Living in Coronavirusworld 247: Transfiguration

 2/8

the snow remains....

Tonight our Bible study turns to Mark 9:2-9, the lectionary gospel for Transfiguration Sunday. This is one of those “gateway” holy days, like Christ the King and Trinity Sunday, that lead us from one season to the next. In this case from Epiphany to Lent. The season that began with the shining star of Bethlehem ends with one final blast of light. 

(We find the same story in Matthew 17: 1-8 and Luke 9: 28-36.)

Our story begins six days after Jesus’ first prediction of his passion. With him are Peter, James and John, his inner circle. Perhaps his “rock,” his brother and the “disciple Jesus loved.” They turn up together often in Mark, eventually in Gethsemane.

One o the issues here is the essence of transfiguration as opposed to transformation. It’s a word we don’t use often. One example is in Julia Ward Howe’s “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,

With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me;

As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free!

While God is marching on.

Her sense of an apocalyptic moment in the US Civil War, especially as relates to the abolition of slavery. 

In the Roman and Orthodox traditions, the Transfiguration occurs on August 6th, the day of the incineration of Hiroshima in one blinding flash of light that literally vaporized people. What does transfigured mean in the light of that light?

Jesus’ clothes became “dazzling white,”  something that occurs again in the Easter scene where the young man in the empty tomb is dressed in “dazzling white.” (16:5)

Jesus is seen with Moses and Elijah. Peter, impulsive as always, wants to build three booths. (Like the booths of the Sukkot holiday.) The three dimples were “terrified,” ie, awestruck. (Again, echoed in the Easter story where the worm left and said nothing because they were afraid, filled with terror and amazement. A voice is heard, echoing the voice at Jesus’ baptism declaring “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” Only this time the voice is directed not to Jesus, but to the disciples…listen to him…And Jesus again tells them to “tell no one…”

This has been for them a mountain top experience. And naturally they want to stay. But Jesus makes it clear you can’t stay, you have  to go back down and continue the journey, continue the work. 

What can we say about transfigured versus transformed? Transformed

Is change that takes place inwardly, from the inside out. Transfigured is a change that is external, a change on how we se and understand what is in front  of us.

What do the disciples see and understand on this mountaintop? Moses had the fire of the burning bush that was not consumed. Elijah had the fire of his  contest with the priests of Baal where God ignites his water soaked offering. Moses represents the law, Elijah the prophets. Moses’ grave is hidden.Elijah taken from earth by a flaming chariot. 

Amy Jill Levine has pointed out that in addition to their mysterious deaths, both were also rejected in their time. Thus we see in these two the content and direction of Jesus ministry. 

Matthew 22: 38-40

38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[a] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Amy Jill Levine has pointed out that in addition to their mysterious deaths, both were also rejected I theft time. This we see in these two the content and direction of Jesus ministry.  

We think of our own mountaintop experiences…a birth of a child, participating in a transcendent performance, seeing a breathtaking vista. These experiences can never last. We need to be inspired, informed snd nourished by them and then back to business. 

We remember once agin that once John Dominic Crossan was asked if he prayed. He was silent for moment and said, "I study. And when I study, I feel close to God.”

So let’s paise and enjoy this light before beginning our Lenten journey. And as we return to our witness and our work, we might well contemplate what the significance of Transfiguration is in this year in the light of our ongoing struggle with covid, the beginning of vaccinations, and the second impeachment of (former) President Donald J. Trump.  

Transfigured

3/3/19

Eugene got out the good China

Back in New York City.....cold morning walk to Beverley. Snow on the ground. On the edge of Lent. Today's reflection....

 A week ago, I left New York City at 7:30 AM...it was 40' and steady cold rain. At 12 noon I was at a ball park in Florida in 80' sunny weather. Late yesterday afternoon, it was 80' and sunny when I got to the airport and when I landed here...well, you know...

Its a little hard keeping up with the changes. A couple of days ago, in Florida,  I forgot what month it was. .Felt like spring was over already.

Time. Seasons. The cycles by which we pass through a year.  Our liturgy of time, we might say. And I've always been fascinated by the church year.  It begins in Advent, preparing for Christmas. Goes through Christmastide and passes into Epiphany, then Lent, then Easter, then the long season of Pentecost til we've arrived at Advent once again.

There are some special gateway days that open a door to a new season like Reign  of Christ  Sunday (Christ the King) into Advent or today, Transfiguration Sunday, the Sunday that opens the door to Lent...


We've been in the season of light...of epiphany, the season of light...so we need one more burst of light before we enter into the quiet, darker season of Lent...

So what's going on in this story? What does it mean for us? Today?

SO Jesus goes up the mountain, to pray, with his 3 man crew, his besties,  Peter, James and John...and all of a sudden  they see Jesus transfigured....interesting word...not just changed ... that would be transformed...but changed into something more special, more beautiful, more spiritual, more holy....

...and he's with Moses and Elijah..for us like a Biblical Abraham, Martin and John..and the imagery recalls Moses trip up the mountain to bring us back the law..so he's there...but also Elijah...if Moses is the law, Elijah is the prophets ...Jesus' job description is to bring the two of the together...to fulfill ALL of scripture...to embody BOTH...
...and it was sooo beautiful Peter didn't want to leave...He wants to build 3 booths..  I love Peter, like no impulse control whatsoever..can you blame him? Have you ever had your own mountain  top experience? You just don't want it to end...Hey, it was no mountaintop, but I didn't want to leave Florida..just build me a booth on the beach...

And then that voice appears again...that voice from the Baptism..this is my son, my beloved, do what he tells you to..and then, there is ONLY Jesus....and they head back down...and IMMEDIATELY Jesus has to confront the power of evil ...you just can't stay on the mountaintop..Now that he's got his job description, it's time to get to work..and all they see is Jesus because he now, like I said, embodies it all...

And what does any of that mean for us?
Well, we could use a blast of light, that's for sure....I don't need to tell you these are troubling times, disturbing times...it feels like it's late and getting darker everyday...and so we need to be transfigured ourselves ... to look up and see only Jesus shining on and be transfigured ourselves..

nice as it feels, we can't stay in the church...we've got to get back to the world....

and?  the other place I remember transfigured from is from Juliet Ward Howe's "Battle Hymn of the Republic"

...In the beauty of the lilies
Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom
That transfigures you and me;
As He died to make men holy,
Let us die to make men free;
While God is marching on.....

Written in the dark days of the civil war...she is says that Jesus has a glory that transfigures US...I would change one word...

As He died to make men holy,
Let us LIVE to make all free;

That helps me understand how we make transfiguration real...

I mentioned Abraham, Martin and John at the beginning...each of them was transfigured...
Lincoln had to  see ending slavery not as a political problem to be solved but as a moral calling to which he was responsible...(ultimately this is what saved him from his bouts of melancholia, what we  now call depression..)

All Martin King wanted to do was be a scholar...he figured there were a lot of black preachers...he wanted to be respected for his intellect...well, God had other plans...

And John? Like Abraham before him he had to see the Civil Rights movement as not representing a political problem but a moral calling...it would take Lyndon Johnson to finish the job..even at the consequence  ending the support of the south for Democrats for at least a generation..

We have to, like the voice says, Listen to Jesus, do what he says...listen for the work that is our work and be about doing it..

and that's good reflection material for Lent...

what is my calling? what so yours? how can we help each other?
That's transfiguration..






Like the old song says....
Shine on me, yes shine on me...shine on me, shine on me, let the light of the light house shine  . on me..

We share our communion, Make our prayers. In the social hall, Eugene has set out the good china. Geraldine tells me the story of the beloved pastor Kissoon, immigrant from the Indies, who gave over 20 years of his life to the church. Most of them "unofficial" while Presbytery's gatekeepers struggled over his status. Sometimes institutions just have to recognize what God had already done....

                                                                        ****


First Reading Exodus 34:29-35

29Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. 30When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. 31But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them. 32Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. 33When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face; 34but whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he would take the veil off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining; and Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.



Gospel Luke 9:28-36 (37-43)

28Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. 29And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. 30Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. 31They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" — not knowing what he said. 34While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. 35Then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" 36When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

37On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. 38Just then a man from the crowd shouted, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son; he is my only child. 39Suddenly a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks. It convulses him until he foams at the mouth; it mauls him and will scarcely leave him. 40I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not." 41Jesus answered, "You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here." 42While he was coming, the demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. 43And all were astounded at the greatness of God.

 

Transfiguration Sunday: Not fade away

2/15

It’s Transfiguration Sunday. And freezing cold. We start the service with a prequel, reading the story of Elijah’s exit via a flaming chariot.( 2 Kings 2: 1-12)

While we’re reading, Jeremy plays a few bars of Chariots of Fire.  And after we’re finished, we sing Swing Low Sweet Chariot.

Then I read the streetlight passage from Zora Neal Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God. When the small African-American town lights it’s streetlight for the first time, they gather round and sing Jesus the Light of the World. And so do we.

After we’ve read the Transfiguration story, (Mark 9: 2-9) we sign these words from Julia Ward Howe’s Battle Hymn of the Republic.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,

With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me.

As He died to make men holy, let us live  to set all free ^[12]

While God is marching on.

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

While God is marching on.

And then our reflection. I saw a movie last night, Imitation Game, and one of its repeated quotes is Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine. Just wanted to share that. Though it could apply to Jesus who up until age 30 was a bit of an odd duck, unmarried, still living with his family, working for his father in a small town.

And I read the names: Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21; her husband, Mr. Deah Barakat, 23; and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, the three Muslims murdered in Chapel Hill last week. Because we need to remember.

Yesterday was Valentine’s Day. Today Is Transfiguration Sunday. Time for one final burst of light…..bringing the light by being the light as we’ve been talking about during this season..…one final epiphany moment of getting it…so what is it we get?

This story is at the very center of Mark’s Gospel…Jesus goes to the mountain top. Peter, James and John go with him…they see Jesus in dazzling white…(like the young man who will appear at the end of the story…) Who is with him? Moses and Elijah…the Law and the Prophets…every Shabbat, in Jewish worship they read from torah ..the law, the first five books of the Bible, the books of Moses and hafttorah…the prophets

A voice comes from a cloud…this is my son, the beloved….listen to him…it is the same voice we heard a few weeks ago, at the  baptism of Jesus…and the same words..

Peter, always with no impulse control,  wants to build 3 booths…wants to stay there…enjoy the glory..

But wait..Let’s back up…how did we get there?

To understand that we need to understand the context. To see what came right before this.

Beginning at 8:31 we read:

 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. ³² He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³ But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

³⁴ He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ³⁵ For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel,^[a] will save it. ³⁶ For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? ³⁷ Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? ³⁸ Those who are ashamed of me and of my words^[b] in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” 9 ¹ And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with^[c] power.”

Jesus has told them his path lies towards Jerusalem. And the cross. Peter doesn’t want to hear it and Jesus says get behind me Satan because the temptation is to turn back. No one wants to go to the cross.

And now , here on the mountain,they have now seen the glory…but that glory is directly related to the announcement of his mission…the journey to the cross.

As for law and prophets, it’s easy to miss that the job of the prophets was to bring people back to the center of the law…and at the law’s center was justice…if the laws were followed, there would be no poor…

That’s why you can’t stay on the mountaintop, you have to come back down and get to work…

So…where is the light here? What are we to get?

1.Yeah, we have to go back down, but the mountain top experiences are necessary….we have to allow ourselves to experience them..for me that would have been  Christmas Eve a year ago (http://west-parkpress.blogspot.com/2013/12/christmas-eve-sign.html), when I felt we were being reborn. Or this year’s  No Place Like Home concert for the homeless…we need them, this mountaintop experiences…and to allow ourselves to experience them fully…in that light we see the promise of not only of what can be but what already is….

2. We have to come back down and get back to work….the work of the law…the work of prophets…knowing where it can lead…but allowing the glory to shine on us nevertheless

I have to reference Martin  Luther King,Jr. here. He had his mountaintop experience, and that amazing mountain top speech,

( http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkivebeentothemountaintop.htm) right before he was assassinated  in Memphis …but also from Julia Ward Howe’s Battle Hymn…it is the language of transfiguration, and the language of glory…

…as he died to make men holy let us live to set all free….God’s truth is marching on…

Let that light shine …and keep shining..

For our offertory, Jeremy and I sing Storm Large’s Stand Up for Me , as our Home Band did at the benefit concert(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wko3jF_qlNw).

And we finish with  Not Fade Away…as in the light should not fade away... and amazingly, the congregation gets up and follows Jeremy and I as we march around the sanctuary playing and singing that much covered Buddy Holly hit. 

 And after our final circle of blessing, the service is over.

And almost immediately, those young Koreans are on their way in.

Today we remember Adham

Adham's shoes, by Peter Salwen

2/19

Today we remember Adham. Teddy and Rafael and Jay are getting everything ready for the service. They’ve got the folding chairs set up for our circle, but I explain that there’ll be more people today. I go off to get the bulletins and when I come back the congregation is already beginning to assemble while Arcadia and her family are getting Mc Alpin Hall ready for the reception to follow. 

Marc has come in to get the sound set up because today we’ll be needing mikes. Amy and Andre are gettign the music ready. An altar has been set up with photographs and other memoria. I look out and see West-Park folks. And occupiers. And Jane. And so many of Adham’s family and friends. And it's time to begin.

We start by singing Morning has broken. Then Arcadia invites family and friends up to light four candles, for grief, for remembrance, for love and for life.  Like the Compassionate Friends annual December Candle lighting ceremony (.http://www.compassionatefriends.org/home.aspx ) And Arcadia reads from Facebook postings from after Adham’s death in all their teenage rawness, uncensored emotions, just as they were. Nothing prettied or cleaned up. Nothing hidden. And as always, we sing Sanctuary. 

After John reads the story of Elijah being taken up by the chariots, Andre sings slowly Swing Low, Sweet Chariot...Then we recite the 23rd Psalm together in English and Spanish. Hugo reads a story of Jesus calling disciples from the lakeshore in Spanish and I read the story of the Transfiguration in English. And then I speak.

I rememeber. Getting the phone call in Wahingtom, DC. Getting on the bus to get back to New York City. The dozens of teenagers  who came by the house to share thier grief with Arcadia and Hugo but mainly each other.  The hundreds who came by the Ortiz funeral home, the line stretching down the block.  And the more than 250 who came to worship in the  baement of SPSA that Sunday to remember Adham. 

Three years later, it’s good to remember because it was important for our church. That morning proved we could be a church even without a building. It was, is, the people and our care for one another that made, that make, a church. That morning brought back many people who had been separated, for whatever reason, a time of reconciliation, if only for that moment. And that  morning gave us a chance to witness to hundeds of young people both about our faith and the priceless value of their owh lives. And that a church took them seriously.

Three years later, Adham remains ever young and still with us in many ways. 

Most importantly,  in the circle of friends that were connected to and through him. 

Through the relationship that circle continues to have with his family in their visits to his home, to Arcadia and Hugo. In stories that continue to be told, in laughs that continue to be laughed with him in mind. In lives thay have gotten better because young people have taken themselves and their own value  seriously.

Please understand what I am saying:

I believe that God can and does work for good in all things if we are willing to be open to working with God. That does not mean that everything that happens is a part of God’s plan. God has a plan, but not everything that happens is part of it. Why? I don’t know. Somethings remain a mystery to me. That’s what it means to be human. Sometimes, even God is surprised. And God grieves with us in the deepest part of our hearts.   But God, with our cooperation, has been working good these last three years. 

Today is Transfiguration Sunday. That  one last blast of light before the darkness of Lent descends. The disciples look up on the  mountain, and they see Jesus there with Moses and Elijah...and they get it, what he’s about, what his ministry means...then they look again and see only Jesus...then he takes them back down the mountainside, back to down here, where we live, where we live it out...the glory is only good if we live it out here...

How? There are issues that remain for me, still, from that first Sunday service, three years ago. There are still things that are known that haven’t been said. Things that are known that are hidden. In some ways, that doesn’t matter quite so much anymore. Whatever peace can be found is found and there will always be a tension between pain and peace. And yet....that silence must be a burden...and telling the truth can be a way to be set free...the truth will set you free... and be freeing for all of us who loved Adham. 

Young people, ah, young people of every age, never forget how valuable...and how vulnerable your life is. Take good care of it...and take good care of each other..

Parents....you can never say I love you enough...and doing I love you even better. 

I said we had learned that a church for us is not a building. That’s still true. But buildings become places for church to be lived out. And more...what we do within a building creates over time a certain spirit. Our first remembrance services for Adham were at SPSA, where we were welcomed with hospitality, and we will always remember that. But it was not his spiritual home. This place was. I looked at a picture just last night of his confirmation day. Standing right about there....It is good to remember him here, finally. Like coming home, bringing him home, in a way. And so today, we remember...and give thanks, for Adham...for what he was, and is, in our lives.

As the offering is taken up, we sing Tu has venido a la orilla, Lord you have come to the lakeshore, and for the first time I feel myself choking up, almost unable to sing. 

Arcadia brings up several young people who have tatoos in remembrance of Adham. They hold up the pictures. And she tells the story of the dragon fly that came into her apartment and followed her and the other dragon fly stories people have experienced adding this community’s story to centuries of traditions.

Our final hymn is Pues si vivimos: When we are living.

En la tristeza, y en el dolor

En la belleza y en el amor

Sea que suframos, o que gocemos

Somos del senor, somos del senor....

In sadness or pain

In beauty or in love

Ins uffering or rejoicing

We ae of God, we are of God...

I’m not sure what to do with so many people, but Jane tells me we can make a circle all around the church. And we do,  And as the service ends, we hear first Bob Marley’s One Love and fittingly, Whitney Houston’s Greatest Love..

Upstairs there is food. And people talking. being together. We do this three years later because the reality of Adham’s tragic death on the subway tracks remains  part of our present. I have the deepest respect and admiration for how Arcadia keeps the reality of pain and loss present while at the  same time keeping all that was good and joyful in his llfe present as well. And does this while staying completely alive in each new moment that comes and present to the people around her. In this there is courage. Grace. And most of all, life. 

Transfiguration

3/5
Quiet, warm, windy day. A one woman in a wheelchair, blanket across her lap, in front of Barney Greeengrass.

3/6

Walking up 86th, I see Marty. He’s holding his hand out, asking passersby for “tips,” as he puts it. I walk over and say, “hi.” “So, Reverend, have you had a lot of legal fees, with the building, you know?” I think, if he only knew. “Yes,” I say. “Litigation and all,” he says, “my brother’s an attorney. Specializes in real estate. I should have put him on your case.” “The whole landmarks thing,” I say. “Went on for years,” he says, “but thank God you’re back in, thank God you’re in.”  “Yes we are. We’re back in,” I say. “Hey, and they’re sleeping on the steps again, you know?” “Who,” I ask, “anyone we know?” “No, I went by there this morning at 6 am, there was some guy I didn’t know...” “OK, Marty, thanks, I’ll check it out. You have a good one, ok?” “And you , too, Reverend.”

Under the scaffolding I see one of those SUV shopping carts. Think it might be George. But then I see a giant plastic bag filled with aluminum cans and I realize it’s an independent recycling entrepreneur. Together, they keep the city streets free of cans. When I open the doors and begin to sweep, he gathers his cart, his cans and takes off down the street. 

It’s a mild, windy, rainy, typical March day. One that will be warmer outside than in.  

The line of people  waiting to get into Barney Greengrass winds in front of the church steps. Getting through the crowd to get to the restroom at Popover’s is like trying to get onto a crowded subway car at rush hour. I’m remembering what was in the Church Information Form when I applied for this job. On this block, the main Sunday morning ritual is brunch. Maybe that’s what we need, good coffee, good pastries,a warm place to sit and talk. 

I go back to the church and find Jim inside getting ready. An older African-American woman dressed for church has arrived. I welcome her, invite her in. She’s a soloist at a church in the Bronx just moved to the neighborhood. Juan comes by with his guitar, Amy will not be coming today. I see Rachel’s walker right inside the door. I’m talking on the steps with  Elder Philip. Then we see her, Philip drops to the steps in mock shock. An elder has returned.

She had left several years ago.  It  was in the midst of what felt like an endless church fight. The kind that make people ask themselves why they need this. They’re worse in a small church. Less of a buffer zone. It took me a long time to realize that in a church with a culture of conflict, you can change all the people  and the conflict continues. Until you change the culture itself. It’s sad when good, faithful, committed people get driven away. She’s heard good things are happening. Has come by to see.  

As Church begins, I share with the congregation my thanksgiving for the group that met at Stony Point last weekend to take the first steps in creating a new criminal justice network. For me, the issue has been primarily pastoral. I’ve performed the marriage of a relative in New York City’s Tombs. I’ve been to court with numerous members, have had members and members’ children incarcerated. Enough so that I’m always immediately dismissed from jury panels even though I’d gladly serve. The worst was a (then) teen age girl, victim of  fetal alcohol syndrome, who through a kafkaesque sequence of events has had simple arrest for shoplifting jeans turn into a 15 year state prison nightmare. This is part of the human reality behind the fact that the US incarcerates more of its citizens than any other western industrialized nation. And more proportionately than China. 

It’s Transfiguration Sunday. That final blast of light before the shadows of Lent begin. The season that began with a star shining over Bethlehem ends on a mountaintop.  The season of Epiphany ends. That word I love, that moment where like in a flash of light you just get it. It’s a portal, a door way Sunday, like Christ the King into Advent, this Sunday opens the doorway into Lent.

Our story begins on another mountain, with Moses. Receiving the Law. How the giving of the law created community. Made community possible. On the seventh day, like a new creation. Fire and smoke up on the mountain. Moses coming down, shining. And coming down to find the people already dancing around a golden calf. Mardi Gras run wild. 

Paired with Moses is the story of the Transfiguration. Jesus appears in his one shining moment with Moses and Elijah, the law and the prophets. But since it’s the end of epiphany, we need to be on the lookout for ongoing  epiphanies, moments of getting it. And allowing ourselves to be and changed by the experience. Ongoing epiphanies. It leads to the question, are you born again? In our tradition, we don’t have a particular day when we met Jesus. We don’t make a decision for Christ. It’s a gift of grace. And the reality is, yes we are born again--over and over and over again...

It’s a daily experience of dying and rising again. In the Jewish tradition, the first thing you do when you wake up is to give thanks for another day of living.  Daily. 

I’m thinking of the song from the movie 127 Hours: 

If I rise, one more chance

All our dreams, more than this  

It plays as Aron Ralston frees his pinned arm from the rock in the cave that holds him and comes back into the sunlight, back into freedom. At the cost of leaving part of himself back in the cave. For us, to free ourselves, to move back into light, back into life, we may have to leave part of ourselves behind. Not something physical, like Aron’s arm. But maybe something even more painful, something from inside. 

Our church is moving into the light, vote by vote, into the world of full inclusion for lgbt folk at every level of church leadership. Don’t forget, that started here, in 1978. We called it More Light. Because in our tradition, the scriptures are not frozen, they are a living word. The Holy Spirit can always shine  more light on the word and lead us to deeper understanding. 

So, the voice breaks through the clouds and says, This is my son, my beloved. Listen to him. Just like at Jesus’ baptism. And what happens? The disciples fall to the ground in fear.  And what’s important is what Jesus says, and in what order. He says Get up...do not be afraid..and touches them in their fear.

Make sure you hear that, it’s rise first, then not fear...Living in  fear is a form of death. To be afraid is to be controlled by that fear. To be afraid is to bring what you fear closer into being by the power of your fear. And the way to get out of it is to rise up, get up, get moving, even as you tremble. Think of how we’ve begun to do that. And maybe you get a little taste of what it was like to be in Egypt as people got up and step by step stopped being afraid. 

Christ has risen...and we are int the process of rising. We called our old project rebuild for rebirth. Now, we’re about being reborn to rebuild. And the way we do that is to take on concrete actions towards transformation. Specific, real, visible steps. Like when we committed to coming back here. 

Years ago in this sanctuary, there was a controversy when we used the Battle Hymn of the Republic in this service. Too martial. Too militant. But it was these words that drew me:

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free;
While God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! While God is marching on.

Julia Ward Howe. Abolitionist. Seeing in the midst of the Civil War a transcending cause, the freeing, the liberation of people. And in that transfiguration...

That’s where it has to be lived out, not on a mountain top, but here right where we live. As we rediscover our own call, our own witness in this place. 

Deacon James and Elder Ana help me serve the communion. Philip sings Let the light of the lighthouse shine on me. And then we all sing Canto de Esperanza (Song of Hope) and its time for our circle of blessing. And Ana’s coffee again.

Out on the steps, Jim is relating an incident at Presbytery. A trustee talking about West-Park having spent all its endowment and now trying  to hang on. In a totally unrelated meeting.  Where do such narratives come from? Get told  until they’re accepted as true? Become the basis upon which people make decisions without our even knowing it? And how much damage is done? In PHEWA, we have a principle we learned from our Disabilities Concerns Network, namely,  nothing about us without us. At every level of the church we need to stop talking about and start talking with.