Sermon for the Feast of the Transfiguration (a little late...)

My spiritual director invited me to preach at her parish in Port Royal, Virginia on August 6th. My computer had to go in for repairs (fortunately it was under warranty) just as I was getting ready to start writing. It was an interesting experience drafting it by hand. I haven't done any formal writing (academic papers, sermons, etc.) by hand since I was in graduate school back in the mid-1980s. It's a whole different process. I finished writing the final version at a reasonable time that Saturday evening, but as I drove down to Port Royal Sunday morning, I had some new thoughts, which I scribbled on my manuscript before the service. Here is what I ended up with:

The Feast of the Transfiguration – Luke 9:28-36

St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Port Royal Virginia, August 6, 2017

Thank you, Catherine, for inviting me to be here with all of you to share in today’s celebration. And as Catherine just mentioned, today is the day that the Church celebrates the Feast of the Transfiguration. Wait. What? Didn’t we already hear this story at the end of February? And didn’t we already celebrate the Transfiguration? Well yes, we did hear Matthew’s version in February. But no, we didn’t celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration. What the Church celebrates on the last Sunday of Epiphany is Transfiguration Sunday. This may sound like the same thing, but there are differences. The season of Epiphany centers on the revelation of God’s light in Jesus, which begins with the Magi following the star to visit the baby Jesus, tells of his baptism by John, the calling of the disciples, stories of his public ministry, and ends with the Transfiguration, after which begins the season of Lent and the journey toward Jerusalem and crucifixion. Even the collect for Transfiguration Sunday launches us into Lent:
 

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; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

 
It is Christ’s glory, and our own, that is the focus of Transfiguration Sunday. On that day, we are preparing for Lent and the journey to the cross. 

This is not to say that the Feast of the Transfiguration isn’t about who Jesus is. Luke’s version of the event appears in a section that most commentators refer to as being about who Jesus is and detailing his ministry in Galilee. Just a few verses before today’s passage Herod asks the question outright: “I beheaded John, so now who am I hearing about?” The answer is all around Herod and quite visible to us, especially in today’s reading when God’s voice declares it from the cloud: “This is my Son, my chosen one. Listen to him!” There is also a subtle reference to his coming suffering, death, and resurrection in Jerusalem. Moses and Elijah speak with Jesus about “his departure.” It could simply mean his departure for Jerusalem, but the Greek makes it clear that they are talking about his coming death and resurrection. So yes, today’s feast day does serve to tell us something about who Jesus is. But there is a difference here. Listen again to today’s collect:

O God, who on the holy mount revealed to chosen witnesses your well-beloved Son, wonderfully transfigured, in raiment white and glistening: Mercifully grant that we, being delivered from the disquietude of this world, may by faith behold the King in his beauty; who with you, O Father, and you, O Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever.

 
We’re not talking about Christ’s glory and taking up our cross to follow Him into glory. Today is about seeing Jesus for who he is. Not only does the collect point us in this direction, but the hymns we’ve sung all talk about the shining light, his shining face. He is God’s Son. As part of the Church’s prayer, we are asking to be delivered from the disquietude of the world, and also in effect our own unease, so that we may see Jesus clearly. Frankly, I think the Church gets it wrong here. If we look at this scene, we can see that it takes place in the context of prayer. Jesus has gone up the mountain with the three disciples to pray. Jesus frequently goes off to pray alone or with his disciples. However, very rarely, if ever, is he delivered from his unease, the disquietude of the world. Just before this scene, Jesus and the disciples try to go off for some quiet time alone. Instead they are followed by a growing crowd, and Jesus ends up feeding more than 5,000 people! On the night before his death he prayed on the Mount of Olives for God to take away “this cup of suffering.” We all know the answer to that prayer. 

Taking time for prayer isn’t about easing our disquietude. In fact, it is often our disquietude that leads us to look for quiet time away to pray. Prayer is an important part of a life of faith. It grounds us. It helps us discern our own call to ministry in the world—and have no doubt about it, we the laity are the primary ministers of the Church. If you don’t believe me, look at the Catechism sometime. We are ministers even if we and the Church don’t always believe it or act like it. Prayer strengthens us for that ministry, even as Jesus is strengthened during his time on the mountain. And he needs it because when Jesus comes down off the mountain after the Transfiguration there is no slow transition back into his ministry. He and the disciples are immediately confronted by a man whose son is possessed by a demon, and Jesus heals the boy. 

Be careful what you pray for because, like Jesus, we do get answers to our prayers. Those answers, however, aren’t always what we expect. Be open to those answers, for they will transform your life—they will transfigure you. 

Please pray with me. 

Loving God, in our disquiet we come to you with open hearts to listen for your call. Responding to your call isn’t easy. Often it makes us even more uneasy. We ask that you be with us in our uneasiness to transform us for the work you ask us to share. In the name of your Transfigured Son. Amen.

A Day without Housekeeping

Yesterday afternoon my Head Housekeeper came to my office to check in on several issues. At the end of the conversation she asked how many rooms needed to be turned over today. One. What's up? She told me that she and the other housekeepers were planning to take the day off to participate in A Day without Immigrants. They all had paid time off that they could use, and I can clean a guest room, if necessary. I did make a quick call to HR to alert them. I support their decision to participate. The Seminary supports their decision to participate.

After I finished my work yesterday I came home and did some reading about A Day without Immigrants. I found a lot about restaurants in the DC metro area and about a handful of small businesses. This evening's news is full of stories primarily about restaurants and schools along with some constructions sites. What about the hotels? The grocery stores?

But what really struck me about what I read was that the majority of the participating workers covered in those stories had paid time off and/or had supportive supervisors or bosses or owners. My housekeepers are employed full time and have salaries and benefits. How many immigrants do not? How many did not participate in today's action because they needed to work in order to support their families? How many showed up for work because if they didn't, they would lose their job?

A Day without Immigrants was a day of multiple hard truths.

We Must Speak Out

It has been a long while since I've blogged even semi-regularly, but the times call for speaking out. Last night I pulled out an old button, and this morning I put it on.

Even now, more than 20 years after I first acquired this button, I found myself once again doing education about the significance of the pink triangle. Although I shouldn't have been, I was surprised that members of this Seminary community did not know that the pink triangle was worn by homosexuals in the Nazi concentration camps.

Once I explained the triangle people wanted to know what the button said. Almost everyone was familiar with this quote attributed to Martin Niemoller and recognized its significance in the current context.

We are back to Silence = Death, folks.

The Yankee Studies Greek

The August Term officially began last week, and the students' first classes started Friday. The new Juniors are taking biblical Hebrew or biblical Greek. The classes meet every day for the duration of the term in an attempt to give students a very basic grasp of the language before they begin the introductory classes in the Hebrew or Christian Scriptures. Since students often take the Scripture classes together, they really only have the language for one or the other. So while having the appropriate language is helpful, it is not required.

I will be taking the New Testament Interpretation class beginning this fall. However, as a part-time student with a full-time job, I cannot three weeks of mornings off to enroll in the introductory Greek class during August term. I really want to have some rudimentary grasp of the language before classes start in September. I was able to find an introductory class available on iTunes, and I was able to purchase the textbook for the course. I managed to learn enough that while doing some research for a paper for my summer class I was able to pick out a couple of words and parts of words. Enough that I could look them up in a lexicon, if I needed to.

It's still a bit of a struggle. Today one of the Seniors who is taking a second biblical language this term mentioned Quizlet, a site with all sorts of study aids and quizzes covering a wide variety of subjects. They also offer an app for cell phones. I used it this evening to review some of the basics I've been studying and found it helpful in reinforcing and (hopefully) with retention. I guess I'll find out once I start doing exegesis for the class this fall.

Things have changed a lot since I last took graduate level classes nearly 30 years ago. I typed my papers on an electric typewriter. I did all of my research using books and periodicals. Paper and pen/pencil were my study tools. And I sat in a classroom to take a class. Now papers are not only composed and edited on a computer, but they are often submitted to the professor electronically, either via email or through the institution's intranet page for the course. I do not have to go to the library to use periodical indexes and order articles through inter-library loan. Now that entire process can be done online. Vocabulary flashcards can be done on a cell phone app. And you don't even have to be in a classroom to take a class--my summer class was taught online. Not to mention that I'm able to study Greek using video from a seminary course made available online.

Keeping the brain cells active. This is a good thing!

The Yankee Begins Another Academic Year

I moved down here a little over three years ago, and it still surprises me to see Virginia plates on my car. This August marks the beginning of the fourth academic year since I started the job, my second as a student. After the years it took to get out of the mindset of an academic year, it did not take me long to get back into the rhythm of it.

We spent the last month preparing for them, and yesterday the dorms officially opened for the students. Most of the arrivals are new students, as are those who have been moving into the off-campus apartments for the past 10 days. A small group of us helped move folks into their dorm rooms as they arrived. I logged 30 flights of stairs by 2:00 p.m. The new students should all be here by Thursday, when the August term officially begins, and the returning students will trickle in between now and Labor Day Weekend. The residential section of campus is no longer deathly quiet.

Each class develops its own personality, so we will watch to see how the class of 2018 shapes up over the coming year.

As the number of students increases, campus services and activities begin to ramp up. Food service began with lunch today. We'll have lunch only until Wednesday, when they start serving dinner, and full meal service begins on Thursday. Cooking for one often seems like a waste of energy, when for the same amount of time and effort I can prepare a meal for four or more, so it's nice to have the Refectory open again. August term classes begin on Friday, which means we'll be seeing a lot of Greek and Hebrew flashcards. And so the new folks from have something besides studying to do, orientation meetings and activities are scheduled throughout the coming weeks.

As with every new year, a lot of familiar faces will not be returning. This year it will be particularly noticeable for me. The class of 2015 was the class that started the same year I did. The were the first class I saw all the way through their three year Seminary career. Now they are scattered throughout the church exercising their ministries. I miss them, and I hope they are all doing well. The only other class I will probably have as close an affinity with will be the one that I will finish my MA with, if all goes according to plan. And they won't arrive until NEXT August!

And so begins another year.

The Yankee Does Homework

This year I enrolled in the Evening School Program here at the Seminary. During the August Term I took the prerequisite class, The Theological Education Toolbox, which is an introduction to what a seminary education is like for the seminarians here and what Evening School students can expect. Of course, I have a better idea than most about the seminarians' experience, as I live in the residential section of the campus and eat breakfast and dinner with the on hill seminarians most days. But it was still an interesting overview and would have been helpful when I arrived as a new employee almost two-and-a-half years ago. We also spent one session at the Bishop Payne Library for an introduction to its resources. Again, there wasn't much new for me, as I take advantage of any sessions offered by the library during Employee Development Days and any other time. The head librarian did rise to my challenge and found at least one thing I didn't know (the QR codes at the bottom of most book listings in the electronic catalog).

For the Fall semester I enrolled in two classes, one for the entire semester and one for six weeks beginning in the middle of October. The semester-long class is Dean Markham's Faith in the Triune God: An Introduction to Systematic Theology on Wednesday evenings. I'd been looking forward to taking this class, since everyone I've spoken with who's taken a class with the Dean says that he is a terrific teacher. Two weeks into the class I have to say that their assessment is holding up.

Because I enrolled in the enriched option of the Evening School, which leads to a certificate, I am required to do at least some of the homework/classwork rather than just sit in and audit. The Dean hasn't yet decided what the three of us Evening School students will be doing to fulfill our requirements. In the meantime I am doing the reading sheets assigned for each week's reading. Even if the Dean ultimately doesn't require them of us, I will continue to complete them. I am doing HOMEWORK again! This weekend I took  over the kitchen table as I did my homework. In the last two weeks my dictionary has seen more use than it usually does. I even pulled my old Education for Ministry texts from the shelf to give me some context for some of the assigned readings.

At one point this afternoon I began to wonder how the full-time students do this. Over the last two. weeks I've spent a significant amount of time reading and writing. How on earth would I manage a second class in October, let alone a full load? Then I remembered that they are full-time students. They're not holding down a full-time job. And by the time October rolls around, I'll have established a new rhythm life.

Up, Up and Away!

Today we went to the National Air and Space Museum. Today happens to be the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, so how could I not have my picture taken next to the Apollo 11 capsule. I remember how excited we were when Apollo 11 blasted off and as it approached the Moon. On this day in 1969 my parents woke us up in what seemed like the middle of the night, so we could see the first men walk on the moon. It seemed like such a promise back then. The future shown to us by Star Trek seemed attainable.

The Apollo 11 capsule is small, the Gemini 4 from which the first U.S. space walk was taken is smaller, and the Mercury 6 that carried John Glenn into orbit tiny. Hanging above the the space capsules is another historic machine--The Spirit of St. Louis, which Charles Lindbergh flew solo across the Atlantic. It is also smaller than one imagines, even though it was never described as a large plane. We also saw the Wright Brothers' machine that first flew at Kitty Hawk and ushered in the age of the airplane.  But I was more interested in the Spirit of St. Louis and the Tingmissartoq, which Charles and his  wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh flew on two long trips. Perhaps because the Lindberghs lived in Darien and still had a
home there when I was growing up there. I also remember reading Anne Morrow Lindbergh's diaries while I was in high school.

The Timgmissartoq exhibit showed the scope of the trips the Lindbergh made by plane in 1931 and 1933 to scout early airline routes. Like most of the exhibits in the museum it provided just the right amount of information without being overwhelming or forgetting that people of all ages come to this museum. The Air and Space Museum is one of the most popular of the Smithsonian museums, as was evidenced by the crowd there today. The only one of the museums I've visited so far that had a similar number of people was the Natural History Museum.

I also enjoyed the Aircraft Carrier exhibit, which included a  fairly extensive area covering the War in the Pacific during World War II. The plane in this picture is a Douglas SBD-6. I took the picture because as a boy I had a metal toy version of  this plane. It is amazing the amount of history here that I remember within my own lifetime or was a part of my childhood. My other favorite exhibit was Legend, Memory, and the Great War in the Air. It tries to dispel the romantic images that make up our current cultural memory of World War I. The reality was a far cry from Snoopy and the Red Baron!

 We had some time before we were due for dinner with friends, so we also stopped at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Other than the Rodin "Back" sculptures, I was underwhelmed. I think my favorite moment was when a young father stopped at a sculpture with his two sons and asked them what they thought of it. The older boy said, "It looks like a lot of lines squiggled together." (Which it kind of did look like.) The father responded, "All drawings are a lot of lines squiggled together. But what do you think about this?" "It could be a spider," the boy said. Absolutely perfect. One entire floor of the museum was closed for renovation, and the exhibits are spare and spread out, so we weren't there for very long. As we were leaving the Sculpture Garden we passed this sculpture, "Last Conversation Piece" by Spanish artist Juan Munoz. The first thing that came to my mind was "Weebles wobble, but they don't fall down!" A woman behind us said it out loud. We had a good laugh about it.

I still have a list of places I want to visit in the area, but I'm getting there one one.  Well sometimes two by two. Until the next adventure...