Epiphany Last, Year C, 2/14/10
Exodus 34:29-35; Ps. 99; 2 Cor. 3:12-4:2; Luke
9:28-43a
Kent and I talked about death
and dying all through January.
Zach Ober gave you a reprieve
last week by preaching about life…nicely done.
So this week I thought I’d talk
about love.
Death to life to love…it is
Valentine’s Day after all.
Love is a tricky subject,
isn’t it.
Is it a feeling?
Is it how you act?
Is it like the word snow for
Eskimos?
There ought to be 50
different words for all different kinds of love?
A couple of weeks ago we
heard the love passage from First Corinthians.
The passage made famous at
weddings everywhere.
Love is patient, love is
kind, love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.
Love does not insist on its
own way, is not irritable or resentful.
What made me think of it this
week is the Gospel passage.
The story of the
Transfiguration.
When you hear it alongside
the passage from Exodus about Moses coming down off
It has a certain resonance.
You get the whole holy-
things- happen- on- mountain tops feeling.
The light of God’s glory.
And the voice from the cloud
in heaven saying…this is my Son, my
Its stories like this that
make us wonder how the disciples could have ever had any doubts about Jesus.
How could they miss what was
going on with Jesus?
Peter was there on the
mountain with Jesus glowing like a night light and later he denies him three
times as easy as pie.
John and James were there and
they had real moments of questioning who Jesus really was.
It’s the middle part of this
story that always seems a little suspect to me though.
Peter and the guys barely
manage to stay awake up there on the mountain.
But then Jesus starts to glow
and Moses and the prophet Elijah appear out of nowhere.
Luke tells us that the three
of them are chatting about how Jesus would meet his earthly end in
Can you imagine listening in
on that conversation?
But Peter doesn’t just snap
awake and listen quietly.
No, he offers to make three
little dwellings for them.
Lean-tos, shacks, pup tents,
we don’t know.
Why did Peter suggest that?
Was it to protect them,
shelter them, glorify them?
Why didn’t he suggest building
thrones for them?
This is the part that catches
my ear.
On the one hand it might seem
like the disciples want to exalt and honor Jesus and Moses and Elijah.
But I find my self wondering
if maybe they weren’t trying to capture and contain them.
Don’t we do that sometimes?
The whole idea of a God that
comes to us in human form and then asks us to receive absolute love and
forgiveness as a gift…
That’s a scary idea…how can
that be?
What do we say…nothing in life is free.
You have to give something to
get something.
God helps those who help
themselves.
Which, by the way, is
absolutely not in the Bible.
And is actually contrary to
Biblical teachings.
Romans 5:6…while we were still weak… Christ died for
the ungodly.
But I digress.
For the most part, as human
beings, we are not very hot on the idea that Jesus offers absolute love and
forgiveness for free.
First off, we have a hard
time believing that could be true.
And secondly, we somehow know
deep down that Jesus is wanting us to offer our whole selves back to God in
thanks for the free gift.
All that we are, our whole
hearts, every part of our lives.
Every part, not selected
parts.
Not in payment, which
actually makes some sense to us.
But in thanksgiving.
Out of our total amazement
that we could be loved so completely.
Once Peter and John and James
heard those three talking about how Jesus would die and what it would mean to
all of humanity… they freaked out.
I can’t decide if they wanted
to freeze frame the moment by building those shelters so it wouldn’t slip away.
Or whether they just wanted
to contain and corral the three glowing crazy talking guys.
Don’t we do that in different
ways?
When we catch a glimpse in
our hearts of the realness and power of Jesus’ love it can be scary.
It can be overwhelming to
think about the possibilities of what God might ask of us if we were to
actually turn ourselves over to the love of Jesus.
On one level we may think
that is just exactly what we want.
But on another level it is a
truly overwhelming thought to turn ourselves over completely.
And so we offer to build
Jesus a cozy dwelling.
Have you ever heard yourself
say…my God would never, fill in the blank.
I’ve said it.
Have you ever thought to
yourself that God would not have given us brains and reasoning and dominion
over the earth if God had actually wanted us to submit ourselves completely?
I’ve pondered that.
Where do we see using our God
given abilities working alongside totally submitting ourselves to the leading
of the Holy Spirit and the transforming of Jesus’ love?
Aren’t there days when we
lean in the direction of offering to contain Jesus in a nice, little dwelling
so that we can get on with our lives?
John Wesley was a great
Anglican in the 18th century who founded the Methodist movement with
his brother Charles and George Whitefield.
Wesley wanted to renew the
teaching and living of the Gospel in the Church of England.
So he began meetings and
groups began to form.
Groups that came to be known
as Methodist Societies, groups that met for teaching and sharing testimonies.
Out of that movement came to
be the three General Rules which still exist today in the Methodist tradition
and in their writings.
Here are the three rules as
described and expounded on in this century by the Methodist Bishop, Rueben Job.
Do no harm.
Do good.
Stay in love with God.
We could spend days talking
about those three rules for Christian living.
The first two are no
brainers, right?
Do no harm and do good.
The third one is trickier.
What I hear people say is Do no harm, do good, love God.
Like to love God is simple.
But that isn’t what the rule
says.
It’s about staying in love with God.
And that doesn’t just happen
and that isn’t just a feeling.
Anyone who has been married
any length of time knows what that’s about.
Staying in love is a
commitment.
It’s doing the things that
make love stay alive and burn brightly.
I’ve said this before.
If we say we love someone but…
we spend no time with them,
if we don’t take into account their needs and wants…
If we ignore the effect of
our words and actions on them and how they feel…
Then how can we claim to
really love them?
Staying in love means working
at it.
It means putting time and
effort into figuring out what things will strengthen that love.
And then time and effort into
doing the things that will strengthen
that love.
Staying in love with God
takes effort…a lot of effort.
What does it take for you to
stay in love with God?
Gathering to worship God? I
hope so.
Prayer, putting the words of
the Bible into your mind.
Being open, being teachable,
being reachable.
Being willing to be wrong, to
let go, to put God first.
To see Jesus for who he is…not
simply who we want him to be.
Not a prophet, not a great
teacher, not a good man.
Our Lord, our salvation, our
example of self-offering and overwhelming love.
Staying in love with God is
our calling…each of us.
Love is patient, love is
kind, love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.
Love does not insist on its
own way, is not irritable or resentful.
Peter and John and James
couldn’t contain Jesus or the love of Jesus and neither can we.
We may find Jesus’ consuming
love a little scary.
And we may try to contain it.
I think Wesley had the better
idea, though.
Do no harm.
Do good,
Stay in love with God.