Sunday before Lent Luke 9:28-36 Exodus 34-29-endThe account of the Transfiguration recalls an experience of an uncertain nature. Perhaps we may best describe it as intensely religious and mystical. Jesus was praying and the appearance of his face changed while he was doing so. Three of the disciples, Peter and John and James, had gone with him up on a mountain and were witnesses of what happened there. Not only did Jesus’ face change in an aura of unnatural brilliance; suddenly two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared and were talking to Jesus. Moses and Elijah were two major historic figures and paragons of the Jewish faith; Moses as the lawgiver, and Elijah as the great prophet. So, as representatives of Israel’s main connections with God in history, their sudden appearance made a statement. What is more, their encounters with God had had a profound effect at the time. Moses had been the one who led the people out of slavery in Egypt. Later, when he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, he did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. It was too much for the people, so he had to wear a veil for some time, or they would be afraid. Elijah had been an amazing prophet, speaking the word of God so powerfully that it changed situations most miraculously. Now, appearing to Jesus, we don’t have a record of their exact words but they were speaking of Jesus’ ‘departure’, which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem. This departure is literally called ‘exodus’ in the meaning of the text and probably refers to Jesus’ death and resurrection and possibly also his ascension. The account of the Transfiguration includes the somewhat amusing response of Peter, who, being sleepy yet still awake, saw the glory of Jesus and the two men in his company. Peter suggests to have a shelter made for all three. We read that he didn’t really know what he was saying, but the most likely interpretation is that he wanted to preserve the experience, as it was all so very special and significant. The cloud that then came and overshadowed them, however, terrified the disciples. The whole experience was then topped off with the voice from God himself, saying: ‘This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’ Another reading that the Lectionary puts together with Luke’s account of the Transfiguration is 2 Corinthians 3, in which Paul refers to the veil that Moses had to put over his face. He says that, although they could see the glory of God reflected on his face, their minds were hardened. ‘Indeed,’ he continues, ‘to this very day, when they hear the reading of the old covenant, that same veil is still there, since only in Christ is it set aside. [….] to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds; but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.’The Church does talk about ‘the veil’ and the way we are called to come close into God’s presence, ‘within the veil’. As Paul also says, ‘They suddenly recognise that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiselled stone.’ And when we are that close to God, we find that ‘our faces shine with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.’ Is this too much to grasp? Is it even something we are looking forward too? We may be uncertain at present; we may dither, we may be afraid. But let us be encouraged: God longs for us to approach him with boldness and with expectation. So let us move ever closer in his direction. Amen.
Second Sunday before Lent Luke 8:22-25 Genesis 2:4b-9; 15-endThe account of the disciples in a boat on the lake during a storm and Jesus calming it, is only 4 verses long in Luke – Matthew describes it in 5 and Mark in 7. But that is not the point. The description of the event is very straight forward, but the implication is not – or at least it is remarkable. In my Bible footnote it is simply stated that ‘power over the elements is a divine capacity often celebrated in the Psalms and other texts.’ So far so good. We also have a passage from Genesis 2 paired with today’s reading and there we read a summary of the creation of the earth and the heavens, with human beings as God’s final act of creation. And it was all very good. So, that is what we have for today: Jesus calming the storm while in a boat on the lake during a bad storm, and a summary of creation. We could simply state that indeed power over the elements is a divine capacity and so Jesus is showing his divinity especially in this act of calming the storm. But you may want a little bit more than that! The account in Luke ends with: ‘He [Jesus] said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were afraid and amazed, and said to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him!”’Water, as we read in Genesis chapter 1, is an image of chaos, of the state of affairs before God touched it for life and purpose. Water is still with us; life is not possible without it and we depend on it. Without water we die. So there is this strange contradiction within the very substance of water: chaos and purpose – death and life. The disciples, when they were in the boat with Jesus and he was just asleep in the midst of the storm, were afraid for a reason. Usually, in a bad storm, a boat is at the mercy of the power of the waters. And, as every seafarer knows, you should never underestimate the power of water, be it at sea or on a lake. Wind and water, then, were threatening the boat and the boat was filling with water, and the people on board were in danger. I would probably have been afraid too. So I perfectly understand why the disciples went to wake Jesus up and were shouting: ‘Master, Master, we are perishing!’ In Mark they are recorded as saying: ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ I can’t imagine that Jesus did not care; but he was asleep, totally trusting, or even knowing, that all would be well and that the elements could not touch him and those in his care. We cannot know, either, whether the boat would have simply landed safely after a while; that is just not the way that the story goes. But we may well note one thing: the disciples had but one thought: to wake up Jesus and get him to engage with the situation. They may have hoped that he would do something to avoid a disaster but even if they didn’t even think that far, the act of going to him and getting his attention was the right one. And so, Jesus got up, rebuked the wind and the raging waves; they ceased and there was a calm.We may not be sailors and we may not be in a storm of this kind. But we may be in other ‘storms’ of life, metaphorically speaking. We may be afraid and desperate. The best thing to do is to engage God. We always have him at our disposal. He is our loving Father, and he longs to speak with us his children. Not only when we are afraid and in a pickle, but like any parent and child on a natural basis. So let’s keep that in mind and speak with him. So that we too may enjoy the calm that he gives. Amen.
Third Sunday before Lent Luke 6:17-26 1 Corinthians 15:12-20‘Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. […] If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then also those who have died in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.’ Paul, in the first letter to the Corinthians, is focussing on the reality of the resurrection of the dead in a logical argument: if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ could not have been raised. And as this is the basis of salvation, so the faith of the believers would be in vain. An important assessment of the doctrine of salvation that sums it up in a nutshell. This is what it is about. And this is what can be a stumbling block for those who cannot see what Christ has done. In Luke’s Gospel, chapter 6, we find Jesus himself speaking, as in a similar account in Matthew 5; what we call the Beatitudes. Luke too, records Jesus’ upside-down teaching: ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.’ It has been said before, that God’s Kingdom is upside-down. The rich are poor, the poor are rich; the hungry are filled, the filled are empty. When it comes to an assessment of the economic state of people today, we can say that that doesn’t make sense. Or, at best it would be a glib way of speaking about the plight of those who are suffering. But in view of the resurrection it does make sense! It is not a way to dismiss other people’s despair. Rather, it is offering the hope of salvation through faith. Some people are still arguing about the resurrection, just as they were in Paul’s day. A bit like: if I haven’t seen it with my own eyes it can’t be true. Or if science can’t work it out, I won’t believe it. Yet, there is nothing that is so well-documented by witnesses as the resurrection! All the in-depth studies of many scholars throughout the centuries have come to that conclusion. But sometimes it takes a willingness to see. We say that we can miss the things that are right under our noses! And so we need faith to remind us of the truth. Or perhaps we need to hear the truth to remind us of our faith. In Paul’s argument for the resurrection, it is the truth that has been witnessed that makes the difference to faith, and, therefore, to our future. Jesus said: ‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven;’ Your reward is great in heaven. Faith puts it within your reach. God’s Kingdom is upside-down. Christ won the victory over sin and death by dying on our behalf and rising from the dead. Eternal life can be ours by accepting his work of salvation through faith. Then, as we shall see, those who hunger for righteousness, will be filled, and those who weep now, will be comforted. The offer is there, totally free, for all who want it. May we not lose it through ignorance or pride, but take it and rejoice in our reward! Amen.
Fourth Sunday before Lent Luke 5:1-11 1 Corinthians 15:1-11How do you ‘catch people’? It’s a bit of a strange phrase, yet we find Jesus saying it to the fishermen among his disciples. Of course, we do understand it here, in the context of the great catch of fish that the fishermen caught after Jesus had told them what to do. Luke records that they had not caught anything after a long night of hard work, but they did as Jesus asked and then had trouble getting all the fish into the boat! Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying: ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’ Now where did that come from, we may wonder.In the accompanying passage from the first letter to the Corinthians, we find Paul speaking along similar lines, saying he is the least of the Apostles, unfit even to be called an apostle, because he first persecuted the Church of God. Only later, by God’s grace, did he become a follower of Christ, when Jesus appeared to him ‘as to one untimely born’, he calls it. On the road to Damascus, Paul was ‘caught’. His conversion is a remarkable story, in that Paul, formerly known as Saul, changed so dramatically, by God’s grace. And Jesus, when he tells the disciple fishermen to cast out their net in the way he suggests, also changes Simon Peter, who then confesses his sinfulness. It is not simply because of the great catch of fish that this happens; it is because of the way it happens, and because of the way Jesus activates it. It is by contrast with Jesus, that Peter sees himself in a new light. No longer is he the one who is in charge, and the one who knows it all. Until then, Peter, and his companions, had still been working as fishermen, for that was their job. This is the moment, though, when they left their boats and committed themselves to following Jesus. The readings for today, both from Luke’s Gospel and 1 Corinthians, are sharing this particular notion: that you can’t follow Jesus if your loyalty is divided. You can’t be a part-time Christian; you either are or you are not. When we see the light of Christ shine on us, we cannot but see how we need him! And we need him 24/7, not just on Sunday or every now and then, when we feel like allowing God a look in. And this may lead us to the question: how easy do we find it to commit to Christ in our lives? Are we happy to do the things that are easy, when we have some time to spare? Or are we willing to serve also when it’s difficult or demanding? It may be a question that we dodge anyway, not really wanting to engage. But if that is the case, we may miss out on the opportunity to live our lives to the full, as God has intended. For when Jesus said to the fishermen: ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people’, what he gave them was the fulfilment of their lives, according to their talents, so that they could shine as true people. Yes, following Christ may not be easy; it may be hard and even dangerous sometimes. But the alternative is an even greater loss: the loss of truth, of real peace, of destiny. When you have been ‘caught’ by Christ, you don’t lose your say about your life altogether; rather, you gain a better understanding of where your life is going. Your journey becomes more intentional, especially when you realise that you have to adjust your direction. In the long run, it is more joyful and rewarding, and safer. What’s more, when we live as people ‘caught’ by Jesus, we find that we can in turn help ‘catch’ them for Jesus too. Our faith can become infectious, inspiring others to follow Jesus. It can be as overwhelming as the unexpected catch of fish. Who knows what it can lead to? Amen.
