Start with glory: June 15

Year C, Trinity Sunday                                                                 Psalm 8 & Romans 5:1-5                                                                                              

There is a theological concept I have always found abhorrent.  There are traces of it in the early church—but was really established by John Calvin who lived in the 16^th century and played a large part in the Protestant Reformation.  I will admit that John Calvin had a lot of great points, but the concept of total depravity was not one of them. In essence, it means that all humans are innately sinful and despite our best efforts always will be.  He went on to say that we could still be saved, but our nature was in and of itself evil.  This theological belief has had a profound effect on many branches of Christianity and you will still see the concept lurking in many Christian churches today---some associated with denominations and some that are not.  It’s usually in the fine print, but it’s there.

Normally, I am not a fan of the concept of total depravity, but this week I started wondering, if maybe Calvin was on to something.  This week has been a barrage of bad news.  We have the conflict in the Middle East that has now expanded to include Iran.  We have ICE raids in elementary schools and politicians who care more about reaching a quota of deportations than the humans that are being deported.  Then we have the United States military in one of our nation’s cities with threats of more to come.  Just yesterday two government officials were gunned down in their own homes in what is being described as “targeted attacks.” Meanwhile our leaders (and I am talking about both parties right now) point fingers at one another with no apparent desire to find a solution, just to prove who has the most power.  I am so incredibly weary of it all.  I suspect we all are.

When I get weary of reading the news and listening to our politicians, l love to dive into the apostle Paul.  He would have been a horrible politician. He would not have even made it as pastor because he was always way too honest and probably/definitely a little too stubborn. I kind of love that about him because it makes me trust him and his words.  He was in no way trying to win friends and influence people.  However, that also makes some of his words harder to digest. 

In his letter to the Romans he wrote, “We also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us…”  Now if I saw that on a meme or a greeting card today, I would roll my eyes and move on.  I would think, clearly this guy has not witnessed a lot of suffering or he would know that suffering doesn’t always lead to hope.  Paul knew suffering.  He wrote some of his letters from prison cells. A few weeks ago we heard of his experiences being beaten, whipped and chained. More than that, he worshipped a God who knew suffering. 

Before Paul got to suffering and the chain reaction that would lead to hope, he started with glory. He said, “we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.” I talk about suffering a lot.  I have also preached my fair share of sermons about hope.  I don’t know that I have ever spent much time thinking or preaching about glory. 

I believe that the easiest place to recognize glory is in creation and the world around us.  We see that in our Psalm for today.  “O Lord, how exalted is your Name in all the world…When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars you have set in their courses…”  That is how the psalmist saw glory thousands of years ago. When it’s a clear night and you aren’t surrounded by light pollution or smog…or smoke from wildfires, it’s hard to look at the sky and not admire the vastness and beauty of it all. There is a reason that so many find God in nature. God’s glory surrounds us. Sometimes it’s smaller. I was sitting in my yard writing this sermon the other night and I saw the first lightning bugs of the season and there is something about lightning bugs that makes me giddy at the subtle beauty of our world.  However, that is about where my consideration of glory ends---out there, above here. 

Yet the psalm goes on to say, “What is man that you should be mindful of him? The son of man that you should seek him out? You have made him but little lower than the angels; you adorn him with glory and honor…”  In all our talk of the glory of creation and the beauty and majesty of the world we live in, we forget that we are part of this majestic and glorious creation.  We were God’s last act of creation, the pinnacle of the creation story, made in the image of God, only a little lower than the angels. 

The creator chose us to be God’s presence in this glorious but messy world.  That is why I have a problem with the idea of total depravity even in the midst of a world that feels depraved at times, I know that at our core, we are God’s creation and we are adorned with glory and honor. At the end of the creation story, the author of Genesis says, “God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.”  It is our inability to see that in ourselves and in one another that hurts us and leads us to try to destroy one another.   

I often struggle with the idea that suffering can lead to endurance, which leads to character which ends in hope.  Because I have seen suffering that breaks people instead of strengthens them.  I have also seen suffering where the breaks and the fractures bring new forms of strength, endurance, character and hope. I think it helps to know this text—to know that we can learn and grow from suffering, but also not to beat ourselves up when the suffering leaves us a little weaker.  It’s ok to have some weaknesses.

Perhaps in my desperate desire for hope, I tried to skip glory.  Paul wrote, “we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.”  Boast is an awkward word choice.  Another way to translate that phrase is to say that we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. We are not rejoicing in our own glory.  We are rejoicing in our hope of sharing God’s glory.  Because no matter how much smoke and ash cloud the night sky, God’s glory is still there.

Hope is hard work.  It’s not something that just comes to us. It’s something that we have to fight for. That fight can be exhausting.  What if we could harness God’s glory, like fireflies in the jar---so that we never forget that our world is good. We are good…just below the angels.

In many ways, I think that is what we try to do in worship—harness and share glory.  You can hear it in Parker and Cathy’s playing.  You can hear it in the voices of those who sing, not just the beautiful voices of the choir, but all around you.  These voices have been through it. They have waged battles.  They have suffered. Still they sing.  Still this community gathers and that to me is one of the greatest glories that I have witnessed, it’s the community of faith that continues to worship a God who they cannot see and often cannot understand.  Still we pray words that feel hard to say at times, but we say them because prayer shapes how and what we believe. Sometimes prayer is aspirational.  What I see in this community is people who have not given into despair.  I see glory and I hope you can too.

Glory Is All Around: Feb 19, 2023

 Year A, Last Sunday of Epiphany                                       Matthew 17:1-9                                                        

         It’s the last Sunday before Lent begins, the last Sunday for us to sing as many Alleluias as possible and sing them loudly. This Sunday ends our season of Epiphany, the time we talk about light and revelation. It’s a season that we can easily overlook, like the calm before the dark storm that is Lent.  Lent isn’t really stormy.  It’s just a season that we happen to associate with suffering and darkness.  The first day of Lent is Ash Wednesday.  What do we do on Ash Wednesday? We smear ash on people’s faces and remind them that they are going to die.  It’s truly a wonder that anyone comes to that service. 

            This Gospel reading is an interesting transition from Epiphany to Lent.  It’s a story of light and revelation, but there is a certain foreboding within the story---well really on either side of the story.  Right before Jesus ascended the mountain with three of his disciples, he explained that he would have to suffer and die.  Peter argued with Jesus when he made this revelation.  Peter could not wrap his head around the idea that the messiah—the person who was supposed to save them all—would soon be killed. 

It was after this information was relayed that Jesus brought his friends to the top of the mountain.  I have often wondered about the timing.  Was Jesus hoping to provide some clarity for his disciples about the message he had just given them, or was he just trying to have some quality time with his friends who were probably reeling from this new and disturbing information?  We really don’t know. 

            We often hear people talk about mountain top experiences.  Sometimes it is literally about the experience of climbing to the top of a mountain and witnessing an extraordinary view that takes your breath away.  Sometimes people use that phrase to describe a time of transcendence—a moment where they felt closer to God, a time of faith and assurance.  We can actually use that phrase for a lot of different things.

Mount Tabor

However, Jesus’ disciples would have had some specific associations with mountain tops. The mountain was where heaven and earth met. It was a place that people encountered the divine.  Mountains are mentioned more than 500 times in the Bible, most notably in Moses’ interactions with the voice of God.  That is where Moses received the 10 Commandments. Important things happened on mountains in the Jewish faith. All of Jesus’ disciples would have known these stories well and thus known the significance of the mountain.

            Therefore, it’s not surprising that these amazing things would happen at the top of the mountain.  First Jesus was transfigured before them—meaning his face got shiny and his clothes were extra bright. Then two prophets, who were long since dead, appeared.  After that a voice from heaven spoke to the disciples…the disciples.  And here is the crazy thing, of all those miraculous events that happened on that mountaintop, it wasn’t the glowing Jesus or two dead prophets back to life, it was something as simple as a voice.  That is what really got the disciple’s attention.  It wasn’t just any voice.  It was God’s voice. And for once, God was talking directly to the disciples. 

That is what really freaked them out. They were accustomed to things happening to Jesus, and maybe even to the people around them.  They had witnessed their share of miracles. But this was different, because God was talking to them and more importantly he was telling them to do something, to listen to Jesus.  And what had Jesus just told them? He had told them that he had to suffer and die and they too would have to take up their cross if they wanted to be his followers.   It’s not the kind of thing you want to hear from a heavenly voice. It’s the kind of thing you want to tell yourself was just a big misunderstanding and of course Jesus didn’t mean that he was really going to suffer and die.

            When the three disciples heard the voice from heaven, they fell to the earth in fear.   Because the earth was what they knew.  It was firm. Maybe, just maybe if they stayed there for a while they could forget this all happened.  Then Jesus bent over and touched them and he said, “Get up and do not be afraid.”  When they looked up, they saw it was just them and Jesus, just the way it should be.  And maybe they thought this was all just a dream and they could forget it.  But no, Jesus made sure to remind them on the way down the mountain, that he would have to suffer and die. This time, no one argued with him. 

            Lent isn’t merely a time of suffering and darkness.  It’s a time when we confront certain truths, maybe truths that we don’t want to confront.  It’s a time to repent from our sins.  No one likes to talk about sin.  But repentance isn’t just a about feeling guilt and shame, it’s a reorientation. It’s an opportunity to change, for the better.  The reason we have the story of the transfiguration right before Lent is to remind us that even in the midst of suffering and repentance, there is also glory and light.  There is a God who desperately wants us to listen to him, but is also willing to get on the ground with us, put his hand on our shoulder and say, “It’s time to get up and stop living in fear.”

            On the way down Jesus told his disciples not to tell anyone about what happened until he was resurrected.  I like to think he told them this because he knew that they would need this reminder of a light that we can find even in the darkest of times.  They didn’t need to use this moment to evangelize and teach.  It was just for them, a place to return in their mind and heart when the world seemed to be ending.  When Jesus was hanging on the cross, they could close their eyes---see the light and feel his hand on their shoulder telling them not to be afraid.

            That’s what many of us need—a reminder to find courage when we are afraid, a reminder that we need not fear the terror of the night—that we can confront those things we would rather avoid and forget.  Lent is a time to face our fears, our failures, and our sins---but to do that with the knowledge that those failures and sins can never defeat us because we have a God who can both glorify the earth and also kneel down next to us when our face in on the ground, brush us off and tell us not to be afraid because glory (God’s glory) is all around us. 

Blaze of Glory: March 3, 2019

Year C, Transfiguration                                                       

2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2                                                            

                       

            What would you do if you knew that you could not fail?  It’s an interesting question to ponder. There are some people who live like that.  They try anything.  They have no fear.  Sometimes that translates into recklessness, sometimes not.  Then there are those people who are scared, but they do it anyways because something or someone is supporting them, providing confidence and hope.  Jesus lived this way (as though he could not fail) and so did Paul and the other disciples.  Paul and the disciples were not reckless, although I am sure that some people around them thought they were.  They had confidence not because of displaced sense of self-importance but because they believed that God was in their corner.   

            The section that we heard from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians is a bit tricky.  If it seemed a little confusing to you, you are in good company.  Paul was referencing the story of Moses.  When Moses encountered God in the Old Testament, God’s glory was so bright, that Moses’ face would glow. Then he would have to veil his face because God’s glory would actually scare people.  He had to protect people from God’s glory. 

            Paul was explaining to the Corinthians that everything changed when Jesus came, because God’s glory came to us in human form.  Even though Jesus died and his body left this earth, his glory remains, in the people of God.  We no longer have to fear God’s glory because humans are able to take on that glory.

            We do not talk a lot about God’s glory because it seems inaccessible—just out there.  However, the point that Paul was trying to make was that it is accessible. Jesus made it accessible.  If we turn to God, not only can we glimpse God’s glory, we can become a part of it.  We can be participants in God’s glory.  Paul wrote, “And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree to another, for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.”    

            If you look at the front of our bulletin, you will see that our mission statement is “to live in the Spirit of Christ.”  To some that might seem abstract and there is certainly room for interpretation.  If we read the mission statement in light of Paul’s words, then living in the Spirit of Christ means that we are being transformed into God’s glorious image from one degree of glory to another. It means that we can live without fear of failure because we have God’s Spirit.  Living without fear of failure doesn’t mean that we don’t ever fail.  In fact, it means that we will probably fail more often. It also means that we will have more opportunities to be the people who God calls us to be, to truly embody the glory of God. 

            Now I have to admit, that I am not really good at casting off fear and living boldly.  I am cautious.  (I have had some variation of the same hair style since I was in 5^th grade.) But I am not the only cautious one in our church.  Christians have become complacent over the last several hundred years.  We got comfortable in the 20^th century.  We became accustomed to being the majority.  We got used to sitting in places of power.  And once you have that comfortable position, well it’s harder to take risks.  We have more to lose. 

            The early church was full of risk.  We might say, well it was easier because they had less to lose.  While they did not have the reputation of the established church to worry about, they certainly had a lot to lose.  Paul was an important person in the Jewish faith.  He had authority.  He was also a Roman citizen, which meant he was well respected and a little more comfortable than the average Jew.  He gave that all up, so that he could walk hundreds of miles and talk to people about Jesus---so he could be beaten and imprisoned—so he could be mocked and criticized—so he could be the greatest evangelist who ever lived. 

            The first line of our reading for today is, “Since, then, we have such hope, we act with great boldness.”  When Paul said that we act with boldness, he was referencing not his own self confidence and valor, but the boldness that comes with freedom.  The origin of his freedom was the Spirit of the Lord.  It was the Spirit of the Lord that gave him the freedom to live as though he had no fear, to live boldly and to never lose heart. That Spirit of the Lord resides with all of us—gives us all the freedom to live boldly.      

            So forget that question I started with: What would you do if you knew you could not fail?  The better question is: What would do if you knew that failure was a part of our Christian journey and that failure was a part of bold action?  We don’t risk failing so that we can achieve glory, we take risks because we already share in God’s glory.  Every time we act with boldness in our life as Christians---we do so with the Spirit of God within us. By acting boldly, we come closer to the people who God calls us to be. 

            Being bold and taking risks is not easy.  I know that.  Yet I am convinced that our church needs boldness.  We need to take risks if we want to continue transforming from one degree of glory to the other.  If we are able to partake in these risks together, then we can be there for one another when we do fail and rejoice with one another when we succeed.

            There are a lot of people out there who will tell you that the church is dying.  I do not believe that.  However, if we continue on our current trajectory, the denominational churches won’t last the next 100 years. That makes me sad, because I think there are a lot of churches (St. John’s being one of them) that are worth saving.  If there ever was a time to be bold in our churches, it is now.  If there ever was a time to take risks, it is now. I believe that if we are bold in our faith and embody the glory of God, we will survive and thrive.  But if I am wrong…and the church doesn’t survive, wouldn’t you rather go out in a blaze of glory?  We have  been “fighten sin since 1610” but maybe it’s time to stop fighting against something and start fighting for something, fighting for transformation and God’s glory.  Will you fight with me?