Posts Tagged ‘support’

“Pearls” when we need them most

February 26, 2022

Transfiguration – 2022
Luke 9:28-39
Marian Free

In the name of God who is present at the best and the worst moments of our lives. Amen.

There are times in most people’s lives when we feel overwhelmed and when a future without stress or worry seems a distant dream. At such times – times when we long for a break in the traffic, any sort of relief that might allow time for oneself, time to take a breath, time to process what is happening or just time to finish one of the tasks at hand – God sends us “pearls”. If we are paying attention and if we haven’t allowed ourselves to become totally inward looking, we will notice an insight, a smile, an affirmation or a word of thanks that, for a moment at least, creates a moment of joy and is a reminder of why we are doing what we are doing. Such moments, however brief, seem to lighten the load and encourage us to continue. They are a reminder that the present won’t last forever and that even if it does, God will be with us through it all.

Is this the purpose of Jesus’ Transfiguration? Is Jesus’ mountaintop experience for him – rather than for the disciples as we are generally led to believe? This is the view of Scott Hoezee . If we take a look at the wider context rather than focussing on the actual event, we will see the pressures that Jesus is facing and conclude that this moment in time might be just what Jesus needed to strengthen his resolve and to give him the courage to continue his journey.

From the mid-point in chapter 9 the whole mood of the gospel changes – Jesus has announced to his disciples that he is to undergo great suffering, that he will be rejected by the elders, chief priests and the scribes and be killed (9:21). Then towards the end of the chapter, we hear that “when the days drew near for him to be taken up” Jesus “set” his face to go to Jerusalem. Knowing what lay ahead of him, it seems that it took all of Jesus resolve to begin his journey. (This is the meaning of ‘starizo’, ‘to make firm, to strengthen’). Jesus is not going to Jerusalem because he wants to, but because he knows that he has to.

The Transfiguration provides a fulcrum between Jesus’ ministry in Galilee and his journey to Jerusalem, to suffering and death. He will need all the strength and all the support that he can muster for what lies ahead. Sadly, it does not seem that he will find the latter among his disciples. As Hoezee points out, “the disciples seem lost in a fog of cluelessness”. When Jesus tells them that he will suffer and die, they have nothing to say. Indeed, as Luke tells the story, eight days later they have still not mentioned or discussed his momentous announcement! How unsupported and isolated Jesus must have felt – a feeling that would only have been exacerbated when, having healed the boy who was suffering from convulsion, Jesus announced once more that he was to be handed over, only to be met by incomprehension on the part of the disciples. It must have seemed to Jesus that he could not look to his friends for understanding, let alone encouragement when they bickered about who was the greatest, sought to rain down fire on villages that did not receive them and failed to grasp the nature of discipleship (9:44-end).

Just when Jesus might have been feeling overwhelmed and discouraged, God stepped in – providing support in the form of Moses and Elijah and affirming Jesus’ status as chosen, as Son. If this does not convince you that the Transfiguration was for Jesus and not for the disciples, there are other details that support this position. Moses and Elijah, both of whom know the cost of following God, speak exclusively to Jesus. What is more they speak about his departure – ‘which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem’. This can only mean that the two figures from the past were enlisted by God to reinforce the direction in which Jesus was to go and to give him encouragement to continue. (There is no other reason for this discussion.)

The disciples are not privy to the conversation (otherwise we might know more details). Indeed, the disciples nearly miss the event altogether, because despite the fact that Jesus’ clothes had become as bright as lightening they are barely awake. Again, they misunderstand the nature of the event (wanting to build dwellings) and again, not only do they not discuss what has happened with Jesus, they do not mention what they have seen to anyone.

It is only the voice from heaven that is directed to the disciples: ‘This is my Son, my Chosen, listen to him!’ The voice that spoke to Jesus at his baptism, now speaks to the disciples, urging them to pay attention, to take note, to listen. The voice may have had a dual purpose – reminding Jesus at this crucial point in his journey that he is beloved and chosen and encouraging the disciples to wake up and to fulfill their role as Jesus’ support crew.

Though intended specifically for Jesus, this event speaks to us in our own journeys through the world and especially to those times when the present threatens to crush us and when the future seems bleak. Instead of falling into despair, Jesus found time to pray, sought support from his friends and paid attention to presence of God. We too should seek solace in prayer, share our difficulties with those closest to us and be alert to the ways in which God might be encouraging us and lightening our load.

Let us pray that we are never so caught up in our own trials and tribulations that we fail to notice God’s breaking in with those momentary reprieves that enable us to continue with our journeys. Let us not miss the ‘pearls’ that God so generously gives us.

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Do not be afraid

September 22, 2018

Pentecost 18 – 2018

Mark 9:30-37

Marian Free

In the name of God who sees us as we are and loves us still. Amen.

Imagine this – in a small country church there are two women. Each woman has a daughter and each daughter has a daughter. The woman in the middle is both a daughter and a mother and she is addicted to illegal drugs. Our church-going women tell no one of their situation, not even their church community. They are worried that other members of the congregation will think less of them if they know of the family’s situation. For some reason, are ashamed of their situation, too embarrassed to share their grief and powerlessness with members of the church family. And, because they do not feel comfortable sharing their pain, they remain unaware that someone else is in exactly the same situation. They do not know that within their very own church community there is another grandmother standing by helplessly, unable to intervene fearful of losing contact with her granddaughter altogether.

Because they hide their pain and their shame inside, they deprive themselves not only of the mutual support they could give each other, but also of the help and encouragement of other members the congregation. They deny the community the community the opportunity to provide support and prayer. Almost certainly nothing except divine intervention will change the situation but imagine how different their day-to-day lives would be if they knew that members of the community were holding them, their daughters and granddaughters in prayer. Imagine what a difference it would make if they shared with each other their anxieties and their griefs. How much stronger the congregation could be if together they took on one another’s burdens?

Now imagine the same small community in which a woman has a daughter who has a granddaughter who has the more socially acceptable diagnosis of a brain tumour. This grandmother has no fear of sharing her grief and anxiety with the congregation who prayer week after week, day after day for the grandchild. When that grandmother comes to church she is assured of sympathy and concern. Everyone knows what is happening and shares the devastation the grandmother feels whenever the child has setbacks and her joy when things are going well.  This grandmother has the assurance that the whole community is holding her family in their hearts and in their prayers. Eventually the child recovers. The community that grieved together can rejoice together.

I am sometimes saddened by the fact that many of us who are members of a church community feel unable or unwilling to be vulnerable, to have our weaknesses exposed to one another. It seems that we are afraid that if our fellow worshippers know that we struggle with depression, that we get angry more easily than we should, that we resent the impositions made upon us, that our income barely stretches to cover our expenses or any number of real or perceived failings, that they will think less of us for it. Instead of believing that the Christian community is the one place in which we can be truly ourselves, the one place where we might hope to receive unconditional love and the best forum from which to seek advice, support and help, we imagine that we have to present an image that best represents what we think that they think a “good” Christian would be like.

None of us like our weaknesses to be laid bare – a situation that is all too evident in today’s gospel. Jesus tells the disciples – for the second time – that he is going to suffer and die. Clearly the disciples do not understand this anymore now than they did the first time Jesus told them. This is understandable – nowhere in the gospels does Jesus expand on his announcement or explain why this might happen. According to the context he simply states: “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” Nothing in scripture, or in their tradition, has prepared the disciples for a suffering, dying Christ. They must have been perplexed that their leader had no vision for the future beyond his death, no plan for the community that had built up around him. They must have wondered what they were expected to do when he had left them. If they were confused, they didn’t show or express it. They didn’t ask: “What do you meant? What will happen to us?”  They kept quiet because, as we are told: “they were afraid to ask him.”

Why were they afraid to ask? Surely the future of their movement depended on their understanding what sort of Saviour they were following.  Were they afraid of appearing foolish to the other disciples or to Jesus? Were they worried that Jesus might think less of them if they revealed their ignorance? Were they afraid of what the answer might be? Were they worried that their fear might make them appear childish? Whatever the reason for their fear they do what anyone else would have done – they cover up their fear, their vulnerability and their ignorance with bravado. They compete with each other as to who is the greatest. They are not vulnerable but strong, not foolish but knowledgeable. As if anyone is fooled by their talk! Jesus certainly is not duped. He knows exactly what is going on and he confronts it head on.

Not only does Jesus know that they were arguing, he points out that it is what they are arguing about – not their failure to understand that has revealed just how foolish they are.  The way to greatness in the kingdom is not gained by competing with one another, not by being stronger, smarter or richer. Greatness in Jesus’ eyes is measured by vulnerability, trust and dependence, a by a willingness to admit to not knowing everything above by being like the child Jesus places in their midst.

The disciples have it so wrong – as do we!

If only we had had the courage to acknowledge our vulnerability and to confront our weaknesses, we as church may not have covered up child sex abuse out of a sense of shame and embarrassment. If we had been more willing to ask questions of God and of the scriptures, we may have avoided the centuries of condoning domestic violence and condemning divorce. If we were more open about our imperfections, more willing to trust others with our real selves more people might have been drawn into our number rather than being put off by our apparent goodness or disgusted by our obvious hypocrisy.

Over and over again in the gospels we hear the refrain: “Do not be afraid.” Do not be afraid to show your real self to others. Do not be afraid to ask for help. Do not be afraid to question God and question the scriptures. Do not be afraid to trust God and others with your weaknesses, your imperfections, your fears and your doubt.

Do not be afraid – and who knows – you and the whole church might just be stronger for it.

 

 

 

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