Immortal God,
You are the firm foundation beneath us -
as we stand, fear falls away.
You are the sun which rises every morning -
when we open our eyes, hope colors our world.
You are the wind which blows across our land -
with every breath, there is renewed strength and
vigor.
Invisible God,
We trust in your presence
even when the ground beneath us shakes.
We hope in your coming kingdom
even amid signs of despair.
We act upon our convictions
even as we wonder how it will all work out.
God only wise,
In this brief hour of worship
help us to pay less attention to the ticking of our
clocks and
more attention to the beating of your heart.
Within the words spoken or unsaid,
the silences and the sounds,
help us to hear your Word.
And after we have descended the mountain
of this momentary wonder,
move us through our days with purpose and power.
This we pray in the name of the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
-------------------
You may be seated… In the church year, today marks the boundary
between seasons. During Epiphany, we have kept our eyes open for
where God might be on the move. In these past two months we have
seen world-changing events. A shooting in Arizona transfixed our
nation, and for a moment transfigured our public discourse from
incivility to respect. Demonstrations in the middle east have
toppled long-standing rulers and are in the middle of
transforming nations, whether for better or for worse remains to
be seen. We have not liked some of the more personal news – from
cancer to aneurysms to fractured hips - yet even here we have
seen evidence of God’s grace and glory. Now we turn toward
Easter.
Next weekend is the first
Sunday of the Season of Lent. How appropriate that the onset of
daylight savings time will change our clocks and push us ahead.
We will lose an hour of sleep next Saturday night. What else
might we consider “losing” that we might “gain” real life? What
might we turn from in order to turn toward God?
What might we die to that we might rise with
Christ? Those are some of the questions that are posed during
the season of Lent.
Today is Transfiguration
Sunday, which revolves around the story of Jesus and a few of
his disciples climbing a mountain. What was seen there was
confusing for Peter, James, and John – just like what we behold
around us today makes us wonder what is going on. Even so,
change was in the wind then, like it still is today.
However, before we turn to that gospel story, let’s
listen to another. On Mt. Sinai, Moses received the Torah of
God. In order to do so he needed to ascend to the heights. Later
he came back down with the tablets. We first hear of him
climbing the mountain. Later, we’ll pay attention to his
descent. Listen.
Climbing the Mountain
Exodus 24:12-18
(reader 1 is the worship leader,
reader 2 is unseen from the back, reader 3 is the pastor)
1 - The Lord said to Moses,
2 - “Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will
give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment,
which I have written for their instruction.”
1 - So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went
up into the mountain of God. To the elders he had said,
3 - “Wait here for us, until we come to you again; for Aaron and
Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute may go to them.”
1 - Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered
the mountain. The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and
the cloud covered it for six days; on the seventh day he called
to Moses out of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of
the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in
the sight of the people of Israel. Moses entered the cloud, and
went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for forty
days and forty nights.
When you could stay
hidden behind your glory,
you send Jesus,
to show us your heart.
When you could
remain silent for all time,
you whisper your hopes
to us in every moment.
When you could remain
on the pinnacle of our praises,
you enter the depths
of our shadowed lives.
Splendor's glory:
You are holy!
When we bump along
over the potholes of impatience,
you smooth out our lives
with your wisdom.
When we live in
the hollows of hopelessness,
you would transfigure us
with your joy.
When we wander the lone
valleys of grief and death,
you are beside us,
holding our hearts.
Humility's Lover -
You are holy!
You transform every day events
into miracles of awe;
you text message joy
onto the emptiness of our souls;
you enter the fog
of our feeble, fear-filled faith,
to reveal to us
the morning star of hope.
Glory's Mystery -
You are holy!
God in Community, Holy in One,
you are the glory of our mountaintops
and the comfort of our valleys,
even as we pray, saying,
Our Father...
There’s a movie
I’m thinking of about an ogre who rescues a princess. You’re
right, it’s “Shrek.” What was the name of the princess? Fiona.
There was a secret about Fiona, wasn’t there? During the day she
was a beautiful princess, but at night something happened. What
was it? Yes, she changed into something else. It was a curse,
which went:
By
night one way
By day another.
This shall be the norm
Until you find true love's first kiss
And then take love's true form.
She didn’t think anyone could love her
looking like she did at night, even someone like Shrek, who
looked like, well, an ogre.
Well, you know the story. At
the end there was a wedding between her and Lord Farquaad. Do
you remember what happened? That’s right, the sun set and she
changed into something that Lord Farquaad thought was ugly. He
didn’t like what he saw, but Shrek did. Shrek confessed his love
for Fiona (“Really?” … “Really, really!”), and they kissed. Then
something happened, do you remember what? The curse became a
prophecy. Tell me about what you saw. Yes, she changed, but she
didn’t. Maybe what changed was how she saw herself. She was
beautiful because Shrek saw her as beautiful.
Today we remember another
story. I’ll be reading it later on, and I encourage you to
listen to it. It’s about Jesus. It tells about how he was
“transfigured” in the sight of Peter. It says his face shone
like the sun and his clothes became dazzling white. And then a
cloud descended, and Peter heard a voice say,
“This is my Son, whom I love,
with him I am well pleased.
Listen to him.”
When the cloud went away, Peter saw Jesus
as he was. His face wasn’t shining any more, and his clothes
weren’t dazzling white. But I think something changed in Peter.
He no longer saw Jesus in the same way. Maybe he saw love’s true
form…
When I read that
story later on, I’ll draw your attention to it, okay? Maybe
you’ll think of the story of Fiona and how she was transformed.
Deal?
The season of Lent
begins this Wednesday. As part of tradition, many Christians
give up something for Lent, taking seriously what Jesus said:
“If anyone would
come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and
follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but
whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will
it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his
soul?”
As you return your offering just now, come down the mountain for
a moment and ponder what it means to deny yourself. If truly
gaining our life involves losing it – dying to self – how might
that be working its way into how we’re living now? Allow the
following reflection to ‘prime the pump’ of your own thoughts
and prayers.
Video "Lent and Dying to Yourself"
Benediction
On the mountaintop, when it was time to go,
Jesus told Peter, James, and John,
“Get up and do not be afraid.”
Those are simple and good instructions for
us. What were they, again?
“Get up and do not be afraid.”
The path down the mountain can be rocky. We
may fall. But Jesus tells us,
“Get up and do not be afraid.”
Facing into our own mortality may be
frightening. But Jesus invites us,
“Get up and do not be afraid.”
Along the way, we may be tempted to ignore
our sin, to downplay our own brokenness, to play at confession.
But Jesus challenges us,
“Get up and do not be afraid.”
From this mountain, we have seen the cross
off in the distance, and beyond that a glimpse of an empty tomb.
This is the direction in which we are headed. But never forget,
the One whom we follow is there ahead of us, and we hear him
shout,
“Get up and do not be afraid.”
Amen?
Amen!
(para traducir a español, presione la bandera de España)
Interested in Sunday School? Below is a growing list of possible sites to visit.
As you discover others, please let
us know.
International Lesson: Adult
Bible Studies
from The United Methodist Publishing House
(click "supplemental resources" and "current events supplement"
under both the "Student" and "Teacher" sections in the left hand column)