be satisfied with something way this side of beauty. We d be happy with hope, or a glimmer

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1 Transfiguration of the Lord Sunday February 26, 2017 Matthew 17:1-9 Wanting Memories Joy Douglas Strome Prayer for Illumination: We are sitting here wanting, O God, memories to teach us to see beauty in the world through our own eyes. May it be so. Amen. Somewhere along the way this fall and winter, we ve kind of given up on beauty. We d be satisfied with something way this side of beauty. We d be happy with hope, or a glimmer of justice, or maybe just feeling safe. I suspect the disciples in Matthew are in a similar spot. They have been following Jesus around, scratching their heads over his teaching, watching him walk on water, heal people, feed people and are witness to many other startling events and words.ending with the one just before our text: to become Jesus true disciples, they must take up their cross and follow. So when Jesus takes his insiders, his special peeps with him up to the mountain, who knows what they are expecting? I tried to arrange for a little star wars music to come in when reading the text this morning. Especially when Jesus starts dazzling before their eyes. It is superhero Jesus, come to save them. Save them from what.for what..that s the question, right? God identifies him as beloved, he s not just a teacher turns out, but someone on the level with Moses and Elijah, those OT characters representing the law and the prophets. Jesus takes his place on the reviewing stand with the heavy hitters, the ones who have offered all the guidance before. he takes his place alongside them and dazzles them. From the inside out, Eugene Peterson translates. I don t really care for this text, I ve made no secret of it, but this year? I m thinking we could use a superhero Jesus----to dazzle, to be supernaturally powerful, to take the world back and set it on a good course. Wonk, Wonk, Wonk.white person whining. I am reminded of President Obama telling his staff they had to stop whining and get back to work. I m ready to stop whining, and we ve been given more work than we could possibly do

2 But what work? And who is setting our agenda?..(star wars theme.)come on Super Jesus..dazzle us..set us back on track. I hope that you ve been inspired, and maybe a little miffed at our Lift Every Voice and Sing series. We ve given you plenty of voices to hear.inspirational and piercing. From long ago and a month ago. Here s one more voice for you to consider, a young poet from Chicago. Hear from Stella Banion, called Black Girl Be Boxing So this remarkable young woman is Karen Mayer s granddaughter. She was part of the 2016 class of National Student poets, went to the White House to read poetry and had this video made by the Huffington Post as part of her prize. I think we will hear from her again. What a powerful set of words..this poem is all the black girls missing and not looked for..and we are instantly drawn to the two young girls killed in this last week playing on a playground.girls that a member of our church knows and has been mentoring and how about the story this week of the 5 month old, who had survived her mom being killed, only to die herself from pneumonia, never leaving the hospital for the 5 months of her life, named l miracle by family all the black girls missing and not looked for..all the Chicago kids gone..and not looked for.when will this end? I watched two documentaries this week: 13 th and I am Not Your Negro. Both are must see films in my opinion, but better go in ready to be challenged. 13 th traces the unbelievable rise in the prison population in this country since the 13 th Amendment. We have 5% of the world s population in the United States and 25% of the world s prison population. More people are imprisoned right now than were ever slaves. Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow, and featured in this documentary comments: I think its fair to say that the future of American democracy itself may rest on whether we re going to continue to

3 dispose of poor people and people of color enmasse, or treat them as though their lives actually matter. James Baldwin whose writings are the foundation of the documentary I Am Not Your Negro..writing a full generation before says: The future of the negro in this country is precisely as bright or as dark as the future of the country. Taken together these comments offer an indictment on our way of life, our read of history, our complacency in looking the other way while history repeats itself over and over and over again. In another of his writings James Baldwin writes, not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. Lifting these voices in these weeks has helped us to face ourselves, our privilege, the way we are complicit in the problems we are struggling with right now. I am ready to face this head on, because I agree that until the future of all our brothers and sisters of color is secure, no one is secure. And that the failure to do this has set us up for the mess we are in today.and will continue to be. That until we have come to terms with our past and can effectively take a stance for the real liberation of all our communities of color, that we are merely propping up an unjust system that benefits some, but not all.. With this as a backdrop, resistance to our current reality in Washington becomes all the more important, because if we lose ground from where we are right now, and where we are right now isn t that great..where will we be? this poem is all the black girls missing and not looked for this line should punch us in the gut.. (star wars theme ) Come SuperJEsus, save us from ourselves and set us back on track. God calls Jesus Beloved..God brings on the special effects to get the disciples attention, to focus them not on fear, not on being overwhelmed, not on themselves and their worries, but on the teachings of Jesus. This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him! Talk about an endorsement. God says wake up! God gets our

4 attention, gives us direction and then shoves us back down the mountain to get going. Jesus comes down off the valley and immediately cures a boy and exorcises a demon. Bang! No whining, just back to work. Back to living out and modeling for them what he taught them. To listen to Jesus is to take on the agenda that he taught, it is to love neighbor, all neighbors, it is to claim that we believe that Black Lives matter, that women s rights are human rights, that no human is illegal, that science is real, that love is love, that kindness is everything (have you seen our sign?) look in the Addison yard if you haven t seen it to listen to Jesus is to take on the agenda that he taught..and to take on that agenda with passion and purpose... Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli writes a week ago: Imagine, if you will, the conversation between Jesus and the archangel Gabriel when Jesus returned to heaven after the ascension: Gabriel: You mean your whole plan to save the world depends on that ragtag bunch of followers you left behind? Jesus: That s right Gabriel: But what if they fail? What s your backup plan? Jesus: There is no backup plan. You change the world by engagement or disengagement. You change the world by sharing your gifts or withholding them. You have a right to choose. But there is urgency about the decisions you make. There is no backup plan. Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli, Foundry United Methodist Church What I think this means is that I don t get to wring my hands over the white privilege that is mine to own. I need to claim it, I need to work out my own mess, we need to all do the same but while we re doing that we still have to listen to God s beloved and get going. There is no backup plan and Hans Solo is not coming to the rescue. The whole plan to save the world depends on the ragtag bunch of followers that Jesus left behind----and that is us. New members today? I started to say I hope I m not scaring you off, but I m actually not worried about you. I listened to your stories. You came here with purpose about finding a community that would stand up for something, that would be honest and truthful about who and where we are as folks living on the north side of Chicago with all the heat we need, and

5 good schools to attend. You came here with idealism and hungry for a community to support your quest. Not new members? I hope I m not scaring you off, but I m actually not worried about you either. But I have to say the pressure is on because the world is a mess and people are looking for other people who are willing to coalesce around values that make sense, values that can stand up to Jesus scrutiny. You change the world by engagement or disengagement. You change the world by sharing your gifts or withholding them. There has never been a time where the call to act was more urgent. There is no backup plan. Come to the congregational meeting today and figure out where you want to jump on the train that is Lake View Presbyterian Church. We don t have to dazzle anyone, we just need to listen to the Beloved One..we just have to acknowledge that God is counting on us..we just need to combine our gifts with the others in this room and be the ones who are looking for black girls, be the ones who are changing the systems that benefit us and oppress others be the ones who are not going backward, but moving forward. We need teachers for our kids and people who aren t afraid to get dirty fixing up this old building. We need those who can offer rides to those who can t be here if they don t have one. We need people to prepare a bit of food so that people will stick around and spend sacred time talking after church. We need people to sing and plan for worship. We need people who are willing to serve our seniors at lunch time and beyond. We need people who are willing to go on the DART trip. We need people who are willing to use their gifts to make the numbers add up. We need people who are willing to be generous with their gifts all kinds of gifts----so that our witness as a congregation can be strong and can change our world. We need people to go on protests and write letters and make phone calls. We need people who are visionaries and are attuned to what God is calling us toward brand new. We are sitting here wanting, O God, memories to teach us to see beauty in the world through our own eyes. Advance the agenda of Jesus listen to him? And the beauty will arrive. Believe it. Amen.