Mathew 17:1-9; Exodus 24:12-18
I
have been ordained over 30 years. This means I have either written or heard
over 30 sermons on The Transfiguration. Monday morning I pulled a few of them
out and reviewed my efforts. These sermons included a mountain top experiences while leading a
youth retreat; wishful thinking in my pre-dating life; and words of wisdom from
Roy Hargrove, a jazz trumpet player who managed to get himself arrested for
possession of marijuana not long after our
conversation.
After
not finding inspiration from my past attempts at this text, I decided perhaps the
best way to legally understand the high brought about by the Transfiguration
was to hike up Humpback and wait for God to give me a word of inspiration. I
drove up 250 only to discover you already know. The Parkway is closed in the
winter.
Most
people would have been discouraged by this turn of events, but my philosophy
has always been a glass half empty containing Diet Coke, is better than a full
glass of anything else. Instead of being
disheartened by the closure of the road, I stared deeply into the very abyss of
that sign and prayed for a heavenly clue. I carefully examined each letter. C-L-O-S-E-D.
I tried to find a clue by rearranging the letters into new words. “Declos”,
“Cosled”, “Seclod”. Those words work well in crossword puzzles when nothing
else fits but they offered no divine inspiration. I thought perhaps each letter
stood for a word which would reveal the message. “C” Christ, “L” loved, “O” others,
“S” scattering “E” established, “D”
decorum. Christ loved others scattering established decorum. That would preach
any Sunday. But I was sure there was more to be discovered than the obvious.
For what seemed like
an eternity, or the length of any song by Justin Bieber, I stared at the sign. “Closed”; “Do not enter”; “Go another
way”. What was God telling me?
And then it was so
clear. Sitting on that road going nowhere, a revelation was revealed. If this
road is closed, then there must be another way to find my destination.
Raise your hands if
you got up this morning and over a cup of coffee you said to your loved one, “I
am so excited to go to church and hear a sermon on The Transfiguration”. Unless
you have a Catholic background or happen to be from Louisiana, you probably didn’t
realize Tuesday is Mardi Gras. You probably didn’t remember Ash Wednesday is
this week until it was mentioned in the announcements. Lent is upon us and most
of us haven’t given it a thought.
I know Lent has not
attained the commercial success of some of our other religious holidays. Lent
is more an in-house season. Lent is when ministers are suppose to get reflective
and lead you on a journey deep inside your soul only to discover we are not
really sure why we wanted to go there. That is why the Sunday before Lent
highlights the Transfiguration. This revelation linking the old and the new is
all wrapped up in mystery and high drama. The Transfiguration hints that
something is about to be revealed and if we are brave enough to look for holy
answers we might discover Easter as something we never imagined possible.
Seriously, how often does that happen? No matter what we do during Lent, don’t
we generally end up believing what we have always believed before Lent? Has the
Lenten journey ever altered your understanding of God, or sin, or salvation, or
even the cross?
I pondered these
questions as I sat before that sign which told me not to enter. Was I celebrating
the sign because I had nothing more to say about the disciples being dumbstruck
by the presence of Moses and Elijah? Or was I celebrating the sign because much
like the disciples I don’t want to imagine Jesus in ways that might not be
comfortable or familiar.
It is really safer to
ignore Lent or at least celebrate Lent in a way that doesn’t push us out of our
comfort zones. That is why for many Lent is no little more than making
resolutions that are forgotten long before Holy Week? What would happen if we
just ignore Lent?
I got out of my car
and approached the gate blocking my path. An amazing thought occurred to me.
While I could not drive my car on the Parkway, there was nothing stopping me
from walking around the gate and proceeding up the road. I parked my car and
began to walk. I walked in the middle of the road knowing full well nothing was
going to encumber my journey. I didn’t go far.
When I reached the first observation point I stood and admired Rockfish
Valley. I noticed some things I had never seen before. I laughed at the sign
that had tried to impede my adventure until it dawned on me in order to make
the journey I had to come without my car. I had to walk alone. I had to do it
differently. And that is when I got it.
There is nothing wrong
with Lent. The problem is me. I have always approached Lent the same old way
and I have always gotten the same old results. I was too easily detoured from
trying a new path. Maybe I was afraid of
what the wilderness offers. Maybe I was afraid of seeing sin and salvation and
the cross and even God from a whole new perspective. This year I am taking a
new road.
What about you? You want
to join me? You can’t take my path but maybe you can do something different
from last year. If your Lent experience
only involves giving something up, switch it around. Instead of giving
something up, try doing something new, preferably something healthy. If your
Lenten experience revolves around reading the prayers of others, then sit down
and write your own prayers. If Lent has always made you reflective and gloomy,
then do something that makes you joyful. If you have never tried Lent before,
then I invite you to come to the church every Wednesday evening at 7:00 and
join some of your fellow church members on a guided tour through the concepts
of grace, truth, compassion, darkness and reconciliation. Then, when we are
ready, we might even wash each other’s feet.
This year will be
different. No transfigurations, no meaningless rituals, just a walk down the
road looking for God. I can’t wait to
discover where God and I will meet.
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