Worship for Sunday, March 27, 2011

The Third Sunday Within the Season of Lent

Romans 5:1-5

There is so much during the day that clamors for our attention. Friends, family, work, classes, household tasks. And the noise! We are bombarded with sound, from the clock that awakens us to the telephone, the radio, the television, the conversation that we have or overhear. Where is the time and place to listen for the still, small voice of God? Sometimes it seems that God would have to speak in a whirlwind to be heard above the clamor! Listen now. There is a place of quiet rest, and it is the place where God dwells within you. Close your eyes. Be aware of the place. In Lent we journey to the parts of ourselves known only to God, beneath the clamor. Let the story of Jesus reach us there. Let it teach us wisdom in our secret hearts.

(Silent time.)

As we extinguish this light, we acknowledge the darkness and pain of violence.

(A candle is extinguished.)

Let us pray:

All: Draw us together in your love, O God. May our restless hearts not resist you, but continue to search until they find their rest in you. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Romans 5:1Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. ³And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

⁶For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. ⁸But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. ⁹Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. ¹⁰For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. ¹¹But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

“Justified”

Perhaps you will know that I am an expert in Law Enforcement. I come upon this expertise by watching criminal procedure television shows. Law & Order. In Plain Sight. Castle.

But, the best of all might be “Justified,” based on a character named Raylan Givens, created by the greatest crime fiction writer, ever--Elmore Leonard.

In the show, Raylan returns to his home in Eastern Kentucky, charged with enforcing the law against people he grew up with--even having to arrest his father!

Raylan has a pesky habit of shooting people--but only just before they shoot at him.

Brought in to account for his shootings, he simply says, “He drew on me first. It was justified.”

Being justified means that you can be in two states of being at the same time. On the one hand, Raylan did kill someone--he’s guilty of that.

On the other hand, the killing took place in the course of enforcing the laws of the United States.

So, Raylan is a killer, but justified in so doing, and therefore innocent.

In today’s lesson, we encounter this concept of being justified in a slightly different context.

In Jesus Christ, we are justified before God. This means that even though we are sinners, we stand before God blameless in Christ. Sinners by nature and by practice, we stand before God pure and innocent.

Now, this is not an easy concept for we Americans to grasp--or to accept. We want to see things as they are--and we want to earn things for ourselves and to get what we deserve. If we stand blameless before God, we want it to be of our own accord. We want grace the old fashioned way--we earn it.

And yet, justification by faith is one of the cornerstone of reformation Protestantism--in whose lineage we are.

And we still so frequently see faith is Christ as something we do--a work, if you will. We are justified by having faith in Christ--as if it’s all up to us.

And yet, it is not our own faith in Christ that saves us, but rather the faithfulness of Christ. We are saved because Jesus was faithful to God’s aims for his life and for ours. If Christ saves us, it’s not so much of our own doing, but God’s gift to us by the means of Christ;s faithfulness.

Look at this verse from Galatians 2. I’m showing it to you in the King Jimmy translation because sometimes, the older texts get it right--ar at least better than the newer translations,

“ Knowing that [one] is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”

You can be the best person in the world. You can open doors for little old ladies. You can fix breakfast for the less fortunate. You can ring bells for the Salvation Army every Christmas. You can teach Sunday School and give a tenth of your income. And trust me, I want to encourage you in the strongest possible terms do all of these things.

The world will be a much better place if we would all do these things--repeatedly and frequently!

God wants us to do these things.

But that doesn’t make us acceptable or even pleasing to God.

Grace means that nothing you can do will make God love any more than you are already loved.

Grace means that nothing you can do will make God love you any less than you are already loved.

Let’s say that together: Grace means that nothing you can do will make God love any more than you are already loved. Grace means that nothing you can do will make God love you any less than you are already loved.

In the second chapter of Ephesians, Paul talks about faith being anything but something we do. Faith is a gift from God--not something of our own doing!

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works," Eph. 2:8-9

If you have faith in Christ, that faith didn’t start with you--God put it in your heart by way of the Spirit.

If you’ve done any good in your life, it isn’t by means of your own goodness, but rather God’s goodness projected through you!

And if you have faith in Christ, that is not what justifies you before God--it is rather Christ’s faithfulness which brings us to that state of justification.

Yesterday, I preached the funeral of two fine gentlemen--one of whom was also my neighbor. He and I had a number of discussions about grace and salvation. He told me that he didn’t think he was good enough to belong to God--that he had to keep doing constantly in order to curry God’s favor.

I rather gently suggested to him that perhaps all the good things that he did for others were gifts entrusted to him by God, who knew that he would not waste that gift, but use it to help others. God love him, he just couldn’t see it that way.

But, one of the advantages to being pastor is that in the funerals, I get the last word. And I am confident that Bill is held in the loving arms of God who welcomed him by saying “well done my beloved, faithful servant, well done!”

My sisters and brothers, God has graced each of us with immeasurable gifts, among them the propensity to love and to serve. We are called to use these gifts--not to earn our place with God--Jesus Christ has done that already. Rather we are filled with these gifts so that we are overflowing with them for the whole world.

What shall we do with the gifts God has given to us? What shall we make of being justified by Christ’s faithfulness. Are we not called to share with a world which so desparately needs to know it?

I’d love to know what you are thinking.

Worship for Sunday, March 20, 2011 The Second Sunday Within the Season of Lent

On Sunday morning, for a brief space of time, we leave behind the world of home and work and school—the world where we have our lists of things to do, activities to participate in, tasks to complete. We come here this morning seeking something else. We come here seeking a shift—from the ordinary to the sacred, from doing to being. I invite you to close your eyes. Let go of your list. Recall that it is the season of Lent. Remember the parable of the sower. The sower throws the seed . . . and where it lands determines if it will grow or not grow. Think of it this way: think of the season of Lent as the sower, the time when seeds of faith are thrown with special intensity, as a time a time when God calls to us in a low, urgent voice. Listen. Jesus is being drawn to Jerusalem. Where is God calling you to? What is God calling you to do?

(Silent time.)

As we extinguish this light, we acknowledge the darkness and pain of injury done to God’s creation.

(A candle is extinguished.)

Let us pray:

All: Loving God, as we journey through this holy season of Lent, may we be open to your presence. Give us the strength to make the changes that are needed in our lives and the courage to take on the work of transforming the world. Amen.

Thanks be to you, our Lord Jesus Christ,

for all the benefits which you have given us,

for all the pains and insults which you have borne for us.

Most merciful Redeemer, Friend and Brother,

may we know you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly,

day by day.

Amen.--St. Richard of Chichester

God sent the Son into the world to save the world. As we prepare for Holy Week, let

us earnestly pray that God will grant all peoples everywhere new birth in the Spirit.

For the church throughout the world, a sign on earth of the kingdom of God.

Lord, have mercy.

For our Regional church and our ministers, Bill, Steve, Brenda, and LaTaunya, and all who minister in Christ, and for all the people of God.

Lord, have mercy.

For the members of our Pastor’s Class--Alexis, Kayla, Quintin, Sylvia, Zach, and for all who wish to be born of the Spirit.

Lord, have mercy.

For all who share the faith of Abraham, and for all nations and families of the earth.

Lord, have mercy.

For all who are tempted, oppressed, afflicted, or in need.

Lord, have mercy.

For the sick whose names we have called, and for those whose suffering is less noticeable,

Lord, have mercy.

For the dying, the dead, and all who grieve.

Lord, have mercy.

For our families, friends, and companions, and for all those we love.

Lord, have mercy.

John 3:1-17

¹Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.²He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” ³Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” ⁴Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” ⁵Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. ⁶What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ ⁸The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” ⁹Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” ¹⁰Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? ¹¹“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. ¹²If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ¹³No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. ¹⁴And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,¹⁵that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. ¹⁶“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. ¹⁷“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

At age 11, the young boy had an epiphany, prompted by the sight of his alcoholic father lying dead drunk on the front porch of the family house in Dixon, Ill. In a moving passage of autobiography, he would later write: “Seeing his arms spread out as if he were crucified – as indeed he was – his hair soaked with melting snow, snoring as he breathed, I could feel no resentment against him.” It was the season of Lent, and his mother, a member of the Disciples of Christ, put a comforting novel in his hand: That Printer of Udell’s by Ohio Disciples pastor Harold Bell Wright. The boy read it and told her, “I want to declare my faith and be baptized.” He was, by immersion, on June 21, 1922.

That novel tells the story of a handsome Midwestern boy who makes good for the sins of his father by becoming a practical Christian. That term “practical Christian” described a kind of mid-western Disciples’ attitude of the day--a way of taking one’s faith into everyday life. The young boy in the novel becomes a spellbinding orator. He develops a penchant for brown suits and welfare reform, marries a wide-eyed girl (who listens adoringly to his speeches) and wins election to public office in Washington.

Years later, the young boy--now, himself a prominent politician was asked if he were a “born again” Christian.

He responded by saying, “Well, I was raised to have a faith and a belief and have been a member of a church since I was a small boy. In our particular church we didn't use that term born- again so I don't know whether I would fit that - that particular term. But I have, thanks to my mother, God rest her soul, the firmest possible belief and faith in God.”

That politician who was uncomfortable being called “born again” was none other than Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40^th President of the United States--who was, by the way, the third Disciples President of our country.

Like many Disciples, Reagan wasn’t sure what this “born again” idea was about. Well, he was in good company. Nicodemus, the Rabbi and Pharisee who came to Jesus in secret at night didn’t understand it, either.

You must be born from above, Jesus tells him. But, how can you be born twice?

Jesus, repeats himself. Everyone is born of water--which I used to believe was about baptism, but now I understand to be about amniotic fluid. We are all born of water from our mothers’ wombs, but Jeus says, we must also be born of Spirit--from above. That’s trickier.

Being born from above is not some kind of secret-handshake-get-out-of-hell-card, but a radical reorienting of one’s self to try to understand the way God looks at the world.

Toward the end of the conversation, Jesus tells Nicodemus the key to being born from above--understanding God’s radical love for the world.

God so loved the world that he gave his son. Being born from above is beginning to understand grace--the idea that God’s love for us is greater than we can imagine.

God so loved the world--the  (cosmos) that he gave a son to save it.

David Lose points out that that word cosmos is

“everywhere else in the Gospel of John describes that entity that is at complete enmity with God. Typical is this prayer by Jesus just before his crucifixion: "I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world" (John 17:14-16).

This gives John 3:16 a bit more punch: "For God so loved the God-hating world that he sent his only Son ... ," we might accurately translate. Apparently, at least according to Jesus, God really, really, really loves the world.”

And that’s what this passage is all about. And that’s the difference between “born again” and “born from above.”

When I hear people say that they are born again, what I hear them saying is that they are in a saving relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

But, being born from above, is seeing the world as God sees it--even a world that hates God. Being born from above is understanding that God is in a saving relationship with the world--the whole world--this world, which God loves so much that he became one of us. God so loved the world that he put on our skin and moved among to show us by his life, death, and life again how to really, really, really love the world.

This world.

Some of you might be perturbed that I use Ronald Reagan as an example of a Disciple. Some of you are thrilled.

Is President Reagan the best example of a Christian? Probably not.

But, that’s kind of the point. Being born from above is to see this world as God sees, and to love as God loves, and to understand that no one is beyond God’s grace.

At the peak of his Presidency, Ronald Reagan became friends with his counterpart in the Soviet Union. The two men liked each other, and they knew that the talks they had would have cosmic, if you will, consequences.

Reagan told his advisers that he believed Mikhail Gorbachev was a “closet Christian.” He was willing to look at the leader of the “evil empire” and see a child of God. That’s grace, church. That’s being born from above.

Three years ago, this week, Mikhail Gorbachev visited the tomb of Saint Francis, in Assisi, and confirmed what Reagan had suspected twenty years earlier--that he was indeed a Christian--even though his position of power precluded his confession of it.

In this season of Lent, we are encouraged to look inward to see ourselves as we truly are. Given the reality of this passage, maybe we should look around as well. What is God seeing in the world today? How are we to relate to this world that God loves--no matter what?

I’d love to know what you are thinking.

In our offering, we respond gratefully to what God has first given us. All that we do is a response to God’s grace. Everything we are, have, and use comes from God. Best of all, God gives the gift of Jesus Christ and the community of believers. It all begins with God. Our confession of faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior is not of our doing. As grateful stewards, let us put God first.

Loving God, we give you what is already yours--these gifts of money, and ourselves. Use them and us to make a difference in your world. Amen.

Benediction

Go forth with this truth lodged firmly in your heart:

There is nothing you can do or say that will separate you from the love of God.

In Christ we see the power of God’s transforming love;

The love that was in Christ in is the same love that is in us today.

In every moment of our lives, God knows who we are,

And with patience and love, offers us what we need.

Like Christ, we will open ourselves to God’s presence;

We will place our lives in God’s care;

We will follow Christ in the pursuit of compassion, justice, and peace.

(Thanks to the Good Folks at Process and Faith for the Lenten Liturgies!)

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Worship for Sunday, March 13, 2011

The First Sunday in Lent

Theme: Soul Tsunami

Thanks to the good folks at Process and Faith for the Lenten Liturgies

Unison Prayer

Loving God, as we journey through this holy season of Lent, give us strength and courage to make the changes that are needed in our lives. Open our hearts and minds to your steadfast presence and help us to put our trust in you. Amen.

Pastoral Prayer

We cannot even imagine the horror that at neighbors in Japan and elsewhere experienced on Friday while we slept, O God.

The power of your sea is beyond our comprehension. We pray for our neighbors who know you by many names. Let them feel your presence and comfort in this frightening time. We pray that you will use us and your church to bring comfort, aid, and your presence to those whose home have been swept away--indeed those whose lives have have been tossed aside by the waters.

We know you are a kind and gentle God, whose tears were mixed in the waters that washed over the land. We pray that you will bring healing to all your people.

We come to you today as a people who have been worn down bit by bit by the snow and ice of winter. As the signs of Spring crawl forth, lighten our hearts during this lengthening of the days.

We praise you and thank you for your unfailing love. We ask that you teach us to love as you do, without reservation or even expectation.

We pray for our Governor John, our Senator Kris, and our Representative Jay. May they know your wisdom, mercy, compassion, justice, and strength as they serve this great State of Ohio.

We are aware of many who need your healing touch. Some whose names we have called, others we kept silent. Hear us now as we pray for the sick and bereaved.

These are our cares, concerns, fears, and hopes. We leave them with you in the name of your Son, Jesus. Amen.

Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ²He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. ³The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” ⁴But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” ⁵Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” ⁷Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” ⁸Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; ⁹and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” ¹⁰Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” ¹¹Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

+++

The defining moment for me in this week’s sermon preparation was not in reading the texts for today. Not in working in the books in my study. Not in scouring the internet for interesting items about this passage.

I did all those things, and I still came up with the same message on Jesus in the wilderness that I’ve been preaching, well, forever (should I keep doing that until I get it right?).

The pivotal moment in my thinking this week happened on Friday morning as I watched a scientist from the United States Geological Survey explain the mechanics of a tsunami.

The particular tsunami on everyone’s mind was the one that struck Japan, Hawaii, and other Pacific coastlines that morning.

This is what happened.

Eighty miles from the East Coast of Japan, and more than fifteen miles down, tectonic plates--massive, irregularly shaped slab of solid rock under the earth--collided, rupturing the earth’s crust along a one-hundred eighty mile stretch.

The ocean floor was then thrust upward with enough energy to displace an enormous amount of water, churning up huge waves that swept across swaths of the Japan coast and tore across the open ocean at the speed of a jet plane.

A major unseen phenomenon manifested itself in something so big that the whole world could not help but notice. That’s a tsunami.

When I heard her describe this incredible event, I thought, “that’s what we need.”

No, I’m not saying we need waves to wash over Richland County, wreaking devastation in their path.

What we need is a tsunami of the soul.

In Lent, we seek to open ourselves to the love and grace of God. To lay our souls bare, that God make mold us and use us to change the world in the name of Jesus Christ.

Some people like to “give something up” for Lent. A habit, an indulgence, something that we enjoy--caffeine, alcohol, sodas, desserts. The idea is that a “fasting” of sorts will help us to be more open to God’s movement within us.

I’ve always thought that giving something up with out giving the resources for them away is hollow. In other words, if you decide that you’re going to give up you $3.79 mocha latte every day, great. But to truly make it a redemptive sacrifice, you might want to give the 40 days worth of overpriced coffee to the poor, or to relief efforts that will help people in the Pacific who’ve been hurt by this event. That would come to $151.60, by the way.

But, unless that changes us beyond the 40 days, what good is it? What Lent demands is a rigorous self-examination. A thorough inspection of our very being and a laying bare of our souls before God--not only for our own sake, but so that God can change us that we might change the world in Jesus’ name.

At First Christian Church, we’re trying to lay bare our collective soul in a process called New Beginnings. In this process, we are asking questions like, “who are we?” Who are we really? When you peel us back to tectonic plates at our core, who are we?

What is it that we are passionate about?

What is it that we do with excellence?

What are the resources with which God has blessed us?

And where do these areas overlap? What is that we are at our core?

And the big Lenten question--when we can look at who we are at our very core, how can God use us in Christ’s mission in the world--from our doorsteps to the ends of the earth?

It would seem to me that a tsunami of the soul--whether of the church or of each of us as individual parts of that body--would begin at that core of who we really are.

I started praying on Friday that God would shake us so hard at our very core that it would create a sea change in the world around us during this season of Lent. That we would be broken at our very core and changed--convicted by our Lenten self-reflection--that waves which could not be ignored would swell up and wash over our family, friends, and neighbors.

That’s the point of Lent--self-reflection and not navel gazing. Reflecting on who we are as God’s people, and who we are in relationship to the world. It ‘s not enough to ask, “who are we?” We must also ask how will we relate to our neighbors? How will we safeguard God’s creation? How will we advocate for justice in the world?

Jesus came out of waters of baptism and embarked on his 40 days in the wilderness.

That calls to mind the journey of the Israelites--who passed through the waters of the Sea of Reeds to spend 40 years in the wilderness. It was in this time that they struggled with their identity as God’s people. They asked themselves, “Is the Lord with us or not?” They received, rejected, and received again the Law at Mount Sinai. They re-covenanted with God as they sought find their core.

Jesus struggled to find his core, too. He stripped away all else and faced temptations--temptations that Henri Nouwen characterizes the temptations as to be relevant ("Turn these stones to bread."), to be spectacular ("Throw yourself from the temple."), and to be powerful ("I will give you the kingdoms of the world.").

Jesus rejected all of these things in his journey. He would not be a Savior who does tricks on command. He would not take the easy way out. He would walk with the people, and share their pain and struggles.

And today, as we face our wilderness, we are not alone. Jesus walks with us and shares our pain and struggles. And is with us in the shaking of our foundations as the world waits and wonders, “what kind of church is this? Who and what is god calling us to be? Why are we in this place at this time? What will the tsunami look like which arises from our shaking at the core?”

Over the next few weeks, we will journey with Jesus through our own wilderness--as we journey together through New Beginnings. I’m praying we get shook up pretty good.

What are you praying for?

+++

Offering

Deuteronomy 26 says “...take some of all the first fruits of what you grow in the

land that God, your God, is giving you, put them in a basket and go to the place God,

your God, sets apart for your to worship him....And rejoice! Celebrate all the good things that God, your God, has given you and your family....” Let us bring our first fruits to God.

God of all good gifts, as you asked, we have brought our gifts to you and through them

celebrate the good things you have give us. Let us always be grateful for your gifts and generous with ours.

+++

Benediction

In this season of Lent, take time, when you can, to be still.
Ponder the one who gave his life to bring forth the kingdom of God.

We will honor Christ by believing in God’s vision for creation;
We will be like good soil, in which the seeds of justice may grow.

God speaks to us in the life of Jesus;
Let us hear the word and understand it.

We are witnesses to God’s transforming power;
We go forth as Christ’s partners in the work of justice and love.

An Unmanageable Savior

Matthew 17:1-8

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves.2And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. 3Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” 6When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. 7But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” 8And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. 9As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

I am not afraid of heights. In fact, once you’ve had your chest cracked open and three or four people in a surgical suite have had their hands digging around in your heart, you’re not much afraid of anything.

I actually like being way up high. I love walking across bridges. I love tall buildings. And even though most mountains seem to be out-of-doors, I love being on top of mountains.

Laurie Parish and I went down to Loudonville to visit her mother-in-law, Violet, who’s on our prayer list. On the way back she showed me a fire tower that you can climb up and see the Mohican River region from a kind-of God’s eye view. Sometime this year, I intend to climb it.

We even have a word for the feeling that get on top of mountains. We call it a mountaintop experience. And when we go up into the mountains, we feel that we are closer to God.

You need to know that this is nothing new. Joan Chittister writes “"Mountains…in Greek, Hebrew, Roman and Asian religious literature, were always places where the human could touch the divine"

Remember where the Greeks said their gods lived? Mount Olympus

Today’s story is of a mountaintop experience. Peter, James, and John go up Mount Hermon with Jesus—in modern day Syria (though some interpreters say it’s Mount Tabor).

The passage begins with the phrase, “six days later…” Six days later than what?

Six days after Peter gives his answer to Jesus’ question, “who do you say that I am?”

And Peter replies with the same confession that every one of our members has made, “you are the Christ, the son of the living God.”

And Jesus says, “shh. Don’t tell anybody.”

And so, they climb Mount Hermon—reason unknown—but, when Jesus says go, they go.

And then, everything goes sideways. Or up-ways. Or just plain weird.

Marcus Borg, who teaches at the other OSU--Oregon State University-- has an interesting question that he asks about events in Jesus life. He wonders what a video would have recorded if video had been available then.

What would we see on the replay?

What Borg is trying to do is the same thing that Peter did on the mountain--create a manageable Jesus.

Peter sees this amazing thing happen in front of him--Jesus with Moses and Elijah--and doesn’t just want to stand there. He wants to do something!

This sight of Jesus talking with grand figures of the Hebrew people is way too much for Peter to handle. After all, Moses and Elijah have been dead for hundreds of years. Yet, here they are.

Peter says, let’s build three dwellings--literally tents, but carrying the connotation of “tabernacle”--the place where the presence of God was located before the Temple was constructed.

By building the three dwellings--Peter hopes to contain Jesus, who is now equated with the Law (Moses) and the Prophets (Elijah).

This is a good thing, Jesus. Let’s keep it here.

But Jesus cannot be contained.

Before Peter can even finish his proposal, a voice comes from heaven as if to say, “will you shut up, already, Peter?” I bet that got said to Peter a lot, even if the Gospels didn’t record it.

The voice that interrupts Peter says, “This is my Son, the beloved. Listen to him.”

In other words--first, shut up Peter. Then, listen to Jesus. We had the law and prophets--the two great ways in which God was represented to the people. But, now, we have Jesus. Listen to him.

But, we still want a manageable Jesus. If we’re not trying to contain him in a box, we’re trying to cut him down to size.

Thomas Jefferson took scissors and glue to the Gospels. He cut out all the stuff he didn’t like--including this story. What he was left with was a sanitzed Jesus, a very manageable Jesus. A Jesus that conforms to our image.

George Bernard Shaw once wrote that God created [humans] in his image, we have returned the favor.

A manageable Jesus, indeed!

But Jesus will not be managed, by you, me, Marcus Borg, or Thomas Jefferson, and not Peter, James, and John.

The key phrase here is," listen to him.”

Listen to Jesus.

Well, you might say you listen to Jesus, but do we really?

I think sometimes, our listen to Jesus is about as fuzzy as this image.

Do we really listen to Jesus when he says:

Love your neighbor--even if your neighbor is an enemy?

Love your enemies?

Sell all you stuff and give the proceeds to the poor?

When someone hits you, hit them back harder?

Oh, yeah. That’s not Jesus. That’s me.

If someone asks to borrow something, give it to them without expecting it back? What, no promissory note?

We like think of this Transfiguration--which is translated from the Greek word metamorphoses, literally means changed--as being what happens to Jesus. As in Jesus was transfigured before the three disciples.

But, the more pressing question is, how will we be transfigured--changed--by our experience of Jesus. Are we really listening to him, and if so, what difference does it make in our lives?

Charles Bayer, a retired disciples pastor who served FCC in St. Joseph, MO for more than 20 years, said they quit doing the invitation to discipleship at the close of every service--you know, inviting people to come and make a profession of faith in Christ in front of the congregation.

If people wanted to join FCC in St. Joseph, they went to pastor and made their profession in the study, then on Sunday morning, they stood up and answered another question in front of the congregation. That question was, “how will being a member of this congregation change your life?”

Now, I hear some of you out there thinking, “Oh, I could never do that. I bet nobody ever joined that church!”

But, you’d be wrong. During Bayer’s tenure there, they experienced tremendous growth while more Disciples congregations--including ours--declined.

So the question I ask you today is, “What difference is made in your life by being a member of this wonderful congregation?” “What difference does it make in your life to really listen to Jesus?”

I’d love to know what you’re thinking.