SETTING THE CONTEXT

After the feeding of the four thousand, the religious leaders still came to Jesus demanding a sign; their testing and accusations were heating up. Jesus warned the disciples about the false teaching of those leaders. Peter made his famous declaration of Caesarea Philippi where he called Jesus, “the Messiah, the Son of the living God,” but he failed to understand that this Messiah was to be a suffering servant. Then Jesus began to teach his disciples about his coming execution and his message of self-sacrifice. “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” It was in the midst of these hard teachings that today’s passage takes place.

Read Matthew 17:1-9

THE SERMON

Today is the last weekend of Epiphany. Remember that the season of Epiphany is the time when Jesus’ true identity is revealed to the world. On the first weekend of Epiphany, we heard the story of the wise men who brought gifts to this infant who would be king. The next week we heard during Jesus’ baptism a voice from heaven saying the same thing we heard in today’s passage, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” In the third week we heard Jesus given authority to send his disciples out into the world to teach his way. Last week we heard his foundational character as he set the standard for us to “bear fruit” for God; “love one another as I have loved you.”

Today we end Epiphany with the story of the Transfiguration. Jesus takes three of his first four disciples up a high mountain and he is transfigured. The Greek word used for transfigured is metemorphotha.^[i] Do you recognize the word?  It is the word we get our word metamorphosis from; Webster’s dictionary says that metamorphosis is a change of physical form, structure or substance. Jesus’ metamorphosis is meant to get our attention and he is joined by the great figures of Jewish tradition, Moses and Elijah, to give him further credibility to his Jewish audience. We all need to listen to him.  There is no guessing any more about who this Jesus is, he is God’s beloved son and his teachings for us are true. This is very important because his teachings are getting very difficult.

This week I had an ear infection and the pain of it reminded me of two things: 1-it reminded me that intense pain gets and keeps your attention and 2-that I don’t like pain and will do whatever I can to stop it. I don’t think I’m alone in these feelings; to willingly do something painful or uncomfortable takes an act of will. Jesus began teaching in this section of Scripture about a painful topic, “self-sacrifice.” As the Message Bible paraphrases his statement in chapter 16, “Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self.”^[ii] Or as our translation (NRSV) puts it, “Take up your cross deny yourselves and follow me.” This is not a popular attitude. I have been listening to all the presidential campaign ads and I haven’t heard anything about making sacrifices for the common good. I have heard folks from the World War II generation talk about how during that war everyone shared the sacrifice. Most families had loved ones involved in the war, everyone was on food rations and many people planted victory gardens. Women went to work in the factories and in other jobs so that those businesses could stay open for the war effort while the male workers were at war. In today’s wars, the entire burden seems to be falling on military families who are paying a very heavy toll. I dare say that my life as a civilian has not been impacted in any way. I’m not even paying for the war that is being delayed for my children and grandchildren. Who calls us to make sacrifices for the common good today?

Peter, James and John witnessed Jesus in his heavenly glory, but they would also have to witness him in his earthly agony. They would have to see their Messiah, their powerful Savior obediently go to the cross sacrificing himself for others. In the passages following the Transfiguration, the disciples would hear about the cost of discipleship. They would hear more predictions of Jesus’ suffering and death. They would hear teachings on greatness, temptation, accountability, and forgiveness. In these teachings, Jesus challenged deeply ingrained attitudes and inclinations. The disciples were really wrestling with what Jesus was asking of them. They asked questions like “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” and “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? And “What good deed must I do to have eternal life?” questions that we too struggle with.  His answers were not what naturally to them or to us. The humble are great. Forgive over and over again. You must love me more than anything else.

A friend of mine and member of a former church, Jack Schraven, shared this testimony. These are his own words:

“Some years back, my wife, who is an excellent cook, was asked to volunteer to be the cook for a one week summer camp. The camp was specifically for kids with various forms of cancer. They were also in various forms of treatment. Most were in recovery stages, some were not, and some never would be. My wife said that they were looking for someone to go along as a "jack of all trades". I was tempted, but then I thought about having to give up a full week of vacation for it. Man! I work hard and look forward to my vacation time. I don't know. And besides, it would be depressing; I didn't think I really wanted to be at a cancer camp.

One thing that I've learned in my life is to pray about things, especially when I'm searching for an answer. And so I prayed. I probably prayed something like, "please God tell me it's all right not to go." Well, I don't remember getting any clear and definitive answer in this case, but I knew in my heart that I was being selfish and petty. So even though I still didn't really want to go, I agreed and decided to do the best job that I could. Going with a bad attitude wouldn't do anybody any good.

As my wife and I packed up, I decided to bring along my own tool bag. It might come in handy. The week went by more quickly than I had expected and then it was over. The wonderful memories of that camp and those kids will be with me the rest of my life. It was a beautiful experience with lots of laughter and fun, and yes some tears too.

I have memories of a girl named Amy who had a prosthetic leg. On our very first night in camp, her artificial foot had come off, and the only allen wrench of the right size was in the tool bag I had brought along. It was the largest allen wrench that I had, one that I had carried in that bag for over twenty years and had never before or since had a need for.

I have memories also of a boy in a wheel chair named Shawn, who would never see another camp. With the help of myself and others, Shawn was able to ride a horse, take a ride in a canoe, take part in a thing called the great green Jell-O war, and he was even able to go on a hike along a creek bed to search for stones that glittered in the sun light.

The most memorable event for me was the great green Jell-O war. The kids were divided into two groups, each with their own supply of ammunition, about 50 gallons of lime green Jell-O. It seemed like there was a kid hiding behind every rock and tree stalking each others camp. It wasn't long before someone from one team spotted someone else and jell-o grenades filled the air. The air was also filled with the laughter of kids and adults alike. Before it was over, there wasn't anyone who hadn't been hit at least once, including yours truly. At the end of the day, 45 kids, most looking like green aliens, and all with fingers so sticky that they couldn't even pry them apart, gathered in the field next to the pump house to get hosed down. What made it all worthwhile for me was summed up by one boy’s comment on the way down to get hosed off. As we were walking along, he said, to no one in particular, "this has been the greatest time of my life".

This was also an opportunity for me to live my faith rather than just giving lip service to it. During this particular week, living my faith did not involve preaching to the kids about God. In fact, I don't remember even once mentioning God to anybody, but I came away from that camp more filled with love and the Holy Spirit than I ever would have thought possible. When the love of God and the Holy Spirit flows through you, in some strange way you come away even more filled than when you started.”^[iii]

The great paradox of Jesus’ call to self-sacrifice is summed up in his words, “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” Let’s listen to him! Amen.

Sermon delived by Rev. Nancy Cushman on February 3, 2008.