In the land of the Holy Spirit, there was a valley of dry bones.... Reflection for Lent 5 A

LENT 5 A  March 26, 2023

 Ezekiel 37:1-14  •   Psalm 130  •  Romans 8:6-11  •   John 11:1-45

 

In the land of the Holy Spirit, there was a valley of dry bones, there was a people in exile, in a land they called their own.  These are the beginning lines to a song I wrote some time ago.  Australia was once named the Great South land of the Holy Spirit.  Australia, literally means south land. 

 

It was Captain Pedro Ferdinand de Quiros who, upon discovering what he thought was Australia, declared, all the land from that point to the south pole to be called the southern land of the Holy Spirit.

 

As Christians, this extra tag, “of the Holy Spirit” has captured our desire to see this country secure in the hands of God.  We live in the area of the Whitsundays - literally the feast of Pentecost.  It may have just been the feast that fell when this part of the coast was mapped and named, but the naming of a place has great spiritual significance in the culture of the Israelites, the people of God.  So, we too, look for the land to fulfill its spiritual destiny.

 

Is this something that you’ve ever considered?  In the naming of our land, our country and our particular area has a spiritual destiny and that destiny is good!

 

In Australia, and indeed in the world, there is great unrest.  Authority is criticized, and those who have been leaders have not always led with the long term good of the country in mind, but instead they have sometimes made decisions with vested interests to keep their own political standing secure.  To be a leader of a country is a tougher gig than I would like, and we are told in scriptures to pray for our leaders, with good reason.  We need to pray to support ALL our politicians – regardless of whether they are our preferred party.  We should pray for their strength and health, their courage and integrity, and that God will gift them the wisdom to see the long term effects of their actions. 

 

In Australia currently, we are divided over many things.  I am not here to have a political view and hope that you understand I am not taking one side or the other, but want to point out an underlying spiritual condition, which is, that people on ALL sides are feeling grief, and this is a spiritual matter about which we can pray.

 

This grief is not contained to one issue… there are many, many political issues – and COVID truly magnified the divides. These issues leave many feeling that they just don’t fit.  It also leaves many feeling too scared to voice their true opinion for fear of the response.  When this happens, we should be aware that something is going very wrong.  But how do we respond and how do we feel about it all?  Are we feeling that we are just getting too old for all this?  Do we feel worn out with despair?  Decaying, exhausted, despondent…. Dry?

 

In the land of the Holy Spirit, there was a valley of dry bones, there was a people in exile, in a land they called their own. 

 

But listen to what God says to Ezekiel (37:3-6) in the valley of dry bones;  He said to me, "Mortal, can these bones live?" I answered, "O Lord GOD, you know."

Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.  Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the LORD."

 

What is it that we need from God to bring us back to life?

 

Is it possible that we are feeling that God doesn’t truly love or even care for us… ?  Do we need a revelation of his love for us? 

 

I suspect Martha and Mary felt this way.  They and we probably justify Jesus’ silence.  We may say, “it’s my own fault… my own failing….”  Or, “there must be good reasons for the delay in God showing up, surely.”  In the case of Lazarus, he lived near the town where they tried to stone Jesus to death.  It is understandable that Jesus might not be able to come to see his dear friends.   I suspect this was in the minds of Martha and Mary… and even Lazarus as he lay sick.  These people believed in Jesus.  These people believed he was the Messiah and they loved him.  They submitted their will and desire to the greater good of the ministry of Jesus and accepted that he had a better reason for not attending to their needs…. Yet it must have still caused them grief that Jesus delayed in coming to them.

 

It is in this Gospel story that we find the shortest and most powerful verse in the Bible; “Jesus wept”.  Why did Jesus weep?  Jesus knew that this story was going to have a happy ending.  He told his disciples two days prior that this illness was NOT going to end in death. 

 

How would you be feeling if you had the power to raise the dead and you knew that resurrection was going to happen?  …..

In our human arrogance we would more than likely be very centred on our own role in the story and the final outcome and the joy that would ensue.  Jesus could have been filled with excitement thinking, “Just wait until they see what I’m going to do,” but this is not the case.  Jesus weeps. 

 

When you are overcome with emotion it isn’t always easy to explain why.  Within all the reasons for Jesus’ tears, is this thing called empathy – feeling what we feel.  We know that Jesus was the ultimate example of compassion and mercy, and we know that Jesus had compassion and even his own human love for this family.  However, do you recall the words of the Christmas song, Once In Royal David’s City, the lines: “And he feels for all our sadness and he shares in all our gladness” ?  This is empathy; to feel the emotions of another as if it was our own.  Jesus feels our sorrow and it breaks his heart.  He acutely feels our grief.  In our growing faith and understanding of God, we should realize that we need to grow in being like Christ and that means we need to grow in empathy also.

 

As we ask God to help us express his heart for humanity, we surprisingly find that we can feel the grief of our enemy and have compassion.  Can you imagine that?  And when it comes to taking sides of an argument, we become aware of the underlying concerns and grief of others. 

 

In reality, we are all like the iceberg.  In pictures of an iceberg we see that there is a peak above the water, but the majority of the iceberg is actually below the surface, hidden from view.   Most of our disagreements and even political ideologies are simply the visible peak.  Why we feel these things, and have these understandings, is rooted deeper.  Some of these things are rooted in deep grief. 

 

A great example of this, is a meme that appeared on my facebook page.  The explanation read, “Tonight I frustrated someone while driving.  They followed me to the gas station and had a few choice words for me.  I was really unsure what I did wrong.  I began to ask if he was ok and what was wrong and if there was anything I can do to make him less angry.  There was nothing I did driving that could make him this angry… something else had to be going on.  He stormed off and I wished him a good day.   45 minutes later I came out to my truck where I found this note that read, “I am very sorry.  My mother just passed away and my emotions are not right.  Please forgive me.”

 

I suspect much of the anger we are noticing is actually grief.  We need to pray that God gives us an understanding of his love for us and for others.  We need healing…. and then we need compassion and empathy to be able to reach out in love to all.  We can’t continue in this climate of anger.  This anger, this grief is causing a sickness…  We are exhausted in striving to be alive, when, under the surface, we are actually worn out.  Some might even say, we feel that all that is left of us is dry bones.

 

Lazarus was in the grave for four days.  This is significant because it was believed that a deceased person’s spirit remains around the body for up to three days after death before departing.  Lazarus was in the grave four days.  This means that it was one day beyond hope of any resurrection.

 

Have you ever come across someone who, in the grief that has been theirs in this life, seem to be one day (or many days) beyond hoping in God’s salvation?  Perhaps it is you who is feeling one day beyond hope, even now? 

 

To proclaim hope…. To feel hope…. To have empathy and compassion for others… we need God.  This is not something that we can just do.

 

We believe in life after death… but what about this life?  On the mount of Olives there is a cemetery.  It is placed there because of the trajectory of the prophesied Messiah and the prophesy of Ezekiel and the dry bones.  It is believed that because of this placement, these souls will be the first to rise from the dead.  You see, God’s word has many fulfillments and God’s people buried there, believed in the resurrection of the dead… on the last day.

 

Martha and Mary believed this and they informed Jesus of their belief that their brother would rise at that time.  Jesus is the resurrection and the life.  ALL who come to him though they die, they will live.  What are your feelings about this statement?

 

Though we die, if we come to Jesus, we will live.   Though we feel that we are past the years of enthusiasm… past being filled with joy and energy for living, Jesus comes and rolls away the stone over our heart and calls, “Lazarus, come out.”  Lazarus means “God is my help”.  We can’t inject life into ourselves… we need God to help us… to do for us, what he did for Lazarus, and bring us to life.  This is the will of God.  This is something that God desires for all of us.

 

If we have the Spirit of God, we have God’s life in us.  Romans 8:11 tells us this; “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.”

 

We may be liturgically two weeks away from the crucifixion and resurrection, but in reality we are nearly 2000 years after the event.  There have been many revivals over the years, and many different moves of God, but I get the sense that many Christians in the world are feeling a little like they’ve been four days in the grave.  Many are feeling like it is getting too hard to make sense of our modern world in the light of the Gospel.  We ARE a caring people and we don’t want to offend anyone, but how can we proclaim Christ and the Good News in our modern world, in a way that is true and relevant?

 

Do we realize that this is also how the disciples felt in those days following Christ’s resurrection?  Peter was acutely aware of his failing, and Thomas, who we notice in this story, was willing to go and die with Christ, had doubted the resurrection.  They were fearful of the authorities, but they did what they could and they got together and prayed.  God helped!  God sent His Holy Spirit.  God showed up and filled them with life, with enthusiasm and courage.

 

The word “enthusiasm” comes from the Greek word “entheos” which means the God within.  Surely a sign that we are filled with God’s Spirit ought to be that we are an enthusiastic people.  An enthusiastic person is one who is invested… it is the opposite of apathy.  An enthusiastic person is a caring person. 

 

It seems to me that we need a fresh breath of the Spirit being outpoured in our lives.  God’s people need to stop siting in their rockers, wishing for Jesus to come back quickly, and instead hear the word of God.  And I declare these words as prophesy over us;

 

Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the LORD."

 

This is our prayer… That God breathe on us… that the Spirit come from the four corners of the earth and bring us the life that God intends for us.  Bring us to life.  Come, Lord Jesus.  Come Holy Spirit.

Message for 2nd Sunday in Lent - Calls, Miraculous births and REST

 SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT  Year A   March 5, 2023

Genesis 12:1-4a  •  Psalm 121  •  Romans 4:1-5, 13-17  •  John 3:1-17

 

Today’s readings truly spell out the Good News of the Gospel.  And I sense that this season of Lent God is calling us to come and REST in him.  However, from serpents on sticks to being born twice, one thing can be said for certain… the amazing way in which our God works is ever a surprise and sometimes a puzzle!

 

Our readings begin with Abraham being called from his home country to travel to a land promised to his descendants.  At this point in time, Abraham has no children, but he believes God and he sets out.  There is more to this story; God promises that he will make Abraham into a great nation.  This is a wonderful promise, but there is something in this reading of even more importance to us.  God declares that through Abraham all the families of the earth will be blessed.

 

The first thing I want to point out about this is that ALL the families of the earth will be blessed.  I’d like to draw your attention to that word, ALL.   What do we think is meant by all the families of the earth will be blessed? 

 

Abraham is mentioned again in our second reading, the letter to the Romans.  We read that the promise that Abraham would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.

 

When I was at primary school we used to sing a song, “Father Abraham, has many sons, many sons has father Abraham.  I am one of them and so are you and we will praise the Lord.”  Because of our faith in Christ we enter into the family of faith… and Abraham was the first one to be singled out as the father of a covenant that came, not by works but through faith.  We too have entered that covenant.  The covenant of faith is Good News!

 

In fact, Abraham showed his faith in God right from that first mention of God calling him.  When God called Abraham to leave his country, Abraham went.

 

How are we showing the world that we are the people of faith?  Are we prepared to heed God’s call, with our feet shod with the readiness to spread the Good News of this covenant of faith?

 

All families of the nations are blessed through Abraham as an ancestor of Jesus… through Jesus ALL are blessed, but do we ever pause to think about the magnitude of all this?  Also, what do you think is the implication for us as the children of Abraham, by the covenant of faith? What is our part in bringing blessing to the nations?

 

Just check out how this incredible call to blessing began; Abraham had no children, yet God told him that he’d become a great nation of many people.  The child that was born to Abraham, from which eventually came Jesus, was Isaac.  Isaac was born to a mother who was both beyond child bearing age AND was barren.  THIS was a miracle!  Isaac was a sign of the covenant that comes through faith…. Through what God does for us and not what we do for God.  And it goes beyond the natural, logical and physical boundaries that we generally take for granted.  Abraham did have a momentary lapse in how God would bring about the promise and tried to help God out.  He had a child with his servant, and that child was Ishmael.  Ishmael is symbolic of when we try to do God’s job for him.  The Ishmael way brings worry and strife.  God’s way is to have faith in God and rest.  … and wait for the miracle and magnificent blessing that is sure to follow.

 

 

We are told that "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness."  In the season of Lent, we strive to do something… to fast and to exercise self-control, but we should never lose sight of the fact that it is our faith, and not our works, that counts us as righteous in God’s sight.  In particular, it is our faith and belief in Jesus that assures us of ultimate victory.

 

It all seems a little too easy.  We say that we are saved and made righteous by faith, but actually we prove our faith by our actions.   Every day we prove, to the world, what we believe because our beliefs shape our lives.  There is a saying, “going to church no more makes you a Christian, than standing in a garage make you a car.”  But if I can flip that saying on its head a little… Imagine I have a car but I don’t ever put it in a garage or drive it.  What would happen to that car?  It wouldn’t continue to shine or work and I show that I believe in the goodness and value of the car by the way I drive it, care for it and park it in the garage.  In all we do we show those around us what we value.  The way we talk to others and spend time with them or not… shows whether we value them.  Also, if I never take my faith in God out for a drive, speaking figuratively, what am I saying about my faith.

 

Jesus showed us that God loves and values each person.  Even those wayward Pharisees… and in particular, Nicodemus who was a Pharisee and a leader of the Jews.  Significantly, he came to Jesus at night.  Why do you think he did that?  Jesus could have been indignant or tired and refused to see him.  Instead, we have a very important dialogue recorded between the two.

 

 

Nicodemus begins by admitting that Jesus must be from God because no one else would be able to do the signs and wonders he was doing if he wasn’t from God.  Traditional translations of this reading state Jesus as then responding to this with, “no one can see the Kingdom of God unless he is Born Again”. 

 

Looking at this, we see that Jesus is explaining to Nicodemus that if you are born again, or from above, this enables you to see the Kingdom of God.  Remember that this is night time in an era before electricity and the reference to seeing seems like a deliberate way that Jesus is using the setting of darkness to make Nicodemus understand.  Seeing clearly is something that happens in the light.  Nicodemus is still “in the dark” and he asks, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?"

 

Jesus responds again with a similar statement to the one he made prior, but this time, instead of “see” the kingdom of God, Jesus states that no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 

 

I especially love this passage.  I struggled with it for a long time because I thought that when Jesus was talking about water, he was referring to Baptism.  Jesus was not talking about baptism.  The water reference in this passage is our physical birth.  Before we are born we are surrounded by water and through those birth waters we come into being… physically born.  This is why, we then use the symbol of water for our second birth… our spiritual birth.  Our sacrament of Baptism has come to be a celebration of our spiritual birth and so we use the symbol of natural birth, water, to help understand the story of what is happening spiritually.

 

The reason that I love this passage is because it is showing very clearly that we are called to be spiritually born into God’s family.  We are not casual adherents to a philosophy or followers of a belief, and we are not even merely adopted, but we are authentically born of God.  And how does a baby become born?  When the time is right, after growing in the right environment, and coincidentally in the dark, they come to birth.  

 

We often forget that God is in control.  We try to work to be good enough for God, but it is like putting the cart before the horse.  When our actions flow out of our faith and knowledge of God we are fruitful, we are joyful and we are restful.  This Rest is not passive, it is a rest, deep in in our souls, because of the sure knowledge that we belong to God.  We are energized and our youth is renewed like the eagle because our power supply is God himself.

 

You know it is as simple and miraculous as that crazy thing that happened to the Israelites in the desert.  There were snakes biting the people and killing them.  God said to make a bronze serpent and put it on a stick, lift that stick up, and then whoever looked at it would be healed.  Like what???!!!  How does that work?

 

That serpent on a stick was a symbol foretelling the ministry of Jesus who would be lifted up on the cross.  Our reading tells us that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.  Simple as that.  God has provided everything for us.  Scripture tells us clearly;  (Rom 8:38,39) “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”.   God’s desire is that we belong to him and I believe we’d do well to keep the last sentence of our Gospel reading on our fridges to constantly remind us of God’s love;

 

"God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

 

There is so much Good News in our readings today.  In this season of Lent we can fast from our working to earn God’s favour and REST in the knowledge that God loves us.  As our Psalmist tells us, “The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore”. 

 

We have been blessed.  Let’s REST in this Good News and share God’s blessing with our world.

World day of Prayer 2023 Message

2023 WORLD DAY OF PRAYER

 

For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might

Ephesians 1:15-19 New American Standa

There is a meme that I’ve come across on social media.  It portrays a picture of cute little tweetie pie saying his prayers and he prays, “Dear Lord, so far today, am I doing all right.  I have not gossiped, lost my temper, been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or self-indulgent.  I have not whined, complained, cursed or eaten any chocolate.  I have charged nothing on my credit card…  But I will be getting out of bed in a minute, and I think that I will really need your help then.”  

When we shut ourselves off from the world it is easy to do the right thing -To be kind and even holy.  But God doesn’t want us shut off from the world.  We are called to be a part of a community and we are to be a blessing to the world, to be the hands feet and heart of God in flesh, making a difference in our communities.   

 

Saint Paul thanks God for a group of people, the Ephesians, because he has heard of their faith in God and the love they have for the saints.  This tells us that these people put their faith into action.  The saints, refers to other Christians, and we need to explore this a little further, because those “saints” are you and I, and the people in our church family.

 

Ephesus was a center of travel and commerce. Situated on the Aegean Sea at the mouth of the Cayster River, the city was one of the greatest seaports of the ancient world.   The Christian Ephesian Church was made up of people of various ethnicities, and here we see similarities between the Ephesian Church, the Church of Taiwan and our own local Church. 

 

These Ephesian saints were no more perfect than you and I, and no easier to love than those in our faith communities.  Yet this group of Ephesians, at that time, had a reputation for their faith and their love for others- and in particular, other saints – meaning, those in the Christian church.  What do you imagine this would look like in our own community of faith?  In the least, I imagine that there would be prayer support for the concerns of each other.  There would be practical support for those going through crisis, and there would be many strong friendships, such that the church was more like a family.  I also imagine that there would be occasions like this… of coming together to share faith and learn about each other in our broader Christian context.

 

The group of saints, loved and supported by the Ephesian Christian church, included those who were local and those like Saint Paul who travelled bringing the word of God with clarity and encouragement.

 

This is the way we are meant to be as church.  We are meant to be a people of genuine faith in God, and we prove that faith by our active love for those in our community and those who belong to our Christian family but live far away.  We are ALL the body of Christ and if one part is hurting, all the other members of the body ought to be aware and compensating.  I play sport and often experience injury or aches and pains… if my right leg is in pain, my left will bare more of the load of my body weight, my back will be affected and my whole being groans.  All of me is involved in compensating for that injury, or weakness.

 

The body of Christ in Taiwan, like the Ephesians, is also a group of various ethnicities and with strengths and weaknesses and areas of pain.   Through our World Day of Prayer, we become aware and connected.  Their needs should naturally move us to action, and to prayer.  We also give thanks for their faith and love, which exists in their diversity.

 

While it seemed like the Ephesian Church had everything going for them, Saint Paul adds a very important element to his prayer.  Along with his prayer for them to have wisdom, he prays that the eyese of their heart may be enlightened, so that they would know what is the hope of God’s calling, and the riches of the glory of God’s inheritance in the saints.   

 

The hope of our calling, the riches of the glory of God’s inheritance in the saints, and the boundless greatness of God’s power towards us who believe….  It is in knowing and understanding these that we do not become exhausted or discouraged in our Christian walk.  Knowing the hope we have in God, is what continues to give us strength and renew us.  Understanding that our community, the faith family, are richly the glory of God, enables us to be gracious with each other and truly love in the way that God desires.

 

Many years ago, I read a book by M. Scott Peck.  It talked about stages of community and the first stage is pseudo community.  This may possibly have been where the Ephesians were at when Saint Paul wrote his letter, commending their faith and love.  When our community is new and we are bonded by some commonality, there can often be an almost euphoric sense of love, acceptance and belonging.  The following stages in community are; chaos, emptiness and then TRUE community.  It seems that if a community can hang in through all that, they will then reap the rewards of a true community.

 

Too often, we give up.  Things are not going well and we “Jump Ship”.  This is because we don’t understand the hope of our calling and the riches of the glory in God’s inheritance in each other.  How can true community happen?

 

Saint Paul understood that he was developing a community with an eternal and divine consequence, and for this community to continue in their faith and love they needed to have a depth in their understanding.  They needed to have a revelation of their place in Christ – a surety of who they are to God, and how each other is a precious treasure in the eyes of God, in order to continue to grow as a loving, faith-filled community. 

 

Saint Paul says it this way; “That you will know what is the hope of His calling.”  That sounds quite straightforward, but what IS the hope of God’s calling?  Ultimately, we expect that we will one day get to be in heaven, but if we think that is the only purpose of our faith, we are severely disabling our church.  There is much more to the hope of God’s calling.  Saint Paul is referring to the hope we have as part of God’s plan for this earth.

 

Every now and then I meet people that say, they can’t wait until Jesus comes again - and often, these people seem to be wonderful, but disconnected people who go to church, but they are just waiting for Heaven.  They are much like Tweety-pie before he gets out of bed… Their hope is that one day we will leave this existence and find a better one in heaven.  If heaven was all that God intended for us, then as soon as we become Christians, he could just take us out… but that isn’t what he does and it isn’t His plan.

 

We are called by, and we are, the children of God.  As children of the king, we are part of the family business.  God is in the business of unconditional love, and lavishing that sacrificial love on people who, probably like us, don’t deserve it… and he brings us into his Kingdom. God’s desire is for us to grow in his likeness, to grow in his love and to grow in having a mindset that is also about growing his Kingdom.  We have an inheritance that is part of the LORDs prayer… Thy Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.

 

We pray this prayer so often, but do we realize or understand that God’s Kingdom comes on earth somewhat through us?  And do we realize that this Kingdom of God is constantly knocking on the door of our Earth, wanting to be a reality… and it can and is a reality, when we surrender to God and cooperate with God’s plan for us.

 

The hope of God’s calling is a hope to be transformed into who God originally intended us to be and a hope for our world to be transformed into His Kingdom.   It is a moment-by-moment reality, as we interact with each other in ways governed by God’s ways.  We recognise God’s Kingdom when we have a correct vision of life, as given to us by God.   It is a Kingdom where love and mercy rule.

 

We are called, as children of God, to aim for living in the reality of the Kingdom of God.  In our own strength and power, it is beyond us but see, God is the author and perfector of our faith… not us. Therefore we rest assured in the knowledge that God is working in us, and we are becoming the community he wants us to be, so long as we remain surrendered to him and connected to him, constantly being renewed by his Spirit and his word.

 

It truly is like the Tweety pie meme…  I can be good while I’m asleep or cut off from temptation, but after that we need divine help.  Don’t despair!  We have that help.  We live in the freedom of knowing that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.  And being aware of our forgiveness we live with grace toward one another.  This truly is the hope we have.  It isn’t just hope in an afterlife, but hope in this life here and now, that encounters and moments here and now, can be and will be infused with the Spirit of God. 

 

In the year 2023, we need our eyes enlightened to know and to see the hope of God.  The world desperately needs this hope, and the world needs the Kingdom of God where the wisdom, love and grace of God is more than merely proclaimed… but where it is truly lived and experienced.  It comes through us when we surrender to the Kingship of our God and father.  May we surrender to our God our king, in joyful knowledge of the hope we share, as we continue to grow in faith and love and may His Kingdom come on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Transformers - reflection for 19th Feb 2023

               TRANSFIGURATION SUNDAY  Year A  February 19, 2023

Exodus 24:12-18  •  Psalm 2 or Psalm 99  •  2 Peter 1:16-21  •  Matthew 17:1-9

 

Today we are celebrating Transfiguration Sunday.  We all know the story… Jesus took a couple of his close followers up on the mountain and they, literally, had a mountain top experience of God.  But why?  Why did it happen that way and why is it something we need to know about?

 

Our scripture Journey begins with Moses.  The LORD called Moses to come up the mountain and receive instructions.  Those instructions are what we know as the Law of God – The Ten Commandments.

 

You may have noticed that there are themes running though the Sunday readings that continue through for a number of weeks and there has recently been a theme of Light…   This theme of light we find in today’s readings also, but there has been another theme present in the last few weeks, which is still present in today’s readings also…. A theme of God’s Law.  

 

Mostly, we as the forgiven, redeemed and sanctified people of God, overlook this aspect… and we focus predominantly on the Light of Christ, who achieved salvation for us.

 

The theme of God’s Law is not actually secondary.  I liken God’s Law as being like the law of gravity is for those aeroplanes using the law of aerodynamics.   We all fly in aeroplanes, grateful for the speed at which we can cover long distances.  At the same time, we never forget or belittle the law of gravity, but instead we have a healthy respect for it, as do all those who utilize the law of aerodynamics.  

Similarly, we live in the joyful and grateful reality of God’s grace – which I liken to that law of aerodynamics.  We can fly, but we must always be aware that gravity exists… God’s divine and perfect law is a constant, unchangeable law.  God’s law explains the nature of and perfection of God.  The law of God was officially given through Moses.

 

Who was Moses?  He was a mere human.  He was a condemned Israelite baby, dramatically rescued from assured death by being hidden in a basket on the river.  He was rescued by the daughter of Pharaoh, teaching us that God is happy to use the good of outsiders to achieve his plan.   Moses was brought up as an Egyptian Prince.  As a young adult he wrestled with his true identity as an Israelite.  He became confused about who he was and where he belonged and he ran out into the desert.  There, after a time of rest, he encountered God in the burning bush and this led to him returning as a leader of God’s people, who were about to be rescued and called out of Egypt and out of slavery.  These people would all be called into the desert to discover their true identity.

 

Forty days or forty years….  Surely it is no coincidence that the number 40 is repeated many times in the Bible.  Forty is the number for testing, trial, probation and preparation.  But note that before Moses spent forty days and nights up on the mountain, he spent 6 days waiting for God to call him.  After 6 days of the cloud, the glory of God, covering the mountain, God called Moses to come up and receive the law of God.  Guess who else was called after 6 days?

 

Our Gospel reading begins, “Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves.”  This is written in the Gospel of Matthew who was writing for the Jewish people, who would have been familiar with the scriptures and, who would’ve understand that there was something profound being indicated by this little preface about 6 days.

 

The Sixth day was the day that God made mankind.  Six is man’s number, the completion of creation, and we read that after the sixth day waiting for God on the Mountain, Moses was called into the presence of God to receive the law.  The past was completed and the nation was to be called into the “rest”… the Blessing.  For the nation of Israel, who been enslaved and governed by Egypt for so long, this also indicated their new identity as their own nation.  Their time with Egypt was completed… they would receive their own code…. Their own way of being a nation… their own religion… their own God.

 

Of course, we need to note that Israel had already been called by God to be his own chosen nation, but the people, so long in the land of the Egyptians, were having an identity crisis.  Yes, they always knew that they were Israelites, God’s favoured nation, but beyond that, they didn’t understand.   Some of the way of thinking of the Egyptians had infected the Israelites, just as our culture has a way of infecting all of us.  To be influenced and changed by our culture isn’t always a bad thing, depending on what that culture is and what are the influences.  In Egypt, Israel had become somewhat confused by worshiping other gods and had developed many practises that were somewhat depraved, and we get a hint of what these were by noting some of the practises that Moses explicitly condemned, recorded in the book of Leviticus.

 

I am sure that it was not lost on the original readers of Matthew’s Gospel that it was after 6 days that Jesus called Peter, James and John up the Mountain.  This is significant.  Moses went up after 6 days and he received the sacred Law.  What was it that Peter, James and John received?

 

Moses after 6 days entered into the cloud of the glory of God.  Check out what is said to Peter, James and John;  “…. suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!"

 

Moses received the Law on tablets of stone.  Peter, James and John received Jesus.  Jesus is that tablet upon which the law is written.  Jesus did not come to abolish the law and the prophets – but to fulfil it.  The law and the prophets, is represented on the Mountain by Moses and Elijah.  Jesus is the ultimate law and the ultimate prophet.  The connection with the first giving of the law on tablets of stone and the story of Jesus on this mountain was a definite message to those early Jewish Christians, who understood their history of the giving of the Law.

In our Letter from Saint Peter, he refers to and explains this very event and he begins by stating; “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.” 

 

The issue Saint Peter is dealing with, is the divinity of Jesus.  Our faith is part history.  A person called Jesus, known as the Christ existed and was recorded historically as performing great deeds.  Many people believe this much…. Or at least they should because it isn’t a matter of faith, but a fact.  However, the nature of Christ, his divinity and all that encompasses, is a matter of faith.

 

If you were on that Mountain and witnessed Jesus transformed, would it still be a matter of faith?  What if you could hear about it from an eye witness?  In fact, there were three eye witnesses.

 

You see, we, and those early Jewish Christians, for whom Peter was writing, are much like the Israelites were at the time that God called Moses up the Mountain.  We know that God loves us and that Jesus died for our sins.  We’ve been told that Jesus rose from the dead, but my question for us to ponder is this; has it impacted our identity?  Are we walking in this new reality?

 

All that Jesus is- His divine nature, and His being the embodiment of the sacred Law of God, … and then our being united to Christ through our baptism, is meant to impact our identity.  We too need to be transformed.

 

The celebration of God giving the law is celebrated by the Jewish people, fifty days after the second Passover… they call it Shavuot, also known as the feast of the Harvest – It is also known more commonly to us as Pentecost….  The timing for God sending his Holy Spirit was no coincidence.

 

By God’s Holy Spirit, Jesus, who is the embodiment of the Law, is given to be with us always.  We have a union with the sacred law, because we have Jesus with us always.  We should not take God’s name in vain, we should not worship other Gods… we should love our neighbour…. We should… but in our own strength, our natural being, we can’t – but we have God, the Holy Spirit in us who can – He is our teacher, guide and comforter that will never leave, nor forsake us, who, if we are deliberately willing, can do all this in and through us.

 

We think we are mere mortals, and we are often dismayed and disheartened by our weak humanity, but we are the chosen people of God.  We are Chosen to have Christ’s SHINE HIS LIGHT through us.  Peter was impetuous.  John and James were known as the sons of thunder.  Moses was a stutterer, confused and dismayed by his failure, he ran away.  God chose these people.  He loves to choose those the world might consider disqualified.  But these people were all transformed by their relationship with God.  

 

God desires for us to have this kind of relationship with him… not just encounter him.   He is with us.  He is in us… He is Jesus the Law keeper… He is the Holy Spirit – the Power of God.  So… who are we?  Not actually mere mortals, but through our baptism we are changed.  We have a new identity and we are now the children of the living God.  We are called to be transformed.