The Graves Chapel blog page contains recent homilies by our lay preacher, Susan Bagby. For a complete set of Susan's homilies, dating to 2009, visit her blog at http://graveschapelva.blogspot.com/
Homily for Sunday, February 26th, 2017 Good Shepherd and Graves Chapel
The lessons:
Exodus 24:12-18
2 Peter 1:16-21
Matthew 17:1-9
Psalm 2
or Psalm 99
The Collect: O God, who before the passion of your only begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain: Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
The lessons for today focus on two mountaintop experiences set forth in scripture: Moses called to meet God on Mt. Sinai, where he receives the Ten Commandments, and Jesus transfigured on the mountain, as witnessed by three of his disciples. So that his authority will be clear to the disciples with him, and those of us who are called to be disciples of Jesus today, two preeminent Old Testament prophets (Moses and Elijah) join Jesus for his mountaintop experience, where Peter, James, and John hear the voice of God, from out of the clouds, saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”
The prophet Elijah had his own mountaintop experience, you may recall, when he was hidden in a cave, afraid of the enemies that pursued him, and he heard the reassuring still small voice of God speak to him. The final mountaintop experience of Moses occurred when he made his farewell to the people upon Mt. Nebo. Before he died, God took Moses there to see the Promised Land the people would enter without him.
Whenever I hear mention of a mountaintop experience, I cannot help but think of the speech Martin Luther King, Jr., made in Memphis, Tennessee, the very night before he was assassinated there on April 4th, 1968. A Baptist preacher and son of a Baptist preacher, King, although only 39 at the time of his death, had been steeped in scripture throughout his life. King’s voice was a prophetic voice, and that is uniquely obvious in his last speech when he says, “Like anybody, I would like to have a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And he’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you…” Of course, we know how this story ended, the very next day. Like Moses, King would not live to see his people enter the Promised Land.
Abraham also had a profound mountaintop experience: Just as he was about to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mt. Moriah, a dreadful deed Abraham undertook at God’s command, the voice of God spoke to him, ordering him to stop. Abraham’s obedience to God passed God’s ultimate and most difficult test. When it comes to his own beloved Son, the Lord God will make that most difficult sacrifice and allow Jesus to be crucified on the hilltop of Calvary. Before that terrible end, both Jesus and his principal disciples experienced the overwhelming assurance of the Transfiguration, and Peter tells us in his letter, “For we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty” when “…he received honor and glory from God the Father.” No wonder the expression “mountaintop experience” has come to mean something dramatically life-changing!
After taking time to examine these mountaintop experiences, I wonder if they are really meant for ordinary people like us. A mountaintop experience, though incredibly impressive, sounds scary, if not downright dangerous. When Peter witnessed the transfiguration of the Lord, he was so terrified he babbled something about building dwellings and then fell to the ground along with James and John. Jesus touched them and said, “Get up and do not be afraid.”
“Get up and do not be afraid.” God speaks those words to us as well. As we affirm in our Baptismal covenant, we are called to “Seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves.” Our Christian faith is lived in community, and the work God calls us to do usually involves service we offer to our community and to the larger world—all persons, all God’s creation. Sometimes the tasks before us may appear to challenge us beyond the extent of our abilities. The cross we are given may seem to be more than we can bear. How are we enabled to answer the call to service? We are transfigured.
Our faith in Jesus Christ transfigures us. Our collect for today includes a petition in which we pray to be granted that very transfiguration: “Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory.” How do we dare pray to be changed into the likeness of Jesus? It is in John 14 where Jesus tells the disciples, on the night of the Last Supper, that he will be with them always, empowering them and supporting them to carry on his mission. He says, “The one who believes in me will also do the works that I do…I will not leave you orphaned…In a little while, the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. On that day, you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you…Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid.”
Like the cowering disciples, we may wish to hide our eyes. Or, we may try to do the wrong thing—like Peter’s offer to build three booths. But walking in love as Christ loved us changes us over time. Gently and subtly, we become the ones others seek when they need help and friendship. Gently, and without our knowing exactly how it happens, we begin to wear Christ’s face for everyone we encounter.
When Moses went up on Mt. Sinai to meet with God and receive the Ten Commandments, “a devouring fire” surrounded the mountaintop, and the people waiting below were terrified by thunder and lightning. When Jesus undergoes his transfiguration, “his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.” As 21st century disciples of the Lord, bolts of lightning most likely will not be our calling cards. Nor will our faces shine like the sun in a way that strikes terror into the hearts of those around us. No, our transfiguration does not have to be so impressive, even though we are called to be lights of love in a troubled world. As Peter suggests in today’s epistle, we would do well to be attentive to the Lord’s transfiguration and our own “as a lamp shining in a dark place.” Perhaps we will illuminate things more in the manner of a small candle. But even a small candle, thrust into deep darkness, becomes a bright and very welcome light.
AMEN.