SERMON Watsonville 1^st UMC                 

Robin Mathews-Johnson   

February 6, 2005                                                                                     

Matthew 17:1-9

“Transfigured”

DOING THE RIGHT THING

I don’t know about you, but now that I’m nearing my fiftieth birthday I think that most of the time I’ve got a pretty good idea of what it takes for me to do the right thing in most circumstances.  It’s not that I always do it, but at least I have a vague sense of what I should be doing.  How about you?   

I’ll confess that most people—me included—make lots of mistakes, plenty of them in fact, but the odds are that sooner or later we’re going to realize—we hope—when and where we’ve messed up.  I suppose it’s experience, but at least we’re not usually completely in the dark about who we are and what we’re doing.  Frankly, when we discover the errors of our ways, we try, if possible, to make amends.  You know and I know that we all need to give and receive forgiveness, and forgiveness is the path to peace. 

In any case, I certainly find it easier to live with myself when I try to live that way.

The truth is that we don’t always do what we should.  It reminds me of the four-year-old boy who was visiting his grandparents.[i]  He was a very outspoken little boy, and often had to be told to say the right thing at the right time.

One day at lunch, when grandma had company, the boy said, “Grandma, I want to tinkle.”  Grandma took the little boy aside and said, “Never say that, Sonny.  If you want to tinkle, say, ‘I want to whisper.’”  And the incident was forgotten.

That night when Grandpa and Grandma were soundly sleeping, the little boy climbed into bed, tugged at his Grandpa’s shoulder, and said, “Grandpa, I want to whisper.”  Grandpa said, “All right Sonny, don’t wake Grandma up.  Whisper in my ear.” 

The little boy was sent back to his parents the next day. 

I wonder if the difference between maturity and youth is that when you’ve finally got some years under your belt, you’ve already pretty much made a mess of enough things one way or the other to know better than to do it again. Perhaps the kids simply haven’t had the opportunity to get into trouble yet!  Maybe we’re been around longer, so we’re just better at covering up our tracks.  It’s hard to say. 

To be honest, I think that discovering what is right and wrong—especially in how we live our own lives—really comes down to being vulnerable to Godly ways of living.  We want to be loving, open, honest and respectful of ourselves and others.  We want to be authentic Christians.  We want to love our neighbors.  And of course that’s one reason we come to church.  We long for wholeness, balance and acceptance.  It’s how Jesus lived, and we want to live that way, too. 

But sometimes it’s hard.

To follow the ways of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, may mean that we don’t always do what others think we should do.  It could be that we’re marching to the tune of a different drummer.  Or we might discover that we don’t fully understand all that’s going on in our lives, so we’d better take some time to pray and reflect on what we should do next—or else.   

The problem is how to live this way when we’re wounded, hurting or sad.

I’ve discovered that I don’t know how to fix a lot of things, but I suspect that help and healing starts with knowing your own feelings, really experiencing the pain that’s there, and then honestly assessing your own situation. 

Some of us have to deal with abuse, deprivation or illness in our selves and our loved ones.  Others face issues of addiction.  Most of us, at one time or the other, have felt unworthy or ashamed.  Healing doesn’t come easy, but I believe that it does come, gradually and slowly, if we do the inner work necessary to acknowledge the darkness within us. 

And to me, that means giving ourselves to God.  When we do, we can be transformed, transfigured, and changed into something new.

JESUS

And that’s what happened to Jesus, too when he was transfigured in dazzling white as the Scripture puts it, up on the mountaintop with the three disciples. 

Peter, James and John had been feeling pretty confident that Jesus would be doing some good things, but they thought they knew how it would happen.  That’s why they followed him.  Never in a million years could they have imagined the pain of the cross and all that was to come.  They simply weren’t prepared! 

The whole experience of the transfiguration stopped them in their tracks, that’s for sure.

An astounding change mysteriously occurred when God clearly named Jesus the Son, and the prophets Elijah and Moses confirmed it all.  They were thunderstruck by its power and authority.

When faced with the truth of Jesus and what he was really about, the disciples knees were knocking, and no wonder.  “With him I am well pleased;” God said, “Listen to him!”  When the disciples heard it, they fell flat on their faces, scared to death.  But Jesus came over and touched them.  “Don’t be afraid.”[ii]

If we’re honest we admit there are times when we’re scared too, when we resist facing up to what we’ve got to face up to, especially if it means getting our lives together, dealing with reality, or living in the Spirit.  It’s frightening to face the bright light of God’s ways.  It seems out of reach, and it dazzles and shocks us at the same time. 

What a paradox it is that the transfiguration revealed Jesus’ glory—white and shining—just as it revealed in some mysterious way Jesus’ suffering to come.[iii]  Life includes darkness and light, living and dying, and it’s our job to figure out how to exist with an awareness of both. 

This sermon in a sentence is that even though life can sometimes seem too much to handle, I believe we can cope if we rely on the source, the Godly source.  The only question is how to do it right.

Remember too that Jesus ordered the disciples not to share the news, yet.  The people weren’t ready to hear it, and the disciples weren’t ready to do what had to be done.  But they would eventually be ready to face their task, open to what God had in mind. 

Truly what a blessing it is to discover that God has a purpose for each of us. 

WHAT’S RIGHT

Let me share a true story that illustrates doing what’s right. 

Susan Duran’s daughter Stephanie was in High School.[iv]  One day Stephanie got sick and couldn’t make it to school, so she asked her mother to report her absence.  The official school policy makes students liable for detention if absences weren’t called in by 2:00 pm.  But mom didn’t call until 2:30.

Detention was given to Stephanie for being absent without permission.

“They said they were sorry, but Stephanie would have to serve two days, even if it was my error,” Susan said.  “I told them, you don’t do that to my kid.”  She argued that if the idea is to teach responsibility, then she should serve the time because she was responsible for Stephanie’s unexcused absence.

So the school took her at her word.  Susan took the punishment herself, in this case two days of detention. 

This is what Stephanie’s mom had to do.  From 8:00 am to 3:00 pm, the 34-year-old businesswoman sat at a desk that was way too small, reading and eating.  In keeping with the rules of detention hall, she wasn’t allowed to talk, sleep or get up without permission. 

“We get calls all the time from parents who say, “Don’t punish my kid,” said Assistant Principal Vincent Hoffman.  “But in 30 years of education, I’ve never seen anything like this.”  Stephanie says her mother has done some “neat stuff for me before, but nothing this [good].”

I don’t know if I’d have the guts to do what Susan did for her daughter, but I believe that Jesus would, and he did that and much, much more when he gave his life for ours.  My advice?  Live in truth and be transfigured.  It’s the right thing.  In the name of Christ, amen.