Transfiguration

 Mark 9:2-9

February 14, 2021

Transfiguration

 

In my past two congregations,

in Ohio and Texas,

while I was there we had some major

anniversaries that we celebrated.

In that process, I enjoyed investigating the origins of

those congregations I served at.

I also did this while I was a member at my home

congregation in New York City too

I liked reading the minutes of the council meetings

and the saved letters to get a glimpse of

what was going on in everyone’s heads at the time.

And in reading some of the history about

two years ago,

I was struck by a similarity between all of them:

These people that started these churches

did not know what they were doing.

Now I don’t mean that in a bad way

Or like they were not smart or capable

Or that the congregations they started were not

successful and long lived.

I mean just in the way that none of them had any

experience in starting a church.

Most of them had new and inexperienced pastors

or no pastors at all. None of them were professional

church planters, most of them were farmers, and bankers

and musicians, and shop owners, doing all this

church stuff in their spare time.

 

Most of they were finding their way around

in the dark, imitating other churches and

taking educated guesses on what to do next

and how build buildings and organize committees

and reach new people in the developing cities and the

changing landscapes that they came together in.

 

I’m guessing that Christ Lutheran has much of

the same history. The fact is there is no one right

way to do church, so you have to make it up as you go along.

 

The one thing that all these people did have though

was their love of God and Jesus and their

passion to bring Christ’s love to the people in their midst.

They may not have know exactly how to do it,

but they had a vision, and they trusted

the Holy Spirit to guide them in their steps.

 

And although, many of our churches have been

around for years, some hundreds of years,

we find ourselves in the same position today.

 

We may have known what we were doing

about 10 or 15 years ago, we might have even

thought we knew what we were doing one year ago,

but now, we are all feeling our way in the dark,

guessing at what the next steps are,

what things will be like in the future.

What will the church look like after COVID?

Who will return? When will we be able to back to normal?

What will normal even be after all this?

And here at Christ Lutheran Church of Hilton Head,

we have a new pastor, a new sanctuary being rebuilt,

you’ve had a recent conflict, there are lots of unknowns here.

 

So, the truth is, we don’t know what we’re doing either.

But we do have now what all those people had

back at the beginning of all these churches,

 and what we have now is a vision.

Not a vision statement, although those are good,

not even a vision as in a clear  picture of where we want

to go although that could be helpful sometimes

but all of us share the same vision:

Christ was crucified, and Christ rose again.

 

Today is Transfiguration.
The day that we remember that day when Jesus and

the disciples go  up on the mountaintop to pray and suddenly,

Jesus is changed, transfigured, his clothes are dazzling,

he’s glowing with light. And he is talking

with two great figures of the faith:  Elijah and Moses.

It is a beautiful vision.

 

It is a testament and a promise to Peter,

James, and John, the three lead

disciples he brought with him up the mountain,

it told them that the glory of God was with them,

in Jesus, and that it would not be taken away.

 

After this moment on the mountain top,

the disciples would go through a lot of things.
A lot of pain, anguish, mourning, sadness, and doubt.

And all through it, they would keep this vision with them,

it would tell them that what they were doing was not folly,

that they were following the way of the one true God

incarnate, God in the flesh.

 

And we have been given visions too.

Visions of God’s love, peace, and justice.

We have been given a vision of the wonderful

things that the church of Christ can be

in a world of hurt and pain and need.

 

In just this week, I have been impressed

with your enthusiasm, your engagement,

your welcome, your passion for service,

and your love of Christ and others.

That gives me a vision of what we can be together.

 

We, the church, are the body of Christ,

When a group of random people gather together

and become a community following Christ’s ways

we too can be transfigured,

changed into something more than the sum of our parts.

 

We may not know exactly what we’re doing,

but with the love and power of God,

the church can become --

like Jesus on that mountaintop – dazzling,

When we come together in Christ’s name,

we can be the visible bearers

of the light of Christ to our communities

and to our world.

 

I am hopeful and excited about our future together.

We will trust the Holy Spirit together,

and we will be transfigured

in the name of Jesus, the one who was crucified,

and the one who rose again.