Good to Be Here

2014/03/02 Transfiguration, Eucharist
Children,
Exodus 24.12-18
Message,
Matthew 17.1-9
“It’s
good to be here”
      Like a day on the beach or an hour in the
tub … soaking it in
Robin
and the Amy Grant song, “Mountain Top”
I’d
love to live on a mountain top
Fellowshipping
with the Lord
I’d
love to stand on a mountain top
Cause
I love to feel my spirit soar
But
I’ve got to come down from that mountain top
To
the people in the valley below
Or
they’ll never know that they can go
To
the mountain of the Lord
Jesus
had someone to heal, a father’s son
      same in Mk and Lk
We
too have a mission
“It’s
good to be here” – On Mission, Tents
      Let’s camp out, “tents”
      But only for the “dignitaries”, for the “glory”
      Language from the Moses story … but Jesus
is not Moses
      Tabernacle as center for worship: “Build
it and they will come”
            Or tent as a “mobile home”: wherever
you are, I will come
                  (John 1.14)
Not
about the building, but the mission
      Capital campaign note
Mission
is not about property but about people
Even
doing dishes is about people

“It’s
good to be here” – On Son-ship, Glory
      Appreciate the glory
      How is Jesus revealed? Recognized?
      How are we?  In the glam, or with our sleeves rolled up?
Surprise
of the text: “Son, whom I love” – the Isaac story
      Sonship is suffering, Sonship is the cross
      Identity of Jesus is not in the visible
glory, it is in the cross
No
wonder all of the synoptic gospels, which record this Transfiguration story,
precede it with a saying of Jesus predicting his death, his disciples refusing
to receive it, and a saying of Jesus defining discipleship as
cross-bearing.  Here in Matthew:
If
any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their
cross and follow me (16.24).
“It’s
good to be here”
“It’s
good to be here” – On Holy Communion
      Jesus recognized “in the breaking of the
bread” (Luke 24.35)
      Eat this “in remembrance of me” (Luke
22.19)
Gathering
around the table
      Called to Mission

      Called to Sonship