Renew: 286
“Give to the Winds Thy Fears”
found in:
UMH: 129
PH: 286
“Here, O My Lord, I See Thee”
found in:
UMH: 623
H82: 318
PH: 520
NCH: 336
CH: 416
LBW: 211
AMEC: 531
“I Am Loved”
found in:
CCB: 80
“I Will Call Upon the Lord”
found in:
CCB: 9
Renew: 15
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982 (The Episcopal Church)
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African-American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELA: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day / Collect
O God who reveals your true self to your creatures: Grant us the grace and courage to be open and honest about who we are to ourselves, to you, and to one another; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We come in awe to worship you, O God, who reveals yourself to your mortal children. We offer you our praises and we listen for you to speak the words of life to us. Help us to hear them clearly and to clearly be your image by revealing ourselves in honesty and truth. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Leader: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins, and especially the ways in which we hide our true identities and offer false views of ourselves.
People: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We want to be liked and we want to be respected. But we are afraid that if people really know us they will do neither. So we try to hide ourselves from you, from others, and even from ourselves. We create images of ourselves that are more acceptable to us and then try to live in the illusion that they are true. Forgive us, and help us to accept ourselves as you accept us. Amen.
Leader: God’s love and grace are sufficient for us. God loves us as we are and invites us take that love and grow in grace and godliness.
Prayers of the People (and the Lord’s Prayer)
We praise you, O God, for though you are far beyond our ability to comprehend your glory, you reveal yourself to us. You share yourself in love and grace.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. We want to be liked and we want to be respected. But we are afraid that if people really know us they will do neither. So we try to hide ourselves from you, from others, and even from ourselves. We create images of ourselves that are more acceptable to us and then try to live in the illusion that they are true. Forgive us, and help us to accept ourselves as you accept us.
We give you thanks for all the blessings we have received from you. You have gifted us with this wonderful world and with your presence. You reveal yourself to us and invite us into communion with each other and with you. You accept us so that we may accept each other.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We offer up to your loving care the brokenness of our world. Part of that brokenness is from our hiding our true nature from you, ourselves, and one another. Help us to reach out to one another, that as we minister to the obvious needs of food, shelter, and clothing we may also touch the lives of those in need.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray together, saying:
Our Father . . . Amen.
(or if the Lord’s Prayer is not used at this point in the service)
All this we ask in the Name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
Have some costume pieces for yourself or the children -- a pirate hat and sword; a crown; a halo, etc. Put on several (or let the children do so) and then talk about the fun of pretending to be something different than we are. We can even pretend to be an animal and not a human at all. Then talk about the fact that God made us to be special -- and while it is fun to pretend, the best thing we can be is ourselves. God loves us. God loves us just as we are.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
Scared by the Light
Matthew 17:1-9
Object: a flashlight
At night I cannot see as well as during the day. Sometimes I’m scared I’ll run into something or trip over something. When I was young I was sometimes afraid that someone might try to harm me and get me in the dark. Maybe that’s why I like flashlights. They provide light in the darkness. If I have a flashlight, I am less afraid.
But have you ever heard of someone being afraid of the light? I want to tell you about a strange story in which the disciples of Jesus were scared of the light.
One day Jesus led some of his followers up on a high mountain. Have any of you ever been on a high mountain? (Let the children answer.) Was it noisy up on the mountain? Of course not! It’s quiet on a high mountain!
While they were on the mountain, Jesus suddenly was transfigured -- changed. He suddenly became bright and shining -- like the sun! His clothes became whiter than the best bleach could ever make them. It probably hurt their eyes to look at Jesus!
Then two men appeared with Jesus: Moses and Elijah! Both of them had died many years before and yet here they were -- talking with Jesus on the mountain!
As if that wasn’t enough, a “bright cloud” came over the mountain and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”
What a sight! I can understand why Peter, James, and John would be afraid. I would have been afraid too. But Jesus told them not to be afraid.
Sometimes when we are afraid, we can know that Jesus is with us and Jesus will not leave us alone. Jesus will help us and be our friend always!
Prayer: Dearest Best Friend Jesus: Thank you for being with us -- even when it is dark and even when it is bright. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, March 2, 2014, issue.
Copyright 2014 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
