Tag: James & John

Sunday Before Lent: Transfiguration


Exodus 24:12-18
2 Peter 1:16-21
Matthew 17:1-9

We are about to enter the last week of the short season of Epiphany. This coming Wednesday we begin forty days of Lent. Over the past few weeks at various services I have talked about epiphany. As a reminder, the Greek word for “epiphany” means disclosure, manifestation, unveiling or appearance.
Matthew 17 for this week describes one of the greatest “epiphanies” ever; the Transfiguration of Jesus before Peter, James, and John. It is complete with blinding light, a heavenly voice, and visions of Moses and Elijah.
The event was so mind-boggling that the New Testament reading this week in 2 Peter 1 admits that some people dismissed the story as a “cleverly invented tale.” The Transfiguration account is in Matthew, Mark & Luke so we know it is an important event.

Close your eyes just for a moment.

I would like you to consider: what does Jesus look like to you?

What colour is his hair, his eyes, teeth – crooked or straight? Ears – big or small? Tall or short? Hands – rough or smooth?

Just create a picture of what you think He looks like.

By this point in Matthew’s Gospel we have seen a very human Jesus. He was born, had a childhood; Jesus eats, drinks, sleeps, goes to a wedding, goes sailing, meets up with friends. He travels, he cries, he gets angry, he wants to be alone. All very normal and human activities. But we also see Jesus healing people, exercising demons; doing more supernatural things. He is doing a lot of teaching and preaching and the crowds are growing and the Pharisees are starting to close ranks.

Then we have the Transfiguration! If there were hints that Jesus was something more than strictly human, here we have it! Jesus really is more than a mere man, more than human. The Transfiguration is the luminous story of a mystical encounter, not only between God and God’s Beloved but also between those at the centre of the story and those who watch. Those at the centre are Jesus, Moses and Elijah. Those who watch are Peter, James and John. And then, of course, there are all of us watching all of them.

I want to focus on the watching, the listening and the closeness to God that happens in this story.

Peter, James and John are invited to accompany Jesus up the mountain where he physically changes his appearance before them. The description is that of a heavenly being, dressed in white. These three probably had a better understanding of who Jesus was; beyond being only human. Just before the Transfiguration account, Jesus asks Peter ‘who do you say I am?’ and Peter replies ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God’. Jesus blesses Peter for this answer.

Once this acknowledgment takes place, Jesus begins to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, to suffer and die at the hands of the chief priests and the elders, and on the third day rise again.

While it might not have made complete sense to Peter, James and John, they have already decided who Jesus is. He is the Messiah. They had stayed close to Jesus throughout his ministry being the first disciples called. They stayed with him through to the end – even Peter who denies Jesus three times never really leaves him.

If we want to see who Jesus is, if we want to listen to Him – we need to stay close to him.

Go back for another moment to your mental picture of Jesus. How far away is he from you? Three inches, three feet, across the room, a speck in the distance?

Where we place Jesus in our thinking and in our lives says something about how close we are to him. If we want to see his face then we need to stay close. Keep Your Eyes on Jesus. Also keep your ears on Jesus.

For the second time, the disciples hear a voice from the cloud saying ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased. They first heard this at Jesus’ baptism; but this time there is an addendum, ‘listen to him’.

If we want to hear Him; then we need to stay close to Him. Jesus is always speaking but we are not always willing to listen to his voice. People sometimes tell me that they don’t think they have ever heard from God or had any encounter with him, what some might call a ‘mountain top’ experience – whatever that might mean for them.

I am always curious to know how people are positioning themselves to ‘hear from God’. Closeness to God is a thread that runs through both the Old & New Testaments.

There is an intimacy to a relationship with God; we see this as he takes aside certain people – Moses, Peter, James and John for particular purposes. Sometimes we have to be taken out of our circumstances and situations to meet with God. Moses is taken up and spends an extended amount of time in the presence of God: forty days and forty nights. Moses is given instructions for the building of the ark of the Covenant and other laws and commandments for the people of Israel whom he was leading.

Moses reappears in the Transfiguration story as representing the OT law that is fulfilled in the coming of Jesus. Throughout the OT God is hidden because he is too glorious to be seen by his people. They could not survive in all that glory.
It is through Jesus that we can stand in the glory of God – the God that is hidden in the OT is the God revealed and exposed in the person of Jesus in the NT.

It is in the Transfiguration that we are reminded of greatness and otherness of Jesus and of God which is helpful as we head into Lent. We need reminding that Jesus is more than we are, he is more than enough.

I think that many Christians try to reduce him down, make him fit into our lives, constrain him to our view of the world. We easily dismiss Him when he doesn’t do or act how we want him to.

With Transfiguration Sunday, we come to the end of another liturgical season. We have spent time with the people who experienced Epiphany (the wise men, Mary & Joseph, Simeon & Anna). We now prepare for the long darkness of Lent. We can’t know ahead of time what mountains and valleys lie ahead. We can’t predict how God will speak, and in what guise Jesus might appear.
But we can trust in this: whether on the brightest mountain, or in the darkest valley, Jesus is with us. Even as he blazes with holy light, his hand remains warm and solid on our shoulders. Even when we’re on our knees in the wilderness, he whispers, “Do not be afraid.”

So listen to the ordinary. Scan the horizon. Keep listening. Keep looking. It is good for us to be here.




Proper 24: Asking

Sons of Thunder – from https://mllccarmine.com

17/10/18
Trinity 20/Proper 24

Isaiah 53:4-12
Hebrews 5:1-10
Mark 10:35-45

Questions, Questions and more Questions!

I am going to start this sermon with a question!

Are you the kind of person who asks a lot of questions? There are little questions, big questions, easy, hard, dumb, unanswerable, un-askable, rhetorical, revealing, innocent and embarrassing questions that we all carry around in us and have asked of us. We all ask questions for different reasons: some people are naturally curious, sometimes we need better or clearer information, instruction or directions, some of us might be a busy-body and just want the news.

Questions form the basis of most conversations and communication. If you spend any time with children, you can be asked a multitude of questions on any number of subjects in a very short amount of time! I am sure that many of us have had the experience of being asked a question that we did not have an answer for. That awful feeling when the teacher asks you and you have no earthly idea what the answer is!

In this morning’s Gospel reading we see an exchange of questions between Jesus, James and John. This exchange shows the approachability of Jesus; and although their question was misplaced, Jesus engages seriously and compassionately with them. Previously in Mark 10, Peter put his case forward about the disciples giving up everything (homes, families, jobs) to follow Jesus. Jesus’ response to Peter is that all will receive it all back in this age and eternal life in the age to come.

James and John now seem to be putting their oar in and asking (which is actually a demand) to Jesus. They preface the request with: ‘we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you’. They say this before they actually ask/tell Jesus what it is that they want him to do. There are very few people whose request I would grant before I knew what the request was!
Their question is often dismissed as foolish or arrogant , ‘oh those silly Sons of Thunder!’ and there is some truth to that, but James and John have done a couple of things right.

Jesus does not rebuff or get angry with them as the disciples did; Jesus welcomes the question, invites them to ask it, but has some questions of his own for James and John. Questions that are not easy to answer!

‘What is it that you want me to do for you?’ asks Jesus. The first thing James and John did right was that they have come to Jesus; generally a very good starting point. James and John clearly trust Jesus to come through for them. However it is evident that they may have missed what Jesus was trying to tell them about what was awaiting him: being handed over to the chief priests and scribes, condemned to death, handed over again, mocked, spat on, flogged and killed; and after three days rise again.

James and John believe that Jesus will come through in the end even though they skipped over that tricky middle bit! How is our trust this morning? Do we live like we believe that Jesus will come through in the end? Jesus should be, wants to be, our starting place; the safe place where we can take our questions.

Jesus invites them to ask and what do they want? The reply: ‘Sit at the right and left hand in your glory.’ James and John are not criticised for this request, not at least by Jesus. James and John believe that Jesus will win; Jesus will be in glory and they want to be right there with him. They are ambitious for God! They expect Jesus to be glorified. Jesus redirects these ambitions, wants to reset their priorities and motives.

How ambitious are we for God? The real danger we face as a church, a group of parishes and the Church more widely is: apathy, cynicism and complacency. These are the roadblocks to abundant living and transformation!

Jesus wants us to want more, seek more, hope more and need more of him. This, I think, is why he didn’t get annoyed with James and John as they were doing the right thing: going to him and asking but they needed some redirection.

Now the confident and bold request of James and John is rather tacky, somewhat ignorant and immature, the motives were more selfish than not. But they ask! They engage in a real relationship with Jesus. They want to stay close to him by being with him in his glory! Save us seats Jesus! We want to be with you!

This reminds me of all the times that I don’t ask, don’t engage and don’t lean into what Jesus might be trying to say to me. Sure, we might throw my own questions his way but how often do we stay around for an answer? Am we willing to wait even if it takes a long time?

The answer to the request of James and John does get answered. Jesus tells them that it is not his request to grant but it is for those whom it has been prepared. Sounds a little cryptic but Jesus is completely deferring to God. This is not Jesus’ decision to make. The purpose of God will not be thwarted! But neither can they be fully understood beforehand.

The places are seemingly prepared for those who want to serve. This is what James and John fail to recognise and probably the other upset disciples too. Jesus calls them together for a lesson of ‘supreme importance’ as one commentary put it. Jesus is not going to operate like the world does, ruling with tyranny and a heavy hand.

Jesus came to serve and not be served. You want to sit on my left and on my right? Then you must be the servant. Want to be first, then you have to be the last! Give up your entitlement, move downwards. This isn’t about rules but a way of life.

The real question we need to ask is: ‘What can I do for you?’. This is a question to ask of God but also to each other. Be prepared for more questions than answers; not always what you want to hear but always loving and always true.

Like James and John, we might want God to do something for us. Ask away! Go to the Father in faith, in confidence; He will take your questions, your ambitions and desires in order to line up with His will. If we are willing.

Don’t be embarrassed. James and John certainly were not. Their questions were heard. The answers may have been unexpected, even unwanted but they came away changed from these conversations, hopefully understanding more of how God operates and what Jesus came to do. He came to serve and we should be willing to do the same.

You won’t ever get anything if you don’t ask!

So friends – ask the questions, expect to be heard, be ready for an answer and for change.