Sharing God's Love and Grace

Devotion for March 25, 2020

From Joni Eareckson Tada’s A Spectacle of Glory, God’s Light Shining Through Me Every Day

Read by Pastor Karen Crawford

The Presbyterian Church of Coshocton

After leaving the synagogue he entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked him about her. (Luke 4:38)

Let us pray. Lord Jesus, today help my friends or family members who are dealing with illness and other distressing situations. I don’t know all the details, and I’m not sure even how to form my prayers for them. But You know their difficulties right now, every one of them. Shower them with Your help and hope today. Amen.

 

Music by Kari Jobe: Healer

Devotion for March 24, 2020

From All God’s Creatures Daily Devotions 2020

Written By Ashley Clark

Read by Pastor Karen Crawford

The Presbyterian Church of Coshocton, OH

 

Devotion for March 23, 2020

From All God’s Creatures: Daily Devotions for Animal Lovers 2020

Written by Patricia Patterson

Read by Pastor Karen Crawford

The Presbyterian Church of Coshocton, OH

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 23, 2020

 

Dear friends,

I give thanks to God for you daily! I am grateful for my flock, who has shown patience and grace as we respond to the health crisis caused by the Coronavirus. Recommendations from the CDC, the governor of Ohio, and our presbytery have led us to cancel programs and groups for at least the next few weeks, including AA. The staff is working from home when possible, and the building is closed. Session, Deacons, Trustees, and committees are in communication through email and phone to care for the congregation.

With the Lord’s help, we will remain faithful to love and serve God and neighbor in creative ways and not become discouraged about things we cannot control or change. For WE are the Church—not the building, amen?  We held our first “virtual only” worship on Facebook and YouTube on March 15, but then decided it might be too dangerous to meet in groups of any size. I am recording my messages and prayers these next few Sundays and posting, as usual, at my blog: pastorkaren.org, Facebook, YouTube, and our Website. Because the situation may change at any time, we invite you to listen and watch for announcements on local media and Facebook, and if you have questions, contact a Session member or me at 321-634-4870 or karenpts@gmail.com.

We have canceled the Lenten Cantata and don’t know, yet, if we will be able to gather in person for Holy Week. If the Coronavirus is still a serious threat, we will host only virtual worship. We will honor the Easter flower orders that we have received, but we hope you understand that we cannot accept orders for any more. We will postpone the egg hunt, Easter breakfast, candy-making, and bake sale until May.

Thank you to all who have sent offerings by mail or given online. We invite our congregation to continue to give as the Spirit leads, as we have all our usual ministry expenses while the building is closed, including paying our staff.

How are you feeling, friends? If you are anxious, fearful or lonely, struggling with a health concern, need prayer or other help, I would like to hear from you. Please know that we are praying for you and your families and I am just a phone call away.

We are still the Body, united by the head of the Church—Jesus Christ. Nothing will ever change that. Thank you for your prayers for our congregation and for the healing of the world God so loves. Thank you for showing God’s love by checking on members and neighbors and offering help to people in need.

In his letter to the believers in Rome, Paul expressed complete confidence in the reality of God’s love, regardless of circumstances. He asked with boldness, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). If God gave His very own Son, Jesus, to save us, then He will provide everything we need to finish this life well. He lists seven seemingly unbearable situations that he himself faced: trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and the sword (v. 35). He didn’t imply that Christ’s love would stop bad things from happening. But Paul said that “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (v. 37).

Through the uncertainty of this world, God can be trusted completely, knowing that nothing, absolutely nothing, “will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (v. 39). So, don’t listen to anyone who says God has sent this virus as a punishment for sin or that this is a sign of the end of the age. Jesus tells us that the Son of Man will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. But do continue believing in the One who is always for us and never against us. The One who, in Revelation 22, says, “Surely I am coming soon.”

 

We look forward to the time when we worship and fellowship, once again, without fear of sickness and when we may see one another face to face, shake hands and offer hugs, break bread, drink the cup, share stories and minister together as the congregation has done for more than two centuries in the City of Coshocton.

 

May God bless you with peace, joy, and good health as you cling to the love of Jesus and the God who is always for us and never against us.

 

 

 

Pastor Karen and the Session of The Presbyterian Church

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meditation on John 4:5-42

March 22, 2020

The Presbyterian Church of Coshocton, OH

 

 

⁵ So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. ⁶ Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.

⁷ A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” ⁸ (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) ⁹ The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) ¹⁰ Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” ¹¹ The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? ¹² Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” ¹³ Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” ¹⁵ The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”

      ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” ¹⁷ The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; ¹⁸ for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” ¹⁹ The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. ²⁰ Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” ²¹ Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²² You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³ But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. ²⁴ God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” ²⁵ The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” ²⁶ Jesus said to her, “I am he,^[c] the one who is speaking to you.”

       ²⁷ Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” ²⁸ Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, ²⁹ “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” ³⁰ They left the city and were on their way to him.

³¹ Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” ³² But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” ³³ So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” ³⁴ Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. ³⁵ Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. ³⁶ The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. ³⁷ For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ ³⁸ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

³⁹ Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” ⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. ⁴¹ And many more believed because of his word. ⁴² They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”

 

 

What have you been doing since the Coronavirus disrupted your life and changed your world? Have you been anxious? Me, too.

We have all heard reports about people panicking and hoarding. I read about a family in Australia who accidentally ordered 48 boxes of toilet paper, instead of 48 rolls, and ended up with a 12-year-supply. That’s what they say, anyway, that it was an accident. Hand sanitizer has been sold out for weeks, as is rubbing alcohol, after people learned they could make their own hand sanitizer with this key ingredient.

Some of us have been stress eating. Is that you? It’s me. I do have a few peanut M&M’s left from the large bag my husband bought me a few days ago. Not too many. I haven’t yet opened the Milano cookies, but it won’t be long.

I have been encouraged by all the positive Facebook messages, showing families doing crafts together, baking, homeschooling, playing games, jumping on a trampoline, watching movies. Just having family dinners every night at home is a good change for many of us.

Social distancing has been a challenge, though, hasn’t it? Isn’t it funny how those two words have entered our everyday language and will long be associated with reaction to the Coronavirus? It has forced us to look for creative ways to do ministry and stay connected with our church, at a time when we are not able to safely gather in person.

We thank God that none of our members or our families have fallen ill with the Coronavirus. We will continue to pray for the Lord’s wisdom and guidance for every day and for his protection and care for the world God so loves.

I urge you today to spend more time with the Lord in prayer, especially if you are anxious, and be comforted by His Word and Spirit. Drink deeply from the well that never runs dry.

 

***

 

When we meet Jesus in our gospel reading, he has left Judea because of a perceived threat. The Pharisees have heard that he is making and baptizing more disciples than John. This isn’t true; it’s his disciples who are baptizing. He begins to journey back to Galilee—a walk of maybe 3 days, if they go through Samaria. Going around it would add another 2 days.

But it isn’t cutting distance or saving time that leads Jesus to go through Samaria. God has a plan for the Samaritan city of Sychar, a short distance from the ancient city of Shechem.

The first capital of the Kingdom of Israel, Shechem is a sacred place where God confirms the covenant he had made with Abraham and where Joshua gathers the Israelites after their Exodus from Egypt and asks in Joshua 24, “Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

That Jesus is talking with a woman alone—Samaritan or otherwise—is scandalous. His disciples are “astonished” when they return from buying food in the city and find him speaking with her and at a well. Although women carried water from wells for their families each day, wells are also community meeting places and scenes of romantic encounters. Jacob meets and falls in love with his future wife, Rachel, in Gen. 29, at a well. When he sees her, he rolls away the stone and waters her father Laban’s flock. Then he kisses her and weeps aloud.

That it is noon and not early morning, when the other women gather, and that she is alone speaks to the Samaritan woman’s marginalized status. This unidentified woman has been rejected and divorced by 5 husbands, for whatever reasons—perhaps because she hasn’t given them children—and is now living with a man to whom she is not married, maybe because she has run away from an abusive relationship. She is practicing social distancing out of shame and fear, avoiding anyone who knew her.

She longs for her life to change, saying to Jesus, who offers a “spring of water gushing up to eternal life,” “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”

Christ speaks with a gentle but direct manner. She isn’t offended. She is impressed that this stranger, who is supposed to be her enemy, knows her story and treats her with kindness. She says that he is a prophet.

More shocking to the disciples than Jesus talking with a woman is that he has engaged in a theological discussion, as if she were an equal to and as important to God’s plan for salvation as the male disciples. She is!

His words, Spirit, and manner penetrate her heart. She leaves the heavy water jar as if it is an unnecessary burden and goes back to the city. Then, the one who avoided people for fear of rejection and humiliation approaches everyone with evangelical zeal, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?”

Once you experience God’s love and grace you want to share it with everyone.

Many Samaritans come to Jesus because of her testimony. They are moved by her faith, when she says, “He told me everything I have ever done.”

 

***

 

Jesus stays in Samaria for two days reaching out to those considered enemies of his people. This is no accidental stop on the way home. The Samaritans come to believe that Jesus “is truly the Savior of the world.” They are an example of faithfulness here, just as the Good Samaritan in the gospel of Luke is an example of love.

Christ has come to another marginalized, despised person, like he did when he healed a man blind since birth. He interrupted the routine of her day, broke into her brokenness, and responded to her spiritual longing.

He interrupts us now, in our brokenness.

Now is the time to remember the love, grace and mercy God has shown us by sending His Son to be the Savior for all people. May you be moved to share your testimonies and bring hope to the hopeless, light into darkness.

For if God can use one marginalized woman in ancient times—before phones, computers and Internet—just think what God can do with you and me.

Come, my friends. Drink deeply from the well that never runs dry, and you will have a spring gushing up inside you to eternal life. You’ll never thirst again.

 

Let us pray.

 

Heavenly Father, thank you for sending Christ to offer us all Living Water, gushing up to eternal life with You. Fill us, Lord, to overflowing with the water of your Spirit, a well that will never run dry. We want to drink deeply so that we may grow in faith and love. Forgive us for our anxiety. Bring to mind all that you have done for us and stir us to grace and gratitude. Lord, please heal the world that you so love. Guide and protect us. Help us to share our testimonies and be hope for the hopeless and light in the darkness. We pray in the name of Your Son. Amen.

 

 

 

 

Meditation on  John 9 (selected verses)

March 15, 2020

The Presbyterian Church of Coshocton, OH

As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. ² His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³ Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. ⁴ We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. ⁵ As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” ⁶ When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, ⁷ saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. ⁸ The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” ⁹ Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” ¹⁰ But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” ¹¹ He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” ^…

    ¹³ They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. ¹⁴ Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. ¹⁵ Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” ¹⁶ Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” …

     ¹⁸ The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight ¹⁹ and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” ²⁰ His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; ²¹ but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” ²² His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. ^…

²⁴ So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” ²⁵ He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” ²⁶ They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” ²⁷ He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” ²⁸ Then they reviled him… “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.

             ³⁵ Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” ³⁶ He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” ³⁷ Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” ³⁸ He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him. ³⁹ Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” ⁴⁰ Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” ⁴¹ Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

 

Even with all the talk about the spread of the corona virus and schools closing for weeks, I didn’t think for a minute that we might actually cancel worship. Until Friday afternoon, when I learned that people were calling the church to see if we were canceling worship. And that Methodist Churches, including our near neighbor Grace, were closing by order of the bishop. So, I called our elders and our general presbyter. It was a difficult decision and truly heartbreaking for us all. But it was a decision made for love—to care for and protect one another.

I am here today to remind you that you are loved—by the Lord, your pastor, and your congregation—and that we are Christ’s new creation. We are a People of Hope and Faith. The Redeemed! The Holy Spirit still lives within us, is working among us and unites us as Christ’s Body. We have not been abandoned. Oh, no!

This fear that we are experiencing… It doesn’t come from the Lord. Paul says in 2 Timothy 2:7, “God does not give us a spirit of fear, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline.” And as to the confusing reports and general disorder around us, listen to Hebrews 13:9, “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever.” And 1 Cor. 14:3, “God is not a God of confusion but of peace.”

Our loving Lord hasn’t sent a virus to punish us. Illness and disease are in this world because we live in frail, mortal bodies in a fallen creation. Christ never promises we won’t suffer. He says, “Pick up your crosses and follow me.” And that he will strengthen us until the end—when he comes again.

***

Here in the gospel of John chapter 9, we have proof that Christ desires to heal and make us whole. This is one of many healing stories in the New Testament. Here, a man was born blind, and what do Christ’s own disciples, along with the religious leaders, believe? His blindness is a punishment from God! They want to know, was it the man or his parents who sinned? Jesus sets them straight. “Neither…he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.”

Blindness, from ancient times, was linked to poverty. If one was blind, one was limited in their ability to work and earn money and the stigma of blindness would separate them from polite, pious society. But also, blindness could be caused by living in poverty, without adequate shelter, care, and nutrition. This is truly a marginalized man, a despised outcast, who has no choice but to ask people to give him food and money to survive. And this is the one whom Christ chooses to bring to the center of the Jewish community’s attention—and reveal God’s glory.

Everyone is talking about what happened to this man and what it says about who Jesus is. This man’s worldly insignificance is emphasized by his not being identified by name. He is merely “a man blind since birth” and after he is healed, he is “the man who had formerly been blind.” And some don’t believe he is the same person! They disregard the miracle in front of their very eyes! Do we do that sometimes, my friends? Do we choose to be unhappy and ungrateful, rather than see the miracle of blessings every day?

In this story, the lowly, oppressed, and hungry are exalted by the Lord, while the wealthy and proud are brought down—as Mary predicts in her song after learning she will give birth to a holy child, son of the Most High. “For nothing,” the angel declares, “will be impossible with God.”

And how does the Light of the World bring healing to a man blind since birth? This is important—his blindness since birth and the method of his healing, like a rebirth! Just as God drew the first human, adam, close to him when he formed him from the dust of the ground, adamah, and breathed life into him, Jesus, the one through whom all things were created, spits on the ground, mixes his saliva with the adamah and touches the man’s eyes, spreading the mud and saliva on him. Then he tells him to “wash in the pool of Siloam, which means sent.” This word of Hebrew origin reminds me of the Greek word apostolos or apostle, as we translate in English. It means, “the one being sent with a message, messenger.” In John 7:37-38, it was to the Siloam water that the Lord points and says in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and let the one who believes in me drink.” And, “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.”

 

Washing in the pool, the man accepts Christ’s invitation to be one who is sent with a message, without knowing what it will mean. Everything the man used to be—poor, marginalized, outcast, isolated, unidentified, and despised, walking in literal darkness—is washed away. History. Gone, like yesterday!

The despised sinner enthusiastically receives the gift of faith with his healing. The one whose own parents turn their backs on him, fearing they will be rejected by their community, says, “One thing I do know, though I was blind, now I see…” Then, as he is driven out from the place where he has lived his entire life up to now, Christ finds him—just as he always comes to find us, wherever we are. And invites all of us to become, like this man, one who is sent to bear witness to the Light, the one in whom is Life, and declare, “Lord, I believe.”

Friends, the Light of the World can help us see what is happening today in a different way. We no longer walk in darkness! We are The Redeemed! Resist the temptation to be fearful in this health crisis. Let us see with the eyes of eternity what is an opportunity for ministry. For it is in our prayer, “Open our eyes, Lord, that we may see,” that we will find our own strength and healing. Our joy will be restored! Do you need your joy restored?? Say, “Amen!”

It’s up to us to reveal the glory of the Lord. We can choose love! Everything we do, every healing word and prayer we say, every encouraging card we write, caring phone call we make. Every act of charity, especially now, will make a difference, not just in one life, but in many lives. One act of goodness will lead to another. And another. And another.

Every act of faith will lead to more. Until we are all transformed.

It’s like Presbyterian minister Fred Rogers said after the terrorist attacks of 911. “No matter what our particular job, especially in our world today,” said the star of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, “we all are called to be “tikkun olam, repairers of creation.” The Hebrew words “tikkun olam” refer to actions taken to improve society, including caring for others. “Thank you for whatever you do,” he said, “wherever you are, to bring joy and light and hope and faith and pardon and love to your neighbor and yourself.”

 

This was good advice for a devastated nation in 2001 and good advice for us today as we struggle with uncertainties, hoping and praying for God’s protection and healing for all. And with our acts of love for God and neighbor, we declare the good news of God’s salvation and say to the Lord, “I believe.”

 

Let us pray. Holy One, thank you for sending the Light of the World so that we may be your redeemed. Open our eyes, Lord, we pray, so that we might see as you see, hope as you hope, love as you love, live as you want us to live and believe as you call us to believe. Forgive us for our fears and selfish inclinations during this time of crisis. Give wisdom and all the necessary resources to the medical community to help and heal the sick. Protect caregivers and first responders, Lord. Grant wisdom to leadership in our churches, communities, and countries around the world. Be with all who are feeling isolated, lonely and afraid. Give us all the gifts of the Spirit—peace, patience, kindness, faith, endurance, and self-control, and, most of all, love that transforms darkness into Light, until all humanity hear the good news of your salvation and respond, “Lord, I believe.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meditation on John 3:1–17

March 8, 2020

The Presbyterian Church of Coshocton, OH

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.

***

We have a special treat today, an opportunity to help our youth as they seek to serve the Lord and their congregation and be equipped for their own ministry. Some of your youth, along with adult volunteers, are preparing an Italian feast after worship to raise money to attend the Montreat Youth Conference in June. You may be wondering, well, what is the big deal about our youth traveling to the hills of North Carolina for a Presbyterian event? How can this make a difference in the lives of our youth?

Well, I will tell you. First of all, this is a rare chance for them to be around hundreds of other Presbyterians their own age. That doesn’t happen here in Coshocton. They need to see that the Kingdom of God is full of young people and doesn’t just look like their home congregation.

This year’s conference theme is, “We Are,” celebrating unity and diversity in the Body of Christ. More than five thousand teens from churches all over the country will travel to Montreat College over the course of 6 weeks this summer.

We gather for worship each day in a beautiful, open air, circular stone auditorium. Many of the youth help to lead worship through drama, scripture readings, liturgical dance, and music. Our youth will get to experience worship with energizers, accompanied by popular songs, and modern technology, with words to the songs, photos, graphics, scripture and video clips displayed on large screens. They will hear messages that are relevant, meaningful and enjoyable for youth and adults. The keynote speakers are great story tellers and Bible teachers, and they share from the heart. They never talk down to the students, some of whom are seekers and haven’t yet made a commitment to following the Savior in their own lives. They seek to challenge and inspire us to believe and live courageously, as a bold witness for Jesus Christ.

Each of the students is assigned to a small group that meets for several hours every day. Small groups nurture both faith and friendships. But the best thing about the Youth Conference, I think, has nothing to do with the program; it is simply a time and space for the wind of the transforming Spirit to blow—an opportunity for students and leaders to take a break from their routine and leave all the distractions of home behind. The teens and adults have time to hang out together without an agenda—to talk, eat, and play, and be still and listen for God.

My experience with the Montreat Youth Conference is that it’s a place where differences are celebrated, doubts and uncertainties are shared, and questions about faith and life are welcome.

 

***

 

If you need evidence that Jesus welcomes questions, look no further than our gospel reading in John today. Who is this Messiah that leaves his door open at night for any seeker to wander in? This is our accessible God—who became human for our sakes so that we would be able to talk with Him, face to face. This is the one who, in John 1:14 is the Word that became flesh and lived among us and allowed us “to see his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” The law was given through Moses; but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. … It is God the only Son who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.”

Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a leader of the Jews—and yet he wasn’t an enemy of God! How often do we read about Pharisees and roll our eyes, because they must all be legalistic and cold-hearted? But here is a Pharisee who wants to know the truth. He has seen and heard about Jesus and his signs. In chapter 2, our Lord turned water into wine at a wedding in Cana and this, the first of his signs, reveals his glory, and his disciples believe in him. And then he goes to Jerusalem for the Passover and cleanses the temple of the money changers and those selling animal sacrifices and getting rich off the poor. And many believe in Christ’s name, because they see the signs, says John 2:23.

Then Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night in John 3 and says, “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.” And Jesus teaches him about the Kingdom of God—how no one can see it without being “born from above.”

Nicodemus fires questions at him. “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” He is talking about himself. He is the one who has grown old. And Jesus seems to be talking in riddles. “What is born of the flesh is flesh and what is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Do not be astonished,” he says, sensing that Nicodemus is really struggling. The older man knows he is missing something, despite all his years of study and practice of the faith of his ancestors. He knows there’s something more. “The wind blows where it chooses and you hear the sound of it,” Jesus says, “but you don’t know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Nicodemus, with every seeker for generations to come, boldly asks, “How can these things be?”

Jesus’ answer isn’t meant to belittle his guest. He isn’t being sarcastic! It’s meant for us to hear that an important, learned teacher of Israel still cannot fathom the things of God, without the help of the Spirit. We can know everything about the Bible and go to church our entire lives, yet still not know Jesus as our Lord and Savior!

The first step is knowing our need for Him and admitting that we can’t find our way back to God through our own reason or intellect. Like Moses, who lifted up the serpent on the pole in the wilderness to save God’s people, the Son of Man would also be lifted up, crucified, so that “whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” And it isn’t enough to believe in the Son, without taking any action. Reading beyond our lectionary passage, we find out that one must do what is true and come to the light, so that “it may be clearly seen that (our) deeds have been done in God.”

***

We don’t know exactly what happened to Nicodemus after his visit with Jesus. But we do know that Christ’s words penetrated his heart. He became born of the Spirit. He continued to be a respected teacher of the law and at the same time, his good deeds done in God were clearly revealed. In John 7:51, he defends Jesus.  “Our law does not judge people,” he asks, “without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?”

We will meet Nicodemus one more time in this gospel—at the cross. In John 19:39, he comes with Joseph of Arimathea to remove Christ’s body and bury him in a new tomb. Nicodemus must have been a wealthy man, because he brings with him a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing an extraordinary 100 pounds to anoint Christ’s body!

He is no longer a secret follower. The Spirit, like a wind, has blown and stirred his faith and courage to grow.

***

Friends, we have an opportunity today to be bold in our witness to Christ—and help our young people. If you cannot stay for their meal, you could still offer a financial gift and encourage them as they seek to be obedient to Christ’s call. And there’s one more thing we must do for our youth.

Pray! Pray that the Spirit will blow like a fierce wind on all of us—and that we will all be reborn from above. Pray that the God who loves us and has a plan for us will use this trip to bring us closer together and nearer to Him. Pray that we may be more courageous, like Nicodemus, in our witness to the One sent by the Father to save the world through Him. May we all be empowered to act on our beliefs, to do what is true and come to the light, and clearly reveal our deeds done in God.

And friends, I pray that we will become known in our community not as the frozen chosen or the wealthy church, but as the congregation with a heart for ministry to children and youth. Where differences are celebrated, doubts and uncertainties shared, and questions about faith and life are welcome.

 

Let us pray.

 

Holy One, we thank you for loving the world so much that you sent your only Son so that those who believe on him wouldn’t perish, but would have eternal life with you. Lord, teach us not to rely on our own intellect and reason, but to seek your Spirit, and be reborn from above. May the wind that cleanses us from unrighteousness stir us to be a courageous witness to the saving work of your Son. And Lord, we ask that you bless our ministry to children and youth and help us to help them be equipped to minister to the world that you love, for the sake of your Son, through whom we pray. Amen.

 

 

Meditation on Matthew 4:1-11

March 1, 2020

The Presbyterian Church of Coshocton

 

 

       Then 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.

 

I am happy to be here with you today. I stand in solidarity with all who have survived the Ohio cold of last year and now the Ohio flu. I am one of you! I am grateful to God for my healing and to my community, who reached out to me with kind words through texts, emails, messenger and Facebook posts.

Thank you, my friends! I really missed you on Ash Wednesday.

The illness took me by surprise. I was feeling well enough on Tuesday. I had just visited four of our flock in Genesis hospital. It was a good day. I am at my best when I am visiting and caring for the sick. I feel as if I am being my true self—the person God wants me to be—when I am walking with you through your time of suffering and struggle, praying with you and for your healing. It is my hope that you will feel the love and peace of the One who suffered through trials and pain, and has promised to be with us always, to the end of the age.

Our Lord teaches us in today’s gospel reading in Matthew chapter 4 that the faithful response to trials and suffering is to trust God and not be afraid to be vulnerable, to be real. Notice what doesn’t happen here. Jesus suffers, but he doesn’t ask His Heavenly Father to make his suffering go away. As Jesus prepares for his public ministry immediately following His baptism, he doesn’t use his special relationship with God to seek any benefits for himself.

Jesus expects the opposite of comfort in the wilderness. In Matthew, he has actually been led by the Spirit of God into the wilderness to be tempted, right after the voice from heaven declares, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” Jesus hasn’t gone to some wilderness retreat for rest and prayer and to attend to his self-care. He is training for and doing spiritual battle. Through this experience, he will bear witness to the power of God’s Word and be strengthened to do His Father’s Will.

He is fasting 40 days and nights, not living on locusts and wild honey, like his cousin John who made the wilderness his home. Verse 2 tells us that Jesus is famished; therefore, the first temptation the devil throws at him has to do with food. “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” Now, you can be sure that the tempter knows exactly who Jesus is. The word translated if might be better translated, “since.” “Since you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” The point is to see what being the Son of God will mean. How will he live out his relationship to God? Will he use it to meet his own needs and receive protection from the vulnerability of being human? The answer, of course, is no. He will reveal himself through this test to be “truly human,” as we say in the Nicene Creed, and yet fully God, “of the same Being with the Father.”

Everything that happens to Jesus in the wilderness points back to the story of Israel, beginning with the allusions to 40 days and 40 nights, fasting, and being led by the Spirit. Where Israel fails, Jesus is faithful. This is not to underscore Israel’s failure, but to emphasize the grace of God in sending the Son, the fulfillment of the law and prophecy, to be the Savior for all people. Bread in the wilderness reminds us of God’s response to His children’s hungry cries: manna from heaven, settling like dew every morning for God’s people to gather and eat. The Israelites’ wilderness is full of toil and trials, danger and discomfort, even death. But it is also a place where God can clearly be seen in miracles, such as the parting of the Red Sea and escaping the Egyptian army, and water gushing from a rock when they have no water to drink. They must learn to rely on God as a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night for every step of their journey, especially since they have no idea where they are going and what trouble might be lurking in the distance.

The one who will say, in John 6:35, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty,” answers the tempter by quoting from ancient’s Israel’s wilderness experience in Deuteronomy 8:2-3. “Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments.  He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

For the second temptation, the tempter takes Jesus to Jerusalem and up to the pinnacle of the Temple. Then he quotes from Psalm 91, twisting a beautiful passage that reassures us of God’s continual care through his angels to persuade Jesus to throw himself down—take his own life. Jesus brings us back to Israel’s story by quoting Deuteronomy 6:16, when Israel argued with Moses about the lack of water. “You must not put the Lord your God to the test,” he says.

The third temptation is to possess kingdom, power, and glory, if he will bow down and worship the devil. He answers with Israel’s great creedal affirmation, the Shema, Hebrew for “hear,” in Deuteronomy 6:4-5. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”

The tempter leaves Jesus, then, proving that professing our love and faithfulness to God makes the demons flee. Suddenly angels come and minister to him in his weakness. Jesus is not afraid to be who he really is before His God. And this is how God wants us to come before Him—and to be with one another, unafraid to be our authentic, truest selves.

This is what I hope and pray for all of us, especially throughout these 40 days, when we choose to retreat to the wilderness to draw nearer to God and become more like the Son. For when we are real—and allow others to see the caring, sensitive, hopeful, grateful people whom God is making us to be—then we are truly walking in the footsteps of our Redeemer.

When I was too sick to come on Ash Wednesday, I was tempted to feel sorry for myself. I always look forward to Ash Wednesday. The evening service in the chapel invites a sweet intimacy. It is a time for opening our hearts to God, for confession and forgiveness, and for the promise of new beginnings by His breath that continually reforms us, God’s precious dust. I am not going to say that wasn’t sad on Ash Wednesday, because I was.

But with the love of family and friends, the Lord kept me from discouragement. And God kept bringing to mind my visits on Tuesday, right before I got sick, which served to strengthen me through my wilderness and remind me of who I am and to whom I belong.

I kept remembering, especially, Velma Hoffman’s deep gratitude to the Lord and her beautiful joy, in spite of a persistent infection in her leg that led to her being hospitalized. She said, more than once, that she had so much to be thankful for. And her face was shining. Though she was not permitted to leave her bed that day, she was walking in the footsteps of her Savior.

Hers was a faithful response to trials and pain, trusting that God loves her and will care and provide for her throughout all her wilderness experiences. She knows who she is and to whom she belongs. And that God is with her and will always be.

Friends, do you know who you are and to whom you belong? Are you willing to be vulnerable with God? It comes down to a question of trust. Do you trust Him? Do you trust His Word? Do you believe in his promise to always be with you? Do you trust your church family enough to be real with us as we journey to the cross?

 

Let us pray.

 

Gracious God, thank you for your everlasting love and promise to be with us always. We thank you for your Son’s example to us in the wilderness, fasting and being tempted for 40 days and nights, yet never giving in to temptation. Help us, Lord, to not slip into discouragement or doubts amidst our trials and suffering, but instead to trust in you and believe in your purpose for our lives and the ultimate good that will come from all things, working together. Bless our flock, Lord, especially those who need your healing touch. Give us a faith to walk in the footsteps of our Savior throughout any wilderness experience and be real and vulnerable with you and one another. In Christ we pray. Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           Meditation on Matthew 6:1-6

Ash Wednesday

The Presbyterian Church of Coshocton

“Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

² “So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. ³ But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

⁵ “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. ⁶ But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

 

I used to wonder why my grandmother was always humming while she cleaned the house. Housekeeping was such hard work back then, when I was a child, visiting her in her little cottage in Daytona Beach, Florida, without air conditioning. She did everything by hand—no dishwasher, no washing machine, no sewing machine, no dryer, not even an electric vacuum cleaner. She washed all her clothes in the kitchen sink and hung them on the clothesline in the backyard or on the back porch. She had a gas stove she lit with a match and an old refrigerator she called an ice box.

Grandma, one of 13 born to Norwegian immigrants, was one of the most humble, hardworking people I have ever met. Her family was well cared for and loved. She served her church in a myriad of ways. And her house was always clean. “Cleanliness is next to godliness,” she used to say, a saying that may have come from John Wesley in a sermon in 1778.

Grandma dusted regularly, something that seemed much less important to my generation, especially when I was a young mother who worked outside the home. Dusting is one of those jobs that no sooner are you finished, you look away and the dust has returned. But that didn’t bother Grandma.

I have come to realize that the act of cleaning itself was deeply satisfying for her; it brought her peace and joy, no matter if the result—a clean house—was short lived. And when she hummed her favorite hymns, her cleaning tasks truly became a spiritual discipline, an act of grateful worship.

And this is how it is with us on Ash Wednesday, when we stop all the rushing around we usually do, racing against ourselves to complete everything we have set ourselves to do, however unrealistic and self-harming these expectations might be. Instead, we honestly examine ourselves, our motives, thoughts, and habits, and invite the Lord, as the psalmist says in 139:33-34, to help us see the sins in us that we cannot see and cleanse us from them. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns,” the psalmist prays. “See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the way everlasting.…” The point of confession and forgiveness is to restore our peace with the Lord and one another, so that nothing will interfere with our journey with Christ to the cross, throughout these 40 days.

Confession and forgiveness are something like house cleaning. We are never finished. As soon as we have sincerely repented from sin and returned to the Lord, next thing we know, we fall into sin again. But that’s OK. God’s grace is sufficient for us, as it was for the Apostle Paul. The Lord wants us to keep on returning to him, not just for forgiveness, but for strength to do His will.

Some people struggle with the image of human beings as dust. I find it comforting, a relief, to admit that we are dust, and as Genesis 3:19 tells us, “and to dust we shall return.” For we are God’s precious dust, and we stand in solidarity with every human being on this.

The dust reminds us of our beginnings and our close relationship with the Lord, from the beginning, not to mention our strong connection to the earth. In the beginning, when the Lord was creating in Genesis 1:27, God formed the first people. “So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” In 2:7, we get an even closer look at His work of creating the first people when he fashions adam from the dust of the ground, adamah. The Lord didn’t hesitate to put his hands in the soil for this act of love. He didn’t see the ground or dust as dirty or bad. It was the medium for our creation, like artists use oil or acrylic paint, watercolor, charcoal, pencils, pen and ink, and so on. God chose to use dust. Our heavenly Father is our potter, says Isaiah 64:8; and we are the clay. He didn’t just speak us into existence as he did the light, sky and stars; he formed the human being and leaned in close to breathe his breath into the person’s nostrils and the man became a living being. And the word for breath is ruach, the same for God’s Spirit, the same for the wind that swept over the face of the waters in Genesis 1:2. God’s breath remains within us, reanimating and reforming our dust. We are dust, but we aren’t the same dust or the same people we were yesterday. God is at work in our lives to accomplish his plans and to use all things for good.

We rejoice in the promise that nothing can separate us from God’s love—not anything we do or anything that can happen to us. In life and in death, we belong to Him.

***

In our Matthew reading, Jesus explores three expressions of authentic Jewish piety—prayer, fasting, and giving to the poor. Jesus is often moved to compassion and acts of kindness and healing when he sees people in need. With the hypocrites’ long, fancy prayers in the public square and the practice of piety for others to see, Jesus seems to be talking about religion verses faith. His society is full of religious people who seem to do all the right things, just as our society is full of religious people, who may not actually be faithful. God is not impressed with vast amounts of spiritual knowledge and memorizing Scripture without putting it into practice. The Lord knows when we are holding back, faking it, or just going through the motions. The Lord knows if he has our hearts and if our lives are truly centered on Him.

He wants to have an intimate relationship with us, just as he did from the very beginning, when he leaned in close and breathed into the nostrils of adam, formed from adamah. While there is a time to practice your good works publicly, so that all can see and give God the glory, when you practice acts of charity and kindness privately, so no one else knows, it can’t be an obligation or a task meant to impress others; acts of kindness and charity are an act of worship, a grateful response to God’s gracious gift of salvation. When we pray in our rooms, with the doors closed, it can only be about relationship and learning to trust in Him.

Just as all of Lent is a season to get back on track with our Christian walk and live to serve and work for justice, Ash Wednesday is a day of new beginnings, a chance to start over. We empty ourselves of ego and pride. We let go of our worldly cares and goals. We confess together as a faith community and are marked with a cross of ashes to remember God’s great love and as a sign of our renewed commitment to the Lord and living our faith. We humbly recall the costly price of the sacrifice and his claiming us in our baptisms—our dying and rising with him to new life. We surrender all of ourselves, together, so our Potter can recreate and renew us, unite and heal us, make us whole and holy in Him.

***

My grandmother, if she were living today, would be way over 100 years old.  She probably wouldn’t be disappointed that my house isn’t as clean as hers was and that I seldom bother to dust. She was a gracious and kind woman who would have been happy to know that her prayers for me were answered, that I finally began to accept God’s love and forgiveness, and that I am learning to live for Christ each day. She would tell me, whenever I shared my feelings of anxiety, sadness, fear or disappointment, “to give it all to the Lord in prayer.” It sounds so simple, but it really is quite profound. No matter how you are feeling, seek the Lord in prayer. Go into your closet and shut the door. For God cares for you. His love will never end.

We can rejoice and give thanks that we are dust, God’s precious dust. We have nothing to fear as we contemplate returning to the dust.  In life and in death, we belong to God.

Amen.

 

 

Meditation on Matthew 17:1–9

Transfiguration Sunday

The Presbyterian Church

Feb. 23, 2020

 

      Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. ² And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. ³ Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. ⁴ Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁵ While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” ⁶ When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. ⁷ But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” ⁸ And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

       ⁹ As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

 

It’s cold outside! In this kind of weather, I don’t want to go outside without my gloves! Brrrr!

But I am finding that those who live in Ohio are a hardy sort. On Friday night, the cold weather didn’t keep most of our confirmation class from getting together for pizza at Amici’s in West Lafayette. Ever been there? Yeah, the pizza’s great. But you should have warned me how cold it is in winter! We were huddled together for warmth, choosing the booth closest to the heat vent so we didn’t freeze to death. It was so cold inside that when I ordered hot water for the tea bag that I brought with me for tea, by the time the waitress walked with my cup from the kitchen to our table, the water was ice cold.

But the Holy Spirit was with us on Friday night. I felt the warmth of God’s presence. And I discovered that the owner paid for most of our meal, which was very kind. Only in our small town, my friends! I enjoyed just being with the mentors and the youth, listening as they talked about things that matter to them; their likes and dislikes; what makes them happy or frustrated, mad or sad; what and who they care about and worry about. I look forward to hearing more of their stories and encouraging them to take risks and never give up on their dreams.

After I got home Friday night, I kept thinking about them. How it’s difficult to be an adult nowadays in our community with jobs that are going away, schools struggling to educate with fewer and fewer funds, and our community health problems, including drug addiction and mental illness. But how it must be even more difficult for the children and youth– how helpless and stressed they must feel. How do our young people stay positive in a world that seems to be crumbling around them? How do they stay positive when the adults around them are not always positive? For our words don’t always reveal our hope in Jesus, and our actions don’t always demonstrate our living resurrected lives with Him right here.

The answer for the youth and for all of us is knowing Jesus as our Lord and Savior. In the weeks and months to come, I pray that the mentors, parents and I will reveal Him through His Word and the fruits of the Spirit—love and joy, patience, kindness, gentleness and self-control. This is how the children will weather the storms in their lives—knowing Jesus, learning to seek Him and trust in Him. Human beings will always let us down. Not the Lord!

What I want more than anything is for us to lead the children and youth up the mountain of God, so that we may meet our Lord together and hear his voice. May His light dispel all the darkness that remains in us—so that we may live as a source of light for others, walking in the ways of mercy, hope and justice.

 

***

 

In our gospel reading today, Jesus retraces the steps that Moses took in Exodus centuries before to be with God. Moses would return from the Holy Mountain after 40 days and 40 nights, equipped with the Word of God that would bring order and shape to the community of faith, teaching them how to love God and neighbor. In addition to the Ten Commandments on tablets of stone, Moses brings back detailed instructions on how to build the tabernacle and ark of the covenant, make the sacrifices for thanksgiving and atonement, to anoint and dress the priests in holy vestments, and for Aaron and his sons to tend the oil lamp on a golden lamp stand that burns day and night before the Lord.

Moses, as he leaves for his climb, tells his elders to wait with the people, and settle their disputes until he returns. He brings with him his assistant, Joshua. Jesus will choose three disciples—Peter, James, and John—to go up the “high mountain, by themselves.” Nothing and no one will distract them from their meeting with God. It strikes me as curious that Jesus never tells them why they are going up the mountain or prepares them for what’s going to happen. I can imagine these fishermen are way out of their comfort zone.

When Jesus is transfigured before them, his face shining like the sun and his clothes a dazzling white, and is talking with Moses and Elijah who suddenly appear, I think to myself, “No wonder Peter says what he says.” For he is merely offering to use his gifts and skills to serve the Lord. Wouldn’t we do the same? Why wouldn’t he want to build dwelling places or booths for the guests, so they may be sheltered from the elements and have a nice visit? Peter longs to make this terrifying vision a comfortable, more ordinary reality. And by building booths, he reveals his desire for Elijah and Moses to stay—and this divine revelation to never end.

Then, just as Peter is speaking, the Lord overshadows them in a bright cloud, like the cloud that Moses enters when he goes up the mountain. A voice echoes the voice at his baptism when it says, “This is My Son, the Beloved; with Him I am well pleased.” It’s when the voice adds, “Listen to him,” that the disciples fall to the ground and are overcome by fear. “Listen to him” means do what Jesus says!

But the one they are commanded to hear and obey comforts them with a touch and gentle words, “Get up and don’t be afraid.”

He orders them to keep this vision a secret until he has been raised from the dead. It will be some time after the resurrection before they understand how Jesus, the one who stood with Moses and Elijah on God’s mountain, is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. The Living Word and image of the invisible God, is also the new commandment, God’s love in human flesh.

Like Moses, Jesus would descend the mountain to encounter a faithless community below.

 

***

 

Today, we will install deacons and elders for our congregation. Their job, first and foremost, is to be spiritual leaders, praying for us and helping us to be more faithful to serve our servant Lord.

The message of the Transfiguration for Christ’s disciples then and now is to be still and listen for the Word of the Lord. Listen with awe and anticipation of what the Lord will do. As Isaiah 55:11 says, “so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

Come to God, not just to make your desires known, but to hear His will and be strengthened in your faith. Let the Lord give you the desires of His heart and make them yours. Come with the confidence of His Beloved Children. “Cast all your worries and cares on him,” says 1 Peter 5:7, “for he cares for you.”  “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace,” says Hebrews 4:16, “that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

To our deacons and elders, I say that you will feel peace doing God’s work. It will be satisfying and bring you joy. Other times, you will be out of your comfort zone. But that isn’t a bad place to be! For didn’t the Lord choose three fishermen to climb a high mountain with him and use them to grow His Kingdom?

As deacons and elders, you may, at times, feel overwhelmed. You may, when you’re tired or things don’t go as planned, wonder what you were thinking when you said yes. I assure you that you are, indeed, called to this ministry. God will be faithful to equip, teach and transform you as you seek Him in prayer. Ephesians 2:10 assures us, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

And whenever you are afraid, the Lord will touch and comfort you with His Word, as he did for his disciples. You are never alone. Your brothers and sisters are behind you and with you. As you serve and give of yourselves, the Lord will surprise you with His goodness and grace. You will be blessed by your congregation.

So, come, everyone. God awaits us on His holy mountain. Let us meet Him together and hear his voice. May God’s light dispel all the darkness that remains in us—so that we may live as a source of light for others, walking in the ways of mercy, hope and justice.

 

Let us pray.

Holy One, thank you for revealing the identity of your Beloved Son on the Holy Mountain to your disciples long ago and for offering us a new covenant with you when we were unfaithful and went our own way. Thank you for revealing your identity to each one of us by your Spirit, and speaking to us by your Word. We believe in the work of your Son on a cross that set us free from the burden of our sins. Lead us to have the courage to live new lives, walking with Christ. Lord, we thank you for all our children and youth in our community. Help us to nurture their faith and reveal your mercy and grace. Let them be filled with your hope and joy. May we all be transformed in your light and shine for others to see and come to know your salvation. In Christ we pray. Amen.