Sunday Homily, March 12, 2017, 2nd Lent
Readings:
Genesis 12, 7-9; 3, 1-7, I will make of you a great nation
Psalm 33, Lord, let your merciful love be upon us, as we place our trust in you.
2 Timothy 1, 8-10, Bear your share of hardship for the gospel.
Matthew 17, 1-9, The Transfiguration.
Post Hurricane, Spring on Hilton Head Island.
On the Readings Genesis
Traditionally the first 5 books of the Jewish Scriptures (Christian Old Testament) were called the Torah and all five were attributed to Moses as their author. Modern Biblical scholars say definitely not.
In fact, Genesis and the other 4 books of the Torah (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) were most likely written in the 5th and 4th centuries before Christ, so during and after the Babylonian captivity (dated around 555 BC).
The Jewish people had been defeated, their temple destroyed, and they were in captivity in Babylon. They knew that the southern tribes of Israel, when they were defeated and taken captive, had basically disappeared, being absorbed by intermarriage with their captors.
To avoid a similar outcome, their oral tradition was written down to give the Jewish people a history and a strong identity. The emphasis was on a special covenant with God. This covenant included many laws and practices touching every aspect of their lives. They left no doubt as to what it meant to be an Israelite, a Jew.
Today’s Lenten readings have connected the words spoken to Abraham in Genesis “you are blessed”, with the words spoken in Matthew’s Transfiguration story “listen to him.”
A riot of colors, red, white, and pink, everywhere.
Homily:
To understand the context of the Transfiguration story we need to remember: Matthew wrote this Gospel for the early Jewish community, now Christian, living in Jerusalem. They would know well all the books of the law and the prophets, including the first, Genesis, and the last prophet, Malachi.
In today’s reading Matthew is referencing that last named prophet in the OT. (Read Malachi. 4:4-6)
So, in the last paragraph of the last book of the OT—and the early Jewish Christians Matthew was addressing knew it well—Malachi reminds the Jewish people of Moses, the greatest leader of them all, who took them out of slavery in Egypt, led them to the promised land and gave them the law spoken by God, also on a mountain top.
And Malachi says, “I’m sending Elijah the prophet to clear the way for the Big Day of God.”
So, as Matthew set the scene, here’s the picture: On a mountain top—where else?—that’s where in Scripture all important meetings with God happened—Moses appears representing the law and Elijah appears representing the prophets, and Jesus is transfigured before Moses and Elijah and right in front of the 3 disciples, his face and clothes shining as white as sun light.
That event, in Matthew’s story, is Malachi’s Big Day of God—the proclamation of Jesus as the new Moses, the new Elijah, the long-awaited Messiah. The disciples are told Jesus is the one to listen to now.
Hilton Head is 90% cleaned up. A long way from how it looked at Thanksgiving.
That’s our message too. (As it turned out there were actually four ‘Big Day of God’ events: Jesus’ Baptism, His Transfiguration, His Crucifixion/Resurrection, and His Ascension/ Pentecost.) An interesting difference in the Eastern and Western Christian churches: the Western Church was more influenced by the story of the Crucifixion/Resurrection. E.g., some Catholic saints displayed stigmata (e.g., Saint Francis, Padre Pio).
The Eastern Church was more influenced by the story of the Transfiguration; Eastern Orthodox saints never reported stigmata; they were often described as transfigured by the inner light of grace (e.g., Saints Seraphim and Silouan).
Remember how for several weeks Stack helped us reflect on the questions of who gives us light and to whom do we give light? Guess what? The Transfiguration story takes us right there again, showing Jesus all lit up, as something to see, as the one to listen to, the one to learn from.
How do we shine as people of the light? One challenge is living like Jesus: accepting life as it comes to us, with its joys and delights, its pain and grief.
Another is living like God of Psalm 103: being “merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in kindness.”
Another is living like the people of this community do: Look around you: Name how these people shine for you? Name the ways they give light in your life. Look at yourself: how do you give light to others around you?
Another is being more like the little children: accepting ourselves–even our innocence, being bold, living in the present, chilling, receiving and sharing with such ease.
Can we do this? What do you say?