Month: February 2008

Date: February 24, 2008
Scripture: John: 9: 1-41
Sermon: This I Believe: Jesus
Pastor: Rev. Kim Wells

This past September, our daughter Angela and I spent several weeks visiting Italy. Rome was our first stop and of course, we wanted to see the Vatican Museum and St. Peter’s Basilica. As we walked through St. Peter’s, a vast space, with stunning art and architecture, Angela turned to me with a bewildered look and said,” Mom, what does all this have to do with Jesus? Wasn’t he concerned about the poor and downtrodden?” Standing in the midst of such opulence, you have to wonder, :what does this all have to do with Jesus?

The traditional orthodox view of Jesus that many of us grew up with was that Jesus is the Son of God. God in human form. The second person of the Trinity. Equal with God. A miracle worker who was crucified, buried, and rose from the dead on the third day, this most stunning miracle.

We were taught that Jesus is the founder of the Christian church as we know it. And that he is in heaven and if we are good, when we die, we’ll get to join him there.

That is the basic view that comes down to us in our tradition and culture. We’re not usually told much about Jesus being a poor peasant. Or that his last name is not Christ. Christ is the Greek word for Messiah. It’s a title which we usually put before a name like Professor Stiles, Rev. Wells, like saying Dr. Spock. We’re not usually told much about Jesus being a devout practicing Jew. We’re not told much about Jesus not being declared divine until the third century in a Council fraught with political and power issues played out in theological discourse. We’re usually not told that the idea of the Trinity and Jesus being equal to God wasn’t accepted until years after Jesus’ death.

Through the centuries layer upon layer of meaning and interpretation has been added to our concept of Jesus. Religious tradition influences what we see as Catholics, Orthodox, Baptists, Pentecostals, mainline Protestants, Quakers, Mormons. Each have their slant on Jesus. Culture influences how we see Jesus – the African Jesus, the Asian Jesus, the American Jesus, the Latin American Jesus. All offer different views of Jesus. Economic context also influences how we see Jesus.

While scholars have excavated the historical Jesus, verified by non-religious first century sources, Jesus has evolved significantly from his first century Mediterranean Jewish peasant beginnings. We are faced with 20 centuries of the evolution of Jesus and how he comes to us across the centuries.

This evolving is necessary and good so that Jesus remains a vital, relevant figure for faith. Without this ever evolving image, Jesus may become archaic, anachronistic, and obsolete. His saving message lost. We need new views of Jesus to relate to the issues of our day: environmental destruction, escalating technology and capacity for killing, the consumerism and consumption epidemic, the increasing gap between rich and poor, the escalation of severe poverty. That’s before you get to smaller issues like health care, prejudice, education, addiction, etc. The Christian path has a saving word related to all of these issues, and it is spoken through Jesus, but there needs to be interpretation and evolution of the portrayal of his message to meet the contemporary need. So we need an evolving Jesus. But there is also a danger in an evolving Jesus. We run the risk of relativizing Jesus. Of making him more palatable, of molding him to fit our desires, our interests, our agendas. We are tempted to photoshop our image of Jesus – doctor him up to look the way we think he should look. Brush out the unpleasantness. Soften the harsh edges. Balance the extremities. So we need our image to grow and change but must always be careful about how we are seeing Jesus and checking for distortions.

There are some bedrock claims that we can use to test our views of Jesus. They come to us largely from the New Testament, which we know is not the whole story. We know the writers were concerned about specific issues and that influenced their presentation. We know there were specific power/political agendas in which books were and weren’t chosen for the New Testament. But for all that, there are certain things that seem clear when looking at the Jesus of Scripture.

First, a few things about the man Jesus. He was an observant Jew. Went to synagogue. Knew the Scriptures. Was a rabbi – teacher. Observed the holy days – Passover, Hannukah, etc.. He was a religious person. So, any subsequently evolved portrayal of Jesus that is anti-Semitic is problematic. The Church has perpetuated violence against the Jews that cannot be considered consistent with the Jesus of the New Testament. To use the name of Jesus to persecute the Jews is a severely destructive distortion of who Jesus is. A clear picture of Jesus cannot ignore his Jewishness. Also, to disassociate Jesus from religion, from organized religion, is a distortion. However imperfect the church may be, Jesus was a dedicated supporter of organized religion and religious tradition. So there’s a problem with saying “I’m a Christian and I follow Jesus, but I don’t have anything to do with the church.” That just doesn’t fit with the picture of Jesus we have in the New Testament.

Now, another view we see of the person Jesus in the New Testament. He was crucified He suffered a painful, humiliating death. He was a victim of capital punishment. He was killed as a criminal. He was betrayed and deserted by his friends. Any evolving image of Jesus must incorporate this reality. Jesus suffered. And so did his followers. So any pictures of Jesus that promises he will make you rich, happy, healthy – two cars in the three car garage, vacations in the Bahamas, just doesn’t fit with Jesus who is about giving things up, giving things away, even your life.

Which leads to another characteristic of the person Jesus in the New Testament. He was poor. Owned no home. Maybe had two changes of clothes. Gleaned the leftovers from the fields. Lived by the generosity and hospitality of others. Any portrayal of Jesus that denies his poverty is misleading. In the painting “The Conformist”, Clifford Davis portrays Jesus in the iconic pose of the Sallman’s blonde Jesus gazing up, but wearing a shirt and tie, a suit jacket, and carefully coiffed hair. There’s just no way for the Jesus of the New Testament to evolve into corporate America Jesus,. despite our valiant efforts.

When we look at the life of Jesus there is also no avoiding that he gathered an extremely diverse community of followers. He went beyond the bounds of ethnicity, race, and religion. He invited sinners and the outcast as well as religious devotees. He welcomed liberals and conservatives. Workers and intellectuals. There were no borders or boundaries on Jesus invitation to come to God. There was no one excluded from his community of mutual care and compassion. Jesus offered an extravagant welcome to ALL. So any portrayal of Jesus that insinuates favoritism or exclusion must be questioned.

Now we’ll turn from our view of the person Jesus to his teachings, again realizing there are a variety of takes on this. But there are certain salient features.

First, it’s clear that Jesus was presenting an alternative realm to the realm of the Roman Empire. Words such as Kingdom, King, realm, references to authority, all point to an alternative citizenship identity. And it was either/or, no dual alignment. Either you were part of the community of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, the realm of God – here on earth, or you weren’t. You stayed part of “the world”, the Roman Empire. It was a question of commitment and loyalty. You couldn’t be equally invested in both camps.

Our current view of Jesus must take this into consideration – ingrained hierarchy and patriarchy. Yes, our view has evolved, but there have been severe distortion, particularly regarding this aspect of Jesus’ teaching. The United States has long associated Jesus with American interests over the interests of others. This can be seen in the killing of the native inhabitants of this continent. This can be seen in the global crusading of the United States done in the name of Christianity.

There’s a contemporary graphic of Jesus looking over the eagle, the flag, the Statue of Liberty, the Gateway Arch, the Capitol; and Mt. Rushmore in blessing. Friends, it may surprise some people to discover that Jesus was not an American. He did not promote democracy or capitalism. He was not buried with a United States flag. We must be clear that our image of Jesus respects his universal outlook, and the counter culture alternative he initiated – to empire, and to oppression, regardless of who is perpetrating it.

Jesus was seeking recruits from this alternate realm, this community of God, where there was no oppression, not based on ethnicity, economics, race. gender. sexual identity – no oppression, no victimization, no good of one at the expense of another: the outlook was universal not tribal. The vision was a community of justice and generosity. All were fed and cared for. Resources were pooled and shared. Everyone had enough. There was no hierarchy, but complete power sharing. Everyone equally valued for their particular role and contribution. Friends, a look at the church of today and the wrangling over particular roles of women and gay people show we have distorted dimensions.

Now when we look back at the Jesus of the New Testament, we see that his movement was anti-violent. Not only non-violent, but anti-violent.

When in danger or threatened, when driven to the edge by the people of the synagogue, when confronted by Pilate, the authorities, and Herod, Jesus never turns to arms. He never encourages use of violence. In the Palm Sunday story we hear of Jesus’ procession coming in peace. He uses the tradition of a military procession, but transforms it by eliminating the weapons, the grandstanding, and the flaunting of military power. Instead, he glorifies humility and non-violent sacrifice. He will not run and hide. He will not be intimidated by earthly power, even military might.

So any image of Jesus that associates him with violence or supremacy through physical force or military might is distorted.

In the oil painting “Undefeated”, Stephen Sawyer portrays Jesus as a boxer, in the corner of the ring. His name is “Savior” and his gloves are branded “mercy” I can understand the impulse to image Jesus in more manly fashion, but not with an image that suggests physical violence. That just is not true to the portrait we have of Jesus in the New Testament.

What we do see in Jesus is a person who appears to completely fulfill God’s intentions for his life. He seems to have a consciousness of God that infuses his personality and character. He is a person of total integrity. His words and deeds are in complete synchronicity. Regardless of the cost, the threat, the risk, he does not compromise his principles. It’s not forgiveness only when the offense is small and doesn’t personally affect me. It’s forgiveness. Period. Even of his killers with Jesus. It’s not love and mercy when it’s convenient. It’s love and mercy always – regardless of how unlovable and unpalatable the circumstances may be. With Jesus, it’s compassion and healing. For everyone. Not just those from this tribe or that. Not just the legals, but the outcasts, and the foreigners, too.

With Jesus, it’s uncompromising love for absolutely every human being. No exceptions. This is a challenging ethic.

Perhaps to obscure these difficulties there is an impulse in Christianity to elevate Jesus to a lofty, heavenly figure. The exalted Christ. All powerful. Reigning in glory. Who will take care of everything.

This Jesus is sarcastically portrayed in an episode of the TV show “Lost”. One of the characters, Hurley, is very overweight. In a flashback to life before the plane crash on the tropical island, Hurley is watching TV and his mother is telling him to get up and exercise, lose weight, work, buy a car, make something of himself. Be proactive. She says, “ what are you waiting for, Jesus to come and fix everything for you.” While she’s lecturing him, the phone rings. She says, “maybe that’s Jesus calling to tell you what kind of car he’s gotten you.”

The danger of the high, exalted, fix all your problems Jesus, is that this leaves all the work and responsibility to him. And we’re off the hook. With a more human Jesus, we must take responsibility
for cultivating our relationship with God. We must nurture our God-consciousness. We must consider our integrity, our loving, our forgiving, our outreach to the poor, our efforts for justice. We must scrutinize our lives to bring God our faith, our words, our deeds into alignment. And this can get very messy involving sacrifice, risk, threat, and cost.

Today there are significant voices coming from within conservative currents of Christianity, encouraging that more attention be paid to the earthly Jesus and his compassion for the poor, the hungry, the forgotten, the sick. Tony Campolo,from the Sojourners community, Brian McLaren and others are saying that rich, fancy, and clean-cut, comfortable. suburban Christianity is missing the mark.

For me, Jesus is significant specifically because he is a person. A human being. We are not called to follow a set of rules. A tidy philosophy, a theoretical principle or a simplistic system like 5 easy steps to Eternal Happiness. We are called to follow a person, who fully embodied love, mercy, and compassion as a result of his God-consciousness. He was a person with feelings. Who experienced joy, pain, exasperation, anger, sympathy, pity, frustration, grief, delight and all the rest of the range of human emotion. Jesus shows us forgiveness without blame. He shows us religion as a path to God, not a bludgeon. He shows us how to be a counter-culture community of caring. He shows us how to be our truest selves. As Bishop Spong puts it, our job is not to copy Jesus, be Jesus knock-offs, but our calling is to be our truest selves, living toward complete God-consciousness, fulfilling God’s hopes and dreams for each one of us. Loving and serving the world as God has need of us, in our time, in our circumstances, with our resources.

We are called to a faith grounded in the model of a specific human being. We are called to journey home to God shown to us by Jesus.

Our images and understandings of Jesus must be evolving and growing as new times, new circumstances, and new challenged appear. In the book Jesus in America: a History author Richard Wightman Fox reminds us that Jesus in our country has been imaged as “divine king, sacrificial redeemer, holy child, apocalyptic prophet, miracle worker, healer, wisdom teacher, social critic and reformer, luminous personality’. In the book American Jesus, How the Son of God Became a National Icon, Stephen Prothero quotes Hebrews 13:8, that Jesus is “the same yesterday, today, and forever”, but then points out, “American depictions of him have varied widely from age to age and community to community”. …The American Jesus has been something of a chameleon. Christians have depicted him as black and white, male and female, straight and gay, a socialist and a capitalist, a pacifist and a warrior, a Ku Klux Klansman and a civil rights agitator. (p.8)

There has been quite a proliferation of images of Jesus in American culture. Jesus has been used to justify war, empire, and colonization. He has been used to foment rebellion, revolution and social transformation.

With all these different versions of visions of Jesus, we must each decide for ourselves what we see, who Jesus is for us.

In the story of the man born blind, the man, the parents, the religious authorities must come to terms with who Jesus is. The religious authorities will not allow themselves to see who Jesus is because he is a threat to their power and authority. We may have taken this approach to Jesus. The parents try to stay neutral. Maybe we’ve tried this. As the story progresses, the man born blind sees Jesus more and more clearly. First he merely refers to: the man called Jesus”. Then he refers to Jesus as a prophet. Then he claims to be a follower of Jesus. And finally he sees Jesus as a person of God. And he gives his complete loyalty to Jesus, regardless of the risk of being thrown out of his family and his religious community. Hopefully in our faith journey, we are seeing more and more clearly who Jesus is.

Hopefully we are cultivating and nurturing our consciousness and awareness of God. and living accordingly. Amen

Date: February 17, 2008
Scripture: John 11: 1-45
Sermon: This I Believe: Resurrection
Pastor: Rev. Kim Wells

Each Easter morning we soar with alleluias as we proclaim

“Christ the Lord is risen today !
Mortal tongues and angels say.
Raise your joys and triumphs high
Sing glad heavens and earth reply.”

This is our celebration of the resurrection.

So the gospel tradition speaks of Jesus being killed, buried in a tomb, the tomb being empty on the third day, Jesus appearing to his friends and then being taken into heaven. (More on heaven and hell on March 9th.) This is the resurrection motif of the gospels.

Within the Christian tradition and belief system there are those who believe things actually happened this way. There are others who believe there is some actuality in this account but that there was significant embellishment of the story in the years following the actual events. Some contemporary scholars, such as John Shelby Spong, tell us that the people crucified by the Romans were buried in mass graves. So they speculate that Jesus was buried in a mass grave. And the story of the empty tomb and the interaction with the risen Jesus evolved to account for the incredibly strong sense of Jesus’ presence experienced by his friends after his death.

Thus in the Christian tradition there is a resurrection from literal to metaphorical. But the entire spectrum, the many facets of understanding resurrection, the mystery of resurrection, all point to the power of life over death. The concept of resurrection is a testimony to God’s commitment to life. Even in the most deathly of circumstances new life can emerge. This is the central message of Christianity. New life. Life overcomes death. There’s an old saying: communism puts a new suit on every man. Christianity puts a new man in every suit. Christianity is about new life and transformation.

The central image for Buddhism is desire. Eliminating desire. The key concept for Hinduism was developed by the Vedas and the Upanshads.. The core ideal for Islam is submission. Submission to God. The salient passage of Christianity is resurrection. Transformation and new life. To take away the image of resurrection, the belief in new life and transformation for people and for the world would be to cut the heart out of Christianity.

In the story of Lazarus we catch a glimpse, a preview of God’s commitment to life. Lazarus, Jesus beloved friend, is sick and dies. We are told that by the time Jesus comes to him, he has been dead for 4 day. It was believed that the soul left the body after 3 days. So by coming 4 days after the death, the writer confirms that Lazarus truly was dead. But even after that, the story tells us, that Lazarus walks out of the tomb. He lives. God’s power is stronger than death.
In our congregation we have experienced considerable death and loss over the past year. Mary Byrd, our church mother and matriarch died. Ken Kinzel, beloved newer member of the church was killed in Nicaragua. My father, who had been a consultant to this church from the Florida Conference, before I even became pastor here at Lakewood UCC, died. Bob Allen, Randy’s father, for a time a regular participant in worship, died. Jay Johnson, regular participant and supporter of the church, and beloved husband of Jean, died unexpectedly. These are people who were part of our core church family, gone.

Then there are others no longer present among us, due to health or relocation. Ken Hamilton and his snowbird parents, Ray Duplease and Dan Knight, Leroy Gates, Michael Crockett, Wanda Gammel, Jorges. And I got an e-mail this week that Vicki Couch will be moving to Atlanta.

This is an enormous amount of loss for our church family in this past year. These people are missed. We grieve the loss of their presence, their love, their support. And yes, their resources of time, talent, and treasure. This loss is extreme for our small congregation that was about 70 members strong.

Last week as budget and resource issues were discussed in planning for the year ahead, there was the sense that we may have lost our critical mass as a congregation. That we have been in the tomb for more than 3 days.

But the story of Lazarus reminds us that God is in the business of new life. There is nothing beyond God’s life-giving, life-transforming reach. Let’s look at how new life appears in the story.

One thing we see is that Mary and Martha do something. They don’t just sit on their hands and whine. They send for Jesus. They mobilize their resources. They reach out. God does not just magically appear and intervene. The people involved, Mary, Martha, and then Jesus, they do something.

For our church to experience new life and transformation, for this church to resurrect after so much death and loss, we must be willing to do something: participate, show up, pray. Help each other, get involved. We also need to invite people to church. People who are struggling. People who would appreciate a supportive community. People who are looking for authenticity and integrity and have given up ever finding it in organized religion. People who are hungry for new life and hope. People who are aching for things to be different in this world. People who are thirsty for peace and justice. People reeling after yet another school shooting. Invite them to find new life and hope in this faith community. Remember: we are a Christian church. Our core image for our faith is resurrection. Transformation. New life. For ourselves and the world.

If every member or household in our church family brought in one new family or member to the church a year, this church would be totally transformed. Just one new member or family a year. [You might have to get 5 or 6 people to visit, before you find the one who will stay, but] This is something we can do. We can invite people we care about to find new life and hope in this faith community as we have. This Lazarus story of the triumph of new life involves Mary and Martha and Jesus doing something. It also involves their faith and trust. When Martha goes out to meet Jesus as he approaches their home, we are told she says, “Teacher, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now [4 days later…] I know that God will give you whatever you ask.” “Seek and you shall find. Ask and you will receive. Your will be done.” Here we are shown that our faith and trust in God creates the climate for new life to emerge. We need to expect God to breathe new life into this church. We need to trust that God needs this church to further God’s mission, we need to work and pray, trust and expect this church to rise up with new life.

The New Testament speaks of the church as the body of Christ, each part with a different function needed for the well-being of the whole. This church has a particular needed role to fulfill in the larger body of Christ.

We are bonded by our commitment to God-centered living as revealed in the life of Jesus. This is our primary focus. Not dogma. Not creed. Not theological tenets. Not structure or hierarchy. Not tradition. Not racial, social, economic, or ethnic identity. Our common ground is our call to God-centered living modeled by Jesus. This makes us different from other congregations

As a result, our congregation is very diverse in other ways, as were the first Christian communities. This was probably the most clarion witness of the early church – the incredible diversity of the community. In a very highly stratified culture where you stayed in your place the early Christian communities were wildly diverse. It was shocking. In our setting, churches are often bonded by homogeneity of some kind – similar economic status, or educational background, or ethnicity or race. It’s far easier to function with that common ground. But we are seeking to relish our theological beliefs and celebrate the diversity God has created to enrich and nourish us. We are seeking the deeper experience of God in ourselves and one another that come with exposure to difference.

“It amazes me that Jesus could call a Matthew and a Simon both to be his disciples. Matthew was a tax collector, a conservative of the conservatives. Simon was a zealot, the liberal of the liberals…They were farther apart than Ted Kennedy and Rush Limbaugh could ever dream of being.” {Greg Boyd, senior pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, Christian Century, Sept. 18, 2007, p.7]

This makes us different from other congregations and needed for our special role.

Our church is also needed in the body of Christ because we are seeking to breathe new life and hope into Christianity itself. In our culture as a whole, Christianity is losing ground because educated; reasonable, thinking people are lesd willing to blindly accept the supernatural, the magical thinking required by most expressions of Christianity. This trend is masterfully presented by Bishop Spong especially in his book Why Christianity Must Change or Die.

This week the St. Petersburg Times announced that only 22% of the public want only the theory of evolution taught in the public schools. And 50% want only faith based theories taught. [St. Petersburg Ties 2/15/08, Public: Faith trumps science , Ron Matusa and Donna Winchester]
Florida is way behind the curve here. In 100 years, friends, this will be laughable. Like the idea that the sun revolves around the earth. Overall in our society and culture, the postmodern, scientific, worldview will continue to gain ground, as it should because God gave us these incredible brains to use and develop and progress. God takes delight in humanity’s continuing intellectual achievement as a parent takes joy in watching a child learn to walk and talk and read and develop.

This church doesn’t ask people to park their thinking minds at the door when they enter. This church does not require people to ignore or deny their personal experience. This church does not demand acceptance of supernatural occurrences to have an authentic faith. This church accepts and respects the magical, miraculous faith experience of some while also respecting and affirming a more reason-based faith experience. We are a see in this post-modern, secular culture nurturing Christianity so that it grows and flowers and remains meaningful and relevant in the centuries to come as the world progresses.

This church is also needed because we truly believe that following in the way of Jesus, the values, the dreams, the lifestyle, we see in the Jess of the New Testament is a path for saving the world. It is a path for transformation of violence lest we bomb ourselves to oblivion. It is a path for the healing of the earth as we proceed dangerously toward ecocide. It is a path of personal engagement, compassion, and relationship in a world of growing population and depersonalization. It is a way of generosity and justice in a world where greed has become an epidemic. The Christian path, the way of Jesus is a lifestyle commitment that embodies God’s commitment to love the whole world and save the whole world. I believe that God wants to breathe new life into this particular, unique faith community because it is needed for God’s dreams to flourish and be fulfilled.

In turning back to the Lazarus story, we see new life emerge where people get involved and have trust, but we also see risk involved. Jesus goes to Bethany, the home of Mary, and Martha, and Lazarus, in Judea, where he is a wanted man. Notice that little verse, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” When Jesus goes to Bethany, he is risking his life and the lives of his disciples. Embracing new life, this core Christian motif of resurrection, involves risk and death. Transformation requires something to cease to exist as it was so something new can emerge, there’s that famous comment made by the caterpillar looking up at the butterfly, “You’ll never get me up in one of those things!” For this church to experience new life and resurrection, risk will need to be involved. We will need to give something up. We will need to face our fears. We have to free ourselves from the power of death and accept the risk and the cost for the greater promise and hope.

For the church, for us, this can mean a personal cost in making a sacrificial pledge that means giving something else up. This can mean moving away from “We’ve always done it that way,” a comfortable, familiar way of doing things. It can mean trying some new things which end up not working – learning from that. But risk and cost is involved in experiencing resurrection and new life. During the civil rights movement, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. talked about practicing “dangerous unselfishness.” [I Have a Dream Speech] That is what is needed for new life, transformation and resurrection to take place. That’s what we see in the life of Jesus: dangerous unselfishness. That’s how Christians are called to live.

At the beginning of the service we listened to the chorus from Mahler’s 2nd Symphony, the Resurrection Symphony. The soaring melodies, the strong, vibrant choral singing include the words, “Prepare to live.” Often our mindset is to so focus on avoiding death that we forget to live.

The central Christian image of resurrection is an image of LIFE. It is desperately needed to move us as individuals, as a church, and as a society away from the grip of death and beyond. What we have accepted as conceivable limits God is seeking to breathe new hope and new life into us, into the church, and into the world today. Resurrection: this is the core message of Christianity. It is an invitation to life: full, abundant and transformed. This is what God promises us and I believe for our church. Amen

-A woman and her little boy were battling the crowds on the E train. They were on one of two working escalators with zillions of others. Moving along, the little boy looked up at his mother and asked: “Are we in line?” His mother said, “No, there is no line. This isn’t school. This is life.”

Recently, we have read the horrific tales of the day darkness descended on Interstate 4. The combination of intensifying fog and smoke from what was intended to be a controlled burn combining forces to create perilous conditions for drivers on one of the most highly traveled highways in Florida. The smoke and fog was so thick that vision was completely obscured, as if the lights had been turned out. Visibility zero. Cars rammed into each other constantly like the bumper car ride at a fair. Only there was not laughter. No funloving drivers whooping it up. The air was filled with the sound of crunching metal against metal, moans of agony, howls of disbelief and cries of suffering, pain, and death. There were drivers who exited their crashed vehicles only to be killed by oncoming traffic because there was no visibility and by the time people realized it, it was too late. Obscured vision and darkness created the chaos of death and destruction. People heading for another day on the job, or on vacation eager to taste Disney’s delights, were suddenly immersed in tragedy.

We know the perils of darkness. We know what is like to loose our way. We know the pain of unexpected disruption and intrusion. When the routine visit to the doctor leads to a series of tests, and an appointment with a specialist, and then surgery and radiation. And the end of what we thought was interminable day to day life as we knew it.

We know the darkness and disruption of a tragic, unexpected death. With hopes and dreams of years ahead suddenly erased with one blow. At the hands of a drunk driver. Or a freak accident. Or perilous conditions on the highway.

We know the deep darkness of discovering that a beloved son or daughter has become an addict. Living a life controlled by a substance that destroys. Living with risk that is perilously close to death. The child we knew gone, possessed by darkness.

We know the darkness of feeling utterly alone when our parents have died. And our siblings. We feel left alone, abandoned, orphaned. Part of us gone with them. Loss that requires a shift of identity that can be so painful.

We know the darkness of failure. Academic failure as our future dreams evaporate because of the test we failed, or the score on the exam, or the deadline we missed. Closing doors to our cherished plans. If only. . .

We know the deep pain of failed relationships. The darkness of emptiness and anger in the wake of divorce or a relationship breakup.
We know the pain and darkness of money issues. Facing bankruptcy. The shame. The indignity. We know the sense of inadequacy when we cannot provide for our families. We know the fear of being on the edge financially and not having needed resources for shelter or medical care. We know the insecurity when employment is unstable, and job loss looms.

We know the deep darkness and resignation when our country embarks on yet another war. Is there no other way? Is our greed so great? Has our hubris totally blinded us? When will we ever learn? When will we ever learn?

We know how it feels when darkness descends. To feel enveloped, swallowed by the weight of fear, helplessness, or failure. In the story we heard this morning of the transfiguration, the disciples and Jesus also know of darkness. They know of increasing threat. Already Matthew has shared Jesus’ warning to his followers that he is sending them out as sheep among wolves. Already Matthew has told us that John the Baptizer has been killed. Already Matthew has told us that the Pharisees are conspiring against Jesus, and plotting to destroy him. And in just the previous chapter, Matthew has Jesus reveal to the disciples that he will undergo great suffering and be killed. He has told his followers that they should expect a similar fate. The weight of darkness has become crushing.

So midway between Jesus’ baptism and his crucifixion, in the middle of two teachings about his impending passion, in between the light of his birth and the light of the resurrection, we are told this story of Jesus and three disciples on the mountaintop. A moment of light amidst gathering gloom. With darkness past, and darkness ahead, there is a mountaintop moment of light.

Cast with what were familiar images from Hebrew scriptures we are told a story of a mountain top, which is where Moses found God, and which other religions also recognize as holy places and temples of the Gods. We are told of the appearance of Elijah and Moses, pillars of Jesus’ Jewish faith tradition. We are told of Jesus’ face radiating with light, as Moses face shown when he encountered God on the mountaintop. We are told of the cloud, again a parallel to Moses. The mountain, the shroud of clouds, the light, the voice, all call forth the Hebrew conception of the presence of God. The light bathes Jesus who appears transfigured, changed. The presence of God changes him as it does all of his followers including us.

This mysterious story with obscured images and veiled meaning, conveyed by the ignorance of Peter, God bless him, expresses God’s in-breaking presence. Never fully understood. Yet it is an assurance that God is with us as we face the darkness. We are given this story which is a reminder of Jesus’ need for reassurance, for affirmation of his mission, for validation of God’s presence. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overcome it.

The artist Rafael’s last masterpiece was of the transfiguration. In the painting, the background is filled with ominous dark clouds that look like a storm brewing. The three disciples on the mountain top with Jesus are lying on the ground shielding their faces. But that is only the top half of the painting. The bottom half of the painting shows us the story of what we are told is going on at the bottom of the mountain. A desperate father has brought his son to the other 9 disciples to be healed of epilepsy. The father has heard that Jesus is known for healing and comes with great faith and hope. Yet the disciples do not heal the child. They do not seem to think that they can heal the boy. There is turbulence and fear and desperation in the dark bottom portion of the painting. Yet the canvas is dominated by a light bathed Jesus at the top center of the picture. He hovers above the ground eyes looking up and arms raised almost in a “hands up” position indicating submission, surrender, acceptance. In the midst of the darkness, the light of God shines. With looming darkness at the bottom of the mountain, with the way to another mountain, Calvary, ahead, the light shines. The starlight-drenched baby of Bethlehem is drenched in light once more. A foreshadowing of the resurrection.

The painting reminds us that the light of God does not banish the darkness. The surrounding continues cloudy and ominous. There is the necessary descent from the heights with conflict and despair awaiting at the foot of the peak. God does not eliminate fear, pain, violence, and struggle, but God’s light shines amidst the darkness. As the scripture tells us, the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. God is present in the darkness. God sees Jesus and his followers through the darkness, but does not eliminate or prevent dark times.

This Sunday marks the end of the liturgical season of Epiphany, the season of light, of celebration of God’s presence revealed. This week with Ash Wednesday we begin the season of Lent, marked by the color purple. A time of penitence, repentance, recognition of separation from God and re-turning to God. It is a dark, somber season of reflection and germination as we prepare for the new life promised in the resurrection of Easter. As these seasons change, we need this celebration of the transfiguration reminding us that God is present, God’s light is shining for us, even in the deepest darkness. We go through the darkness of Lent with God, recognizing God’s grace and love. Renewing our dependence on God instead of ourselves which can only lead to a hopeless abyss.

The transfiguration assures us as it did Jesus that God is with us, regardless of what lies behind us or ahead of us. In fact, it is affirmation that God is with us precisely because some kind of darkness inevitably does lie ahead of us. God’s light is with us in the darkness. In fact, light is most clearly seen in the darkness. Maybe it is but a faint glimmer. Maybe it is a lightening bolt. Maybe it is a pinpoint like a star. Maybe it is the intense colored hue of sunset light. God’s light shines and assures us as we face the dark times of this life. And that light is our hope providing clarity, freeing us from fear. Giving us the courage for passionate engagement with life. Empowering us to face the unknown. Strengthening us when the way ahead looks perilous. Sustaining us in the face of despair. Equipping us to be agents of reconciliation, peace, and compassion in the spirit of Christ. We are not left to our own devices. God knows we need the light.

The story of the transfiguration not only shows us God’s light sustaining Jesus and his friends on their difficult journey, but helps us to know how to recognize the light. We notice that Jesus and his three companions show up. They are present. They have left something behind to go up on the mountain. We see that they have separated themselves from the demands of everyday life. They have created time and space in their lives to look for God’s light. If we are so busy and harried we may not see the light God is trying to show us, even if it appears as a blazing neon sign. We need to be paying attention. The story also shows us that the people involved had the knowledge of their faith tradition to help them recognize and identify God’s presence. They know of Moses and his encounters with God, on the mountain, his face shining. So they recognize how God is appearing in Jesus. They know of Moses and Elijah and so recognize their presence. Knowing our faith tradition, our scriptures, and our stories, helps us to see and recognize God’s presence and light. This gives us a language for interpreting our experience. It helps us recognize the light. Yes, God can find a way to communicate with us, to show us light, regardless of our background, heritage, knowledge, or religion, but being immersed in a tradition helps us to focus on the light, and recognize the presence of the Holy One, and trust the experience. Worship, prayer, church, scripture, Christian fellowship all help us to see God’s light and know it for what it is.

This Sunday we celebrate the light of God which transfigures in the midst of darkness and obscurity. The light which overcomes the domination of suffering, the paralysis of fear, the unrelenting rule of violence, the shroud of despair, the tyranny of self-centeredness and self destruction. God loves us so much, God does not leave us to face the darkness alone. God reaches out to us to empower us and transform us as we journey through the darkness. God is persistent, relentless really, in the quest to be our light, to illumine our path, so that we may know the fullness and joy of the living of our days. Look for the light. As those magi scanned the sky night after long night looking for a sign of God’s presence. Trust God. For when we try to make our way alone, we will find ourselves lost and failing. The light is there. Seeking to transfigure our lives. Amen.