A human being fully alive
Matthew 17: 1-9
New Ark United Church of Christ, Newark, DE
February 23, 2020 (Transfiguration Sunday)
Can you think of a historical figure or do you know someone who embodies their beliefs, their philosophy of life that it shows in their very person? I asked some friends what they thought.
They named people like Jimmy Carter and Michelle Obama; gender fluid comedian Eddie Izzard and Ru Paul and Dolly Parton and Pete Seeger; Jim Henson and Lenny Kravitz; Mahatma Gandhi and Eleanor Roosevelt. Bobby Sands who died on a hunger strike in Northern Ireland. Maya Angelou.
Our beliefs and how we embody them, how we live them have the power to change not only our lives but the lives of those around us. When we embody, when we make visible our values, our principles, when we can be authentically who we are, we become a catalyst for change. And this is how I interpret the transfiguration. Typically the presence of Moses and Elijah in the story signifies the Law and the Prophets, respectively, and that Jesus is the fulfillment of these. But that would mean that the covenant in Jesus supersedes or replaces the covenant that God made with Moses. Which is hubris, something Christianity should repent of and denounce.
So another way to read this story is that Jesus embodies his purpose, his relationship with God, his love for others so completely that he is transformed. It shows in his very person. Not only is he changed but with him are his own heroes of his faith, people who also embodied their purpose, their relationship with God.
How do we embody our relationship with God, with the sacred, with shalom, with wholeness? What makes for an experience of God? Much of it has to do with our personality and how we perceive reality. I asked this question on Facebook, and many folks said that they experience God in nature, in stillness and quietness, in water and light and clouds, in the night sky and mountains and the ocean; in meditation and solitude; snow and rain and thunder and falling leaves; the breath of God in the wind. Others said they experienced God in relationships, with other people and with animals; in community and in protest marches; in music, in worship, in gratitude, in sharing good food with others, in a good laugh; in acts of kindness and acceptance and inclusion; when the universe works, when we experience unexpected insights or connections, when we realize there are forces at work not only through us but also beyond us.
Throughout our culture I witness a hunger, a longing for transcendence, for an experience that lifts us out of ourselves, a spiritual high—the mountaintop. I once went to a rock concert and I saw a person stand for the entire performance with their hands in the air, swaying back and forth, not relating to anyone around him except for the musicians on the stage. There’s a trend in social media called FOMO: Fear of Missing Out. I’ve read articles on church growth that state that what people are looking for in a church, in a worship service, is an experience of God. My response to that is, “Did you bring God with you?” It’s a pretty tall order to deliver every week. What do we do to prepare ourselves for an encounter of the holy? Is God allowed to surprise us? And hopefully Sunday is not the only day of the week that we experience God, what is sacred.
Our life together is more of an expression of God, the sacred, shalom, wholeness—or at least that’s the goal—and then we bring that with us into our lives and into the world. We connect with each other through our unity and our diversity of belief and thought and experience. We look to Jesus as the one who embodied justice, peace, forgiveness, compassion, and unconditional love.
And yet Jesus also shows us that an experience of God is not always a spiritual high. Sometimes we experience God in grief and letting go; in struggle and brokenness; in remorse and pain and in the agony of waiting. Jesus tells his disciples to tell no one of this vision until after he has risen from the dead. Our spiritual highs, those whom we count as our saints, those moments of transcendence and deep love help us move through those times when much is required of us. St. Theresa reminds us that Christ has no body but our body, no hands, no feet on earth but ours. Ours are the eyes through which Christ looks compassion into the world. Ours are the feet with which Christ walks to do good. Ours are the hands with which Christ blesses the world.
Hopefully it is in those moments when Love is working through us that we are a human being fully alive. When we embody purpose and kindness and courage and authenticity;
when we can fully be who we are and we have the same access and agency and power; when we’re connected to something beyond ourselves; when we hold new life and when we let go of a life; when our emotions are raw and true and full and yet we are not lost to them; when we are free to choose but also when we are compelled. It can be exhilarating; it can be humbling; it can feel wonderful; it can hurt like hell. It’s like a bright light coming on; it’s like the lights going out and we have to trust and find our way. It’s knowing we’re not alone; it’s knowing that no one experiences this life like we do and how precious that is.
This is what Church, what community is for. Jesus calls us to be human beings fully alive—awake to not only all the goodness of living but also to its pain. And for that we need help. How do we stay present to one another, how do we embody what we believe without tuning out or numbing out or resisting against one another? The Church is the workshop for the kin-dom of God. And Church is wherever we find people who embody shalom, wholeness, the sacred, the transcendent mystery we call God.
Most of the saints to whom we look to for inspiration didn’t know when they were young that they would change the world, that they would change our lives. Sometimes their egos got in the way but what made them great was when the wall around their ego came crumbling down and what we saw, what we witnessed was a human being, no more no less, imperfect but lovely and real nonetheless. It’s what we wish for ourselves and for everyone—freedom.
Amen.
New Ark United Church of Christ, Newark, DE
February 23, 2020 (Transfiguration Sunday)
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| Transfiguration by Lewis Bowman |
Can you think of a historical figure or do you know someone who embodies their beliefs, their philosophy of life that it shows in their very person? I asked some friends what they thought.
Civil rights activist and statesman John Lewis.
Rosa Parks. Martin Luther King Jr. Attorney and Delaware native Bryan Stevenson. Harriet "Moses" Tubman. Lucretia Mott. Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Corrie ten Boom. Desmond Tutu. Nelson Mandela. Ricardo Esquivia Ballestas, a human rights lawyer working for peace in Colombia. Presbyterian minister and children’s TV host Fred Rogers. Jane Goodall. Greta Thunberg. Ida B. Wells, one of the founders of the NAACP. Someone said that they wouldn’t be who they are today if it were not for their former upstairs neighbor. Another person named their AA sponsor. Some people named parents and grandparents and friends. Our own folks like Frank Dilley and Wally McCurdy and Storm Longhauser. And one bold authentic person named herself as one who embodies their beliefs.
So another way to read this story is that Jesus embodies his purpose, his relationship with God, his love for others so completely that he is transformed. It shows in his very person. Not only is he changed but with him are his own heroes of his faith, people who also embodied their purpose, their relationship with God.
Throughout our culture I witness a hunger, a longing for transcendence, for an experience that lifts us out of ourselves, a spiritual high—the mountaintop. I once went to a rock concert and I saw a person stand for the entire performance with their hands in the air, swaying back and forth, not relating to anyone around him except for the musicians on the stage. There’s a trend in social media called FOMO: Fear of Missing Out. I’ve read articles on church growth that state that what people are looking for in a church, in a worship service, is an experience of God. My response to that is, “Did you bring God with you?” It’s a pretty tall order to deliver every week. What do we do to prepare ourselves for an encounter of the holy? Is God allowed to surprise us? And hopefully Sunday is not the only day of the week that we experience God, what is sacred.
Our life together is more of an expression of God, the sacred, shalom, wholeness—or at least that’s the goal—and then we bring that with us into our lives and into the world. We connect with each other through our unity and our diversity of belief and thought and experience. We look to Jesus as the one who embodied justice, peace, forgiveness, compassion, and unconditional love.
Hopefully it is in those moments when Love is working through us that we are a human being fully alive. When we embody purpose and kindness and courage and authenticity;
This is what Church, what community is for. Jesus calls us to be human beings fully alive—awake to not only all the goodness of living but also to its pain. And for that we need help. How do we stay present to one another, how do we embody what we believe without tuning out or numbing out or resisting against one another? The Church is the workshop for the kin-dom of God. And Church is wherever we find people who embody shalom, wholeness, the sacred, the transcendent mystery we call God.
Most of the saints to whom we look to for inspiration didn’t know when they were young that they would change the world, that they would change our lives. Sometimes their egos got in the way but what made them great was when the wall around their ego came crumbling down and what we saw, what we witnessed was a human being, no more no less, imperfect but lovely and real nonetheless. It’s what we wish for ourselves and for everyone—freedom.
Amen.
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