ABC Feast of The
Holy Cross Day

Introduction

When I was a kid, my mom told me she could always tell when I was lying because it was written all over my face. That's a serious condemnation—you can't lie or even deceive—two really great things for a kid to be able to do. And yet, we see from Exodus that Moses' face revealed his conversations with God: “Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.” From Luke, we read that not only was Jesus' face changed but his clothes were dazzling white: “And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.” The simple truth is, when we experience dramatic events, we are ever changed. Perhaps we don't dazzle, but something about us visibly changes, for ourselves and for those who are close to us.

The event that changes us does not have to be something positive like being with God (for Moses and Jesus). For many the event that changing us is devastating—as the death of a child, a hard medical discovery, and other things. For most of us, there is a general feeling that if we can just get through the hard part, everything will return to normal; it will not. The event (positive or negative) has forever changed us (makes our faces shine?); it colors how we see everything, how we approach everything, how everything impacts us. It behooves us to embrace that we are forever changed (our faces are shining!) and look to our future.

Comments welcome.

From sermon4kids.com: “You and I have many wonderful experiences in our daily walk with Jesus. Others should see that we have the love of Jesus in our heart by seeing his reflection our bright shining faces!” Now sing, “Good morning to you / good morning to you / we’re all in our places / with bright shiny faces / good morning to you."

Transfiguration

Sermon by Doug Graul in 2017

If you were to ask me if there was one passage of scripture where my understanding of it has changed the most, it would be the Transfiguration that we read today as our Gospel reading. There was a time when I saw this passage like this: Jesus knew that he was going to Jerusalem and knew that it would not end well. He also knew that this would be confusing to his followers, so he allowed them to see him as he truly is so that when they saw him crucified they would have the strength to go on until they could see him again as he truly is.

This would also be relevant to us because in our high holy moments Jesus gives us the strength to make it through this difficult world. That way when we are mired in the difficulties of our lives, we can remember that wonderful moment so that we have the strength to make it to another one of those mountain tops. I remember as a teenager having conversations with people talking about leaving youth retreats and returning to what we called “the real world.” When we would talk about the difficulty of going home we would find comfort in knowing that we could come back to this place apart.

Where my opinion changed was when I realized that Jesus’ Transfiguration and my mountain top experiences also happened in the real world. Jesus took his followers to a place apart from the concerns of their world but they did not leave the world. They didn’t have to worry about crowds or food or any of the things that prevented them from focusing on completely him, but they were still in this world. Without the distractions, they could see him clearly, in conversation with Moses and Elijah, the Law and the Prophets. They could clearly see that he is God’s plan to renew and complete his creation. They could see that God was working right there bringing divine love.

Jesus’ disciples needed to see him clearly because he knew that when he went to Jerusalem that it would not be as easy to see. The arrest, the trial and the execution had the potential to cloud the image. But Jesus was the same on the mountain top as he was on the cross, because they were both part of the same world. It took the resurrection and the Holy Spirit at Pentecost for them to really get it and to become the church, but suddenly they could see Jesus working everywhere. They could see him fulfilling God’s promises and bringing about the renewed creation. Once they saw what Jesus was about they joined in and a chain of events began that has reached across even to us.

We need this same vision if we are to be the people that God calls us to be. I have spent many years helping develop youth retreats and once I made this shift I started thinking about how to promote an environment where Christ is obviously present. It became important to me that these events would be true communities where people felt loved and accepted for who they are. I wanted them to be a place so fulfilling that participants would ask, “Why can’t I have this feeling in other places as well?” And perhaps most importantly I wanted them to experience God’s present so fully that they would have the equivalent of Moses’ shining face when they when home, except it was for sharing, not hiding.

When we gather for worship we have that same opportunity. Everything we do here is intended to communicate God’s love to us so that it becomes our desire. When we meet as a diverse group of people at the rail and hear the unmistakable words that the gift of Body and Blood is for us, don’t we want to start seeing and experiencing and spreading that feeling in other places as well? Our Sunday worship is not supposed to prepare us to make it through the coming week; It is to prepare us to be a part of the transformation of the coming week.

Like Jesus’ followers on that mountain peak, we are given the opportunity to see him with true clarity. It is a gift to us. It is a gift for the world. Jesus is not only on mountain peaks, he is not only in our high holy moments. He is also in our low places and our less than holy moments. In every place, he is saying “Love like I have loved you” and is calling us to spread his kingdom wherever we go. So when you see him here, you will be ready to see him everywhere.

© 2017 Doug Graul