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Transfiguration and Mardi Gras!

Psalm 2

Why do the nations conspire,
and the peoples plot in vain?

The rulers of the earth set themselves,
and the leaders take counsel together,
against God and those God has anointed,
saying,

“Let us burst their bonds asunder,
and cast their cords from us.”

The one who sits in the heavens laughs;
God has them in derision.

Then God will speak to them in wrath,
and terrify them in fury, saying,

“I have set my ruler on Zion,
my holy hill.”

I will tell of the decree of God:
God said to me, “You are my child;
today I have begotten you.

“Ask of me, and I will make the nations
your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.

“You shall break them
with a rod of iron,
and dash them in pieces
like a potter’s vessel.”

Now therefore, O rulers, be wise;
be warned, O leaders of the earth.

Serve God with fear, with trembling
kiss God’s feet,
or God will be angry,
and you will perish in the way;

for God’s wrath is quickly kindled.
Happy are all who take refuge in God.

Matthew 17:1-9
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 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.”

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!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. 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.”

Sermon by Rev Tomi Jacobs-Ziobro

We can locate our gospel passage this morning in two different ways:
first, in our observance of the church year, and then within the Gospel itself.
We’re celebrating Mardi Gras— Fat Tuesday, the coming to the close of the season of Epiphany, the season of light, and we are preparing on Wednesday to begin Lent,
a contemplative time of recalling the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
It seems fitting to end the season of light with a light so bright that no one on earth can produce it, a flash of brilliant, blinding revelation that illuminates not only who Jesus is, but also Jesus’ mysterious words about his coming suffering, death, and rising again.

The passages in Matthew just before this one are terse exchanges between Jesus and the religious authorities, among the disciples, and between Jesus and his disciples. Things are indeed getting strained on what one commentator—Thomas Long— calls a “death march” to Jerusalem, as Jesus enters “the gloomiest season of his life.”
a contrast in light and darkness

There are scholars that claim that this text is only about Jesus’ identity being revealed before he goes on to Jerusalem and his death.
The story, they insist, is not about us, about who we are or who we are called to be as followers of this Jesus.
However, this perspective makes it difficult to access additional layers of meaning in the text;
It almost seems to over-simplify the whole story.

I would be remiss… as a woman preaching on this text if I failed to make mention of the fact that the story of the Transfiguration does not lend itself easily to the experience, insights, and gifts of women.
with other women clergy I feel there is almost a “men’s club” feel to the story about Jesus, three male disciples, two male prophets and (traditionally) God the Father in heaven, speaking to them in this intimate and life-changing way about “his” beloved Son.
It’s a moment they would always remember, something special that only they shared, and while we all know that the women were present in many places throughout the Bible, they clearly were not invited up to the top of that mountain.

Fortunately, one scholar opens the possibility of exploring deep layers of meaning in this story: according to Stanley P. Saunders, the “Transfiguration is enigmatic, symbolically dense, and resists singular interpretations” (Preaching the Gospel of Matthew: Proclaiming God’s Presence).
That makes room for the voices of women as well, almost as if we too were there on the mountain that day, even though women, unfortunately, do not appear in the most familiar mountaintop experiences, with Moses or Peter, James and John.

Women were at the empty tomb, at the foot of the cross, in the kitchen and at Jesus’ feet in the story of Mary and Martha, and alert to the crisis of a wine shortage at a wedding feast in Cana.
Miriam and other women also danced when the seas parted for the people of Israel to escape the Egyptians,
They covertly helped the Israelite spies before the battle of Jericho (Rahab), hid the Hebrew babies from Pharaoh’s murderous intent (the midwives), and, like Ruth and Naomi, they’ve quietly taken care of one another within one male dominated setting after another.
But taken up on top of the mountain for one of those transcendent experiences of God? Not so much.

there are many ways we catch a glimpse of God’s presence and power in our lives, and not just through (male) apostles, church leaders and teachers, but through the lives and words, the actions and gifts, of women, and not only in the church.

Enough, critical analysis…
Let’s talk about transfiguration in our own lives….When have you seen a person with a radiant face?
What was the occasion?

as you enter this week… celebrate…but also begin to think about what needs to be transfigured in your life?
Peter is the perfect example of misunderstanding how to respond to the Transfiguration.
Are there times you have wanted to set up a shrine around a holy experience rather than taking what you learned from it back into the ordinary ?

How will you pause this week, each day, and notice the radiance of God shining in the most unexpected people and places? Amen.

Resources:

An Improbable Gift of Blessing by Maren C. Tirabassi and Joan Jordan Grant

http://www.ucc.org/worship_samuel_sermon_seeds_february_26_2017

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