Busy Work On The Mountain Top

Mark 9:2-13
The story of the Transfiguration of Jesus as recounted in Mark’s gospel gives us quit a bit to ponder. There is the lofty yet lonely location in which the events take place and the isolation of the characters involved who are eventually even shrouded by clouds. The setting of this event seems very intentional and important. There are also the various voices that speak in the passage, actually or by inference. Jesus, God, Peter, Moses, and Elijah are each quoted to the reader or are seen by others to be speaking. Words obviously play a major role in this story which is appropriate as Jesus Christ is the Word of God made flesh. But today I’m struck by this section of the text: “And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ He did not know what to say, for they were terrified” (Mark 9:4-6). All that Peter could think about at the appearance of Moses and Elijah was a building project of sorts, essentially busy work.

Peter’s fear is understandable, but there was really no reason for the three disciples to build tents or booths for Jesus and the other. In fact, Peter’s offer reminds me of the old cliché of sending someone to boil water just as a women goes into labor. It’s the sort of thing you send someone to do so that they will be out of the way. But Peter’s offer also raises an interesting question for us to consider. Are there times when our involvement in the life and work of the church amounts to no more than “busy work,” meaningless actions carried out for no real purpose? How often do we offer to build booths when we should pay attention to what is going on, to events we’ve been blessed to witness, opportunities we’ve been given to see the word of God unfolding in our midst? Are there times when we would rather tend to the day to day stuff of organization or institution when what we should be doing is touching lives by sharing ourselves? I know how easy it is to let myself get lost behind a pile of work. I also know how easy it is to miss out on real opportunities to minister.

Peter was frightened, and there is much to frighten us today as well. Peter wanted to do something – anything – rather than absorb what he was seeing. Finally the voice of God called him and the others back to the need to listen and to be involved in what Jesus was saying and doing. Day to day the voice of God calls us as well. Our response must be to stop with the busy work, and to get busy doing the real work of the coming reign.

Prayer: Lord God, guide us in our living that we may set aside that which would distract us from your will. Help us instead to serve you and to respond to your call in all we do. In Jesus’ name that we pray. Amen.

How Did He Know? Why Does It Matter?

Matthew 17:1-13

Matthew’s account of the transfiguration leaves us with an interesting question. “Six days later, 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 dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah’” (Matthew 17:1-4). So, how exactly did Peter know who Jesus was talking to? How did he know it was Moses and Elijah? A couple of humorous answers have occurred to me over the years. One is that Moses and Elijah wore nametags: “Hello, My Name is Moses.” Another is that Peter has seen pictures of these men on their collectors’ cards. (Just imagine what Moses’s “rookie card” would have been worth!)

What I used to think was that Peter recognized the two prophets because he knew the history, the scriptures, the stories of Israel’s past. But I’ve changed my mind somewhat. Now I believe that it’s not so important how Peter recognized Jesus’ conversation partners, it is more important that he did recognize them, but that in the end he still didn’t get what was going on. In telling this story Matthew gives a clear signal to us as readers about Jesus’ identity, but Peter and the others are left in a fog, literally and figuratively.

The question then becomes more about what we do with the knowledge that we’ve been given. Do we “get it,” that Jesus is the Son of God to whom we are to listen? Or do we continue to wander in a haze of misunderstanding, failing to grasp the big picture? If Jesus is the Son of God, if Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:7a), then why are we living the way we live, doing the things we do, causing the sorts of problems that we seem determined to cause? Jesus is the Son of God; even Moses and Elijah know it. Now it’s time to live as though Jesus’ identity means something to us as well.

Prayer: Lord, help us to grasp the glory and the grace that is all around us and to live as redeemed people, not as those stuck in the past. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Approach With Care

2 Kings 1:2-17

Today’s reading from 2 Kings tells a rather disturbing story. Twice the King of Israel sends a captain of fifty soldiers and his men to retrieve the prophet Elijah. Twice the prophet calls down fire to consume the soldiers. When a third unit of soldiers comes the commander kneels before the prophet at says, “O man of God, please let my life, and the life of these fifty servants of yours, be precious in your sight. Look, fire came down from heaven and consumed the two former captains of fifty men with their fifties; but now let my life be precious in your sight” (2 Kings 1:13b-14).

One way to understand this story would be as a warning: do not approach God or God’s prophet with an attitude of power, but rather with humility and a realization that God alone is in control. Armies are of no concern to God, what God seeks is a faithful and obedient people. When the third captain of fifty men came to Elijah he prayed that he and his men might be found “precious” in God’s sight. To me this is a recognition of a right relationship between God and humanity. Before God is asked to consider the captain and his men precious the men for their part would need to understand God as essential to human life, or at the very least capable of ending that life.

The first two captains came to the prophet in power seeking to enforce the will of the king. The third captain came to the prophet in weakness seeking God’s will. All of which makes me wonder what you and I do. Do we come to God with demands, believing that we have power and that God is on our side? Or do we simply seek God's presence, trusting the divine will to be better than anything we could arrange?

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we treat you with contempt, believing you to be incapable of helping us, while in fact you can and do. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Limping, Leaping, Wavering, Living

1 Kings 18:20-40

Our reading from 1 Kings today describes the prophet Elijah’s duel with the worshipers of Baal. Speaking to the people of Israel Elijah asks, “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him…” (1 Kings 18:21; NRSV). The word that means limping implies a wavering on the part of the people, an unwillingness to commit to God over and against Baal. Later in the passage we read that the prophets of Baal “limped about the altar that they had made” (v. 26; NRSV). Other translations use the word “leaping” instead of limping, but it implies a sort of halting liturgical dance that apparently was typical at that time. Now think of Jacob’s night by the ford of the River Jabbok. As the story goes Jacob limped away from his wrestling match with God (Genesis 32:24f; NRSV).

All of this limping, whether a sign of indecisiveness, wrong-headedness, or blessedness, seems to sum up life pretty well. Everybody limps, one way or another. Everyone takes false steps or gets muddled about faith. We are all limpers, and in so many ways we are all in this thing together. Jesus warned us not to point out the speck in our neighbor’s eye until we had dealt with the log in our own (Matthew 7:3). Perhaps we might also refrain from laughing at a stranger who stumbles until we can actually manage to stand up. Thinking too highly of ourselves may be the greatest “limp-causer” of all and was certainly something about which Jesus had a lot to say.

As I limp through my life I feel called not so much to judge the way others walk as to share my own efforts at getting it right while offering the balance and stability that I believe God offers in Jesus Christ. We all walk with faltering steps; it is part of being human. Grace abounds when we learn to help each other stay upright and rejoice in the path we are called to travel.

Prayer: Lord, help us to acknowledge our own limping even as we offer a hand to those around us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Standing With God

1 Kings 17:1-24

Philippians 2:1-11

Verses from two of our readings today struck me as indicative of God’s concern for the poor. The first comes from 1 Kings where the prophet Elijah asks a widow in Zarephath to provide him with food and lodging, assuring her that the meager amount of grain and oil that she has will be enough. “She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah” (1 Kings 17:15-16). Elijah’s presence with the widow and her son assured their survival. But the story also draws to our attention the depth of suffering to be found in our world. How do those of us blessed with much respond to the modern day “widows of Zarephath?” How much do we do to keep the jars full so that the poor may survive?

In Philippians Paul points to the humility of Jesus. “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited” (Philippians 2:5-6). Indeed, Jesus was willing to live among people who were oppressed by Rome and by their own religious leaders, and ultimately to die for their sake and ours. How do those of us blessed with freedom and status respond to those in our world who have neither? How much do we do to aid those who are persecuted and oppressed in our own world?

My assumption is that none of us really do enough to aid others. But clearly God has a preference, and if we intend to stand with God we will take the needs of the world more seriously while letting our own needs become less of a distraction to us.

Prayer: Lord you have always cared for the least among us. Help us to do the same so that your will may be done at all times. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.