Romans 5:1-5
3rd Sunday of Lent
Elizabeth M. Deibert
My sister has had a thirty year endurance battle with Crohn’s Disease. She may be facing abdominal surgery for the 8th time. Barbara Staton flew to the west coast to sing hymns of resurrection hope to her closest sister, Betty, who died late Friday night, after two massive strokes. Ivy Ruark, after spending a week here with her baby sister in early March, settling their mother’s estate and house, got word on Wednesday morning that her younger sister had suddenly died.
The people of Japan, whom I’ve heard interviewed are almost stoic about their suffering. They are a resilient people, but oh, my goodness have they suffered. 10, 000 confirmed dead. More than 17,000 missing and most likely dead. And much of their water is now unsafe to drink. But I’d rather be there than in Libya.
Thanks to technological advances, we can feel closer to the pain of people around the world. This will turn out to be a good thing, I am sure. I’ve stopped asking the question, “Why do people suffer?” Why do bad things happen to good people? No, I now assume that people suffer, that it is part of life, and so my question is this: What leads one suffering person to hope and another to despair? Why do some people who struggle become cynical and others keep their spirits up? How do some people endure and become stronger in their trials, while others seem to develop a victim’s mindset, always expecting the worst to happen, never growing in character?
Paul tells the Romans and us we can move from suffering to hope. Because we are made right with God by faith, we have peace through our Lord Jesus Christ. Our peace comes from our Lord Jesus Christ because of this grace in which we stand.
Hear now what the Spirit is saying to her church, through Paul’s letter to the Romans:
NRS Romans 5:1-5 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Now remember from last week’s sermon, faith is an active word. To have faith is to keep putting trust in God. So by continually putting our trust in God, we grow in rightness with God. But not only that, we also grow in peace. Through Jesus Christ, we stand in grace --- God’s free gift of love, which we do not deserve and cannot earn, but nevertheless, have. That free gift of grace, invites us to keep putting our trust in God. The psalmist helps us to continually put our trust, our hope in God. Listen to Psalm 42: When shall I behold the face of God? My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually, where is your God… Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise him, my help and my God. Paul says hope does not disappoint us because God’s love has been poured into our hearts, through the Holy Spirit. Which brings me to this little song which I’d like to sing before we hear the scripture in another translation.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is peace. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is love. There is comfort in life’s darkest hour; there is light and life, there is help and power in the Spirit, in the Spirit of the Lord.
NLT Romans 5:1-5 Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God's glory. 3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
Okay, now let’s walk through this, one step at a time:
God fills us with love, by the power of the Holy Spirit. We’re talking about the Sacrament of baptism. Every bit of real love you’ve ever experienced comes from the Holy Spirit working through someone. That doesn’t mean that every loving human relationship is perfect.
No, we all know how hard relationships are – how much work they take. We are caught up in the human condition of sin, so our love is infected with it. We go through some really difficult times in most significant relationships. Teens, don’t think that you’ll have a good marriage by finding the perfect mate. No, you’ll have a good marriage when you learn to relate constructively and value the one you have – because all mates are flawed. So while we get glimpses of perfect love in human relationships, the only perfect love is that of God who came to us in Jesus Christ and whose Spirit lives with us and in us.
Nevertheless, we are filled with God’s love through the Holy Spirit, and we journey in faith. As we do we become more like Christ, and are made right with God through this grace, this free gift of love, in which we stand. This is the confirming of our baptism, as we journey with God, that we receive this gift of grace by living in faith. When we see the grace in which we stand, we cannot do any other than to live like the one who lived and died for us, who gives us the grace.
Now while we are filled with God’s love and are actively growing in our Christian journey of faith, the book-ends of this passage, the middle part is the heart of the message -- We are still going to suffer. Life involves suffering – the natural suffering of grief and loss, as well as the suffering we bring on ourselves by poor choices. Sometimes there’s suffering for and with others. And here’s the heart of the passage, the words on the screen:
Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. Say it with me. Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. But not always, does it?
Because suffering can produce resignation, quitting, giving up. Like a person exercising, suffering can produce endurance, if you keep going, without giving up. How do you do that? By faith, by remembering the love of God poured into your heart by the Holy Spirit, by worship, prayer, and surrounding yourself with faithful friends, who can support and encourage you, when you want to quit.
Suffering should produce endurance. The kind of endurance I see in my mother, who when she lost all her siblings in a short period of time, did not quit living, despite her age but kept valuing life. We see this endurance in our friend Gretchen Frueh, who expected to die last summer, and doesn’t feel well at all, but continues to strive to grow in faithfulness. She cares so much about this church’s ministry and members, that she pushes herself to get here to worship every week.
Endurance leads to character, but not always. I’ve seen people who endure trials with bitterness, with cynicism, with a victim’s mindset. They throw themselves a pity party as often as possible. Of course, our laments and our discouragement can be expressed to God and to one another, but those who are building character move on from the pity party eventually to recognize the goodness of God in the little things of life, despite the hardships. They keep loving and being interested in others. They keep perspective on life, and don’t expect it to be easy. They see that with the consolation they receive as they persevere, they can console others. They look to God for those opportunities to grow in character and service.
Character produces hope. We can’t just leapfrog from suffering to hope. It is a process. It involves endurance. This is not a sprint, it is a marathon. God is working on your character and mine. We can be glad that life is hard. The people who have had really easy lives are not worth being around. They are superficial and lacking in empathy. Remember the two words sympathy and empathy include the root pathy/pathos, which means suffering. Those who write sympathy notes do a better job when they feel the pain, when they know the pain of loss. Stephen Ministers are trained to hear the losses, to walk with people in their painful seasons of life, so that folks can more easily move from suffering to endurance to character to hope.
I feel sorry for you if you’ve always been popular and never felt excluded or different or criticized. You’ve missed out on that pain of loneliness. I feel sorry for you if you’ve never lost a job or if you’ve never been discriminated against or treated unfairly because if you haven’t, then you cannot relate to people who have been. I feel sorry for you if all your kids are well above average and all your relationships are relatively cordial and strong. You don’t know the endurance of family life, the agony of hurtful words and the joy of forgiveness.
I feel sorry for you if you’ve made all A’s and gotten accolades all your life, because you don’t know the discouragement of failure and the determination to keep trying after failing. I feel sorry for you if you have never struggled to pay your bills because you’ve missed out on a sense of helplessness that is common to humankind. I feel sorry for you if you’ve never been depressed or racked by grief. Most people have experienced that and need friends who understand. I feel sorry for you if you need to avoid suffering or the appearance of suffering, because only those who are really living and really caring for others ever suffer.
The good news is this: Suffering is good. Not fun, but good for you. It is good when you can find endurance in your suffering. Surrounding yourself with supportive, authentic relationships, you can endure suffering and be unafraid. Filling your life with as much worship and prayer and devotional service to God and neighbor while suffering will help you endure it and find your way through it. Sometimes you will not feel like praying, but just do it anyway. Read the prayers of others. Lean into the faith of others in worship. Suffering can make us humble, which often also makes us more teachable.
And to learn from our suffering, we must endure. Endurance is good. Darn hard, but good. It is an uphill battle. It is just to keep on keeping on. Endurance produces character. I’m not sure why we think we can have good character without the trouble of enduring. That’s like thinking you can be muscular without working out, or educated without study or faithful without prayer.
Finally, as you know, character produces hope because once we have grown in the ways God intends, we naturally have hope. We believe in things we cannot see and cannot always feel. We trust in God, even when life is not a bed of roses. We know, from experience, that God will provide not everything we want but everything we need. And what we most need is to know more deeply the One, Jesus Christ who is always there for us, suffering with us and for us, and leading us day by day into the hope of new life.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
God So Loved the World
John 3:1-21
2nd Sunday of Lent
Elizabeth M. Deibert & Tricia Dillon Thomas
Today’s narrative will be dramatically read by Richard Deibert (speaking the words of Nicodemus) and Chip Schaaff (speaking the words of Jesus). After the reading, Pastor Tricia (T) and I (E) will together invite you to reflect on that most-oft quoted single verse from the Bible, what Martin Luther called the gospel in miniature. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
NRS John 3:1 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God." 3 Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." 4 Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" 5 Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.' 8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." 9 Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" 10 Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? 11 "Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17 "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20 For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21 But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God." (Joh 3:1 NRS)
E: So Tricia how do you react to the notion of being born again or born from above? I mean you can relate to giving birth. Me too, but it’s been a few years, you know. Can you say something to the congregation about what it means to be born again?
T: Honestly, when I first hear that term, I cringe a little—the term’s been hijacked by the secular world, especially in the political spectrum as an excuse, for previously bad behavior and ethics. “Vote for me. Yeah, I did drugs and cheated people, but that was last year and now I’m ‘Born Again.’” I think being born again is not so much a one-time experience as it is a daily experience of dying to yourself and being renewed in Christ. Jesus says, “No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.” Each week after our prayer for forgiveness, we give thanks for our new birth in water as we remember our baptism. We believe the Holy Spirit descends upon us in baptism, but we also believe that our birth into spiritual life is gradual.
E: Yes, in A Declaration of Faith, I love the part about how the Spirit enables our belief. Let me read it: “We testify that the HS makes us able to respond in faith to the gospel and leads us into the Christian community. The Spirit brings us out of death into life, out of separation into fellowship. The Spirit makes us aware of our sinfulness and need, moves us to abandon our old way of life, and persuades us to trust in Christ and adopt his way. In all these things, we are responsible for our decisions. But after we have trusted and repented we recognize that the Spirit enabled us to hear and act. It is not our faith but God’s grace in Jesus Christ that justifies us and reconciles us to God. Yet it is only by faith that we accept God’s grace and live by it.”
T: What was the last thing you said? That it is not our faith but God’s grace in Jesus Christ that reconciles us.
E: Right and it is only by faith that we accept God’s grace and live by it.
T: So let’s talk about how that relates to our key verse that is the favorite of so many Christians. God so loved the world that God gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. This verse seems to be saying that our faith/our belief is the only thing that matters.
E: You’re right, and many Christians have offended people and cheapened the Christian gospel by acting like some one-time sinner’s prayer and expression of faith in Jesus Christ is the simple answer and the one key into the kingdom.
T: And we’ve all known people who made that “decision for Christ” but then lived in ways that did not commend the Gospel to anyone.
E: What if we adjusted our understanding of the word “belief” to include a notion of “trust”? God so loved the world that God gave his only Son, so that everyone who trusts in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
T: I like that. It reframes the verse in a way I can better access. Instead of asking, “Do I believe?” which I sometimes have a hard time answering, I can ask, “Do I put my trust in God.” Or we could think of the word, “belief” as to “have faith in.” The root of the Greek verb “pistay-o” can also mean “faith.” Of course, it is NOT that we want to discount the first time a person commits herself or himself to faith in Jesus Christ. We have 8th and 9th graders who started confirmation yesterday. We hope over the time they spend in confirmation, they will come to an active decision to put their faith in Jesus Christ.
E: Yes, we value those pivotal moments in life when we make choices, as this confirmation moment is a rite of passage for teens becoming adults and claiming the baptismal promises made by their parents, now as responsible young people, becoming more adult-like in their faith. Stepping out in faith, on their own feet.
T: The challenge is figuring out what it means to daily believe, daily trust, daily put our faith in Christ.
E: Isn’t it a continuum – our faith? Not a check mark in one column or another.
T: Yeah, it’s not a verdict – either saved or damned to hell.
E: Not a Santa’s naughty and nice list, with faith moving you to the nice list.
T: So we’ve talked for a while about the word “believe” and come to a new appreciation about the depth and on-going nature of that word. But what about the issue of God giving up his Son? You know there are some people who are disturbed by that.
E: Yes, I have heard some people wonder how a God of love could sacrifice his only Son.
T: I could not sacrifice my sons or my daughter and call that love.
E: Nor could I, but of course, we have to remember the heart of our Christian faith is the Trinity.
T: Yeah, and the dual nature of Christ – that he was not just a human being, but also divine -- the second person of the Trinity.
E: And that he is fully One with his Father. So does it help us if we re-state John 3:16 this way? God so loved the world that God gave his only-begotten self?
T: Yes, that seems more like love. I think a good metaphor for atonement is that of God the judge, who gives the verdict of death, and then hops over the rail and becomes the defendant receiving that verdict. The judge and defendant are the same. After all, we can each understand loving relationships as being sacrificial ones. I’m sacrificing the freedom to sleep, to go to the bathroom by myself and lots of other things, as a mother to my children.
E: Sacrificial for the sake of the other, yes. Only I wonder if that courtroom metaphor, which is used by many through the ages, is really helpful to us. Because we all know that while we are completely justified by grace, a free gift, it is through faith that we grow into that grace. It does us defendants no good to have Jesus take the blame for our sin, if it does not inspire us to live differently, to try to avoid sin, to become more like Christ, to live in the light, not in the dark. Being sacrificial ourselves, for the sake of love, yes, like you and Clay, sacrificing for the life and the goodness of your children.
T: For the goodness of the other – not being sacrificial, like a battered woman sacrificing her dignity.
E: Right. Sacrificial love is giving to another in a way that dignifies both people.
T: And that’s what God has done.
E: Yes, God has given all God could give. God cannot make us respond in love. That would be like a controlling spouse or parent forcing something that does not arise naturally. Love must be mutual, arising in freedom.
T: It is not love if it’s forced.
E: It is not love if coerced. So while God is sovereign, God still preserves our freedom to respond or not to this great sacrificial love.
T: So that leads us to verses 17-21. God does not send God’s son (God’s self) to
condemn the world, but to save us.
E: But I’m still sometimes bothered by the next verse, which says, “Those who do not believe are condemned already.”
T: I can appreciate your discomfort with that. If faith is a gift and somebody seems to have faith in Christ and another does not, then how can we fault the one for not having the gift, for not believing?
E: Well, we talked about belief being a continuum, not a yes or no question, as if on a test. So while it feels like Jesus is separating those who believe cleanly from those who do not believe, I wonder if it is so cleanly divided.
T: And that portion of A Declaration of Faith which we heard says, In all these things, we are responsible for our decisions. But after we have trusted and repented we recognize that the Spirit enabled us to hear and act. So it is both our responsibility to decide to believe and the Holy Spirit who empowers that decision.
E: This paradox does not make it easy for those who want simple answers.
T: No. Because it’s both-and, not either-or. It is God’s gift of grace followed by our responsible faith.
E: Yes, and Presbyterians prefer the grace, but we cannot discount the significance of receiving and embracing this gift of love responsibly. The more we believe, the more we are coming into the light and making choices that do not condemn us.
T: So it is not so much God condemning us, but we condemning ourselves by our reluctance to come into the light?
E: Well, the text says, “God sent the Son not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved.”
T: So the issue that still troubles me is whether we can be saved, even if resist Christ’s love, even if we choose to ignore God. You remember from seminary, Calvin’s emphasis of notion of irresistible grace.
E: You’re right. We believe grace is so beautiful it is irresistible. We believe that when people truly see the goodness of God in the love of Jesus Christ, they will be wowed it. I guess sometimes we don’t see what we most need.
T: Like my kids fight against getting bathed, washed clean, when it is so clear that a calming, refreshing shower or bath is just what they need. Most of the time they end up loving the water so much, I have to practically pull them out of the bath.
E: I remember those days. And now, in my house, there are no more battles about bath time, there are still debates about good choices, about necessary sleep, about respect and responsibility. And the older my kids get, the clearer it is that they have to have grow toward the freedom to make their own choices, because love and responsible faith cannot be coerced.
T: And so we come back to the issue of faith and why it is so valuable for us to claim it, to declare our belief by our words and our actions.
E: Because God so loved the world, that God showed by word and by deed what love looks like. Sacrifice.
T: And by sacrificing our freedom - to commit ourselves to faith in God through Jesus Christ - we are entering the wonderful, challenging world of eternal life (eternal love), not just when we die, but even now!
E: Amen! Let us pray: O God, the depth of your wealth, wisdom, and knowledge. The depth of your grace and mercy and love in Jesus Christ, your very self come to earth. How unsearchable are your judgments, how untraceable are your ways! You are the source, guide, and goal of all that is, to You, Lord God be glory forever! Amen. (Romans 11:33,36)
2nd Sunday of Lent
Elizabeth M. Deibert & Tricia Dillon Thomas
Today’s narrative will be dramatically read by Richard Deibert (speaking the words of Nicodemus) and Chip Schaaff (speaking the words of Jesus). After the reading, Pastor Tricia (T) and I (E) will together invite you to reflect on that most-oft quoted single verse from the Bible, what Martin Luther called the gospel in miniature. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
NRS John 3:1 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God." 3 Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." 4 Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" 5 Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.' 8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." 9 Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" 10 Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? 11 "Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17 "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20 For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21 But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God." (Joh 3:1 NRS)
E: So Tricia how do you react to the notion of being born again or born from above? I mean you can relate to giving birth. Me too, but it’s been a few years, you know. Can you say something to the congregation about what it means to be born again?
T: Honestly, when I first hear that term, I cringe a little—the term’s been hijacked by the secular world, especially in the political spectrum as an excuse, for previously bad behavior and ethics. “Vote for me. Yeah, I did drugs and cheated people, but that was last year and now I’m ‘Born Again.’” I think being born again is not so much a one-time experience as it is a daily experience of dying to yourself and being renewed in Christ. Jesus says, “No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.” Each week after our prayer for forgiveness, we give thanks for our new birth in water as we remember our baptism. We believe the Holy Spirit descends upon us in baptism, but we also believe that our birth into spiritual life is gradual.
E: Yes, in A Declaration of Faith, I love the part about how the Spirit enables our belief. Let me read it: “We testify that the HS makes us able to respond in faith to the gospel and leads us into the Christian community. The Spirit brings us out of death into life, out of separation into fellowship. The Spirit makes us aware of our sinfulness and need, moves us to abandon our old way of life, and persuades us to trust in Christ and adopt his way. In all these things, we are responsible for our decisions. But after we have trusted and repented we recognize that the Spirit enabled us to hear and act. It is not our faith but God’s grace in Jesus Christ that justifies us and reconciles us to God. Yet it is only by faith that we accept God’s grace and live by it.”
T: What was the last thing you said? That it is not our faith but God’s grace in Jesus Christ that reconciles us.
E: Right and it is only by faith that we accept God’s grace and live by it.
T: So let’s talk about how that relates to our key verse that is the favorite of so many Christians. God so loved the world that God gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. This verse seems to be saying that our faith/our belief is the only thing that matters.
E: You’re right, and many Christians have offended people and cheapened the Christian gospel by acting like some one-time sinner’s prayer and expression of faith in Jesus Christ is the simple answer and the one key into the kingdom.
T: And we’ve all known people who made that “decision for Christ” but then lived in ways that did not commend the Gospel to anyone.
E: What if we adjusted our understanding of the word “belief” to include a notion of “trust”? God so loved the world that God gave his only Son, so that everyone who trusts in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
T: I like that. It reframes the verse in a way I can better access. Instead of asking, “Do I believe?” which I sometimes have a hard time answering, I can ask, “Do I put my trust in God.” Or we could think of the word, “belief” as to “have faith in.” The root of the Greek verb “pistay-o” can also mean “faith.” Of course, it is NOT that we want to discount the first time a person commits herself or himself to faith in Jesus Christ. We have 8th and 9th graders who started confirmation yesterday. We hope over the time they spend in confirmation, they will come to an active decision to put their faith in Jesus Christ.
E: Yes, we value those pivotal moments in life when we make choices, as this confirmation moment is a rite of passage for teens becoming adults and claiming the baptismal promises made by their parents, now as responsible young people, becoming more adult-like in their faith. Stepping out in faith, on their own feet.
T: The challenge is figuring out what it means to daily believe, daily trust, daily put our faith in Christ.
E: Isn’t it a continuum – our faith? Not a check mark in one column or another.
T: Yeah, it’s not a verdict – either saved or damned to hell.
E: Not a Santa’s naughty and nice list, with faith moving you to the nice list.
T: So we’ve talked for a while about the word “believe” and come to a new appreciation about the depth and on-going nature of that word. But what about the issue of God giving up his Son? You know there are some people who are disturbed by that.
E: Yes, I have heard some people wonder how a God of love could sacrifice his only Son.
T: I could not sacrifice my sons or my daughter and call that love.
E: Nor could I, but of course, we have to remember the heart of our Christian faith is the Trinity.
T: Yeah, and the dual nature of Christ – that he was not just a human being, but also divine -- the second person of the Trinity.
E: And that he is fully One with his Father. So does it help us if we re-state John 3:16 this way? God so loved the world that God gave his only-begotten self?
T: Yes, that seems more like love. I think a good metaphor for atonement is that of God the judge, who gives the verdict of death, and then hops over the rail and becomes the defendant receiving that verdict. The judge and defendant are the same. After all, we can each understand loving relationships as being sacrificial ones. I’m sacrificing the freedom to sleep, to go to the bathroom by myself and lots of other things, as a mother to my children.
E: Sacrificial for the sake of the other, yes. Only I wonder if that courtroom metaphor, which is used by many through the ages, is really helpful to us. Because we all know that while we are completely justified by grace, a free gift, it is through faith that we grow into that grace. It does us defendants no good to have Jesus take the blame for our sin, if it does not inspire us to live differently, to try to avoid sin, to become more like Christ, to live in the light, not in the dark. Being sacrificial ourselves, for the sake of love, yes, like you and Clay, sacrificing for the life and the goodness of your children.
T: For the goodness of the other – not being sacrificial, like a battered woman sacrificing her dignity.
E: Right. Sacrificial love is giving to another in a way that dignifies both people.
T: And that’s what God has done.
E: Yes, God has given all God could give. God cannot make us respond in love. That would be like a controlling spouse or parent forcing something that does not arise naturally. Love must be mutual, arising in freedom.
T: It is not love if it’s forced.
E: It is not love if coerced. So while God is sovereign, God still preserves our freedom to respond or not to this great sacrificial love.
T: So that leads us to verses 17-21. God does not send God’s son (God’s self) to
condemn the world, but to save us.
E: But I’m still sometimes bothered by the next verse, which says, “Those who do not believe are condemned already.”
T: I can appreciate your discomfort with that. If faith is a gift and somebody seems to have faith in Christ and another does not, then how can we fault the one for not having the gift, for not believing?
E: Well, we talked about belief being a continuum, not a yes or no question, as if on a test. So while it feels like Jesus is separating those who believe cleanly from those who do not believe, I wonder if it is so cleanly divided.
T: And that portion of A Declaration of Faith which we heard says, In all these things, we are responsible for our decisions. But after we have trusted and repented we recognize that the Spirit enabled us to hear and act. So it is both our responsibility to decide to believe and the Holy Spirit who empowers that decision.
E: This paradox does not make it easy for those who want simple answers.
T: No. Because it’s both-and, not either-or. It is God’s gift of grace followed by our responsible faith.
E: Yes, and Presbyterians prefer the grace, but we cannot discount the significance of receiving and embracing this gift of love responsibly. The more we believe, the more we are coming into the light and making choices that do not condemn us.
T: So it is not so much God condemning us, but we condemning ourselves by our reluctance to come into the light?
E: Well, the text says, “God sent the Son not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved.”
T: So the issue that still troubles me is whether we can be saved, even if resist Christ’s love, even if we choose to ignore God. You remember from seminary, Calvin’s emphasis of notion of irresistible grace.
E: You’re right. We believe grace is so beautiful it is irresistible. We believe that when people truly see the goodness of God in the love of Jesus Christ, they will be wowed it. I guess sometimes we don’t see what we most need.
T: Like my kids fight against getting bathed, washed clean, when it is so clear that a calming, refreshing shower or bath is just what they need. Most of the time they end up loving the water so much, I have to practically pull them out of the bath.
E: I remember those days. And now, in my house, there are no more battles about bath time, there are still debates about good choices, about necessary sleep, about respect and responsibility. And the older my kids get, the clearer it is that they have to have grow toward the freedom to make their own choices, because love and responsible faith cannot be coerced.
T: And so we come back to the issue of faith and why it is so valuable for us to claim it, to declare our belief by our words and our actions.
E: Because God so loved the world, that God showed by word and by deed what love looks like. Sacrifice.
T: And by sacrificing our freedom - to commit ourselves to faith in God through Jesus Christ - we are entering the wonderful, challenging world of eternal life (eternal love), not just when we die, but even now!
E: Amen! Let us pray: O God, the depth of your wealth, wisdom, and knowledge. The depth of your grace and mercy and love in Jesus Christ, your very self come to earth. How unsearchable are your judgments, how untraceable are your ways! You are the source, guide, and goal of all that is, to You, Lord God be glory forever! Amen. (Romans 11:33,36)
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Lead Us Not Into Temptation
Matthew 4:1-11
1st Sunday of Lent
Elizabeth M. Deibert
To your name, Lord Jesus, help us bow the knee in worshiping, bow the heart in thinking, bow the will in choosing, and bow the heart in loving. That we might hear your truth and embrace it. Amen.
Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness where he would be tempted, but he suggests that we pray, “Lead us not into temptation.” Of course, that verse can also be translated, “Save us from the time of trial.” Sometimes life is simpler when you only know one translation, when there are no choices. But you know, there are choices every day.
You choose every minute of every day whether in your thoughts and actions, you will seek to obey God, or whether you will do what feels good, the path of least resistance. Or as the Apostle Paul says, we intend to do good, but we cannot seem to get yourself to do the right thing.
That’s the reason for this day in the life of the church year. This first Sunday of Lent every year, we read the temptation story from one of the synoptic Gospels – Matthew, Mark, or Luke. Every year we hear how Christ was tempted and remained faithful and true. It could get a little discouraging, really, if you think about it. Because none of us can be so faithful as Jesus, even though we pray every Sunday or maybe even every day, “Lead us not into temptation or save us from the time of trial.” But we face temptation and trials regularly. Why? What is the purpose of this testing?
Trees that blow in the wind become stronger, so long as the wind is not so strong as to break their boughs off. I believe the same is true of us. The more we resist temptation and choose to obey the will of God, the stronger we become. The historical practices of Lent give you opportunity to practice resisting temptation if in Lent you decide to give up something you enjoy – like chocolate or desserts or meat. Or perhaps you chose to give up criticism, judgmentalism or gossip.
Resisting the temptation to engage in those is every bit as challenging as resisting delicious foods. Or perhaps you have taken on a Lenten discipline of prayer or of scripture reading or building an attitude of gratitude. How are you simplifying your life during Lent? Eating less, driving less, entertaining yourself less, buying fewer clothes and other needless items.
The point is resisting the temptation to simply please yourself – whether with your loose tongue, your loose pocketbook, or your loose body. Every single one of us struggles with each of these. We talk too much about things that matter little or that are damaging to others. We spend too much money on things that matter little, wasting money which could be saved or better used. We are loose with our bodies, in that we please their every whim – by feeding them too much or by choosing to pleasure them in ways that are cheap and ultimately unfulfilling.
Let us read the story of Jesus’ time in the wilderness, looking to him for solutions to the problem of temptation. Jesus was tempted to abuse his freedoms, just as we are tempted to abuse ours. God has so richly blessed us and the temptation is to use that freedom to do what is easy, what feels good, and what puts us in positions of power over others.
Listen now for the Word of God to you to today.
Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. 3 The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." 4 But he answered, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'" 7 Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; 9 and he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." 10 Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! for it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'" 11 Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him. (Matt 4:1-11 NRS)
The first thing I want to point out is that the evil one here has three different names – devil, tempter, and Satan. The word devil means slanderer, and the name Satan, which Jesus gives in the narrative, means adversary. You do not have to imagine the devil, tempter, Satan as one with physical features, as in this image which depicts the devil as a fallen angel. Other images, as from Halloween costumes have evil personified with red horns and such. You know from this story that evil is no match for God. While Jesus in his humanity was tempted, in his divinity, he was never completely threatened. We do not have a dualistic faith, thinking that there’s a big contest between God and the Devil and we’re not sure who will win.
No, but we do understand that there is evil power, which tugs us away from God. When we join the church, we renounce evil and affirm our reliance on the grace of God. That “no to evil” and “yes to grace” is at the heart of our baptismal identity.
Notice that the tempter is trying to get Jesus to question his baptismal identity. “If you are the Son of God” “If you are the Son of God” is the way he begins every temptation. Likewise our temptations are things that make us question who we really are – the beloved children of God, the sisters and brothers of Jesus, whose Spirit gives us power to become like him.
Next let’s move to the three temptations. First, to please the flesh. Turn these stones into bread. Satisfy your bodily urges at all times in all ways. Supersize it. I have not fasted in a long time, but I did engage a juice fast on Ash Wednesday. Going without food all day made the day slow down. The hardest moment was when I came home from the service and wanted food as a sort of reward and comfort at the end of the day. By Thursday morning, hunger was largely absent. Some of our youth fasted with juice and experienced a sense of solidarity with the hungry people of the world. Overeating is a huge problem in our country. Everywhere we go, we are bombarded with opportunities to eat sugary, highly processed foods. Our bodies are not created to manage so much junk food.
First temptation to satisfy our bodies, at all cost. The second temptation is traditionally understood as vain glory. Leap off the temple and prove that the angels will save you. I doubt you’ve been tempted to leap off the rooftop of any buildings lately, but what about driving like a crazy person and assuming that God will protect you. What about working too hard, never resting, and expecting God to keep you healthy long-term with the schedule you keep. Live on the wild side of life and expect God to protect you? There are plenty of teens, young adults, and others who test God routinely by living dangerously. Heavy drinking, drug use, sex outside a covenantal relationship are all like taking a leap off the temple and hoping God will save you. Vain glory is an attempt to prove to people think we are wonderful, cool, amazing.
Teens – don’t try to prove anything to anybody. That’s throwing yourself off the top of a building. You don’t need to prove anything. You are the wonderful person God made you to be. You do not have to please anyone but God. Ignore those crazy friends of yours who try to pull you away from being just who you are. Resist the temptation to try to act and look like everyone else, or at least like the popular kids. Be yourself and feel good about how you are unique. People will respect you for that.
The third temptation is greed. The devil thinks he can promise Jesus all the kingdoms and all the power in the world. It is not his to give. Jesus does not need to give up worshipping God, in order to have all he needs. Satan wants him to give up his valuable mission in order to have all the world can give. Sometimes we give up the most valuable things in life, such as time with family and time for God, because we think we need more of what the world can give us. But all the possessions and power and prestige the world can give will never ultimately satisfy.
Next let’s reflect on the response of Jesus to each temptation. Every time he is prepared with the words of scripture. Even when the tempter comes back at him with scripture, he is still prepared.
First he says, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word from the mouth of God.” Next he says, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” And finally he says, “Worship the Lord alone and serve only God.”
Translating that message to our lives, I would say the gist of our readiness is this: Listen to God in prayer, and know the scriptures. Trust God, and try to avoid putting God in the position of needing to rescue you miraculously from the predicaments you put yourself in. Finally, make God your number one priority.
What makes a temptation tempting is that it truly seems better than doing what God wants you to do. Wouldn’t it be fine to do a little miracle and have bread after forty days. I mean, doesn’t Jesus look like he needs some bread? Of course, he does. Why not use his freedom to use the powers of heaven’s angels to rescue him from danger? Why not have all the power and prestige the world can give him? Because he is choosing to exercise his freedom and power in ways that preserve our dignity and freedom, as well as his own.
Richard tells me that in the novel, Brothers Karamazov, Dostoyevsky makes it clear that the real temptation of Christ was to use his power in ways which would have limited our freedom. (in chapter called “The Grand Inquisitor”) He could have so overwhelmed us with his divine power that we had no choice but to follow him, but he preserved our freedom. We are called to follow, encouraged to follow, but given freedom to keep opening this door and getting slammed by sin, if we really want.
You see, our job is to help one another here, as Jesus helps us. (new slide showing sin as aggressive rhino ready to injure the person) In the most gracious way we can, we need to say to one another, “Hey, don’t open that door – whether it is the door to the refrigerator or the door to internet porn or the door to your bedroom to someone who does not belong there. Don’t open the door of your mouth to negativity or judgment or gossip. Don’t open the door of your heart to the lust for worldly goods and powers. Don’t open the door to cynicism or to egocentrism.
Keep searching for doors of faithfulness. Keep making healthy sacrifices in the manner and name of Christ, especially during this season of Lent. This commitment to Christ will keep you stronger in the fierce winds of serious temptation.
Christ, our Savior, you faced temptation and withstood it faithfully. So may we, as we empowered by your strength. And when we fail, Lord, give us grace to start anew, recognizing that your mercies endure forever.
1st Sunday of Lent
Elizabeth M. Deibert
To your name, Lord Jesus, help us bow the knee in worshiping, bow the heart in thinking, bow the will in choosing, and bow the heart in loving. That we might hear your truth and embrace it. Amen.
Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness where he would be tempted, but he suggests that we pray, “Lead us not into temptation.” Of course, that verse can also be translated, “Save us from the time of trial.” Sometimes life is simpler when you only know one translation, when there are no choices. But you know, there are choices every day.
You choose every minute of every day whether in your thoughts and actions, you will seek to obey God, or whether you will do what feels good, the path of least resistance. Or as the Apostle Paul says, we intend to do good, but we cannot seem to get yourself to do the right thing.
That’s the reason for this day in the life of the church year. This first Sunday of Lent every year, we read the temptation story from one of the synoptic Gospels – Matthew, Mark, or Luke. Every year we hear how Christ was tempted and remained faithful and true. It could get a little discouraging, really, if you think about it. Because none of us can be so faithful as Jesus, even though we pray every Sunday or maybe even every day, “Lead us not into temptation or save us from the time of trial.” But we face temptation and trials regularly. Why? What is the purpose of this testing?
Trees that blow in the wind become stronger, so long as the wind is not so strong as to break their boughs off. I believe the same is true of us. The more we resist temptation and choose to obey the will of God, the stronger we become. The historical practices of Lent give you opportunity to practice resisting temptation if in Lent you decide to give up something you enjoy – like chocolate or desserts or meat. Or perhaps you chose to give up criticism, judgmentalism or gossip.
Resisting the temptation to engage in those is every bit as challenging as resisting delicious foods. Or perhaps you have taken on a Lenten discipline of prayer or of scripture reading or building an attitude of gratitude. How are you simplifying your life during Lent? Eating less, driving less, entertaining yourself less, buying fewer clothes and other needless items.
The point is resisting the temptation to simply please yourself – whether with your loose tongue, your loose pocketbook, or your loose body. Every single one of us struggles with each of these. We talk too much about things that matter little or that are damaging to others. We spend too much money on things that matter little, wasting money which could be saved or better used. We are loose with our bodies, in that we please their every whim – by feeding them too much or by choosing to pleasure them in ways that are cheap and ultimately unfulfilling.
Let us read the story of Jesus’ time in the wilderness, looking to him for solutions to the problem of temptation. Jesus was tempted to abuse his freedoms, just as we are tempted to abuse ours. God has so richly blessed us and the temptation is to use that freedom to do what is easy, what feels good, and what puts us in positions of power over others.
Listen now for the Word of God to you to today.
Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. 3 The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." 4 But he answered, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'" 7 Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; 9 and he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." 10 Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! for it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'" 11 Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him. (Matt 4:1-11 NRS)
The first thing I want to point out is that the evil one here has three different names – devil, tempter, and Satan. The word devil means slanderer, and the name Satan, which Jesus gives in the narrative, means adversary. You do not have to imagine the devil, tempter, Satan as one with physical features, as in this image which depicts the devil as a fallen angel. Other images, as from Halloween costumes have evil personified with red horns and such. You know from this story that evil is no match for God. While Jesus in his humanity was tempted, in his divinity, he was never completely threatened. We do not have a dualistic faith, thinking that there’s a big contest between God and the Devil and we’re not sure who will win.
No, but we do understand that there is evil power, which tugs us away from God. When we join the church, we renounce evil and affirm our reliance on the grace of God. That “no to evil” and “yes to grace” is at the heart of our baptismal identity.
Notice that the tempter is trying to get Jesus to question his baptismal identity. “If you are the Son of God” “If you are the Son of God” is the way he begins every temptation. Likewise our temptations are things that make us question who we really are – the beloved children of God, the sisters and brothers of Jesus, whose Spirit gives us power to become like him.
Next let’s move to the three temptations. First, to please the flesh. Turn these stones into bread. Satisfy your bodily urges at all times in all ways. Supersize it. I have not fasted in a long time, but I did engage a juice fast on Ash Wednesday. Going without food all day made the day slow down. The hardest moment was when I came home from the service and wanted food as a sort of reward and comfort at the end of the day. By Thursday morning, hunger was largely absent. Some of our youth fasted with juice and experienced a sense of solidarity with the hungry people of the world. Overeating is a huge problem in our country. Everywhere we go, we are bombarded with opportunities to eat sugary, highly processed foods. Our bodies are not created to manage so much junk food.
First temptation to satisfy our bodies, at all cost. The second temptation is traditionally understood as vain glory. Leap off the temple and prove that the angels will save you. I doubt you’ve been tempted to leap off the rooftop of any buildings lately, but what about driving like a crazy person and assuming that God will protect you. What about working too hard, never resting, and expecting God to keep you healthy long-term with the schedule you keep. Live on the wild side of life and expect God to protect you? There are plenty of teens, young adults, and others who test God routinely by living dangerously. Heavy drinking, drug use, sex outside a covenantal relationship are all like taking a leap off the temple and hoping God will save you. Vain glory is an attempt to prove to people think we are wonderful, cool, amazing.
Teens – don’t try to prove anything to anybody. That’s throwing yourself off the top of a building. You don’t need to prove anything. You are the wonderful person God made you to be. You do not have to please anyone but God. Ignore those crazy friends of yours who try to pull you away from being just who you are. Resist the temptation to try to act and look like everyone else, or at least like the popular kids. Be yourself and feel good about how you are unique. People will respect you for that.
The third temptation is greed. The devil thinks he can promise Jesus all the kingdoms and all the power in the world. It is not his to give. Jesus does not need to give up worshipping God, in order to have all he needs. Satan wants him to give up his valuable mission in order to have all the world can give. Sometimes we give up the most valuable things in life, such as time with family and time for God, because we think we need more of what the world can give us. But all the possessions and power and prestige the world can give will never ultimately satisfy.
Next let’s reflect on the response of Jesus to each temptation. Every time he is prepared with the words of scripture. Even when the tempter comes back at him with scripture, he is still prepared.
First he says, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word from the mouth of God.” Next he says, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” And finally he says, “Worship the Lord alone and serve only God.”
Translating that message to our lives, I would say the gist of our readiness is this: Listen to God in prayer, and know the scriptures. Trust God, and try to avoid putting God in the position of needing to rescue you miraculously from the predicaments you put yourself in. Finally, make God your number one priority.
What makes a temptation tempting is that it truly seems better than doing what God wants you to do. Wouldn’t it be fine to do a little miracle and have bread after forty days. I mean, doesn’t Jesus look like he needs some bread? Of course, he does. Why not use his freedom to use the powers of heaven’s angels to rescue him from danger? Why not have all the power and prestige the world can give him? Because he is choosing to exercise his freedom and power in ways that preserve our dignity and freedom, as well as his own.
Richard tells me that in the novel, Brothers Karamazov, Dostoyevsky makes it clear that the real temptation of Christ was to use his power in ways which would have limited our freedom. (in chapter called “The Grand Inquisitor”) He could have so overwhelmed us with his divine power that we had no choice but to follow him, but he preserved our freedom. We are called to follow, encouraged to follow, but given freedom to keep opening this door and getting slammed by sin, if we really want.
You see, our job is to help one another here, as Jesus helps us. (new slide showing sin as aggressive rhino ready to injure the person) In the most gracious way we can, we need to say to one another, “Hey, don’t open that door – whether it is the door to the refrigerator or the door to internet porn or the door to your bedroom to someone who does not belong there. Don’t open the door of your mouth to negativity or judgment or gossip. Don’t open the door of your heart to the lust for worldly goods and powers. Don’t open the door to cynicism or to egocentrism.
Keep searching for doors of faithfulness. Keep making healthy sacrifices in the manner and name of Christ, especially during this season of Lent. This commitment to Christ will keep you stronger in the fierce winds of serious temptation.
Christ, our Savior, you faced temptation and withstood it faithfully. So may we, as we empowered by your strength. And when we fail, Lord, give us grace to start anew, recognizing that your mercies endure forever.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Eyewitnesses to Majestic Glory
2 Peter 1:16-21
Transfiguration of the Lord
Elizabeth M. Deibert
If you and I could only see the Holy Spirit everywhere in all things, we too would be staring in amazement like Peter, James, and John, at the Majestic Glory. We would be eyewitnesses of this same miracle, day after day.
You don’t believe me, do you? You don’t believe you can see Jesus like this? You haven’t seen Moses and Elijah either? Well, I say, it is because you and I have not trained our eyes to read all the God is doing in the world.
Think about it. How are you capable of reading the words on this screen, except that your parents read to you and then some wonderful teacher taught you in 1st grade. Then you continued to practice it day after day, year after year, and by now, you are quite a good reader of the English language.
But are we good readers of the spiritual realm of the Majestic Glory of God? Maybe not. Well, because, even though we heard some of these stories of faith, we have not practiced them nearly so well as we practiced reading English literature, history, math, science, not to mention popular culture, which we frequently read.
And then along the way, we had someone tell us that this Christian story is not what it seems, that is a cleverly devised myth. Can you imagine what might have happened if while you were learning to read, someone kept confusing you about what letters make which sound. Those of you with dyslexia understand that very well because for you d and b and p and q all look similar and it is hard to figure out which is which.
There was a couple who thought it funny to teach their child all the wrong sounds for the animals, so dogs say meow and cats say quack, and so forth. Well, it was not so funny for the kid, who was seriously confused about the animal sounds for a very long time.
I am afraid we have a couple of generations of Christians who are confused about our life with God, the amazing, all powerful, all loving, Holy Triune God, whose glory fills the skies. We have stopped reading the Majestic Glory all around us. We only see a flat world. We are so full of cynicism about God, we cannot see. We have been trained to question everything, to want scientific or historical proof for everything, to think that what science and history and technology can give us is more valuable than the gifts of our Christian faith. Today is a day to embrace the power of our majestic and glorious life with Christ, a mystery which defies explanation.
Before we read Peter’s reflection on his experience of the glory of Christ, let me remind you that this is the last Sunday before we begin Lent on Ash Wednesday in just three days. Lent, the season of reflection on the suffering of Christ, the season when we make sacrifices in our own lives, to remember the sacrifice made by Christ on the cross. Lent, a somber season, which we know ends in death and but invites us into the glory of the resurrection. Transfiguration is anticipates Easter. It is a reminder that we like Christ will live. We will be changed, but we have a role to play in that changing process. It is called sanctification – that’s the big word which means becoming more holy. We read today, not the Transfiguration story from the Gospels, but the reflection on the story from 2 Peter.
NRS 2 Peter 1:16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased." 18 We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, 21 because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
This is the only miracle which happens to Jesus himself, you know. Jesus is transfigured before them, but it is not that he changes in a different person, but only that the disciples could see him for who he really was.
To some of you, this will seem like a cleverly devised tale, but I say to you, as Peter said to the early church, this is the real truth of your life – that this story is not just a matter of human interpretation but that the Holy Spirit is speaking through these words to you today to invite you to believe in a power beyond yourself, beyond your imagination, beyond your comprehension, beyond all that the world wants you to believe.
You do not have to see God’s majestic glory all around you, the power of Christ at work in this church, the Holy Spirit filling every sunset and every flower with color. But you can. You can have this prophetic message confirmed by your own eyes in the 21st century.
You do not have to look for the eyes of Christ in every person you meet, but you can, and what a difference it makes in how you treat them. It changes you. It changes them. You want to love and support every person, as if you were doing it for Christ. Why else would sixteen of us go to Tampa to walk in the heat? Why would we care that farmworkers do not get paid fairly? Because we have seen the glory of God in the faces of farmworkers.
You do not have to believe that something happens to you when you come to worship to hear God’s word and to receive the sacrament, when you pray and sing and make offerings of your life to God. You can choose to think that we are just a bunch of kind people, remembering the life of Jesus, reading the stories of faith to be inspired to be good people.
But I believe every week we are here to be truly transformed, to be changed a little more into the likeness of Christ. Every time I participate in worship, especially in the heart of worship -- the Word and the Sacrament, I become a little less sick with sin and a little less blind to all that God is doing in the world. I begin to see clearly. I grow stronger in faith, and build peace with Christ and with others and so do you, every time you are here.
That’s why it is hard for me to imagine worship as an optional experience. This is life, this is health, this is strength. This is how we grow close to Christ, the One through whom we know who we really are.
We understand how muscles that are not used atrophy and become so weak as to do us no good. In fact, they cause us harm by making us vulnerable to fall. What about your faith muscles? Same thing. Your faith needs a short work-out every single day and a real good one at least once a week, or your faith will be weak. How can you expect to have strong faith, if you do not exercise your faith in worship and service.
You too can be a reader, a viewer, an eyewitness of God’s Holy Presence in the world around you, if you choose to practice that way of living. It will mean setting aside time for prayer, for scripture, and for sacrificial service of God in the manner of Christ. It means making this way of seeing the world your priority. It is not a short distance race. No, this is the marathon called life. Life is short in one sense in that the older we get, the faster it goes, and the more amazed we are at our own age. Could I really be this old, we say to ourselves? Especially after we pass what we assume to be the midpoint and we are moving rapidly toward the finish line.
But our perspective changes, if we assume we are preparing for the eternal glory, if we believe we will be transfigured, that we too are little by little being changed from glory into glory, til in heaven we take our place, as the wonderful hymn, “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” puts it.
I want to read to you what our ancestors in the faith were inclined to say about the glory of God in the 1640’s. This is part of the Westminster Confession of Faith. This might have been our confessional reading for today, except that I really thought we needed the ancient Nicene Creed, which so beautifully proclaims the majesty of Christ, connecting us to Christians of sixteen centuries, not just four. Hear this list of adjectives which the reformers in England and Scotland used to describe God – “infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty; most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute, working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will, for his own glory; most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth” (Westminster Confession 6.011) You can hear the awe in their language about a God who transcended all they could describe.
Our understanding God’s transcendence, of God’s majesty, by comparison, is puny. We have turned God into someone we can understand and manage. And that’s why Transfiguration Sunday crashes into us with a kind of confusion. Every year as I come to this Sunday, there’s part of me that rebels. How do I preach on Transfiguration? Our generation is no good at reverence. We do not dwell easily on the majestic glory of God.
But surely somewhere along the way, you’ve had some momentary experience of that glory. When a child was born, when you walked on the beach at sunset, when you stood atop a mountain in autumnal glory, when you returned home after a long, hard time away, when the Christmas candles or lights reminded you of the light of Christ. When N. Carolina beat Duke to clinch the ACC title. (I didn’t really say that!) Seriously, you have had one or more of those moments in life when you were keenly aware of God’s goodness and love. Even our friend, Jim Jones, the Herald reporter picked up on the glory of God as he heard Peace eyewitnesses describe God’s majestic glory in the story of Wells’ baptism.
Peter and James and John had a mountaintop experience with Jesus. They were not sure what had happened but the longer they reflected on it, the more convinced they were that this vision was telling them the truth about the nature of Christ, a truth which could lighten the darkness of everyone. Peter challenges his readers to be attentive to this story as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. The morning star rising in your heart.
So for all of us who sometimes feel that our heart is not so bright, not so warm to God, as it should be, remember that Peter said, pay attention to Christ transfiguration until the day dawns, until your heart warms up to this notion of God’s glory. It’s not the other way around – that when your heart warms, then you pay attention to God.
It’s kind of like first grade. You have to keep looking at the letters, and seeing how certain ones come together to combine sounds. You keep piecing it together, and then one day, after lots of practice, the words begin to flow forth from your mouth, though with some stumbling and pausing. One day, after practicing your Christian faith, practicing seeing the world with Christ’s eyes, practicing viewing the world with the eyes of the Holy Spirit, practicing looking for the glory of God in every flower, every sunset, every person, every wonder, every event – good or bad -- one day the faith begins to dawn, and the morning star rises in your heart and you know the Majestic Glory is there in your midst. And that is what carries you in life, in death, and in life after death.
Glory be to God in the highest heaven. Glory be to you, O Christ. Glory be to the Holy Spirit. Alleluia. Amen.
This sermon grew out of conversations with my dear husband Richard, from whom I learn a great deal about what it means to be faithful.
Transfiguration of the Lord
Elizabeth M. Deibert
If you and I could only see the Holy Spirit everywhere in all things, we too would be staring in amazement like Peter, James, and John, at the Majestic Glory. We would be eyewitnesses of this same miracle, day after day.
You don’t believe me, do you? You don’t believe you can see Jesus like this? You haven’t seen Moses and Elijah either? Well, I say, it is because you and I have not trained our eyes to read all the God is doing in the world.
Think about it. How are you capable of reading the words on this screen, except that your parents read to you and then some wonderful teacher taught you in 1st grade. Then you continued to practice it day after day, year after year, and by now, you are quite a good reader of the English language.
But are we good readers of the spiritual realm of the Majestic Glory of God? Maybe not. Well, because, even though we heard some of these stories of faith, we have not practiced them nearly so well as we practiced reading English literature, history, math, science, not to mention popular culture, which we frequently read.
And then along the way, we had someone tell us that this Christian story is not what it seems, that is a cleverly devised myth. Can you imagine what might have happened if while you were learning to read, someone kept confusing you about what letters make which sound. Those of you with dyslexia understand that very well because for you d and b and p and q all look similar and it is hard to figure out which is which.
There was a couple who thought it funny to teach their child all the wrong sounds for the animals, so dogs say meow and cats say quack, and so forth. Well, it was not so funny for the kid, who was seriously confused about the animal sounds for a very long time.
I am afraid we have a couple of generations of Christians who are confused about our life with God, the amazing, all powerful, all loving, Holy Triune God, whose glory fills the skies. We have stopped reading the Majestic Glory all around us. We only see a flat world. We are so full of cynicism about God, we cannot see. We have been trained to question everything, to want scientific or historical proof for everything, to think that what science and history and technology can give us is more valuable than the gifts of our Christian faith. Today is a day to embrace the power of our majestic and glorious life with Christ, a mystery which defies explanation.
Before we read Peter’s reflection on his experience of the glory of Christ, let me remind you that this is the last Sunday before we begin Lent on Ash Wednesday in just three days. Lent, the season of reflection on the suffering of Christ, the season when we make sacrifices in our own lives, to remember the sacrifice made by Christ on the cross. Lent, a somber season, which we know ends in death and but invites us into the glory of the resurrection. Transfiguration is anticipates Easter. It is a reminder that we like Christ will live. We will be changed, but we have a role to play in that changing process. It is called sanctification – that’s the big word which means becoming more holy. We read today, not the Transfiguration story from the Gospels, but the reflection on the story from 2 Peter.
NRS 2 Peter 1:16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased." 18 We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, 21 because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
This is the only miracle which happens to Jesus himself, you know. Jesus is transfigured before them, but it is not that he changes in a different person, but only that the disciples could see him for who he really was.
To some of you, this will seem like a cleverly devised tale, but I say to you, as Peter said to the early church, this is the real truth of your life – that this story is not just a matter of human interpretation but that the Holy Spirit is speaking through these words to you today to invite you to believe in a power beyond yourself, beyond your imagination, beyond your comprehension, beyond all that the world wants you to believe.
You do not have to see God’s majestic glory all around you, the power of Christ at work in this church, the Holy Spirit filling every sunset and every flower with color. But you can. You can have this prophetic message confirmed by your own eyes in the 21st century.
You do not have to look for the eyes of Christ in every person you meet, but you can, and what a difference it makes in how you treat them. It changes you. It changes them. You want to love and support every person, as if you were doing it for Christ. Why else would sixteen of us go to Tampa to walk in the heat? Why would we care that farmworkers do not get paid fairly? Because we have seen the glory of God in the faces of farmworkers.
You do not have to believe that something happens to you when you come to worship to hear God’s word and to receive the sacrament, when you pray and sing and make offerings of your life to God. You can choose to think that we are just a bunch of kind people, remembering the life of Jesus, reading the stories of faith to be inspired to be good people.
But I believe every week we are here to be truly transformed, to be changed a little more into the likeness of Christ. Every time I participate in worship, especially in the heart of worship -- the Word and the Sacrament, I become a little less sick with sin and a little less blind to all that God is doing in the world. I begin to see clearly. I grow stronger in faith, and build peace with Christ and with others and so do you, every time you are here.
That’s why it is hard for me to imagine worship as an optional experience. This is life, this is health, this is strength. This is how we grow close to Christ, the One through whom we know who we really are.
We understand how muscles that are not used atrophy and become so weak as to do us no good. In fact, they cause us harm by making us vulnerable to fall. What about your faith muscles? Same thing. Your faith needs a short work-out every single day and a real good one at least once a week, or your faith will be weak. How can you expect to have strong faith, if you do not exercise your faith in worship and service.
You too can be a reader, a viewer, an eyewitness of God’s Holy Presence in the world around you, if you choose to practice that way of living. It will mean setting aside time for prayer, for scripture, and for sacrificial service of God in the manner of Christ. It means making this way of seeing the world your priority. It is not a short distance race. No, this is the marathon called life. Life is short in one sense in that the older we get, the faster it goes, and the more amazed we are at our own age. Could I really be this old, we say to ourselves? Especially after we pass what we assume to be the midpoint and we are moving rapidly toward the finish line.
But our perspective changes, if we assume we are preparing for the eternal glory, if we believe we will be transfigured, that we too are little by little being changed from glory into glory, til in heaven we take our place, as the wonderful hymn, “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” puts it.
I want to read to you what our ancestors in the faith were inclined to say about the glory of God in the 1640’s. This is part of the Westminster Confession of Faith. This might have been our confessional reading for today, except that I really thought we needed the ancient Nicene Creed, which so beautifully proclaims the majesty of Christ, connecting us to Christians of sixteen centuries, not just four. Hear this list of adjectives which the reformers in England and Scotland used to describe God – “infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty; most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute, working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will, for his own glory; most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth” (Westminster Confession 6.011) You can hear the awe in their language about a God who transcended all they could describe.
Our understanding God’s transcendence, of God’s majesty, by comparison, is puny. We have turned God into someone we can understand and manage. And that’s why Transfiguration Sunday crashes into us with a kind of confusion. Every year as I come to this Sunday, there’s part of me that rebels. How do I preach on Transfiguration? Our generation is no good at reverence. We do not dwell easily on the majestic glory of God.
But surely somewhere along the way, you’ve had some momentary experience of that glory. When a child was born, when you walked on the beach at sunset, when you stood atop a mountain in autumnal glory, when you returned home after a long, hard time away, when the Christmas candles or lights reminded you of the light of Christ. When N. Carolina beat Duke to clinch the ACC title. (I didn’t really say that!) Seriously, you have had one or more of those moments in life when you were keenly aware of God’s goodness and love. Even our friend, Jim Jones, the Herald reporter picked up on the glory of God as he heard Peace eyewitnesses describe God’s majestic glory in the story of Wells’ baptism.
Peter and James and John had a mountaintop experience with Jesus. They were not sure what had happened but the longer they reflected on it, the more convinced they were that this vision was telling them the truth about the nature of Christ, a truth which could lighten the darkness of everyone. Peter challenges his readers to be attentive to this story as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. The morning star rising in your heart.
So for all of us who sometimes feel that our heart is not so bright, not so warm to God, as it should be, remember that Peter said, pay attention to Christ transfiguration until the day dawns, until your heart warms up to this notion of God’s glory. It’s not the other way around – that when your heart warms, then you pay attention to God.
It’s kind of like first grade. You have to keep looking at the letters, and seeing how certain ones come together to combine sounds. You keep piecing it together, and then one day, after lots of practice, the words begin to flow forth from your mouth, though with some stumbling and pausing. One day, after practicing your Christian faith, practicing seeing the world with Christ’s eyes, practicing viewing the world with the eyes of the Holy Spirit, practicing looking for the glory of God in every flower, every sunset, every person, every wonder, every event – good or bad -- one day the faith begins to dawn, and the morning star rises in your heart and you know the Majestic Glory is there in your midst. And that is what carries you in life, in death, and in life after death.
Glory be to God in the highest heaven. Glory be to you, O Christ. Glory be to the Holy Spirit. Alleluia. Amen.
This sermon grew out of conversations with my dear husband Richard, from whom I learn a great deal about what it means to be faithful.
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