It is what we call the last Sunday after the Epiphany, by which we mean the last

Transcription

1 A Sermon for the Last Sunday after the Epiphany 2012 The Rev. Dr. Bill Doggett Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Alexandria VA It is what we call the last Sunday after the Epiphany, by which we mean the last Sunday of Ordinary Time, or the last Sunday before the season of Lent begins, since, obviously, it s not really the last Sunday there are plenty more to come and for the last Sunday after Epiphany, we always read the story of the Transfiguration of Jesus on the mountaintop. It s a dramatic story, and one we should all be familiar with, because it is in all three of the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, and it shows up in the calendar of readings more than any other story in all of scripture. In addition to the last Sunday after Epiphany, the Transfiguration has its own feast day, August sixth, important enough that we celebrate it on the Sunday following. One of the reasons that the Transfiguration of Jesus was so important to the gospel writers is that it makes the first symbolic claim that the stories about Jesus should be held in the same regard as the Hebrew Scriptures. When Peter says that all scripture is inspired by God, he is not making a claim for Christian texts, few of which had even been written when he wrote; rather he is answering the question of why Christians read the Hebrew Bible in worship. But in the Transfiguration story, we see Jesus sitting and conversing with Moses the Lawgiver and Elijah, the great 1

2 prophet The Law and the Prophets is a poetic phrase that Luke s gospel reports Jesus using frequently to mean the whole of Hebrew Scripture. So that s one reason this story is important to Matthew, Mark and Luke. But why is it important to us, so important that we tell it twice a year in Sunday worship? It is an arresting story in and of itself. It s got rich visual imagery and deep symbolism, alarmingly weird supernatural and profoundly human elements, history and prophecy, glory and humiliation. And it gives a unique context to the stories that surround it, stories about power and glory and their opposites. In Luke s gospel, the chapter in which the Transfiguration story is told begins with Jesus sending out the disciples to heal and cast out demons in his name, while Jesus has a proxy confrontation with King Herod. When the disciples return, excited about their power, they find they are unable to do the simple thing that Jesus tells them to do to feed the crowd that has gathered around Jesus. After the transfiguration, the disciples find themselves again unable to perform this time failing to cast out a demon and Jesus wonders how long he is going to have to put up with his perverse and faithless generation of followers. And all throughout this chapter, in places where the other gospels give us explanation, instruction and correction, in Luke s gospel we find Jesus instead talking about his upcoming betrayal and death. He predicts it to the confusion and 2

3 amazement of the disciples, and he is overheard discussing it casually with Moses and Elijah as they sit in their transfigured glory. It s hard to imagine what that conversation might have been like. Did Moses express regret that he didn t get to cross into the Promised Land and experience the happy ending of his own story? Did Elijah commiserate about how weird it is to prophesy your own departure? And if the conversation was odd, think about how much more strange it would have been to overhear it. But in all of that, Luke seems intent on showing us the difference between true power and glory and their counterfeits. The disciples have been given power to heal, but that power fails them again and again. Herod is the King, but his power is constrained by the will of his Roman superiors and the willingness of his Jewish subjects. But Luke seems interested in showing us that even the apparent glory of Jesus glowing on the mountaintop, first among the heroes of his people, isn t the real deal. For every time power and glory are manifest or notably absent, Luke immediately points us to the cross. If you want to see real power and glory, don t look for the special effects; don t look for the miracles; don t look for the trappings of royalty. Real power, real glory are found in the most unlikely place one person, condemned, humiliated, and executed for teaching in word and example that love is meant to rule our lives. Real power and glory are found in the way that love outlives any attempt to destroy it. Real power and glory are found not in 3

4 earthly authority or miraculous deeds or even transfiguration. Real power and glory are found in resurrection. And that is where Luke is trying to point us. Away from ourselves, away from wealth and authority and ability and toward resurrection. Toward abundant life. Toward the one who is making all things new. Toward love as the mark, measure, critique and justification of all that we do. While Jesus is transfigured, the disciples hear a mighty voice, like the voice that was heard at Jesus baptism. At the baptism, the voice said to Jesus, You are my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. Now the voice says to Jesus followers, This is my son, my chosen. Listen to him. Listen to him. And what does he say? Love one another. Feed my flock. Proclaim the good news of God s love from the housetops. Make disciples of all. Welcome the stranger, heal the sick, free the captives, feed the hungry. This is power. This is glory. To transform and transfigure the world so that we all glow with the radiance of love. Tuesday we feast on pancakes and, most importantly in our symbol life, on butter, so that we can begin Lent on Ash Wednesday well-fortified for the fast. And whatever you are planning for your own Lenten discipline, I m going to suggest that you also make this Lent a fast FOR resurrection. 4

5 In order to prepare yourselves for the power and glory that we rejoice in at Easter, fast from unkindness. Fast from selfishness. Put your love of self on a starvation diet so that you can feed your love of others. Fast from silence, if you can speak out on someone s behalf. Fast from inaction, if you are a ble to do anything to transform love from hope to reality. Let your fasting transfigure the world around you, so that we may all arise on Easter morning to a world that is already aglow with love. Amen. 5