Happy Transfiguration Sunday! And Valentine’s Day! And President’s Day! And almost time for Lent, with Ash Wednesday this week. Welcome to church Sunday 11 am for a worship service, and Tuesday 5 pm to open the food pantry for the community.
Call to Worship; 2 Kings 2:7-12
7 Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. 8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”
“Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.
10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.”
11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two.
Opening Invitation, Praises, and Prayer Concerns; Father of all creation, thank you for this chance to praise glorify, and magnify you Holy and Precious name before all others. Lord today we humbly ask that you grow and mature us in your ways and that you would teach us how to serve your creation.
Amen!
Message Reading: Mark 9:2-8
2 After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. 3 His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. 4 And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
5 Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)
7 Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”
8 Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.
Message: “Can You See, What I’m Saying?”
The phrase; “Can you See What I am Saying”, instantly reminds of my youth, of joking and talking with friends as we would try to color our stories of grandeur with tales innumerable to recall. Unfortunately for most of those tales, we couldn’t climb into the mind of the speaker to understand. You had to be there to appreciate the intended recounting of history.
Fortunately for us, when we learn about the Lord and we are in a relationship with Him, our minds are opened to seeing what God’s word is saying to us. The more we do so, the more His Word and Spirit transforms us to His plan. Regardless of who we are, where we are, or where we have been. The Lord is ready to be in relationship with you. Even in the midst of your isolation and challenges. This is the time of year that reminds us that we do not have to be physically with God’s family to be in communion with your Church or your God.
We are right now at the doorstep of a special season in the liturgical (church) year. This is that time between Epiphany (the great idea or understanding that Christ is among us, in the world) and the observance of Lent (Meaning Springtime in old English, in the Christian world period of 40 days of reflection before Easter Weekend), starting on Ash Wednesday, this Wednesday February 17th. While many across our world are celebrating Carnival or Mardi-Gras (the festival before Lent begins), the church itself is preparing for the time of deep reflection that is about to begin.
In years past on Ash Wednesday, we offered Ashes and a service to anyone who wanted to participate. Due to Covid this year we will not be participating in anything that involves a lot of interaction for safety reasons. Suffice to say when people do wear the ashes on their foreheads or wrists, it’s a sign that we all know that we come from dust, our acts deserve the ashes, and we are all sinners in this life. We mourn our sins and repent them before the Lord. This will be a part of next week’s message of reflection.
(As a side note, Ash Wednesday, and Lent are not mandatory traditions in our Church, they’re just another reminder of who we are and where we come from in the greater church family. Tools that we use to learn about and be closer to God)
Today is a special Sunday for many in the Christian Church. Many are celebrating Transfiguration Sunday and the ability of mere people like us to witness and yes participate in the actions of the Divine, as reflected in our readings from the Old and New Testaments today. Yes, today’s Good News (Gospel) is that we are given new understanding and vision when we are in a relationship in and with the Lord, and God’s family.
It seems to me that over the course of two thousand years, leaders in the church started to contemplate how to get the members of God’s family ready for the reflection that takes place before Easter. Because let’s face it, for a whole lot of us, deep self-reflection “aint” (is not) on the agenda! It is about as appealing as a Root-Canal or a day of cleaning house to that deep. Plus, it’s hard to think that we have the ability to actually see and participate with the Lord on a whole new and deeper level if we have not done it before. But what does all that really mean?
For me, Transfiguration Sunday is all about remembering those in scripture who had access into deep insight of the Lord, and knew what to ask for in their service to the one God of all. Yes, for me Transfiguration Sunday begins in the Old Testament with Prophets saying “Here am I. Send me!” in Isaiah 6:8-9
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
9 He said, “Go and tell this people:
“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
Isaiah is not only in tune with God, but explains to the people what happens when the Lord invites all us, but in Isaiah’s time they refused a relationship so they, like many of us, in the hear and now, hear but don’t understand or see but don’t perceive. And before Isaiah in scripture there was Elijah and Elisha depicted in today’s Call to Worship reading from 2 Kings 2. This time versus 9-10;
9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”
“Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.
10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.”
And we know that Elisha did witness the departure of Elijah. Note that Elisha asked for something he could actually put to good use, a double portion of his teacher’s Holy Spirit. (And to be clear this Holy Spirit is the Grace that God was providing, not Elijah’s own self will.) That is why he is leaving it up to the Lord to provide the double portion. If God so desires, upon his departure. Your understanding of what I’m saying right now is the difference between understanding and perceiving over just seeing and hearing what I’m saying.
Case in point; In Elisha’s time people knew that his teacher and mentor, Elijah would be taken up in a whirlwind by the Lord, and yet the people could have known more which is why Elisha has to tell members of the Bethel and Jericho prophet communities to be quiet.
3 The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?”
“Yes, I know,” Elisha replied, “so be quiet.”
4 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, Elisha; the Lord has sent me to Jericho.”
And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.
5 The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?”
“Yes, I know,” he replied, “so be quiet.”
In other words, to listen to, reflect on, and pray about, what God is doing, to understand what is about to take place. It’s all well and good to be aware of things God is doing in our lives, but we can actually be provided deeper insight when we are available to His Holy Spirit of illumination, perception, and understanding.
What I mean is, that sometimes I am so busy talking about what God is doing, that I am not listening to what He is actually saying to me. It’s why we need each other in the Body of Christ to help us discern God’s Spirit and His promptings, and to also tell me like Elisha once did to the Prophets of Bethel and Jericho; “Be quiet”. Or perhaps more diplomatically to quote the Lord in Psalm 46:10;
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
We all need that from time to time, and Transfiguration Sunday is a chance to be still, reflect, and know more deeply our Lord as we prepare for the upcoming time of reflection before Easter.
To gain an even greater sense of the ability of mere humans to grow insight into the workings of the Lord, just look at today’s “Message reading” from Mark, this time versus 3-7, beginning with describing the Lord;
3 His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. 4 And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
5 Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)
7 Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”
Listen to him! What a concept, one I too often forget.
It’s kind of like Elisha saying back in 2 Kings 2; We know, now be quiet, or as Psalms expresses so gently and well, “Be still and know I am God”. Transfiguration Sunday reminds us that we are heirs to the great figures in scripture (both Old and New Testaments), people who have been given deeper understandings in the ways of the Lord, and it comes by listening to Him!
In our reading, the Lord has enlightened three fishermen into a deeper view of the ways of God. Now were these three, Peter, James, and John enlightened with the Transfiguration and the witnessing of Moses and Elijah, because they earned the right to be there? Did they win a competition over the rest of the guys and they came in at first thru third place in the competition? Or was it that they were just open to the promptings of God’s Holy Spirit, flaws and all?
I vote for flaws and all. Even though I don’t have a vote, because God will do what God is going to do, and none of us have earned anything. And yet we receive everything when we invite Him into our hearts to reside. Flaws and all. And at any given time, some of us are more available to the Spirit than others, which is why we need each other so much.
Paul teaches about this phenomenon in his letter to the Church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians 4:3-6;
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
We the believers of the working day are in the business of sharing that Gospel, that Good News with those who are blinded by ignorance, despair, or even prosperity. In verse 4 Paul says: 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers,…
God is spelled with a small g, in other words the gods that we create, blind us from divinity; so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
This is followed by a verse many would do well to keep in mind. Paul continues in verse 5;
5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
We must never loose sight of the one we serve, and those we serve through Him. Our message and service to others is not for self-promotion, for it is, it’s a hollow message. Void of God’s Holy Spirit and grace.
You see, when I am all about me, I am in the throws of idolatry, relacing me for God and I can no longer see my Lord or hear His voice through my own chatter. Regardless of if I am a prophet from Jericho walking with Elijah, or observing Elijah as an Apostle with the transfigured Lord, I need to be still, and know He is God.
As Paul states in verse 6 of our Message reading:
6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
My thought, and as always, that’s all it is, (you must do the heavy lifting of prayer, study, and reflecting). My thought is that as we prepare for this period of reflection before Easter, what many Christians call Lent, that there are many miracles to be found, insights to be discovered, and understanding offered by a Lord that is ready to be in relationship with each and every one of us.
That’s when I am ready to hear the Psalmist teach his awesome message of the reality of the Lord. Now the words of Psalm 50:1-6 make more sense, because I can now hear and understand:
1 The Mighty One, God, the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to where it sets.
2 From Zion, perfect in beauty,
God shines forth.
3 Our God comes
and will not be silent;
a fire devours before him,
and around him a tempest rages.
4 He summons the heavens above,
and the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 “Gather to me this consecrated people,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
6 And the heavens proclaim his righteousness,
for he is a God of justice.
And when we are His, judgement means justified through His blood of redemption for all who believe and trust in Him. This is the beginnings of understanding. But let me close with quoting Peter; It is right for us to be here”. Followed by, be still and know he is God! Amen!
Benediction; 2 Corinthians 4:6-10
6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.