Tuesday, March 24, 2009

My first "real" sermon

I have given mini-sermons and of course taught for many years. But, today, I gave my first formal sermon for my Intro to Preaching class. It was on the Transfiguration story, Mark 9: 1-13. The prayer for illumination I did is right before the official start of the piece, which was appox. 5-6 min. spoken out loud. Let me know any thoughts...

Prayer for Illumination
Lord, we thank you for your continuous grace upon us. We thank you for the day upon us and we ask that you guide us in helping us listen to your Word and breathe in your understanding to give us our meaning. Lord, we thank you for opening our hearts and minds to let you alone be your dwelling place. May we may follow you in all faithfulness and obedience. And, Lord help us maintain the justice of your honor and glory in all that we do; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

We have all heard the transfiguration story at one point or another. We might have been touched by the awe of it, or maybe not have taken it to heart or quite understood it. But we’ve at least heard it. If we imagine ourselves for a second, standing with Peter, James and John, are we totally baffled at what’s going on here, what are we seeing, do we what to keep it close to us, a confined memory in a box to be enshrined for posterity. Do we want to share it with the world, or even are we equipped enough to share it with the world. Are we afraid of the true identity of our dear friend and teacher, Jesus, who we only thought we knew. So, I often wonder in this story if we are struck in the wonderment, more simply struck by the mystery of who is the Son of God, the Son of Man, Jesus Christ.

Sometimes having more questions than answers creates in us a confusion in who we are in relationship to each other as students and facilitators, as care givers and care receivers, and as those who actively apprehend Christ’s message and those who wait upon the hearing of Christ soft voice. We know cognitively that we take on each of these roles at different points in our walk in faith. But sometimes, we are reticent to focus on the big picture and only fasten on how it appears at that very moment. We tend to analyze and question, what it all means. The current economic state in the U.S. have left no one person unaffected. It has contributed to not only the worry for our future livelihood, or our friend or family’s livelihood, but for the future livelihood of our country. On Monday, March 23, in the business section of the New York Times, the first line of the lead story reads, “Obama administration officials worked Sunday to persuade reluctant private investors to buy as much as $1 trillion in troubled mortgages and related assets from banks, with government help.” In these times, we tend to stop listening to the inflected rhythm in Jesus’ voice instilled through the purpose and message in his life. It’s all a mystery of why and purpose. How can we learn to trust again? Is it only a secret that leaves us confused and scratching our heads.

In one of my favorite movies, Shakespeare in Love, there is an interaction between two gentlemen Henslowe and Fennyman. Henslowe asks Fennyman to explain about the theatre business and then states that the natural condition, of said theatre business, is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster. Fennyman says, “So what do we do? Henslowe answers back, “Nothing. Strangely enough, it all turns out well. Fennyman responds with, “How?” Henslowe leaves the conversation with the retort, “I don't know; it's a mystery.” And then repeats himself again, “I don't know; it's a mystery.”

Yes it is a mystery but we can emphatically believe that in spite of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster, somehow it all turns out well. How? What? What’s going on? What are we seeing? What is that glow? What are we seeing in our friend Jesus’ experience just now as the cloud of God’s love envelopes him and speaks out loudly, “This is my son whom I love, Listen to him!!” Through these unspeakable moments, the mystery is unveiled in a place of learning, and the secret is exposed in the transparent yet transforming understanding of God’s grace. The secret has a name and is referred as the Messianic Secret. The key to this secret is in finding out who Jesus is. It’s in learning to trust what he’s about that includes learning to lean into, live into and embrace the tension of love, and faith, and understanding in life, all which leads to the knowing that in the end, Christ is our redeemer. Christ redeems us with his love through the sacrifice of his life. Christ transforms our life through the example of his own life. God loves Jesus and so deeply loves us; we enter into a dialog with him and we listen to each other. Sometimes life plain and simple does not make sense, and yes, it is a mystery of how this will all end. But, as current students in a seminary and all of us current students in life, we are in a place of learning and transcendence. We are learning to live in community. We are learning ways to forgive. We are learning to find God in unexpected places. We are learning to gain the humility to listen to God more intently. As care givers, we are very cognizant of feeling God’s presence and that leads us to this spot we’re presently in right now. Christ listens to us as we learn to listen to him. I leave you with God’s words to us, the observer on the mountain top, “This is my son whom I love, Listen to him!!”

No comments: