Transfiguration Sunday

Today’s Scriptures: Lectionary selections from the Revised Common Lectionary Year C Exodus 34:29-35 Psalm 99 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 Luke 9:28-43

Today’s Reflection: Sometimes, quite unexpectedly, an experience goes from mundane to life-changing and you leave the experience wondering how that happened or what was different. It may happen by attending a concert, hearing a lecture, reading a book. It can even happen during a worship experience in church! One of my experiences happened following an impulse buy of a cd after hearing it mentioned on a music talk-show on the radio. As I like to do – especially with classical music – I put on my headphones and put the music at just the right volume. When the music stopped exactly one hour later, I discovered that I had been sitting there with tears streaming down my face: the music moved me so much that, literally, a flood of joy came pouring out of me. The passages for today recount extraordinary encounters with people and God and the change that came from the encounter.   Being changed through an encounter with God is certainly not unexpected, but while we have been taught to expect some miraculous transformation of our heart, we do not usually consider the physical transformation that comes from God’s proximity. Moses and Jesus both glowed from the encounter with God. It does follow basic physics: objects reflect light. It is how we see: reflected light strikes our eye and is processed by the brain. The Jews believed that anyone who actually saw God would die from the exposure to such power and perfection. They even had difficulty looking at the reflected glow coming from Moses. That glow faded over time the farther Moses (and anyone with a direct encounter with God) moves from the event.   Paul reminds us that we are all able to be in contact with the Lord through the Spirit. Christ forever removed the veil between humankind and God so that we are in his presence and are being changed into the image of God. Not only should our hearts change, our countenances should reflect God’s presence in our lives. When we come in contact with God it is impossible to forget. The experience so completely alters us that nothing is ever the same again.   In the Bible texts today, the Jewish nation and the apostles with Christ saw the transfiguration of an individual following an encounter with God. We remember the transfiguration of Moses and Jesus. We need to focus on the transfiguration of us. Unlike with Moses and Jesus, our glow does not fade. It grows brighter as we are changed into his image through the working of the Holy Spirit. As we end the season of Epiphany, this time of Christ revealed, we learn that the revelation of Christ in the world today is the transfiguration of us into his likeness. With this new understanding, I have to ask: does the world see your glow?

Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org

 

Fourth Sunday After Epiphany

Today’s Scriptures: Lectionary selections from the Revised Common Lectionary Year C Jeremiah 1:4-10 Psalm 71 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 Luke 4:21-30

Today’s Reflection: Every generation grows up to certain bits of common knowledge that we take for granted. When science or some historical discovery proves that wrong, it shakes us: what can we trust? The passages today give us a direct look at the power of God with humankind – a constant that has been with us since the creation.   Jeremiah recounts the call of the prophet as a young man. Despite his youth and human uncertainty, God assured him, because he was God’s chosen one, that all He directed would happen. As happens with all prophets, or messengers of God, whatever he commands comes to pass because of God’s power bestowed upon the individual. God is at work through a man.   In Luke we see the same thing happening. Jesus beginning his ministry and accomplishing all things God wills. The difference between Jesus and the prophets is that instead of God at work through a man, it is God at work as a man. And like the prophets the resistance comes from those who see him as a man without recognizing the role of God in his actions. History often makes the people look foolish based on their actions. The Jews were well aware of the shortcomings of their forebears that caused God to intervene in their history. Jesus’s reminder of that history obviously struck a nerve with the people – of course, people on the wrong side of God never recognize it on their own.   I Corinthians provides the math and grammar that explains what is going on. We often focus on the definition of love that is central to the passage. The opening and closing, though, insist on the supremacy of love. Love is greater than faith (love > faith). Love is greater than hope (love > hope). Love is the greatest (love = greatest). And if God is love (God = love). Then (God = love = greatest).   The passages today have given examples of God accomplishing his will through a man and God accomplishing his will as a man. Knowing that God is love, we are commanded to keep that love as the focus of everything we do in doing his will, for without it, we are not doing God’s will. Black and white it is that simple. We collectively are responsible for showing the love as God defines it. The Church, and as a result, Christianity, suffers an image problem because it has forced a theological (read legalistic – i.e. “insisting on its own way”) focus as it moved away from focusing on the love. We are individually responsible for demonstrating the love. When we do our individual part, the collective benefits and God continues to work through mankind to accomplish his kingdom.

Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org

 

Third Sunday After Epiphany

Today’s Scriptures: Lectionary selections from the Revised Common Lectionary Year C Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10 Psalm 19 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 Luke 4:14-21

Today’s Reflection: The biblical text uses so much figurative language that we are sometimes stumped for the exact meaning. We study the languages of the time it was written for clues. We look at the context of the passage. And we look at the Bible as a complete document to discern some of the meaning. Even with all these helps, there continues to be much disagreement about the meaning of passages. Today’s passage from 1 Corinthians, though, is one of broad agreement: our body serves as a symbol of the Church.   Paul clearly lays out the functions of body parts and how, traditionally, we treat those different parts. No matter what we think of the parts (less/more honorable, less/more respectable) we rely on them to have a complete church. We all have different “less honorable” and “more honorable” members in the church. In some churches it is the drug addict, in another the poor, in another the convict. Regardless of the criteria, Paul makes it clear the church has room for everyone and everyone has a role in the church. I the arm (teacher) may have difficulty accepting or understanding the knee (prophet) but I have trouble getting where I am going without it.   While sometimes we struggle with the role we have in the church, in my experience we often struggle more with the roles we do not have in the church. The struggle does not come from a malicious place, quite the opposite; it comes from the yearning to serve. We desire to be faithful and active disciples for Christ and we want to do it all. God created us limited, flawed beings so we cannot do it all and we learn to rely on others.   Understanding how the body of Christ, the Church, fits together also helps us understand God, the Trinity. As we are in the Epiphany season, we are learning to better understand Christ. Today’s passages serve well to do that. The Corinthians passage reminds us how the body parts fit together to make us whole people. We see the same thing in Luke as it leads us up to an early rejection of Jesus. He returns from the forty days in the wilderness and goes to his home synagogue. Everything was normal until he sat to teach on the passage he read. He proclaims the prophesy fulfilled, and these people who have known him since childhood, wanted to push him off a cliff.   The passage begins, “Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit…” Just like our body, each part of God – Father, Son, Holy Spirit – must be present for God to be complete. They are all one, but they serve different functions. They are each unique, but they create the “God body.” Jesus experienced some of the limitations of humankind when he was born into an earthly body. The Spirit guided him and allowed him to overcome many of those physical limitations – the same Spirit that is with us today – while the Father directed the events.   Scripture provides a variety of names for each portion of the Holy Trinity, and likely, just as I have favorites, others do too. Just as I often want to be a control freak and do everything, the passages today helped me understand that even God delegates responsibilities to those parts best suited to do the job. Knowing that I am not alone as the arm, but I have a whole body to help me out does not eliminate some of the stress I have from wanting to do too much, but it certainly alleviates it. God, the Holy Trinity, is love and in that love God takes care of us.

Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org

 

Second Sunday After Epiphany

Today’s Scriptures: Lectionary selections from the Revised Common Lectionary Year C Isaiah 62:1-5 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 John 2:1-11

Today’s Reflection: I am a universal thinker. I tend to start with the big picture and then drill down to the details. Very often when we consider God, we think of him in charge of broad spectrum activities. He did create the universe. Today we get the picture of a God who is concerned about our daily lives. He is in the details.   In John we are given a picture of Jesus at the start of his ministry with his mother and disciples present. We see Jesus, just beginning his ministry, getting pressure from his mother to perform a miracle. As an obedient child (we are our parents’ child no matter how old), he helped the wedding host by turning water into wine. As much as the passage reveals a modest man doing just as he is told, it raises some questions. What miracles had he done through his childhood that Mary would come to him for this one? What was life really like around Joseph’s shop with the child/adolescent Jesus?  And red or white?   I have always been fascinated by Mary’s request of Jesus. The wine is not the only food miracle Jesus performs, but it is one that does not serve an immediate need. It fulfills a social norm. The lesson I take away from this passage expands my understanding of Jesus: he cared for all parts of people’s lives, not just their immediate needs. Providing the wine for the wedding allowed the celebration to continue unabated with joy for all the people. Jesus wanted tradition/culture preserved.   The wedding at Cana of Galilee reveals a compassionate Jesus who is concerned about the daily needs of the people. The wedding celebrations could have continued without the wine, but it did not support the tradition of a seven day celebration with feasting and drinking. Jesus did what he could do to support tradition and maintain the reputation of his friends. In addition to his mother he respected the tradition of the community.   Like many of the miracles Jesus worked in the lives of individuals, very few people knew about it. It was specific to the people for whom it was performed. Miracles are personal. The first disciples were also in attendance and this was the first miracle they witnessed which strengthened their belief in him.   When we consider God (the entire trinity) we often think about the global/universal/creation – big picture nature of God. The Gospel today reminds us that God is intensely personal and considers our daily activities. He desires good things for our lives – even when in the scope of divinity, those good things seem trivial. If all things matter to God, then perhaps they should matter to us.

Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org

 

The Baptism of the Lord

Today’s Scriptures: Lectionary selections from the Revised Common Lectionary Year C Isaiah 43:1-7 Psalm 29 Acts 8:14-17 Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Today’s Reflection: Dunk ‘em! Dab ‘em! The denominational debate about baptism has always fascinated me because so much passion gets spent on the symbolic act when much less energy is spent on the spiritual salvation of people. The symbolic is much easier since it is visible for all (exactly as intended). As we remember the baptism of the Lord, we can gain some perspective on what exactly baptism means to us. As it is still Epiphany season, the revelation of Jesus as the Christ comes to us in every lesson and Bible reading throughout the year, and today his baptism reveals much about our connection to him. Today’s focus on the baptism of the Lord offers us insight into the transformation of our own baptism and all that comes with it. Out baptism, like Christ’s, involves a symbolic and spiritual transformation.   The baptism of Christ demonstrated both the symbolic (physical) and spiritual nature of baptism. He was baptized in the water to demonstrate the symbolic cleansing gained through repentance(though we need it and he did not). We continue to follow his example to symbolically demonstrate the cleansing we received through our repentance. Just as the water baptism did not make Jesus the Christ, we know our water baptism does not make us Christian. It is a symbolic step we take to publically demonstrate the transition in our life. Going through the public action helps us find support and holds us accountable as we have a congregation witness our declaration of change.   The real transformation comes internally as we gain access to the Holy Spirit through our repentance and acceptance of Christ as the way the truth and the light. Jesus’s baptism brought all three portion of the Trinity together: father, son, Holy Spirit. The coming together of the Trinity gave a glimpse of what we could expect when the Holy Spirit was released into the world as a guide for all who believe. We now have the full power and wisdom of God with us (as demonstrated by the disciples Christ sent out). Our every action after our baptism should reflect the change. We are faulty people and will never reach the perfection of Christ, but we have the opportunity through our baptism in the Holy Spirit.   Baptism is one of the most powerful parts of Christianity. It, along with communion (or the Lord’s Supper) are the consistent symbolic acts across Christian denominations. As both a symbolic representation and spiritual transformation nothing is a more meaningful act in our faith. Today as we reflect on the baptism of the Lord, let us also reflect on our own baptism and just what it means in our life.

Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org

 

Epiphany

Today’s Scriptures: Lectionary selections from the Revised Common Lectionary Year C Isaiah 60:1-6 Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14 Ephesians 3:1-12 Matthew 2:1-12

Today’s Reflection: More than two thousand years after Christ’s birth, we still revel in his revelation to us. The night of his birth, the locals experienced the arrival as he was revealed to the shepherds. Today at Epiphany we celebrate the revealing to the remainder of the world: Gentiles, symbolized in the magi, traveled to worship him. Even though we “know” him, we can always learn more by spending time in the scriptures. Our childhood Sunday School lessons do not always prepare us for the tough lessons of the adult Christ.   The familiar story in Matthew of the wise-men or magi coming to the Christ-child after following the star is requisite for this season. Of course the typical, “There Was No Such Star” headlines came in the science sections of various papers this week. I agree, there was no “star” in the way we would define an astronomical body. Had there been, Herod’s astronomers would have been all over it and he would not have sent the wise men to go find the baby and then report back to him. He would have beaten them there, swords drawn. Just as God provided a pillar and a fire for the Israelites, God is quite capable of creating a shining anomaly that moves as a guide for wise men from another region. The kind of star or astronomical alert provided to the wise men is irrelevant; what matters is that God revealed his son to all the peoples of the world, not just the Jews.   The other passages today also reveal Christ and his actions through the Church. Isaiah particularly addresses the Church and the way the Church should be seen in the world – with all people coming to the Church as a beacon of light and right in the world filled with darkness. Sadly, there is too much strictly enforced dogma, “believe as I believe or you are going to Hell,” in many churches around the world today. Instead of light, that darkness of hate and fear drives the world away from the Church. Too many have become self-focused churches rather than Christ-focused churches. Without Christ in the church, there is no light. Those churches that attempt to enforce a legalistic code on the world around them completely miss the point that Christ died on the cross to replace the legalistic code that had not worked with God and the Jews since the giving of the law through Moses.   In the Psalms passage, the author keeps returning to the care of God for the poor, the needy, and the weak. Who among us is poor, needy, or weak? We all are for we have sinned. We all need his righteous judgment, defense, and deliverance. One key point about the God of these passages (and the Bible in general) is that he keeps watch for the oppressed peoples. He never looks after the wealthy and powerful unless it is to bring them down as happens repeatedly in the prophets. When the rich and powerful fail to care for the poor and powerless, God steps in and does it for them at their expense. We all need God to look after us in our failures, but we also want to be certain we are doing the things to look after those more needy than we are or God’s visit to us will not be what we expected.   The Ephesians passage reinforces the Christ who came for the entire world. This savior was for all the world and through him all who believe in him have access to God and the salvation he offers. The zeal in this passage contrasts with much of Paul’s writing which tends toward the legal and pedantic, but here he excitedly proclaims the expansion of God’s kingdom to the entire world.   This Epiphany, as we celebrate the revelation of Christ, let us take time to examine what he truly revealed to us through his life and his teaching. Are we truly being the people he expects us to be? Being Christian, being Church, to the entire world sometimes forces us to move out of the traditions with which we are comfortable and truly examine his calling for us. We have to move away from the dogmas that limit our vision of Christ and draw toward the lessons taught through the Holy Spirit. As we make our way through the Epiphany season, may we open our spirit to the Christ who reveals himself to us more than the Christ we are told exists.

Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org

 

Epiphany Sunday - January 8

Psalm 146, 147, 111, 112, 113

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Ephesians 1:3-14

John 1:29-34

This morning I heard an interview with a singer/songwriter/writer/poet (the list goes on). At one point, as this person prepared to sing one of the songs being discussed, there was a period of audio as the guitarist tuned his instrument. The banter of the interview discussed the tuning and I was entranced and began to think that our recent periods of Advent and Christmas were our tuning for this point – Epiphany. Today we celebrate the revelation and presentation of Christ to us, but to be ready to understand the extraordinary connection that happened between God and humankind in that moment, we require the preparation to move our hearts and mind into the moment.

The passage from Genesis takes us back to the beginning, as God prepared the earth for humankind. The creation, day-by-day, established a place where we could flourish and thrive. God interacted personally with his creation in that time just as Christ interacted with the people in his time, and possibly most importantly, just as the Holy Spirit continues to interact with us in this time.

Creation. Epiphany. Pentecost. We spend time studying the meaning in each of them and the functions of God, but the commonality between them is that God connects directly with creation: God desires the relationship that so many of the passages during Advent and Christmas described. Epiphany as a day and a season demands that we recognize the relationship and actively join into it.

Let us open our hearts to the direct connection that comes from Epiphany when we concentrate on the presentation of the Christ child centuries ago. We cannot forget that the arrival of Christ began an eternal, direct connection between God and humankind.