Focus Scripture: Mark 9:2-9
February 11, 2024 - Transfiguration Sunday and Scout Sunday
Clarify and Prepare
Sometimes, we need something special,
significant, and memorable to give us the clarity we need to prepare for what
is to come.
A health scare might get someone to cut the
junk food and go for the salads. A walk around the neighborhood might look more
compelling than more time on the couch.
Paying off a large debt and realizing the interest charges paid might get someone to think twice before doing it again.
Even in school, a poor grade on a quiz
might get us to buckle down and study hard for the final exam or to put in
extra effort on the big project.
The reality is that we have tons of
information coming at us every day, but not all of it is significant or
memorable. We remember the memorable, everything else is background noise.
Today is Transfiguration Sunday, the gospel
lesson is found in the 9th chapter of Mark, more than halfway
through this concise, 16-chapter book of the Bible. Jesus has already spent
significant time preaching, healing, and casting out unclean spirits. Now he
needs to refocus his disciples, preparing them for what’s to come, giving them
clarity about the road ahead.
This transition comes just before the
Transfiguration at the end of chapter 8. Jesus asks the disciples who they
think he is. Peter claims, correctly in 8:29, “You are the Messiah.” In the
very next sequence, verses 31-38, Jesus begins teaching them that he must
undergo great suffering, he will die, and he will rise again on the third day.
Again, sometimes we need something dramatic
to focus us. After all this traveling and teaching, the disciples need to see
something even more spectacular and memorable, something that really gets their
attention, to prepare them for what is to come.
So, starting in Mark 9:2, Jesus takes
Peter, James, and John high up on a mountain, six days after the previous
teaching, for something special, the event we recall today. There, Jesus is
transfigured, the disciples witness Jesus speaking with Moses and Elijah –
remember, God is the God of the living, not the dead – and all hear the voice
of God: “This is my son, the Beloved. Listen to him.”
Really, I think the disciples, these
leaders among them especially, needed a realignment. They needed to have a
moment to see the bigger picture. They needed something to focus them to
prepare. They needed to be told to listen to Jesus’s teaching that he would die
and rise to eternal life.
God’s work in this scenario was plain and
obvious. Frankly, I don’t think it needs much explanation from our human
perspective. While we probably wish to know what Jesus, Moses, and Elijah
discussed, we do not and will not know. But we can appreciate the work that God
was doing to align, clarify, and prepare the disciples.
God works in us in similar if less
spectacular ways. There are three lessons that we can take from this gospel, at
least three.
First, sometimes we need to get refocused.
It is so easy to get distracted by the latest thing that must be addressed. The
leaky roof, the car that needs to get repaired, the pothole in the parking lot.
There is plenty to keep us running, exhausted, and sidetracked, misaligned with
our purpose.
Second, we all need time apart. Just as
Jesus needed to bring these three disciples to the mountaintop for a special
experience, one to witness the Glory of God, we also need time apart. Those
quiet times are when we, too, are most likely to hear God’s voice, to
experience God’s presence.
Third, and finally, we need our time and
renewal to prepare for what comes next. Just like the Scouts prepare for a
camping trip by checking their gear, planning meals, and doing all the rest, we
must prepare for what is to come next in our lives. We are to prepare to serve
as God would have us serve.
This third idea is critical, because clarifying
our purpose and recommitting to it gets us through the difficult times. When we
are tired and feeling beaten down by events, the focus on our purpose that
comes from being together in communion with God and each other can remind us of
what is truly important. It can give us the drive to overcome obstacles. It can
give us the motivation to pick up our cross and follow Jesus as we love God and
neighbor.
In the end, God knows what we need to
persevere because God made us. The potter knows the clay; the creator knows the
created. We need to withdraw, we need to refocus and clarify, and we need to
prepare to face whatever comes next. But always, we know that God is with us
and we know that we are here for each other. Like a Scout is part of a pack or
troop, we are part of God’s kingdom, children of God whom God is always
preparing for the challenges and the glory to come.
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You are welcome to join the congregation of First United
Methodist Church of Shelton (CT) in person or online at 10 AM Eastern Time any
and every Sunday. Services are streamed live, and past services are recorded.
The church's web address is www.UMCShelton.org.
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Questions? Comments? Feel free to post your thoughts. Please
keep it civil. Peace to you, and thanks for reading. - Bill Florin
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Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash.
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