Following a Call – 26 June 2016 – Sixth Sunday after Pentecost/ Lectionary 13/ Proper 8

Preaching in the context of a culture that values pleasure and self-fulfillment is a challenge when confronted with readings that underscore the seriousness of a life of faith.

Luke 9:51-62

. . . [T]hree brief encounters between Jesus and potential followers. . . make the reader aware that following after Jesus is truly difficult and requires serious reflection and commitment.

In the first encounter, Jesus pictures the difficulty of following him in terms of entrusting oneself entirely to God's providing. Every creature has a home, a place of security and belonging, but Jesus does not. . . . There is no word of judgment spoken for today's listener (who might have many material possessions). Instead, Jesus models the surprising freedom that comes from having placed himself without reserve into God's care.

In the second episode, Jesus dismisses obligation to family as an excuse for failing to respond wholeheartedly to Jesus' summons to follow. In a culture that placed supreme value on family identity, Jesus' words were certainly shocking. The preacher should be clear, though, that this word of scripture does not call believers to sacrifice children, spouse or parents for the sake of church activities. The point is that family relationships must not prevent believers from learning Jesus' way of forgiveness, compassion and generosity.

Finally, Jesus describes making a commitment to follow him in terms of putting one's hand to the plow and not looking back. . . Just as Jesus holds nothing back as he makes his way to Jerusalem, so the disciple who would follow him must yield his or her entire life to the rule of God. – Aaron J. Couch

1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21

The First Reading gives us the story of another call to follow the will of God.

Elijah is instructed to anoint two leaders to lead this battle for Israel, Jehu as king over Israel and Elisha as prophet to carry on Elijah's work. . . .  

Elijah then, without words, calls Elisha to be his successor by placing his mantle on Elisha. Elisha clearly intends to never return to his life as a farmer. After saying farewell to his family, Elisha slaughters his oxen and serves them for a feast. – Aaron J. Couch

The call is not received without hesitation on the part of Elisha, for such is the seriousness of the prophetic venture. Yet, Elisha returns home before following the one who chose him for a new life only to take appropriate leave of his parents whose well-being he was obliged to tend and putting an end to the power of his livelihood (his oxen). There was no turning back.

Galatians 5:1, 13-25

Paul warns his readers to resist the lure of any religious promise that would substitute the freedom of Christ for the bondage of a set of rules. In verses omitted by the lectionary, he denounces those who would require gentiles to submit to circumcision and obedience to Jewish law as a prerequisite to faith in Christ. It is not the law itself that Paul rejects, but the law as a means of acquiring righteousness before God.

Addressing freedom in verse 13, Paul recognizes a different danger to life with God: Christian freedom may also be compromised by self-indulgence. . . .

Freedom given by the Spirit is not to do whatever one desires, but rather the ability to desire the life-giving good that God would give. – Aaron J. Couch

Aaron Couch is a co-pastor of First Immanuel Lutheran Church in Portland, Oregon.

Homily Service 40, no. 8 (2007): 3-12.

Blinding Light & Silence – 15 February 2015 – Transfiguration

Transfigurations, at least in the Bible, apparently involve light and silence. On the mountain with his disciples, Jesus appears “dazzling white.” Jesus tells the disciples not to speak of this event to anyone.

Paired with Jesus’ utter transformation is that of Elijah who, although a human prophet, is whisked into the heavens without dying. And just as with those who witness Jesus’ transifiguration, along the way to the place where the whirlwind will take Elijah aloft, his apprentice, Elisha, tells onlookers not to say anything about what is about to happen.

Light and silence both take their place in these noteworthy moments of epiphany. In both stories, the mantle is passed.

Mark 9:2-9 and 2 Kings 2:1-12

Jesus stands on the mountain brightly lit with the two major pillars of faith: Moses and Elijah. Jesus is, indeed, among highly select company. The message this carries? He is to be revered as are these figures who represent the law and the prophets. 

As we come to the end of the season of ordinary time after the Epiphany, the scripture stops us abruptly with anything but the ordinary. Here is another epiphany, a manifestation or showing forth of God in Christ. This is the most vivid such manifestation in the gospels, prior to the resurrection, if you set aside the epiphany of the angels of the incarnation. This manifestation can be seen as a foretaste of the resurrec- tion appearances, and perhaps a sample of the vision of God that we anticipate seeing, as St. Paul tells us, not ‘‘in a mirror, dimly,’’ but ‘‘face to face.’’

As Christians today, we stand on the other side of provable fact. We wouldn’t have gotten this far without understanding this. Beginning with the ‘‘un-ordinariness leading up to the incarnation, reason bursts the boundaries of how we discern the working of the world. And the power that formed creation, that omnipotent power, chose to limit power to become like us, a human being, whose love isn’t to be proved by worldly standards, but through surprising interaction which results in healing, new character formation, freedom from bondage, ability to love even one’s enemies.’’ [quoting Madeleine L’Engle]

. . . Thus we stand on the mountain with the disciples, unsure of what to make of this glowing god before us, but pretty sure that it is a moment of revel- ation of greatness and power, the culmination of the Law and Prophets. Seeing this confirmation of the past in the present guides us to acknowledge a future where any darkness faced will be ringed with the light of this moment. With that vision, we can face whatever comes our way, not with certainty or proof, but with a life-affirming story that gives light to our path.

– Sara Webb Phillips

2 Corinthians 4:3-6

Whereas light and blinding brilliance describe the identity of Jesus as God’s Son and of Elijah’s special treatment, in a twist of imagery, the writer of this letter uses the metaphor of blinded minds to describe unbelievers. Their veiled understanding keeps them from seeing the “light of the gospel.” God is the one who shines in the heart “to give light.” All others will remain as those who “are perishing.”

In a sermon at First United Methodist Church in Evanston, Illinois in 2002, Dean Francis brought the Transfiguration to life with a meditation on that oft-heard phrase about having a “come to Jesus meeting.” Saying it is his favorite expression, Francis notes a problem in it.

In an unusual way by seeing Jesus solely as the one that we go to, we are enabled to manage our relationship with him in a way that doesn’t cause too much confusion, doubt or change. Jesus doesn’t show up as an unexpected guest for dinner. He doesn’t come knocking on the office door while we are doing our taxes. Because after all he doesn’t come to us, we go to him. Yet it is in the Transfiguration that we see the full picture of Jesus. We see God in glory, as flesh transfigured, and then we realize—Jesus comes to us. Jesus, sweet heavenly dove, is one of us. In this moment on the mountainside, the divinity cannot be contained, and bursts forth so bright, the gospel writer could only think of the image of clothes so bright that ‘‘no one on earth could bleach them’’ (v 3). It’s not all about us managing our relationship to Jesus; it is Jesus appearing yet again to shatter our preconceptions.

Sara Webb Phillips is a United Methodist pastor serving North Springs UMC in Sandy Springs, Georgia.

Homily Service 39, no. 3 (2006): 35-46.