An enchanting story is told of an elderly woman who lived her life by the motto, “if you can’t say something nice about someone don’t say anything at all.”  (I imagine we have each encountered someone like this, maybe we are someone like this.)  Somehow this kind woman could always find something nice to say about anyone, no matter who they were or what they were known for!  Now this proved to be a creative challenge for her grandchildren, and they would test her often saying “what about so and so?”, and she would come up with something nice.  Then one day, they thought they really had her.  “Grandma”, one child asked with a wicked grin, “what about the devil?, what do you have to say about him?”  She thought for a moment, the children waited and then she replied, “well, you have to say.. he’s always on the job- isn’t he!”  

If there is any biblical word that needs virtually no explanation for us today, it is “temptation”.   We know of it from biblical stories of Adam and Eve, King David, and others.  We know of it from books like the “Scarlet Letter” and from just about any “block buster” movie we may rent.  And too much so, we know of it from newspaper headlines.  Almost by instinct we come to learn that “temptation” is a negative word, meaning a desire to “be bad” or disobedient. 

Temptation today it is often thought of as an alcoholic reaching for one more drink, a teenager doing something stupid in order to fit in, someone pursuing an affair.  Often these are things that other people can clearly see would be bad for them, yet somehow they can not see it for themselves.  To those who are tempted, it can be very difficult to see the downside of what is so appealingly set before them.   

Jesus, however, could clearly see the shortfalls in what was being offered him by the devil.  His eyes were open to the reality of the consequences of his choices. As we consider the temptations before Jesus, it may seem like what he faced in no way reflects temptations we may face.  Yet every temptation has the same underlying tension.  To treat God as less than God, and treat ourselves as something more than human.  It was real for Jesus and it is real for us. 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes “the Bible is not like a book of edification, telling us many stories of temptations and their overcoming.  To be precise, the Bible tells only two temptation stories, the temptation of the first man and the temptation of Christ, that is the temptation which led to man’s fall, and the temptation which led to Satan’s fall.  All other temptations in human history have to do with the two stories of temptation.  Either the Adam in me is tempted-in which case we fall.  Or the Christ in us is tempted – in which case Satan is bound to fall.” 

A good friend of mine defines temptation as a choice between “freedom and oppression.”  

We speak of temptations as a desire to be disobedient, yet at the heart of temptation is something greater, to treat God as something less than God and to treat ourselves as something more than human.  In temptations we choose between God’s will, which leads us to live in the freedom that is intended for each of us, or choosing to live in oppression of our own design, and a distortion of the truth. 

As we consider the temptations that Jesus faced, it may be difficult for us to believe that he was truly tempted, because he never did give in.  The Christ in him responded always.  The part of him that knew his essential identity so he always put God’s will above all else.  He chose to live in the freedom of the bounds of belonging to God. 

As we face temptation, the Adam within us sometimes prevails and we find ourselves living in a form of oppression that results from our choice.  Sometimes that which looks so appealing and perhaps even freeing at first can in fact narrow our world and close in things around us. 

While we may not be tempted to turn stones to bread, are we not tempted to question whether God will give us what we need for our daily journey?  While we may not be tempted to test God and gravity by jumping off a building, don’t we at times question or doubt God’s helpfulness in times of difficulty?  Asking where was God during that last crisis?,  Do we forget God’s promise my grace is sufficient for you.

It will always be tempting to give in to the ways of the world, in an effort to achieve whatever goals we may have set for ourselves for our personal or professional lives.  There are appealing shortcuts that will present themselves.   It is hard to worship and serve God only.  That is our calling.        

We pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “lead me not into temptation”.  For good cause.  It is most difficult to be in times of temptation and choice.   Many times we are going to make the wrong decision.  Jesus was led by the holy spirit to temptation for him to gain a greater sense of his identity.  He came away knowing more fully who he was and what he was called to be and do in his ministry.  He was not going to have power and possessions and prestige, he was going to have servant hood, poverty, and humility.  

In his time of greatest temptation he was alone and hungry in the desert, standing at the edge of his ministry.  The rest of his life was before him, a book filled with only blank pages.  What will be its nature and shape?  How will he relate to God and rely on God? Temptations will come to us with the same challenging questions that will shape our identities, no matter where we are in life.  Let us not shun temptations, but acknowledge how real and trying they are, and enter these times with a trust and confidence that the Holy Spirit is among us and within us actively showing us that which is of God.  Amen.     

“Rarefied Air”  (Luke 9:28-36)

Intro to theme:  Last week I mentioned my flight instructor Jake, he used to like to joke that “altitude can change your attitude”.  It was it his house that I first time I saw poem “High Flight” and I’d like to read it for you now.   READ POEM.    “Reached out and touched the face of God.”  It can be hard to describe “mountain top experiences”  but I’d like to consider them in the sermon this morning. 

Intro to reading:  Today is Transfiguration Sunday.  The week before we start the season of Lent.  This is the familiar yet mysterious story of Jesus’ Transfiguration on the mountain top.  At this point in his ministry, Jesus knows what is before him Jerusalem, he knows his time is short and that the disciples really don’t get it yet.  He takes three disciples with him as he goes up to pray.  //

Prayer of Invocation

(Slide of Taranaki)  Who has seen this mountain?  Everyone, right?  We’ve all seen it from the ground,  right?  Has anyone climbed it?  I got this far. (SLIDE)  And those who go higher can see this.  (Slide from top of Taranaki) Great view, wow.  To get up above the clouds.  Love it.  A different perspective.  What is the view like from up there?  (Was it worth the hike?)   It can be hard to describe some events, and even when you do try you can tell people just don’t get it.   

Astronauts from around the world have tried to describe what it was like for them to voyage into space and return to Earth again.   The book’s author asked many people who had flown into space to reflect on how the journey changed them emotionally and spiritually.   Some said the experience was simply beyond words.  Some did try to describe the changes and their words are fascinating. 

An astronaut from Saudi Arabia said “the first day or so we all pointed to our countries.  The third or fourth day we were pointing to our continents.  By the fifth day we were aware of only one earth.”  A Russian writes “During a space flight the psyche of each astronaut is reshaped.  You become more full of life, softer.  You begin to look at things with greater trepidation and you begin to be more kind and patient with the people around you.”   (I have heard some people wanting to send a loved one up for a rocket trip for just this very reason).  And an American wrote:  “We left as technicians and returned as humanitarians.” 

These space travelers have seen things that not many, if any, of us will see first-hand.  They have gone beyond the veil of the earth and peeked further towards the edge of the universe than all others.  It is great and fantastic stuff and many times there are no words for the experience.  From the pictures and words we can get a glimpse of what it must have been like for them.  But we still have to use our imagination for the universe is so vast that it always defy full explanation or definition.   

Back to our mountain top with Jesus and the disciples.  The miraculous mysterious things that happened on the mountain are precursors to taking up the cross.  We can learn a great deal from how Jesus dealt with this time of transition in his life.  He knows full well what lies before him in Jerusalem.  He knows that those who follow him do not fully understand.  Yet he invites his three closest disciples to go with him up the mountain and pray with him.  It is interesting that Jesus chose to go up the mountain to pray.  We know and believe that God is everywhere and that you can pray anywhere and Jesus would know this too.  But he goes up to the mountain top.

Perhaps there is a good reason for this.  From here his line of sight, his vision would be much different.  From here one can look across the Jordan valley and see where the river flows into the dead sea, and on a clear day you can see all the way to Jerusalem.  For Moses this would have been the place to see get a view of the promised land, to see where to cross the Jordan, to dream of what could have been.  This would have been the place.  Not only is Jesus getting a glimpse of the big picture of the landscape, he is gaining a deeper insight into what his calling as the Christ means. 

Our story this morning is a moment of God most definitely reaching toward Jesus and all of us with a glimpse of heaven.  Jesus is in a time of transition and transformation as he has begun his ministry, Peter has declared that Jesus is the Christ.  Jesus has explained for the first time that to be the Christ means that he must journey to Jerusalem and die.  It will not be an easy road before him but he accepts that and know his journey to the cross will be difficult. 

In this moment, when heaven and earth touch Jesus is transfigured by a shining light and suddenly appear Moses and Elijah.  These two represent the essential parts of the Jewish faith namely the law and the prophets.  Jesus is being comforted and encouraged by his spiritual roots, his culture, his heritage comes to him in his hour of need and this becomes a timeless moment.  Don’t we at turning points in our lives take comfort from people or places from our past taking the time to look where we have been to help guide us as we go forward. 

For a movement heaven and earth do touch and Jesus shines.  Even though the disciples are sleepy they can still see it and they don’t know what to do or say.  When the moment changes and passes Peter is so swept up in it that he wants to build a set of booths and try to live up there and stay in that wonderful moment.   He wants to stay in that rarified air of the mountain top. We can understand that, the temptation to hold on those once in a lifetime moments forever.  Peter doesn’t realize the reality of what Jesus has explained that God’s work is not yet done, they most all go down together and carry on.  They must leave the mountain and go through the valleys before them and continue toward the cross. 

Here you can help me fill in the blank, what goes up? ……… Must come down, 

Hikers come down, airplanes must land, spacecraft return to earth.  OH, if only we just stay up there! 

They descend from the peak changed somehow, wondering what words will suit the experience and then God speaks saying the words uttered at Jesus baptism, this is my child, my beloved, listen to him”  It is a clear call for us to recognize Christ in our lives, to know that following Christ will mean times of ordinary moments and time of extraordinary.  Most of the time we live day to day, yet God does and God will break into our lives providing moments and glimpses that we hold on to and make sense of over time.  As we go forward into Lent we do so knowing that God is with us in all our times of transitions and transformations.  

We don’t need to leave the ground, but can we imagine our spirits soaring when we reach out to touch the face of God and we find God is already there, already touching our face ready to begin a new and intimate relationship, where we need not hide any of ourselves, and change begins.  This Lenten season we will be transformed, reflecting the light and love of our God and we will see that same light and love in our neighbor as well.  Amen. 

Intro to theme: Hopeful Sorrow

What are the two certainties in life?  Death and Taxes!  We are quick to complain or about taxes.  But death, that is a topic rarely discussed with honesty and sincerety.  

Our New Testament reading comes from I Thessalonians. This letter addresses some specific concerns raised by a young church started by Paul. Paul had been teaching that Christ would return soon and carry everyone up into heaven. Paul, and many early Christians thought that they would live to see this, that they would be there for the completion of God’s Kingdom. Now members have died and so the question arose “what will happen to those who have died before Christ comes again?”

 “Hopeful Sorrow” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

(Show the clip from UP – best four minutes.)

Death has long been, and continues to be, one of the hardest things for people to talk about.  We know Death happens to everyone.   As rational, thinking, folks we know that.  It is part of being alive.  From early on in our lives, we come to learn that plants, animals, and people grow up, grow old, and one day die.  At least that is the supposed to be the natural course of events.  We know that there is an eventual end point to our earthly growth, there comes a time when our baptism is complete, yet it is very rare that we will talk freely about it.  Try to think about the last time you shared your honest feelings about our own death with someone else saying “here is what I believe, or “this is what I am afraid of”, or “here is what I hope is true, here is what I know is true.” 

For the most part, death scares the heck out of us.  We don’t know for sure and we can’t prove in any scientific way what comes next so there is an understandable apprehension about what shape and form that any life after life might take.

Death and dying, it makes all the difference in the world if it’s happening to you or someone you love.  Not all of us are dealing with the reality of death and dying right now.  Some of us are fine and healthy, and members of our families are as well.  And we proceed in life with a sense of immunity.  That death is not going to happen to us, at least not for a long time so we can speak freely, casually, even philosophically about death, because it is a reality that is not very real to some of us right now.

For some for us death and dying are very real to us.  We know the pain of having lost someone dear to us.  We know the feeling of being left behind, or left alone.  Some of us may know what is to be dying, living with a very real sense of time being limited and striving to make the most of each day given.  Death will, and death does enters every life at some point. 

I remember one of my earliest enoucounters with losing someone I cared for deeply.  When I was a teenager I took flying lessons from a wonderful man, named Jake.  He had flown all his life and his greatest joy was teaching others.  As it turned out, I was the last student he taught.  He always assured me of any mistake I would make he had seen it hundreds of times before.  Anyway when we were flying  Jake could tell when I was tired or just not getting it, and he had this routine that I looked forward too.  Sometimes, at the end of a lesson, if it had gone really poorly, (or if it had gone really well)  There was this pattern that developed.  I knew what was coming.  He would reach over put a hand on my shoulder, give me a wink, with the other hand push the yoke forward diving the airplane to just the right speed, pull back on the stick until we went like this and then toss it over to one side till the airplane did an aileron roll.  It was an absolute thrill for us both.  He loved it and I loved it.  And we would laugh.  There is nothing quite like an airplane doing a circle in the sky like that.  

A few years later Jake was diagnosed with cancer.  It spread quite quickly and in time he needed large amounts of morphine to numb the pain in order to get through each day.  I was living in California at the time and one trip home I knew would be the last chance to see him.  It was hard to see him so different, unable to get up or even say much.  When it came time for me to leave he tried to reach for my shoulder, couldn’t quite lift his hand that high.  But he looked me in the eye and gave me a wink, and that was it. He said goodbye with a promise filled wink.   The tears came fast as I drove away. 

Tears are a very real part of any death.  There is a sorrow on the part of those who are left behind, and there may be tears from the person who is leaving.   Saying goodbye for the last time is something we don’t learn to do anywhere.  There is no way to practice.  And sometimes death comes without the chance to say goodbye beforehand.   

Death at any point in life brings up many questions.  What is next?  Is there life after life?  What can it be like?  We don’t know fully, on this side of the grave,  we don’t have satisfactory answers.  There are many things to ponder, and doubts can be very real. 

Death and dying, it makes all the difference in the world if it’s happening to you or to some that you love.    That’s the situation in the book today, of Thessalonians.  Christians in the first century, who were expecting the risen Christ to come soon, to usher in his kingdom with all of its glory and triumph, these Christians were suddenly confused because other people in their church were beginning to die.  They didn’t know what to make of it.  And it confused their faith and it gave them concern as to what Easter really meant.  They had thought the resurrection had destroyed death.  And they would now see Christ coming on the clouds, but with the death of their loved ones they are unsure. 

That’s what was perplexing these Thessalonians, in a post resurrection world.  Paul says two things.  The first thing is we sorrow, obviously, yet how many people say I have to be strong, I can not break down I have can’t ask questions.  Resurrection doesn’t mean that death has somehow disappeared, that death is now our friend, what it means is that death has been defeated.  But that the fullness of that defeat is not yet complete.  And so we sorrow.  

The Bible says in the presence of death we sorrow.  But the other thing that Paul says is that though we sorrow it is not as those who have no hope.  Hopeful sorrow, the resurrection says, though death may grasp us, it will not hold us forever.  Hope is what helps hold our sorrow, it does not replace it, it does not cancel it, but it undergrids it.  The pain of death can never cut so deeply as the grace of God in our lives.  Hopeful sorrow, the conviction that there is more to life and death than what is seen.  That when the kingdom is complete we will all be together. 

Paul says we will be with the Lord forever.  Honest grief, hopeful sorrow is what helps keep us from giving in to despair.   We sorrow, but not as those who have no hope.  We are to encourage one another.  In a moment, we role of those who died in the past year sharing sorrow that they are no longer with us, hopeful in the promise that one day we are all united again. 

This spirit of always being hopeful is captured beautifully in a story about a woman who had been diagnosed with cancer, and had been given three months to live.  You may have heard this before but see if can’t stir you again.  This woman’s doctor told her to start making preparations to die, so she contacted her pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes.

She told him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what Scriptures she would like read and what she wanted to be wearing. The woman also told her pastor that she wanted to be buried with her favorite Bible. Everything was in order, and the pastor was preparing to leave when the woman suddenly remembered something very important to her. “There’s one more thing,” she said excitedly.

“What’s that?” came the pastor’s reply.

“This is very important,” the woman continued. “I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand.” The pastor stood looking at the woman, not knowing quite what to say.

“That shocks you, doesn’t it?” the woman asked.
“Well, to be honest, I’m puzzled by the request,” said the pastor.

The woman explained. “In all my years of attending church socials and functions where food was involved, my favorite part was when whoever was clearing away the dishes of the main course would lean over and say, ‘You can keep your fork.’ It was my favorite part because I knew that something better was coming. When they told me to keep my fork, I knew that something great was about to be given to me. It wasn’t Jell-O or pudding. It was cake or pie. Something with substance. So I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand, and I want them to wonder, ‘What’s with the fork?’ Then I want you to tell them: ‘Something better is coming, so keep your fork, too.'”

The pastor’s eyes were filled with tears as he hugged the woman goodbye. He knew this would be one of the last times he would see her before her death. But he also knew that that woman had a better grasp of heaven than he did. She knew that something better was coming.

At the funeral, people were walking by the woman’s casket, and they saw the pretty dress she was wearing and her favorite Bible and the fork placed in her right hand. Over and over, the pastor heard the question, “What’s with the fork?” And over and over, he smiled. During his message, the pastor told the people of the conversation he had with the woman shortly before she died. He also told them about the fork and about what it symbolized to her. The pastor told the people how he could not stop thinking about the fork, and told them that they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it, either. He was right.

Who are we?  We are people of hope, living examples of a community faithfully seeking God, knowing that questions and suffering come and will come, but that through it all, God is the source of our hope Believe that the best is yet to come.  .that place which is beyond this life, that place for which nothing in this life can prepare us…that place which Jesus himself has prepared for us.  Our “abiding place”, our everlasting relationship with God.  Jesus leads us there.  Amen.

Amen.