Oak Chapel United Methodist Church

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Last Sunday we spoke of two kingdoms, the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world. Jesus lived in both, we said, as to some extent we (his followers) are required to do. The problem, of course, is that the two kingdoms have different kings, of a different ilk. So the laws of the two kingdoms are different, and so are the values. In this world, for example, the poor are despised -- in God's world they are blessed. (You remember from last week, Jesus said that the poor of this earth would actually "leap for joy" if they could see how well-off they will be in heaven!) But the trouble with trying to live in both worlds is that a person can get whipsawed between them. Might even get crucified.

Today, in Luke's glorious account of the Transfiguration, we again meet the two kingdoms. In the Transfiguration, the emphasis is on the amazing power and glory of the Kingdom of God, and on Jesus' at-homeness there (talking casually with Moses and Elijah as if they were bowling buddies). Peter is totally flummoxed by the experience and puts his foot in his mouth, as usual. James and John are silent, stunned, bug-eyed. They had seem something, been made privy to something unspeakable, wondrous beyond words -- something belonging to another realm, another layer of reality.

To Live in the Kingdom it Helps To Put Ourselves in the Disciples' Shoes

Sometimes to feel the power of Jesus' story we need to put ourselves in the disciples' shoes. After all, "disciple" is the role for us. We don't hope to play Jesus -- that is far beyond us. And God forbid that, in our lives, we should play the part of those who refused to hear! The best we can hope for (our best shot at salvation) is to be faithful disciples of his (learners, followers) -- to travel that bumpy road (sometimes in faith, sometimes in despair), privy to wonderful things, but often confused about their meaning. Subject to every human failure. Peter's bragging, Thomas' doubting, Judas' treachery. It's all part of us. We are the disciples in this story.

Jesus revealed the truth about himself, to his disciples, slowly and gently, as one might break bad news. In that process, the disciples grew in their faith -- just as we must grow. Their callings were important (and some even dramatic) but their growth was even more important. (Souls must grow or they will die, just as bodies and minds.) The transfiguration for these disciples was (to say the least) a powerful growth moment, a huge step forward in their spiritual understanding. Suddenly the music, which had been light and airy, was heavier, more somber, with a funereal sound. The reality had changed, and they had to grow.

Accepting Jesus May Be, At First, Not Very Difficult

Coming to Jesus had not been such a serious thing at first. They had followed him because he invited them. (We should never fail to invite people to follow Christ. One never knows who might accept.) It would probably be fair to say that, at least for some of them, becoming a disciple had been something of a lark -- a youthful escapade, like running off to join the circus, an attempt to find themselves. Jesus was an attractive, charismatic leader with new ideas. He had courage to face down the establishment and call a spade a spade. Youth like that sort of thing. (I'm sure their parents thought they had run off and joined some sort of cult -- which, of course, they had.) For a long time it was only a head and heart thing. Learn his teachings, try to keep your heart in the right place. Most of us start that way with Jesus.

Following Jesus with Understanding May Become Far More Difficult

But then came that defining moment on the road to Ceasarea Philippi, when Peter let slip his private fantasy that Jesus might, indeed, be more than teacher, healer, leader -- that he might actually be the Christ, the Messiah of Israel. That was a horse of another color. And Jesus shocked them all by saying, "You got it Peter. Good for you! Now, mum's the word." That event was followed almost immediately by this: the transfiguration, a clear sign that this Jesus was not like them, that he belonged to another kingdom. The Master remains standing even after the great Moses and Elijah have disappeared, and God (in a voice from the cloud) puts the divine imprimatur on the life and ministry of Jesus.

This was far more than the disciples had bargained for. They were confused and afraid -- no longer finding themselves, but it seemed, in some way, being found! They had stepped into a strange room where they were not at home, and where they were not sure they wanted to remain. Especially now, because now after each of these new revelations, Jesus was talking about suffering and death -- his and theirs! Messiah was not arriving as expected.

Lent is a Time for Seriously Deepening Our Faith

Growth isn't always fun. Growth in mathematics isn't (at least it wasn't for me). Growth in Jesus isn't either, as the disciples discovered. Try as we might we cannot transform Lent into a cheerful season, nor make this faith of ours user friendly. Living in both worlds at the same time is dangerous. What else can be said? Transforming fishermen and IRS agents into great saints isn't easy, or fun. It takes some wrenching. That may be, after all, the meaning of Lent (and why Transfiguration Sunday comes the Sunday before). Because Lent is a time for wrenching, for growing, for taking inventory, and for deepening our faith. Often there is pain involved. Giving up something for Lent? You bet. Candy? Dessert? Sure. But that is only a symbol, an act which signifies what Christ gave up for us and what he asks us to give up for him. We never figured on giving up our lives. Jesus broke that news to us slowly.

Sometimes Our Faith Puts Us in the Position of Martyrs

The Protestant church had a foothold in Russia in 1917, when the atheistic, materialistic Bolsheviks betrayed the revolution and seized power. At first religion was merely discouraged, then persecuted, finally outlawed. The Russian Orthodox priests retreated into their monasteries and did what they could to stay alive. The Protestant missionaries went home. But Sister Anna stayed. She was a Finnish deaconess, working in St. Petersburg, and she continued her ministry in spite of growing opposition. We don't know what happened to Sister Anna. Somewhere in the hell of communism she disappeared. We do have some of the letters which she wrote, as long as she was able, to her fellow Christians in the free world. S. T. Kimborough, of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, read some of them to us in St. Louis. In one of her last letters Sister Anna thanked sincerely the Christians living in freedom for their prayers and for the support they had been able to send. Then she thanked God for the courage of her own church members who, just by putting their names on the church register, set themselves up for persecution, torture, imprisonment. And she closes by saying that her little group will continue to worship, pray and minister to the sick and needy until the situation changes or (she says) until "we put the stamp of death upon this cause of ours." Jesus put the stamp of death upon his cause. He doesn't tell us at first. He gently leads us through Lent, to the understanding that, if we would be his disciples, we too must die.

Here the two kingdoms collide. For the byword of this earthly kingdom is survival, self-preservation. Pass on the genes. Kill, but don't get killed. But once a person has died to himself, as Jesus did, obeying the rules of that other kingdom, it's not so important what happens to the body. Paul says we are now "dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus."

Let goods and kindred go;
This mortal life also.
The body they may kill.
God's truth abideth still.
His Kingdom is forever.

At this point in our spiritual growth, as we come near the cross, nothing else matters. When I survey the wondrous cross,
On which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count by loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
The Kingdom of this World Fades as the Kingdom of God Gains a Hold On Us

As we prepare ourselves for Lent, I am ordered to proclaim and do proclaim that "the kingdom of this world has become the Kingdom of our God, and of his Christ." So nothing of this world matters anymore. If your eye gets you in trouble, pluck it out. If your hand leads you astray, cut if off. Better to stand in God's Kingdom blind or deformed that to burn in hell with a perfect body. Lent is serious business. Whenever the two kingdoms collide within us, some parts of us survive and some die. But we grow as disciples. Just as Jesus got to the resurrection through the cross, we get to Easter through Lent. It is the only way.