Preached by the Right Reverend Grant Lynn Ford at the Sunshine Cathedral on Transfiguration Sunday, February 26, 2006.
The grace of our Master Teacher — the love of God in the unity of Spirit — be with you all.
He who is, who was, who will be manifest: we exalt you, creator of all. You abide in us as peace, in us as healing, in us as love and prosperity that flows through our entire being out of us into the external. Daily we witness your magnificence.
But we don’t know what we experience. Lord have mercy.
Fear over takes us. Christ have mercy.
We don’t realize our inheritance. Lord have mercy
As we experience the transformation within us and around us let us not only be spectators in opening of the Kingdom, but grant us our double portion so that we are able to build lives that serve as monuments of your love to us.
We pray in the name of Jesus the anointed. Amen.
2 Kings 2:1b-12 (abridged)
1bComing from Gilgal, 2Elijah said to Elisha: “You can stay here. The Eternal wants me to go to BethEl.” But Elisha responded, “No way! I’m sticking with you.” 3-7They had the same conversation in Jericho, and again at the Jordan, with the same results. When they arrived at the Jordan, 8Elijah took off his outer robe, rolled it up and struck the water, creating a dry path for them to cross over.
9When they got to the other side, Elijah said, “Before I go, tell me: what can I do for you?” “Give me a double portion of your spirit!” Elisha cried. 10“You’re asking for a lot!” Elijah said. “But if you see me when I’m taken from you, it’s yours! Otherwise, no way.” 11Suddenly a fiery chariot with fiery horses came between them, and Elijah disappeared in a whirlwind. 12Elisha, seeing it all, cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more.
Daughter of Fire by Irina Tweedie
There are moments of oneness with the Beloved, absolute ecstasy and bliss. That is nothingness. And this nothingness loves you, responds to you, fulfills you utterly and yet there is nothing there. You flow out like a river, without diminishing. This is the great mystical experience, the great ecstasy.
Mark 9:2-8
2Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. 3His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. 4And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
5Peter said to Jesus, “Teacher, this is great! Let’s build three Succoth booths — one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6(He didn’t know what else to say; they were all quite frightened.)
7Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, my Beloved. Listen to him!” 8Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.
This week we begin one of the most intense periods of the Christian church, with the Imposition of Ashes this Wednesday, and then World Day of Prayer this Friday. That’s a lot of church in one week, especially for those taking classes in Light University or singing in the choir or being busy in some way doing good work.
So why do we gather for worship? Do we come to pay homage to a deity in a far distant heaven, one who is eager to punish us if we do wrong and who might reward us if we do enough of the right thing?
I certainly hope not! I believe in the God of Jesus, of whom he said, “We worship God in Spirit and in Truth.”
When we gather in worship we are stirred within; the lamp of our soul is polished so the light shines brightly within us and pours out to the world around us. There’s a word for that: enlightenment. That doesn’t mean we receive light from somewhere else. No, its dictionary definition is “to transcend, to rise above the ordinary, the banal.”
It’s something that happens within us, and this is what Peter was experiencing, and wanted to continue experiencing. There’s nothing wrong in what Peter wanted to do. He simply wanted to build three booths — a tradition among Jews as they celebrate the last of the Shalosh R’galim, the three pilgrimage festivals: Pesach, Shavu’ot and finally Sukkot, the remembrance of those 40 years of wandering in the desert. Even today Jews build sukkah to celebrate this occasion.
However, at this moment a sukkah was an impediment to the journey. This moment of enlightenment the disciples were experiencing was in preparation for descending from the mountain, where below lay a suffering child who needed their love.
Enlightenment is not always about us!
The disciples still didn’t get it, so Jesus demonstrated one more time. He showed them that we gather on the mountaintop so we can heal the sick in the valley. Because of the light shining in Jesus and the faith of a father, this child was healed, was made whole.
This same light shines in each of us. Jesus said to us, “You are the light…” He didn’t tell us to expect him to heal the sick. He told us we are the light, we are the ones who are called to quicken the faith of others.
Listen to the whole sentence Jesus spoke: “You are the light… of the world!” We are enlightened — the light shines bright in us — not just so we can experience the wonder and awe of the light, but so we can share our light with those who still, as St. Paul said, “see through a glass darkly”. We shed the light of God’s love into a world that thinks it is unloved, unlovely, unlovable.
“Not so!” says Jesus. “God loves the world so much… here I am!”
And now, world, look out. Here we are — letting our light shine, feeding the hungry, helping the helpless, praying for the sick, those ‘down and out’ and those ‘up and out’. In the process of helping others — of doing mitzvoth — we are helped, we have hope, we are healed!
Albert Einstein said: “Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into flame by another human being. Each of us owes deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this light.” To which I add, “The world owes its gratitude to the Light which shines within us, for it is this Light that we share with others so their Light will be rekindled.”
Danny Thomas was so right when he said: “Success has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It’s what you do for others.” Look at all the good he did; it’s a witness to the light that shone through him.
In this great project we are undertaking — the remodeling of the chancel, the great organ, and later, the fabulous stained glass altar piece as a symbol of our Light — we are not building a booth for ourselves where we can sit and be blessed. We are building a powerhouse where we can come and be recharged, renewed, inspired to go from this place to let our Light shine. Anything short of that would be a shame and a waste. Anything more than that would be a bit ostentatious — and we wouldn’t want that!
But think of those who will come to bask in the Light, and then will be so charged that they will go from this place to let their light shine. Now that makes it worth it! I hope you’ll help us as we continue to build this church, this power station, this light house — where we offer help, healing and hope.
And I affirm each of you as you gather here this week on this coming Wednesday and Friday, and then as you go from this place to let your light shine. You’ll make all the difference in the world. And you know what: that’s the Truth!
Jesus is the Light of the World!
I am the Light of the World!
Together we let our light shine.
Together we bring healing —
— we bring help —
— we bring hope.I experience it all.
I share it with others.
— And I like it like that! Amen.
How did Shakespeare put it in The Merchant of Venice? “How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world.”
So let your light shine this week even as you attend services on Wednesday and Friday. And remember the words of Dr. Martin Luther King: “Darkness can not drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
