(We cancelled worship this morning, so I didn't get to preach it. Here is the manuscript, apparently a sermon to be read, rather than heard.)
Transfiguration Sunday
February 15, 2015
2 Kings 2:1-12; Mark 9:2-9
Aren’t
wish lists fun to make? Especially when
you’re a kid, and you write down what you want for your birthday or make your
list for Santa for Christmas. A hot pink
Barbie car, a pony, and the new G.I. Joe action figure. Only the list is usually longer than just
three items. And then you become an
adult, and your wish list includes things like new slippers, lawn service, and
maybe if you really are wishing, a new ipad.
These are the things we ask for from our family members and
friends. What happens when we start
asking things from God? Good health,
world peace, forgiveness, love, the list becomes much more abstract. What happens, though, when instead of
offering what we want, we are asked what we want? Rather than saying, “Hey, babe, I’d like an hour
by myself without the kids;” what changes when you’re asked what you want? I think we put a little more thought into the
answer, and may not even answer right away.
And what happens when it’s God who asks you what you want? He doesn’t always ask, and he may not ask
very often. But this morning, I’d like
us to think about what we’d answer. In
our Old Testament lesson this morning and elsewhere in the Bible, there are
times when God asks, “What do you want?”
What would you say if, or when, God asks you that question? What do you want?
In each of the instances in the Bible when God asks
someone, “What do you want?,” that individual has a ready answer. When Solomon becomes King after his father,
David, dies, God asks him what he wants, and Solomon asks for wisdom, in order
to govern God’s people.[1] When Jesus has a conversation with a blind
man in Mark 9, and in the course of the conversation asks the blind man “What
do you want?,” the blind man immediately replies, “Lord, I want to see.”[2] The first part in answering this question is
to know what you want, so that you are
ready when you are asked. Do you know what you want?
One
of my all-time favorite books is Jacob
Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson.
It won the 1981 Newbery Medal for most distinguished American children’s
book published the previous year. The
story takes place not far from here, on a fictional island in the Chesapeake
Bay and is about two twin sisters. Just
like the Biblical twins, Esau and Jacob, the elder twin lives in the shadow of
the younger twin. One of the turning
points in the novel comes after the younger twin has left the island and the
older twin is left behind. An old family
friend tells the older twin, “Your sister knew what she wanted, so when the
chance came, she could take it. …You, Sara Louise. Don’t tell me no one ever gave you a
chance. You don’t need anything given to
you. You can make your own chances. But first you have to know what you’re after,
my dear.”[3] It’s hard to answer the question or change your
circumstances if you don’t know what
you want. It’s much easier to say what
you don’t want or what you don’t like about your situation right now. But phrasing it positively in terms of what
you do want, that gives you a vision
to live into and work towards.
This
kind of wanting isn’t just “I want a million dollars” or “I want to eat lots of
chocolate and not gain weight.” We’re
talking something a little deeper here. What do you want, with the core of your
being, in your soul? What do you want to
accomplish? What do you want to be
remembered for? What desire has God
given you for you to strive for to help bring about his kingdom here on earth
as it is in heaven? And we’re still not
talking something abstract, like end world hunger. We’re talking something much more concrete,
like feed those who are hungry in our community. Or offer hospitality to those who are
homeless or new to our community. Or
partner with a local elementary school to help meet the needs of their students. There is something specific that God has
called us here for, and that spot, that intersection between a need in the
world and a passion he has given us, is where we are to work.
And this isn’t a case of utilitarianism, where the needs
of the many outweigh the needs of the few.
No, each individual is precious in God’s eyes and beloved by him. Making a difference in one person’s life is
enough. You’ve heard the story of the
man throwing starfish back into the ocean?
He picked them up one by one off the beach to toss them back into the
sea. Someone asked him if it wasn’t
hopeless, because there were so many starfish on the shore. And he said, no, to each one he saves, it makes
a difference to that one. Each one
counts and yet we are encouraged to dream
big, given our Old Testament story this morning.
Knowing
Elijah is about to be taken up to heaven, Elisha sticks with him, even though
Elijah tries to persuade him otherwise.
Elijah finally gives up, and you can almost hear the exasperation in Elijah’s
voice, “What do you want from me before I’m taken away from you?!” And Elisha has guts, he’s been hanging out
with Elijah for a while now, he knows he’s Elijah’s chosen successor as prophet
over Israel, he’s seen a lot of the miracles God has done through Elijah. And Elisha says, “Let me have twice your
power,” or “a double portion of your spirit.”
Wow! Pretty gutsy! After all, this is Elijah who caused a
widow’s oil and flour not to run out while he stayed with her during a famine
and who raised from the dead that widow’s son.
This is Elijah who singlehandedly defeated 450 prophets of Baal in a
contest to light a fire. This is Elijah
who calls out King Ahab’s and Queen Jezebel’s wickedness in ruling God’s
people. And Elisha asks for twice his spirit. The Bible then goes on to record far more
miracles that Elisha works than are ever shared about his mentor, Elijah. Elisha went big, and was given what he asked
for.
I
think God wants us to dream big. To
dream of things like ending world hunger, and go about it by beginning one
person at a time here in our community.
To not just be able to pay our bills for this year, but to also have a
little more to contribute more to Streets of Hope or to give to a natural
disaster that occurs this year or even for something like a Vacation Bible
School. Dream big, let’s be ambitious
and aim high. At the same time, I am
practical, so let’s make it at least somewhat reasonable. When my husband and I were doing our wedding
registry a few years ago, he wanted to put a 60” flat screen TV on our
registry, just in case someone might want to buy it for us. I vetoed it, because I knew there was no one
who would buy it for us. Dream big, but
let’s not try to turn the moon purple.
Ask for something that is a possibility, even if it will involve a lot
of hard work and some risk taking. The
elder twin from the book, Jacob Have I
Loved, finally decided she wanted to become a doctor. That was dreaming big, given her character’s
situation and background in the novel.
But she set about to accomplish it.
She aimed high, and found a way to make her dream a reality.
Finally, one last word of advice in considering what you
want: be careful what you wish for,
because you might get it. It’s like the
advice Uncle Ben gives to Peter Parker when he knows he’s Spiderman: “with
great power comes great responsibility.”[4] Or, to use a quote from the Bible, “to whom
much is given, much is demanded.”[5] We are expected to use and be good stewards
of what has been given to us. One of the
things God gives us is a call on our lives.
What is it that you want? What
dream has God given you? Once you’ve
identified it and you can articulate it, then you bear the burden to make it
happen. If we are called to expand our
food ministry, then we need to get working on that. If we are dreaming to restart our Vacation
Bible School, then we have a lot of work to do to prepare and make it
happen. What’s the dream, what’s the
vision you have for yourself and for this church? I can tell you some of the smaller ones I
have for this church. I want us to be
financially viable, to be able to pay all our bills and our apportionments and
have funds left over to support other ministries. I want us to be so full of the love of Christ
that it spills out over in everything we do and in each of our words. I want us to have an impact on our community,
for the better. I want us to figure out why
this faith community is here, what we were put here to do, and I think when we
do that, and when we work toward achieving that dream, then all the other
things will fall into place. Now, be
careful what you wish for, because it’s going to mean more work for you and
more work for me and it’s going to mean changes and it’s going to mean hard
decisions and inevitably some conflict because that’s just part of life. But if together we can answer the question, “what
do you want?” and answer it on a large scale of what we want this church to
look like and become, then we’re halfway there.
Having
a vision will bring this church together and when it’s a glimpse of the future
that God has for us, you know and can trust God that he will enable and empower
us to bring it about. There’s a saying
in Proverbs, “where there’s no vision, the people perish.”[6] What do you want? What’s your vision, for yourself? And for this church? Let’s spend this upcoming season of Lent in
prayer and thoughtful reflection and meditation, and be intentional about
figuring out what you want. Spend some
time on the mountaintop with Jesus, and then discern from there what he’s
calling you to do, what deep desire he’s placed within you, and once you’ve
identified it, then we can work towards making it a reality. Because this isn’t something you do on your
own; the Christian journey is a shared one, it’s one we do together, to help
each other along the way. How can we
help you discern what you want? How can
we help you make it happen? Dream big,
and then be aware that there will be work involved in making it come true.
