The Church has work to do
February 27, 2022; The Rev. Dina van Klaveren, preacher; Texts: Exodus 34:29-35, Luke 9:28-36
Image by @radragon via Unsplash
This is week #10 in a series of Sundays that get us to see clearly who Jesus really is- this is a season of Epiphany, revelation, clarity. I love clarity. Even if something is challenging, if I’m clear about it, it is do-able, right?
Over and over again, we have gathered over the past ten weeks, in person and online, to hear the ancient texts lead us toward clarity about Jesus as the Messiah, the one we have been waiting for to draw together the family of God in love, hope, and justice.
Jesus was revealed to shepherds and foreign scholars. Jesus was revealed at his baptism by John at the Jordan. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” Jesus was revealed at a wedding in Cana when the back of the house staff witnessed as he turned water into wine, and his disciples believed in him. Jesus was guest preacher in his hometown synagogue and proclaimed fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophesy:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”
Jesus revealed to the hometown crowd that he has come to include those who are excluded, and their anger was revealed- they tried to throw him off a cliff, and we get clear right then that he is able to pass through the angry crowd to continue his ministry.
Jesus’s power over nature was revealed when he sent unsuccessful fishermen back out to try again and their nets began to break with the exceptional amount of fish, then he revealed to these fishermen that they were being called into this ministry that reveals the power of God to provide abundant joy.Jesus was revealed as a healer -power came out of him and cured diseases and people with unclean spirits. Jesus revealed a new way to live, a way that will heal us from the disease of violence, of anger and selfishness, of ego and greed. Jesus revealed this new way when he taught:
“I say to you that listen, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. Do not judge… do not condemn… Forgive, and you will be forgiven…”
And now, in chapter 9 of Luke’s Gospel, the revelation gets as clear as day for Peter, John, and James who go up a mountain with Jesus to pray.
Jesus changes in appearance - his face changes, and his clothes become dazzling white. Then Peter, John, and James see Moses and Elijah talking to Jesus. Peter wants to build three dwellings up on the mountain for Jesus, Moses and Elijah…. Then a cloud overshadows them and a voice from a cloud says to them:
"This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!"
Peter, James and John have gotten really, really clear by the time they head down the mountain with Jesus. Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus is the One they have been waiting for, the one who will draw together the family of God in love, hope, and justice. Like Moses heading down the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hands, these three disciples come down from the mountain with the covenant in physical form, with the One who manifests their abiding connection to the love and grace of God, with Jesus. As physically present as tablets of stone is the man who has taught and healed and been named by a voice in the clouds as the Son of God, the one to whom they must listen.
In Jesus are the words of life, the best ways to live to be drawn into that one family of God where there will be love and hope and justice. Here are a few revelations to wrap up our season of revelations:
God wants to be known by us.God wants to spend time with us and know us, and heal us, and teach us. And to be known by us. That’s why God came to live among us in Jesus. God wants us to know the best ways to live our lives.
God reveals to us, in Jesus especially, the ways of life that offer true freedom from so much of the junk that produces great anxiety and fear and pain in our lives, like anger and resentment, holding grudges, judging others to be lepers and unworthy of our care, being greedy and afraid like paranoid and unjust Herod, wanting special VIP treatment like the hometown folks in Nazareth.
These are the junk ways that deal out death to our souls, to our communities, to our world. These are the ways that lead people into unjust wars and a state of disinterested numbness about the suffering of others.
Jesus offers us ways to give life to one another and to our own souls by listening to his teachings.
"This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!"
We always have a choice to make, a choice whether or not we will listen, or if instead we will pop on our fancy noise-cancelling headphones and ignore the teachings.
When the voice says: "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" - that voice is talking to us. Not just to Peter, James & John. To you, to me. To us. Today. Right here, right now. We are being instructed from that mountaintop to listen to Jesus. And Jesus is calling us. That voice of Jesus is teaching us, and healing us, and calling us home, into the family of God, that home where everybody is welcome. That home that turns enemies into friends and competitors into teammates. That home that casts out what is unclean in us and gives us clarity and commitment to live that way of life instead of that junk way of death.
Peter is so excited about seeing Jesus in glory that he wants to build a little chapel and stay up there. That’s not what we are called to do. In 1991 a very wise lay leader and teacher at St. Mark’s, Capital Hill in DC , Verna Dozier, wrote a book that woke up the Episcopal Church, which sometimes gets stuck on building little chapels and staying up in the glory on the mountain top rather than listening to Jesus. Dozier wrote this book to wake us up to the lived ministry of Jesus, and describes the church as overly focused on institutionalized Sunday ritual, which can become a distortion of the life giving ways Jesus calls us into.
She describes the institutional church and its worship as an essential support structure for the faithful folks who gather to find some rest and refuge to continue muddling through the confusion and suffering, the church with it’s bright light at the front door welcoming us home through the difficulties and past the roadblocks.
Jesus welcomes us home to God. To the family of all God’s people.
Here’s the thing-
Sometimes we act like Jesus is inviting us in as a dinner guest.
“Please, come in, sit down at this table and break bread with me.”
It’s more like-
“Please, come in. This is now your home, too. Grab an apron over there and help me slice this beautiful fresh loaf of bread for the family. And you over there, can you make sure everyone has something in their glass?”
Image by @biancablah via Unsplash
As a part of God’s family, living the household of God, we have responsibilities. We have chores to do! That’s how you know you are a part of the family- they let you do dishes! You know where to find more napkins or ice and you are authorized to do it. You are a part of hosting the feast, you are a part of the family.
On Friday I had the great privilege of being at an event in Atlanta where Dr. Bernice King was speaking about the work of the church. Dr. Bernice King is the daughter of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and when she referred to her father, she called him daddy. She was five when her father was assassinated. She spoke to Episcopal church leaders on Friday morning and said: the church has work to do! The church can get our there and correct wrong thinking, help folks see more just ways in society.
God gives us work to do, indeed, as part of the family of God. God wants to know us, and God wants to be known by us. God welcomes us into the family, and gives us work to do. And our work is to listen to the spirit of God and move toward the freedom we can know through this covenant of love with God. Through being active participants hosting the feast in the household of God. By rolling up our sleeves rather than simply popping into a quick bite before gliding out the door to pop into another party.
God wants us to live in that freedom, that freedom to love one another, and care for one another. That freedom that heals us, and heals divisions among us.
