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Weary of the headlines, I welcome the personal side of Lent.  On this last Sunday of Epiphany, the Season of AHA!, we glimpse the Holy amid us in these readings about Transfiguration.  Granted, our world is trying to crawl back into the Dark Ages by distrusting the neighbor and building greater castles.  Granted, my own United Methodist denomination is on the doorstep of chaos as we argue about whether “all persons” allows us to exclude those not like “us”:  the LGBTQ seekers and other believers who dare hope that John 3:16 really is true.  For me, then, this weekend’s readings about how God’s glory changes our outlook and our persons gives a respite of stepping away from daily scrabbling in the dust.  Come along?

Towards the end of the book of Exodus (34:29-35), we read about Moses’ descent of Mt. Sinai:  not only did he carry the Ten Commandments, but his face was “shining” from being with God.  This glory (KABOD in Hebrew, “loaded down with riches”) lasts for quite a while, until it fades with the cares of everyday life.  Here is a foretaste of the promise to all believers that they, too, will glow by proximity to YHWH.  The story says that Moses veiled his face so as not to offend everyday mortals; others claim that the veil maintained the mystery, even after this began to fade.

Paul recalls this occasion in his Second Letter to the Corinthian Church, 3:12-4:2.  “When [the people of Israel] hear the reading of the old covenant, that same veil is still there, since only in Christ is it set aside…when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.”  It’s evidently OK to have a sunny countenance, a nice contrast to the scowls of darkness all about!  (“If you’re happy and you know it, then your face will really show it…”)  Moreover, as we welcome the near presence of the Lord, we also are transformed/transfigured into the Holy Image “from one degree of glory to another” through the manipulations of God’s Spirit.

All three synoptic writers include the Transfiguration account, which gives an idea of it’s centrality to the Gospel.  This year we read Luke’s version, 9:28-36.  We’re glad for the reminder that God is pouring Light into a gloomy world marred by convulsions, nuclear one-upmanship and border fences.  Jesus is here “revealed as the culmination of the story of a God who comes, again and again, to rescue God’s people….here shines the one in whom there is power to overcome death”  of heart and soul.  (Kimberly Miller VanDriel, in FEASTING on the WORD, C 1:455)

“Little Willy, full of glee, Poured radium in Grandma’s  tea–                                        Now he thinks it quite a lark To see her shining in the dark!”                                       May the rich power of Christ enable YOU to shine in the dark and transfigure both the mountains and valleys…

God Bless Us, Every One                     Horace Brown King

My thoughts about scripture lessons assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

Martin L. Smith, an Episcopal priest from DC, uses this phrase to describe how God brings non-expected results to those who tune in to the Holy Presence all around us.  Fr. Smith says that “the Holy One’s family business is reconciliation, risky solidarity, and love that is unconditional and generous–a business that is indifferent to profit or even breaking even.”  (SOJOURNERS, Feb. 2019:45)  Those present to readings for this weekend may be reminded of God’s pleasant surprises, receiving more than they had dreamt of in all their wildest hopes!

Joseph’s brothers never expected to see him again.  They had spent several decades dealing with their father’s heartbreak and their own guilt for selling him into slavery in Egypt.  But in Genesis 45:3-11 we hear of an unexpected reunion: seeking relief from the famine back home, they traveled to Egypt–to be interviewed there by the Head Honcho, Joseph himself!  And so they lived happily ever after?  “In the moment of forgiveness, the wronged one is transformed from critic of the world as it is to co-creator with God of a brand-new world.”  (Allen Hilton, FEASTING on the WORD, C 1:367)

The controversy about Resurrection raged on in the Corinth of Paul’s time:  “It’s against all the laws of Nature!”  “Does Jesus’ resurrection guarantee our own?”  “With what kind of body do they come?”  To all of this, Paul replies, “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.” (I Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50)  This gives me great comfort, and I hope it also does to people at a funeral where it’s often read.  The Resurrection and all it entails is a completely unNatural expectation, exceeding our wildest dreams!

The Gospel, Luke 6:27-38, is a continuation of the Sermon on the Plain, introduced last week.  Nine or ten good sermons about Christian Ethics can be extracted here– more, these exhortations to love and kindness represent the surprising generosity of the Ruler of All who is “kind to the ungrateful and the wicked”.  “We go right to the radical core of the ethics of the reign of God, the onset of God’s future, learning from Jesus what it means to live under the authority of God, not the mores of the past.”  (Smith, ibid.)

In my own dark hours, I confess that the World is Too Much With Us.  I shake my head at Rachel Madow and toddle off to the security of my maps or postage stamps.  So it’s a wake-up call for me to again see that my God is full of surprises:  as we learned in seminary, “In the end, God wins!” What a strange business…

God Bless Us, Every One                           Horace Brown King

My encounters with scripture passages assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

A couple of times each year I send some money to THE ARBOR DAY FOUNDATION.  In return they send interesting tips about trees: how to nurture them, how to trim them, how to recognize them…   No matter what, to establish a young tree in your yard you have to have plenty of water available.  Their roots will dig deep to search out an aquifer for nourishment, even in dry periods.  Scripture for this upcoming weekend recognizes that there are desert spots in our souls, and announce God’s deep digging provision for our survival and growth.

Jeremiah 17:5-10 speaks of an alternative to “worldly” dryness:  “Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals….Blessed are those who trust in the Lord…”  He uses the analogy of a scraggly desert shrub as opposed to a mighty tree near a stream:  “in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit.”  The prophet dangles such hope before those who’ve followed the strong-man du jour and who now feel incomplete or maybe even betrayed.  Psalm 1 is a continuance of the great comparison between the superficial chaff of our materialistic and xenophobic society and the endurance of God’s presence.

It’s well nigh impossible to find a common thread in the Epistle, I Corinthians 15:12-20.  Unless it comes as a comparison between those who scoff at the resurrection of Christ (and themselves) and those who believe in and welcome the Easter event.  This resurrection power enables the disciple to accept eternal values and ethics, unlike those who may merely be living for this day only.  “Belief in Christ’s resurrection provides reason to have faith in our own.”  –Jeffrey D. Jones, FEASTING on the WORD, C 1:354)

Luke’s Sermon on the Plain (6:17-26) is a reprise of Mary’s Magnificat, which he earlier reported in Chapter 1 (“God has brought down mighty kings from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly…”).  Again, the core of this is a holy alternative between the Blessings and the Woes, a radical acceptance of God’s plan which will turn the world upside down.  Our popular culture equates wealth and possessions with sharp dealing and crafty attachments; here are the words of Jesus telling exactly the opposite…!

These readings challenge us to define what it is we value, and how does that exclude some behaviors and beliefs which are here today and blown away tomorrow.  God’s kingdom embraces riches different from today’s world, and calls the disciple to ascend to a greater vision.

God Bless Us, Every One                        Horace Brown King

My response to lessons assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every
Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

OMG, did I really just say that?  I’m always dismayed when the conversation goes silent when I join the group at a table.  People who know that I’m a clergy person suddenly clam up, ostensibly not to offend(?) me.  I’m sorry to say that I sometimes attempt to put them at ease by telling a story that’s even more racy than that which I interrupted.  One of the boys, y’know; pip-pip.  Scriptural stories today are about three saints who’ve been confronted by The Holy, and are embarrassed by their worldliness.  Just like people in the pew or study-group, I guess.

Isaiah of Jerusalem tells about a vision (dream?) in which he finds himself in God’s presence (6:1-8).  In the process, he realizes his own profane nature, as well as that of his culture.  Yet God provides a healing, having an angelic being touch his lips with a hot coal and burning away his perceived unworthiness.  Martin L. Smith, an Episcopal priest, brings us up to modern times:  “It is impossible to represent God in any way without undergoing a searing operation by the divine physician to restore our passion for truth-telling and heal our complicity in a culture of lies.”  (SOJOURNERS, February 2019:44)

Our second story is what Paul tells the Corinthians about himself (I,15:1-11).  He’s speaking to a congregation divided over trivialities, trying to remind them of the common denominator of their faith, the centrality of Christ.  He speaks of the Christian holy-history:  how the risen Christ appeared to the Disciples and others of his following.  And then to Paul himself!  (See his theophany on the road to Damascus as told in Acts 9.)  “For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.”  Presumably the Corinthian Church knew this story, and were to use this example as one of gracious purging of profanity within those to whom God has appeared.

Luke’s Gospel recalls the encounter between Simon & Co. at the Capernaum seashore (5:1-11).  The well-told narrative describes the compliance of the fishermen in allowing Jesus to speak from their boat; as a “reward”, they immediately take in more fish than they can process–nets began to break, boats began to sink!  Peter recognizes the Holy One in front of him:  “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!”  But Jesus speaks the old words of assurance–“Don’t be afraid”–and calls Peter, James & John to fish for People.

Each of these saints who recognized their earthiness in the Presence of God–Isaiah, Paul, Peter–were cleansed and empowered for a purpose:  to tell God’s story.  They came face-to-face with their limitations, yet they received  a revelation of their potential.  Each changed his vocation, not to mention their understanding of God’s grace.  May those who read and hear this loving message see themselves as worthy of service, by God…!

God bless Us, Every One                           Horace Brown King

My thoughts about lessons for the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com