Reflection on Psalm 51:1-13 and 2 Chronicles 33

 

Psalm 51:1-13

¹ Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy,
    blot out my transgressions.
² Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
    and cleanse me from my sin.

³ For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is ever before me.
⁴ Against you, you alone, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
    and blameless when you pass judgment.
⁵ Indeed, I was born guilty,
    a sinner when my mother conceived me.

⁶ You desire truth in the inward being;^[a]
    therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
⁷ Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
⁹ Hide your face from my sins,
    and blot out all my iniquities.

¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and put a new and right^[b] spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not cast me away from your presence,
    and do not take your holy spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and sustain in me a willing^[c] spirit.

¹³ Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
    and sinners will return to you.

 

Reflection

He was only twelve years old when he was thrust upon the throne in Jerusalem.  Can you imagine being put in charge of a country and a military at the age of twelve?  What would your first decisions as a ruler at twelve have been? 

“No more math homework.”

“Parents must play games with kids whenever they want; no exceptions!  I don’t care if your knees hurt.”

“Candy is now an essential food group.” 

“Soldiers, seize Billy and his sleaze-bag brothers now and lock them away!”

The Bible tells us that “Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign” (2 Chronicles 33:1).  As you can image, his decisions were not very good.  In fact, they were quite a bit less than good.  They were worse than silly and born out of ignorance.  They were worse than stupid.  In fact, the Bible reports that “he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord” (2 Chronicles 33:2). 

Granted, he was twelve!  He did not know how to lead.  He did not know what good decisions looked like.  So, he did what most kids that age do.  He looked around at everyone else and did what they did.  He looked at what all the other nations were being led to do around him and he instituted “the abominable practices of the nations whom the Lord had driven out before the people of Israel” (2 Chronicles 33:2).

Manasseh built altars to the foreign god Baal.  He even put one in the house of the Lord.  Verse 6 says that he “practiced soothsaying (fortune telling) and augury (using the behavior of birds to gain insight in the will of the gods) and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and with wizards” (2 Chronicles 33:6).  In other words, he experimented with the Ouija board at a sleepover with his closest nation of friends, and God walked down into the basement, turned on the lights, saw what was taking place, and did not think that what was taking place was OK.  This is why we do not put a twelve-year-old in charge of nations!

Starting out so young and impressionable, he was a horrendous example of faithful leadership.  At the same time, being so young and impressionable, he was a great example of someone who repented.

Repentance is the Lenten discipline that we are focusing on tonight as we use these Wednesday nights to explore the classic Lenten disciplines: Repentance, Giving, Prayer, Fasting, and Works of Mercy.  Repentance is more than just feeling really, really bad about what you did wrong.  Most people with a conscience feel really bad about hurting others or themselves, and most people feel really bad when they do it. 

Repentance includes feeling bad, but it is much, much more than that.  The Hebrew root for repentance literally means “to turn around.”  It is one thing to feel bad about what you did.  It is a whole other thing to actually work to change yourself so that you do not do it again.  Repentance encompasses both the feeling bad and the act of changing your life.

Repentance is feeling really bad about the DUI and then turning your life around so that you live the kind of life where you never drink again. 

Repentance is feeling really bad about walking past the struggling mother and child and then turning your life around so that you are trained to notice those who are struggling and are ready to help. 

Repentance is feeling really bad about forgetting to worship God and leading a nation toward the worship of other gods, and then after your banishment from the land, returning to the land to throw down the idols and tear down the altars built to foreign gods. 

That is what Manasseh did.  He did not stay at age twelve.  He did not remain in a state of ignoring God.  He repented, in the fullest sense of the word, and his life was blessed by our merciful God who gives us a second and third and fifteenth chance to turn around and face toward God once again.  Most people have not heard Manasseh’s biblical story, but it is one to remember because it most fully shows what repentance is all about.

“Have mercy on me, O God” the Psalmist cries out (Psalm 51:1).

“My sin is ever before me” the Psalmist admits” (Psalm 51:3).

“Create in me a clean heart, O God and put a new and right spirit within me” the Psalmists requests (Psalm 51:10).

The Psalmist desires more than anything to be turned around by God.  The Psalmist desires more than anything to have a spirit that is turned in the right direction.

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit” (Psalm 51:12).

And that is our cry too.  We too desire to be turned from our sinful ways so that we can face the love of God.  We too desire to walk in right paths.  So, during Lent we repent and pray to the one, who the disciples saw with their own eyes, who had mercy on the sinner and turned wayward people to the way of new life.  During Lent we turn toward Jesus who forgives us and gives us a new chance and a new way of life.

Repent.  Return to the Lord.  Jesus awaits.

Reflection on Matthew 4:1-11

Matthew 4:1-11 (NRSVue)

1 Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil. 2 He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was famished. 3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,

 ‘One does not live by bread alone,

  but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

  5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

 ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’

  and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,

 so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

  8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, 9 and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,

 ‘Worship the Lord your God,

  and serve only him.’ ”

11 Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

Reflection

I could not help but think about the goat.  As a small kid in Sunday School, the teacher taught us about the goat found in Leviticus 16, called the scapegoat, who would have the sins of all God’s people thrust upon its head, and then the poor, innocent thing would be led into the wilderness to be set free to fend for itself.  Of course, my Sunday School teacher went on to talk about how good it was for the people to have their sins taken away from them, but I heard very little about that because my mind was still stuck on that poor little goat alone in the wilderness. 

What would happen to it?  Did it miss its family?  Did it want its mom? 

The teacher mentioned that Azazel was out there and would hunt down the goat, devour it, and the sins would be gone for good.  Modern Biblical scholars do not know exactly what “Azazel” refers to in Leviticus 16:26, but my teacher described Azazel as a fearsome creature like Satan, with horns and wings, who preys on anyone who is lost in the wilderness.  The biblical scholars of Jesus’ time agreed.

Who wrote these Sunday School materials back in the day anyway?  Who thought that this would be a great story for little kids?  I was terrified.  And my heat ached for the poor goat.  The goat did not do anything wrong.  Why did the goat need to suffer because of people’s sin and stupidity?  I imagined a dark creature coming from around the rocks in the darkness of the moonlight, saliva dripping from its mouth, approaching the poor little goat to eat it alive.

If only evil was that easy to spot, then maybe you would have a chance to turn and run or seek a place to hide.  But the reality of the situation is that as Azazel approached, he probably was a handsome creature with kind eyes who reached out to pet the goat, pull it close as it trembled in the wilderness, and gained its trust.  He probably promised to give the world to the goat since he was the one who rescued it.  Of course, those who released it into the wilderness could not be trusted. 

That is the way evil truly works.  Evil gives promises.  Evil initially gives the appearance of caring.  Evil pulls up in a white van, offers a huge smile, and holds out a piece of candy that will make the world wonderful for the child, if only for a few minutes.  Evil always wears a mask of goodness and builds trust before it snatches us and pulls us down into the pit.

That is how it was for Jesus in any case.  As our goat, bearing all our sinfulness and failures, Jesus too “was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil” (Matthew 4:1).  He too was left to wander in the wilderness, alone without food for “forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was famished” (Matthew 4:2).

Have you ever noticed that when you find yourself alone and maybe depressed and struggling, the first temptation to creep up on you is always food?  A whole bucket of chocolate chip ice cream is sitting right there in the freezer, staring at you.  “Poor, lonely bucket.  I won’t leave you alone like everyone else left me!”  After an hour the bucket of ice cream and you have become one as you watch movies together on the couch.

That temptation was no different for Jesus.  The Bible says that “The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread’” (Matthew 4:3).  The tempter, the devil, you know, that helpful guy out in the wilderness who was there to “help” the goat is there to “help” Jesus as well.

But where so many have listened to that handsome and kind guy out in the wilderness, enticing us to eat the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups just gloriously sitting right there out in the wilderness, or in Jesus’ case some stones that he could make into some warm, freshly baked bread, Jesus did not fall for the temptation.  Adam and Eve fell for it.  They listened to temptation and ate the fruit that they were not to eat.  The Israelites fell for it.  Some of the Israelites gathered extra manna out in the wilderness to save up for later, though they were told not to.  And I hate to admit that I have fallen for it again and again, seeking to store up treasures in my freezer and fridge that show more a preparation for Armageddon and less a trust in God’s provision.  All of us are tempted to take matters into our own hands and secure what we need and desire. 

But Jesus did not.  Instead of listening to the enticing words of the tempter and instead of listening to the audible, grumbling needs of his stomach, Jesus said, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4). 

When I am a goat, stranded out in the wilderness, I tend to assume that God has forgotten me and left me to fend for myself.  But Jesus trusts that God can breathe out a word that will transform his wilderness experience from something unfortunate to something more than fortunate.  After-all, God’s breath, God’s words, did blow away the chaos waters at the beginning of time, allowing space for God to create everything we see in this world; you, me, the fish, the majestic mountains, the faithful friend, and those who invented chocolate and peanut butter.  If God could create beauty out of chaos, God can do it again.  ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4). 

Moments later, Jesus is tempted again by the devil.  The devil places Jesus on the very peak of the temple; the temple in Jerusalem, the place where heaven and earth touch; the temple where God resides from time to time.  The devil tells Jesus to jump off the temple.  After-all God will not let anything happen to him.  The devil tempts Jesus using scripture as if he is the faithful one, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone’” (Matthew 4:6). 

What is there to fear?  They are at the temple.  God the Father should be right there, just on the other side of the holy curtain.  Surely, God will send angels to catch him. 

The devil is proposing a test, not of Jesus, but of God the Father.  Will God truly provide for Jesus?  Will God truly care?  Is God even there?

I have tested God.  I have set up challenges by which God can prove that God is there and that God cares.  “Send me a shooting star if you are listening, God.”  I have stared at the stars, waiting for the shooting star to come, only to see none.  I have been enticed to test God, and I think that most of you have as well. 

Here is the thing.  God is going to do what is right and good; not what I want God to do.  God does not throw a pitch if a little boy wants a meteorite to fall from the sky.  God will certainly refuse to be tested when we are the ones being put to the test.

Faith means trusting that God will provide, and trusting is done without proof.  Otherwise, it is not trusting, is it?  Jesus trusts God the Father.  Jesus does not fail even when I do fail each time I am cast out into the wilderness to fend for myself.  He is the goat who is not destroyed when bearing the sins of the people.  Jesus said to [the tempter], “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test’” (Matthew 4:7).

Now, I just want to stop here and point out something that may be a little obvious, but the meaning, not so much.  Have you noticed that each time that Jesus was tempted that Jesus went to scripture to find a footing.  He used scripture to be his wisdom and guide.  And that makes me want to ask, “Where is your Bible?”  How handy is it?  Do you take it with you when you are cast out into the wilderness to fend for yourself?  God’s word is powerful.  God’s word caused mountains to rise from the sea and formed people out of mere dust.  God’s word can move your mountains too.

Speaking of mountains, as if he were taking Jesus into the Garden of Eden itself, where God looks down on all the earth, the devil took Jesus up on a very high mountain, “and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me’” (Matthew 4:8).

And we are tempted in this way again and again.  We say things like, “If I would only win the lottery, I would do this great thing and help all these people.”  We say things like, “If I were emperor, I would use some common sense, and everything would be good again.”

A friend and I were talking that way once.  He talked about how many things in the world would be solved if only he were put in charge.  At that very moment his cell phone rang.  It was his two children.  Angry voices were spewing from the speaker of the phone.  They were at home stuck alone with each other, and they were fighting.  My friend gave them some stern warnings over the phone and they promptly hung up.  I could not help but point out that his children do not even listen to him, why would the world listen if he were emperor?

These are all fantasies.  Thinking that people need to think like me is just plain foolish.  Insisting that everyone follows my lead is just plain silly when you really stop and think about it.  Do I follow anyone else’s lead?  Furthermore, I am not God.  I can barely keep my own life in order; how can I possibly assume that I need to be in charge of other people’s lives?

Jesus knew better.  “Away with you, Satan!” Jesus yells, “for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him’” (Matthew 4:10).

Maybe, if there were fewer people who needed to be in charge, and more people who just want to serve God, the world would be a better, less chaotic place.  “‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him’” (Matthew 4:10). 

And as much as I would like to carry my Bible with me and always remember to push away temptation by worshiping only the Lord and serving only him, I know the truth.  When people have placed their sinful junk on me and pushed me out into the wilderness, I am probably going to be a very weak person by that point and I will fall for temptation again and again, no matter how well intentioned I am.

And because of that, it is a good thing that the one who truly carries the sin of the world on his head is out there in the wilderness with me.  When the tempter comes, I can just look over and follow Jesus.  I can trust that he knows what he is doing.  I can trust that he can overcome the temptations and lead in the right direction.  I can look to him to deliver me from the power of sin, death, and the devil.   

After all, in the end, the devil flees from him.  It says it right there in Matthew 4:11: “Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.”  I think I will trust and follow the only goat who cannot be devoured, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Reflection on Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

 

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 (NRSVue)

[Jesus said to the disciples:] ¹ “Beware of practicing your righteousness before others in order to be seen by them, for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
  ² “So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. ³ But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your alms may be done in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
  ⁵ “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. ⁶ But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

  ¹⁶ “And whenever you fast, do not look somber, like the hypocrites, for they mark their faces to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. ¹⁷ But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

  ¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, ²⁰ but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Reflection

As we crack open the very first pages of the Bible, we discover that we are people made from the dust.  Genesis 2:7 say that “the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (NRSVue, Genesis 2:7).

We are dust creatures.  We were made from dust.  We are nothing but dust.

Genesis 3:19 puts us back in our place whenever we begin to think too highly of ourselves.  We are not gods.  We are not in control of life.  All of us must struggle and work in some way just to eat.  “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19).

And there it is, “you are dust and to dust you shall return.”  We are nothing but dust.  From dust we were created, and back into a pile of dust we will disintegrate. 

It might be true that we are dust, but the Bible would like to remind us that we are God’s dust.  “We are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand” (Isaiah 64:8).  God intentionally took the dust, mixed it with life-giving water, molded and formed every part of us, and breathed in us life.  We might be dust, but we are God’s dust.

I think of my son Isaac when he was pre-school age.  At the base of our driveway, we had an indentation that served as a puddle on wet days but was full of the finest dust on days that were dry.  And young Isaac loved to spend hours playing with that dust, allowing the fine coolness of the tiny grains to sift through his fingers.  He shaped and molded that dust into anything that his little mind could create. 

Heaven forbid if anyone stepped on his creation or if a car drove over his creation as it was pulling forward to be parked.  One time while I was mowing the lawn I lost track of where I was and I flattened one of his creations.  It was not tragic for me.  It was dust.  But I knew that the destruction of his creation would be devastating to him, so I got off the lawnmower and did my best to reconstruct the pile of dust.  It looked good enough.  How would a preschooler know the difference anyway?  Well, guess what?  The preschooler knew the difference!

He remembered the special ridges and notches he had created in the pile of dust.  Of course, he remembered, he was the one who created it.  And I kind of wonder if God does not look down at us and wonder, “What happened?”  “I made this dust creature to look like me.  I made this dust creature to love and forgive.  I made special ridges and notches.  What happened to my creation?  Who flattened my creation?  Who made it plain dust when it was made to be my dust?”

We might be dust, but we are God’s dust.

God created us to have flowers bloom from our soils, beauty in a world of dust.  I imagine that just as I get frustrated when I plant a seed and nothing springs up, Jesus must get frustrated when beautiful flowers of peace, love, and forgiveness do not bloom from our soils.  I wonder if Jesus is ever tempted to knock over the pile of dust, to flatten us when we are worthless, normal dust?  I wonder if he just wants to try again?

Maybe that is why Jesus cares so much about how we give, pray, and fast?  Everyone in this world can give and expect to get something in return.  That is normal dust.  But Jesus created us to be his special dust.  So, if you are looking a lot like normal dust when you give, he suggests that you “not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:3-4).  He made you to give as he did on the cross, out of love, with no expectation of goodness in return.  He made you to be special dust.

The same is true with prayer.  Jesus wants our prayer life to truly be a conversation with God.  Prayer is not about show.  It is not about how holy and religious you look.  So, if you are looking a lot like normal dust when you pray, he suggests that you “go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:6).  He made you to have an actual relationship with him, so that you can be one of his people.  He made you to be special dust.

The same thing is true for fasting.  When we fast, we do it to so that we can set aside our distractions and focus on the only one who can fulfill the desires of our hearts, the one who molded us and shaped us.  So, if you are looking like normal dust when you fast, wanting everyone to see how much you are sacrificing for God’s sake, Jesus suggests that you “put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:17-18).  We fast to focus on God.  We fast to see clearly the path Jesus is walking.  He made you to be special dust.

God shaped and molded us all with love, wanting us to deeply connect with the divine and deeply connect with those around us.  Sometimes we simply forget that we are special dust.  Sometimes we just forget that we are God’s dust, shaped and molded to look like God.

So, during Lent, we take the time to reconnect with the one who shaped and molded us.  Yes, we take time to remember that we are only dust, and without God we are nothing.  But we also take time to remember that we are God’s dust, shaped and molded by God’s hands to do beautiful things that look a lot like loving, serving, praying, forgiving, and creating something new that is very good and holy.

Remember that you are dust.  Nothing more.  But also remember that you are God’s dust.  Nothing less.

Reflection on Matthew 17:1-9

 

Matthew 17:1-9

1 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became bright as light. 3 Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will set up three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5 While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” 8 And when they raised their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

  9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

 

Reflection

There is this very old sermon, that you might have heard before, that uses a fork.  So, what happens is that the pastor is seen holding a fork for the entire worship service up to the point of the sermon.  No explanation is given.  He or she just holds the fork while singing the hymns and while praying during confession.  The fork is right there in hand for everything. 

Finally at the very end of the sermon the anticipation that has been building the entire time finally gets its resolution as the pastor tells the climatic story that explains the mystery of the fork.  It is an old, old sermon, but instead of making you wait until the end of the sermon, I will tell the climatic story now, at the beginning of my sermon.  I like being a backwards pastor.

When the pastor finally holds up the fork and starts the explanation, the pastor starts with this story:

The man lay in his casket.  He was dressed in his finest clothes, but strangely in his folded hands he could be seen holding a fork.

At the end of the funeral a member of the family stood up and explained that the man was well-known in his large family for saying at the end of every meal, “Keep your fork! The best is yet to come!” in anticipation of the delicious dessert always sure to follow.

But this philosophy of life did not only apply to dessert for the man.  The man wisely applied this belief also to life and to death. Life, with all its ups and downs, can be both joyous and a cause of deep concern and despair.  But, in those times of despair, you should keep hold of your fork, remembering the promise of heaven.  You should remember that “the best is yet to come.” 

So, as a powerful symbol of the gentleman’s spiritual legacy, his family decided to bury their patriarch gripping a fork in his hand.  Life’s dessert was on its way.  Heaven was near.  The best was yet to come.

Yes, it is an old, old sermon, but I like where it is leading us.  The sermon seeks to keep our eyes from focusing only on the troubles and concerns of life.  The sermon seeks to help us keep our eyes focused on the eternal promises of Christ so that we can see beyond the troubles and concerns.  Maybe God can even use those troubles to lead us to better things.

The only problem with this old sermon is that I do not really want to carry a fork around with me.  I did not even want to keep track of it up to this point in the service, how am I going to keep hold of it for the rest of my life?

I cannot even imagine living that way.  I put a fork in my back pocket once.  I did, in High School.  Why?  I have no idea.  But I put it in my back pocket as I left the school cafeteria and it was still back there, forgotten in my back pocket, when I left the school, opened the door of my car, and sat down on my nice, fabric-covered driver’s side seat.  I do not have to tell you what happened.  I also do not have to tell you what I imagined my dad would say when he eventually saw what I had done to the seat of the car.  In fact, I cannot say the words he would say or I would be fired.

That is a long way of saying, I do not want to carry a fork around to remember the promises of Christ.  But there is still something yet to come that is better than the troubles and concerns of this life.  I still want to have those promises handy because, Lord knows, trouble will come.  That much is certain.  Trouble will always come and concerns will always threaten to drag you down with anxiety.  I still need to cling to something to get through it.

I think Jesus understood that deeply.  After-all, Jesus knew the cross was looming nearby.  Right before our gospel story for today, the transfiguration, Matthew tells us that “Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised” (Matthew 16:21). 

Life was going to get very tough for the disciples very soon.  They were going to see the brutal beating and death of their teacher.  Fear, grief, and pain was coming for them like a wild beast crouching in the grass, ready to pounce.  But, the disciples, Peter especially, wanted to hear nothing about it.  They were not ready to hear the terrible truth. 

Jesus knew that they were not ready to hear.  Jesus knew that they were not ready for the horrors ahead, so Jesus gave them something to hold onto when the bad times did come for them and pounce.  He gave them each a fork to keep in their back pockets.  No, he did not do that, but he did something better.

The Bible explains what he did.  “Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves.  And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became bright as light.  Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him” (Matthew 17:1-3).

Jesus deliberately took his closest friends up the mountain so that they could have a glimpse of what their eternal future would hold.  They got to see Jesus glowing with heavenly light, light that no darkness can overcome.  They got to see a vision of a promising future.  No matter what happens in the days to come, they need not fear.

And Elijah is there too along with Moses!  Elijah is the prophet about whom Malachi says, “Remember the teaching of my servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances that I commanded him at Horeb [God’s holy mountain] for all Israel. Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes” (Malachi 4:4-5).   

Seeing Elijah, the one who was promised to come before the day of the Lord, Peter assumes that the great and terrible day has come.  Peter is more than ready to set up some Sukkot, some tents, and enter the glorious feast of eternity.  “Lord, it is good for us to be here;” Peter says, “if you wish, I will set up three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (Matthew 17:4).

Peter wants to set up some Sukkots, which were temporary tents that ancient people constructed on the edge of their fields during the harvest so that they and their field workers did not have to leave the field until the harvest was done.  In these tents they celebrated the harvest with fresh food and rested after a hard day’s work.  Seeing Elijah talking with Jesus and Moses, Peter is ready to put up some tents and start the final, eternal harvest feast!

There is only one problem.  No one brought any forks!  Not even Jesus, Elijah, and Moses want to carry those things around!  What the disciples see right in front of them on the mountain is not the eternal feast.  That is yet to come.  The best is yet to come.  But first Jesus has another feast.  He will need to feast on death and swallow it up. 

As Isaiah says, “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken” (Isaiah 25:6-8).

Jesus needs to “swallow up death forever.” Only then, only after death is defeated will the Lord God be able to wipe away the tears from all faces and take away the disgraces and pains of the people.

The disciples need to understand.  Jesus needs them to understand that the hard days to come lead to something good.  Jesus needs them to know that the one who will be stripped of his clothing, whipped mercilessly, and nailed to a cross to hang, suffocate and die is the same one who was filled with the light that darkness cannot overcome.  Jesus needs them to trust that he knows what he is doing.  Jesus needs them to see beyond the troubles and concerns they face, trusting that what seems horrible and impossible to get through is not the last sentence in their story.  Troubles and concerns are not the last word in our story either.  So, Jesus brings them up the mountain to see his eternal face.  That vision is their fork.  That vision of Jesus is their hope as the world becomes filled with the threats of darkness and death.

After-all, God will “swallow up death forever.”  God will feast on death so that it will harm us no longer.  God will chew up and destroy the thing that steals our beloved spouses and adored children.  God will grind and pulverize the thing that steals those we love out of our hands.  The Lord will swallow up death forever, and only then will God “wipe away the tears from all faces.”  The days that we feast on our tears as the Psalmist so painfully put it in Psalm 42:3 will be done. 

I do not know about you, but I find hope and comfort in the idea that the Lord sees the tears that have stained our faces and he then chooses to come down the mountain to do something about it.  I find comfort and hope in the Lord who carries our pain with him as he walks toward the cross to swallow up death forever. 

Because, if his suffering can lead to his being raised in three days, maybe your suffering is not the last word either.  Maybe, your suffering is just the plating of God’s meal, where he will take a bite and devour your suffering for good.  Maybe, your suffering is just the hunger that comes before that final feast where we will set up some tents with Elijah, Jesus, and Moses and feast at God’s eternal table.

The best is yet to come!

Hear the voice of the one who calls you to the feast.  Listen to the voice of the one who calls you out of the darkness of suffering and into the light of new life.  Hear God when God says from the cloud, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!”  

Listen to the one who promises that darkness and death is not the end.  Listed to the one who brings you from death to life.  Listen to Jesus and carry the image of his eternal light daily in your minds and in your hearts.  There is no need to carry a fork.  There is no need to ruin a driver’s side seat.  After-all, you have Jesus.

Reflection on Matthew 5:13-20

 

Matthew 5:13-20

[Jesus said:] 13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

  14 “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15 People do not light a lamp and put it under the bushel basket; rather, they put it on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

  17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Reflection

The friend knelt next to the young woman with tears drawing lines of mascara down her cheeks.  “He said terrible things to me,” the young woman with tears said.  “He said he didn’t love me.  He said that he had completely wasted three years with me for nothing.  He said I was worthless.  He said I was worthless,” she repeated again and again as the friend drew her into a comforting embrace.  They hugged for a long, long time. 

Finally, the friend whispered into the young woman’s ear, “You are light.  You chose to make friends with a freak like me.  You are light.  Little children love being around you.  You are light.  The elderly are comforted by your presence and by your stories.  You are light.  You are far from worthless.  When I was in the ditch, you were the one who picked me up.  You are light.  You will always be light.  He cannot blow out your light.”

Friends have the ability to reframe reality in a way that touches our hearts and sets us on a different, better course in life.  And it starts by remembering who we are.  “You are light.”

The young woman was encouraged by the same words that encouraged a whole group of people who were poor, sick, overrun by demons, struck by chronic illness, grieving, and just genuinely at the lowest you can get in society and in life.  Jesus healed all these people who gathered around to feel his divine touch, yes, but he also told them who they were.  Seeing that it is these ones who will follow him, Jesus reframed their reality from identifying themselves as poor, sick, demonic, and lowly to seeing themselves as something more; someone more; someone created by God for a purpose. 

“You are the light of the world,” Jesus declares to them (Matthew 5:14).  “You aren’t worthless.  You are light” these people hear and it begins to transform their reviled and rebuked souls.  “You are light,” these people hear.  They are more than their problems.  They are more than their struggles.  They were created by God for a reason and a purpose.

“I am not a schizophrenic,” the patient corrected the young chaplain version of me as we sat in the group room of the hospital’s psychiatric center.  “I am not a schizophrenic,” the man said again.  “I have schizophrenia.  I take medication for schizophrenia.  But schizophrenia does not define me.  I am not a schizophrenic.”

“I’m not a schizophrenic either,” a man with a white bedsheet wrapped around him said as he walked by.  I’m not a schizophrenic.  I’m Jesus!  Can I heal you?” 

“You go heal someone over there Jesus.  I’m talking with the chaplain.”

“As I was saying, when you have a cold, you don’t go around saying, ‘I’m a cold person.’  No, man.  You say you have a cold.  That cold means nothing about who you are inside.  And I will not let my schizophrenia define me.  I am a big, loving guy who just happens to see a floating dead person right behind your left shoulder.  But you wouldn’t know that unless I told you.  You would just know me as a big, loving guy, because that is who I am.”

It was a good lesson for a young would-be pastor.  People ministered to me, shaping me, more in that hospital than I ever ministered to and shaped other people.  And because of that, I learned that we are not our failures.  We are not our illnesses.  We are not our weaknesses.  We are not defined by the names that bullies and those in power like to give us.  Instead, we are defined by the one who was with God the Father in the very start of the world, and through whom the Father breathed life into us all.  We are defined by Jesus Christ.  And this is how Jesus defines us:

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled under foot.”  “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid.  People do not light a lamp and put it under the bushel basket; rather, they put it on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:13-16).

Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth.”  He does not say, “You could be the salt, if you tried harder.”  No, he simply declares the truth.  “You are the salt of the earth.”

Jesus says, “You are the light of the world.”  He does not say, “You could be the light of the world if you would just stop being so negative and depressed.”  No, he simply declares the truth.  “You are the light of the world.”

That reminds me of my youth ministry teacher who declared the same thing to any group of adults placed in front of him.  He declared, “You are all youth ministers.  Every single one of you.  I do not care if you have taught kids in the past and you are now retired from that, or if you have been too scared to even try teaching and guiding kids.  You are all youth ministers.  This is not because you have been trained.  It is because children look up to the people around them.  You didn’t choose youth ministry.  Youth ministry chose you, whether you like it or not.  The question is not “if” you are a youth minister.  The only question is: ‘Are you a good one?’”

How is that for reframing?  But what he said is absolutely true.  If an adult has no time for children, the children learn that they are not worth the time.  They learned this lesson from their youth minister, the adult near them.  If an adult guides a child into a life of love and goodness, the child learns love and goodness.  They learned this lesson from their youth minister, the adult near and dear to them.

In the same way, Jesus says that “You are the salt of the earth.”  It is simply who you are.  You do not have a choice.  But that is a good thing because it means that the negative ways that others have defined you are simply not true.  You are not your struggles, illnesses, and failures. 

Instead, Jesus knows that you are someone who has been put here on this earth to preserve something.  Just as salt was put on this earth to preserve bacon until it goes straight into my belly, in the same way, the Lord put you on this earth to preserve the loving and good ways of the Lord.  The world does not love their neighbors as themselves, but you do.  You preserve the Lord’s way of life.  The world does not forgive over and over and over again, but you do.  You preserve the Lord’s way of life.  The world does not care if all of “us” get our daily bread, but you do.  You preserve the Lord’s way of life. 

After-all, the Lord ate with the sinner and healed the lowly and despised.  Drawing close to, not pushing away the sinner and lowly, is the Lord’s way of life (Matthew 9:10-13).  The Lord forgave all the world on the cross, even though we keep falling to the same sins over and over again.  Extreme forgiveness is the Lord’s way of life (John 3:16 and Matthew 18:21-22).  The Lord fed well over 5000 hungry people with five loaves of bread and two fish, and then did it again a little bit later feeding well over 4000 hungry people.  Feeding hungry people is the Lord’s way of life (Matthew 14:13-21 and Matthew 15:29-39).  And you are the salt that preserves that sort of life even today.

In fact, you do not just preserve that sort of kingdom life, you shine it.  Like a bright “city built on a hill” that “cannot be hid,” Jesus declares that “You are the light of the world.” 

Who lights a flame to light up a room and then immediately hides it under a flammable wicker basket?  Nobody!  You put that flame high up on a stand so that it lights every corner of the room.  Well, Jesus does the same to you.  “You are the light of the world” that is set high up on a hill so that everyone can see.  Your lives are like those who might live in the garden of Eden, high up on the mountain of God, so that everyone can see what living the good life looks like. 

That reminds me of the High School football team that elected their water boy as the team’s most valuable player at the end of the season.  The kid did not throw or catch a single football, but he encouraged all those who did.  The kid never set foot on the field during a play, but he was there to console and support those who did.  The kid was never trained in the secret plays of the team, but he was trained in the ways of Jesus’ kingdom.  He was a light to the team as they celebrated on the field and as they ran off the field in despair.  He was the salt that preserved all that was good from the very heart of Jesus, and he gave that goodness to the players on the team.  He was the team’s most valuable player, not because he played their game but because he played God’s game. 

Only Jesus can create that sort of salt.  Only Jesus can create that sort of light.  And Jesus declares that you too are that salt and light.  You too have been put on this earth and in this very place to share the story of Jesus with your voices, hands, and hearts. You too have been given the gift of walking with Jesus to make a difference at home, school, work, in the community, and around the world.

“You are the light if the world.”  So, “let your light shine.”