Today is Transfiguration Sunday. Transfiguration Sunday is the. Sunday prior to the start of the Lenten season. All three synoptic passages

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Mervin Cook
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1 1 DATE: February 19, 2012 SERMON TEXT: MARK 9:2-9 SERMON TITLE: An Interim Church Today is Transfiguration Sunday. Transfiguration Sunday is the Sunday prior to the start of the Lenten season. All three synoptic passages are very clear on their telling of what took place on Mt. Tabor. The account goes something like this: Jesus and three of his disciples went up on the mountain with Luke for a specific reason and that was to pray. And as soon as they reached the top, Jesus was transfigured before them. Interestingly enough, the Greek being translated is metamorphistie, the root word to our English metamorphosis. Mark tells us that "Jesus clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them." Matthew states that "Jesus face shone like the sun..." Jesus, in his transfiguration, became the very embodiment of his divinity. He was no longer human; he was 100% divine. That is what the transfiguration, the metamorphosis of Jesus, was: the transforming into the very embodiment of his divine nature, the one from God, sent by God, ordained by God. Appearing with Jesus were Moses and Elijah. In response to what he saw, Peter asked Jesus if he would like to build three tents or dwellings for them to reside in on the mountaintop. And while Peter was still speaking a

2 2 voice came from a cloud that had descended upon them, and the voice said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased, listen to him." I would propose to you this morning that the purpose of the transfiguration was that it was a way for God to give to the disciples of Jesus a glimpse into the future, a glimpse of what the church was going to be. Elijah and Moses represented to Peter, James and John Israel s past. Through these great prophets of God the message of God had been passed from generation to generation. It was through these voices that Israel had listened for the sacred words of God. But now there was a new voice, a new covenant. The mantle had been passed to Jesus, the beloved Son of God. God was making it very clear to the disciples that this was the voice they were to listen to. It is the voice of Jesus that has shaped the church as we know it. All that we are as Christian people has been shaped by the message of Jesus Christ. The message of Jesus to love your neighbor, to forgive others as God forgives you, to pray, to teach, to heal, to clothe the naked, to visit the imprisoned, to care for others all of these are teachings of Jesus that have molded our faith. When God said, Listen to him, God was saying this is the true voice of God. All that you have heard in the past must now be filtered through the

3 3 teachings of this, my beloved Son. But there is more to the story than this. The disciples suggested that three shelters be built on the mountain: one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah. In suggesting such a thing the disciples were implying that what had just happened was an event that should stay on the mountain. But that was not God s vision for the church. Mountaintop experiences were never intended to remain on the mountain. Mountaintop experiences have always served as great motivational forces in the formation of God s people. The transfiguration was meant to show the disciples what the possibilities were for the church beyond the here and now. The transfiguration was a forward-looking event to show them where the church was going, not where the church had been. It was a glimpse into the future for the disciples, even though they did not understand it at the time. As we survey the wondrous history of our faith, we see that God has always pointed God s people toward the future. Never did God allow God s people to be satisfied with where they had been or where they were at the time. Following God has always been a journey, going from one place to the next to the next, never really arriving at a final destination. It is no different in the church today. The church is not a static place. I believe very strongly that for a church to be a living, breathing body of

4 4 Christ means that it is future-oriented. We as the body of Christ should never be satisfied simply with the way things are. We should be continually challenging ourselves to be more faithful to the voice of God. In my daily devotional several weeks ago I came across this excerpt from Hans Kung in his book titled The Church. I found Kung s words to be quite telling as to the predicament of the church phenomenon in America. Kung writes: If the church really sees itself as the people of God... it can never be a static... an historical phenomenon, which exists undisturbed by earthly space and time. The Church is always and everywhere a living people, gathered together with other peoples of the world... journeying through the midst of time. The Church is essentially en route, on a journey, a pilgrimage, constantly looking for a new horizon. (A Church) that does not continually strike camp is being untrue to its calling. (The Church) is essentially an interim church, a church in transition, and therefore not a church of fear but of expectation and hope. Let me unpack Kung s vision of the interim church by using our church and our history as an illustration of what an interim church looks like. In 1841 residents in the area with German Reformed and Lutheran heritage decided they needed a church, so a church was built in Churchtown, the area outside of Fleetwood where Boyer's Market is today. The church

5 5 cost $3000, which is somewhere between $75,000 and $100,000 in today s dollars. Roughly 80 years later, the Old Church became a problem in wintertime, so the congregation started meeting in a chapel that had been constructed in Fleetwood where the old post office stands today. Unfortunately, the Old Church was later torn down. And then, 30 years later the Lutherans and the German Reformed Congregation built separate buildings for worship. This history fascinates me on several levels, but primarily because our ancestors understood very clearly what it meant to be an interim church. They could have stayed in the first church built in There are congregations all across the country who are worshiping in churches as old or older. Many of them never caught a vision for being anything other than what they were. To use Kung s analogy, their journey ended in that very spot. Our ancestors, on the other hand, moved three times, and the reason behind all three moves was to better live out their understanding of what the church should be about here in Fleetwood. One of the problems with the organized church today is that we have lost our pilgrim spirit. Can you imagine just walking away from this building and going someplace else and building a new church? The reasons our foreparents did so was to live out more fully what it means to be the

6 6 body of Christ. The greatest temptation for churches is that they fall prey to the temptation that inspired Peter to say to Jesus, Let s build tents in this place. Let us stay on this holy place on top of this mountain, away from the rest of the world and let this be our private little church. But Jesus said, No, and he led them down the mountain to engage and to live in the community where their ministry would be alive and vital. Church communities were not intended to be shrines where all that people do is to maintain buildings. Churches were intended to be mobile, mobile in the sense that our vision is always focused on what is out there. Being the church, the body of Christ, is about living and breathing and growing. It demands that we look around at the faces of our children and constantly ask the question How can we make their world a better place in which to live? Being the church, the body of Christ, means that we are never satisfied with the status quo, but we are continually seeking new ways to minister to the world around us. In order for the church to be an interim church it demands a great deal of commitment from its people. Ironically, when the disciples stood on the Mountain of Transfiguration, they did not realize that in order for the church to be the kind of church God intended it to be, it would eventually cost them

7 7 their lives. That is not the case for the church in Fleetwood. None of us will have to give up our lives in order for us to be the church God wants us to be. But there are other demands. God demands each and every one of us to love the church and each other and to give of ourselves, our time, our money, and our talents to ensure that our ministry is alive and relevant for the 21 st century. There is a reason that the acolytes light their candle lighters from the Christ Candle as they exit the church. The light of Christ is in this place. The Christ Candle symbolizes that fact. But when we leave this place, we take the light of Christ with us into the world. We come down from the mountain and we engage the world as Christ s disciples, called to serve.

Today s Gospel reading is a challenging story, but a story of hope.

Today s Gospel reading is a challenging story, but a story of hope. Christ Church, Nazareth: Sunday 25 th February 2018 Mark 9. 2-9 It is good to be with you this morning and to see Fr Nael Abu Rahmoun again. Today is a highlight of our pilgrimage worshipping again with