Readings:
Ex. 34:29-35; 1Cor.12:27-13:13; Luke 9:28-36for Epiphany 4C
February 22, 2004
The Rev. Karen Siegfriedt
St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino,
CA
"Then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" [Lk.9]
Who is the largest employer in 21 of the states in America? It is not IBM, a phone company, or a manufacturing company. The largest employer in 21 states in America is Wal-Mart! In a recent article by the rector of Trinity, Wall Street, Dan Matthews tells of a recent experience in Wal-Mart. He went there to buy a battery for his camera. By the time he reached the back of the store where Wal-Mart had its camera department, he had grabbed a shopping basket and had it half filled. Had he gone to an old-fashion camera shop, he would have saved money, reduced his stuff, and gone home with all he really needed - a tiny battery.
I recently read that the largest service business in America is the mini-storage industry. When our houses get full- including the garage, the basement, the attic, and the storage shed, we rent space in warehouses. And now with the new tax cuts which are suppose to give us more money to spend, we can use that money to fill those shopping carts so that we can store more of our stuff in those private mini-storage lockers.
Dan Matthews reflects on this absurdity: "When will it end? Will we ever have enough? Is this consumption of goods the only way we know how to love or be loved? Is the spiritual awakening we witness today strong enough to challenge our Wal-Mart mentality? Are we now out to try to buy the whole world? Is that what we mean by a market-driven world economy?"
There is a growing awareness that the poor of our world are the real victims of this rampant materialism. Who will challenge us to heighten our awareness of world poverty and its connection to mass consumption? Who will lead us from a Wal-Mart mentality to a God-centered conscience? In today's gospel from Luke, we hear the words: "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" [Lk.9]
One of the reasons I appreciate the discipline of coming to church each Sunday, is because I hear a different story from the stories that are being told in the market-driven world. Instead of hearing, "Attention Wal-Mart shoppers", we hear "love is patient, love is kind, love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude." Instead of hearing, "there is a two for one special on aisle #3," we hear a hope of a new creation proclaimed in the opening collect: "O God, who before the passion of your only-begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain: Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; though Jesus Christ our Lord." Instead of standing in line waiting for the cashier to ring up our stuff, we stand in line, waiting to receive holy food for holy people at the celebration of the Eucharist.
Each Sunday, we read and inwardly digest the Holy Scriptures, not to get information, but to be transformed. Today, being the feast of the Transfiguration (last Sunday in Epiphany), let us enter into these Scriptures to see what might happen to our heart, mind, body, and soul.
Irenaeus said: "The glory of God is the human person fully alive." If you were an artist, how would you paint this glory of God? If you were a writer, how would you communicate this glory of God? In today's readings from the Bible, "the glory of God shining out of humanity" is communicated in two ways: a bright shining face and a love that never ends. Let's take a closer look. In the first reading from the book of Exodus, Moses has an intimate experience of God in which a covenant is made. The wisdom of the 10 commandments is handed down to Moses so that the people of Israel can create a society that is life-giving. These commandments have the insights to transform this loosely arranged band of slaves, into a thriving tribe of godly people who care about one another. The biblical author describes Moses' face as shining because he has been talking to God.
In the gospel, Jesus has a similar experience: "While he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white." [Lk. 9]
In Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, we hear about the glory of God being communicated through the practice of love. Paul is trying to educate the people in Corinth on how to be a Christian community. (As you might remember, the church in Corinth was having a lot of problems. Its members were treating each other from a place of self-centered, secular habits. Then, they wondered why their faith community was so dysfunctional.) Paul tells them that everything they do, every gift they offer, every worship service they attend, must be grounded in love (agape);- not a romantic love, or self-serving love, or "feelings of love", but a love that comes from God and is bestowed upon those who commit their life to God. "If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth...And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. [1Cor. 13]
"The glory of God is the human person fully alive." This is the goal that is set before us on this Feast Day of the Transfiguration. The season of Epiphany has focused our attention on the manifestation of the light and glory of God in Jesus. But now, the liturgical season begins to change. This week marks the transition into the season of Lent. As we enter into this season of Lent, we will begin to focus on those hindrances that block the light and the glory of God from being manifested in our own lives. After all, we do not read the Scriptures to "ooo and awe" over Jesus. We read the scriptures to help us be transformed into the likeness of Christ. The problem is, we haven't really been trained to undertake such an enormous transformation.
You see, we are being called to vision a new world order. We call this new world order, The Kingdom of God. So many people are trying to embrace this vision and to act from this vision. But we fail. We fail because we are trying to be disciples rather than training to be disciples. Just suppose you tried to run a marathon race without any training. Now, you might try very, very hard, but you will never reach your goal without some serious training. In fact, you may even hurt yourself. But that is exactly what people are doing in the spiritual life. They are trying to be disciples without training. It is not really their fault. It is just that no one has shown them how to train in this area of life.
Spiritual training (unlike Wal-Mart training) builds within us deeply ingrained habits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control. It is this training that is integral to manifesting the glory of God in our lives. Today's readings point out a few of the spiritual disciplines that are part and parcel of a spiritual training program. These spiritual disciplines include commitment to the covenant, prayer, listening to the wisdom of Jesus, and relating to others through the conscious effort of love.
There are many more spiritual disciplines (which we will cover during the season of Lent) which will help train us to become disciples of Christ. You will hear more about these disciplines through the Renovare spiritual training program, which in Latin means to renew. I hope you will take the time to engage in this training program. However, in preparation of Ash Wednesday (which is in three days), I want you to engage in a particular spiritual discipline called the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It begins with a litany of Penitence found in your prayer book under the Ash Wednesday liturgy [BCP 267]. Please read this litany carefully before you come to the Ash Wednesday service to receive ashes as a sign of your commitment to love more fully. Being immersed in the various spiritual disciplines like Penitence, will clear out the debris in your life so that like Moses and Jesus, the glory of God will shine throughout your countenance.
| Updated 2/22/2004 |
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