conjectural navel gazing; jesus in lint form

awake...

Trish's show on Saturday night begins at 10pm. She gets home between 1am and 2am. I woke up when she got home. Snoozed off and on until 4am listening to the TV downstairs...and eventually gave up, convinced her to go to bed, and here I am.

My sermon is almost complete. I have too many ideas in it when all I really want to say is that the Transfiguration is God's gift to us. You see, all things in Christ point to the resurrection. All Christian life, whether it be prayer or work (false dichotomy), is encounter with the Risen Christ. All is transfigured.

So, um, yeah. Maybe I'll stand up and give that very short sermon. As it stands now, there are too many ideas.

Things that did not end up in the sermon:

I don’t know about you all, but I sometimes am surprised by what memories are triggered and when. Rhodenheiser stuff here…One of my professors in college was a man by the name of Bill Rhodenheiser. He taught classes in Hinduism. I took two or three classes from Dr. Rhodehheiser. He was an interesting guy. Perhaps you know the kind of teacher…the one that may assign a text book or two, but mostly he lectures you from memory. He had been teaching for so long that he had all he wanted to convey to you at the tip of his tongue. He would sit before us, take off his glasses, and begin to extol the virtues of contemplative prayer and Modern Hinduism.

Now, to be honest, as a twenty year old, I probably did not realize exactly what sat before me. My first thought was to bring the New York Times crossword puzzle with me to class and tune out once he closed his eyes. But, thankfully, it was to no avail. I learned more than I can convey in those classes.

Dr. Rhodenheiser was a Baptist minister. He often shared with us the story of his mission trip to India. In good Baptist form he went to India to convert the Hindu…But what made his story so interesting was that he ended up being converted in stead. His love for Hinduism and the culture of India exuded from him in every class. His understanding of Hinduism, interestingly, allowed him to hold to his Baptist identity while exploring the meditation and prayer traditions of Hinduism. Every one of his classes was, in essence, about the Transfiguration.

And there's this one too...

“exodus” 9:31 They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure [exodus], which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

• The word that Luke uses is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew word “exodus.” Though this story exists in Matthew and Mark, Luke’s is the only account that uses this one word. Luke is a crafty author and many interpreters suggest that his use of this word is intentional. It is such a strange word to use in speaking of a basic leave-taking. Luke wants us to understand that what Jesus is about to accomplish in Jerusalem is the same as happened for the Israelites in Egypt. This is a saving act, a movement from slavery into freedom. But this time it is not simply for the nation of Israel, but for the entire world.

• Prayer leads us from slavery into freedom in God
• It takes us from the mountain into ministry

And wait, there's more!

Pennington
• Benedictine monk, spiritualist, writer and retreat leader
• A student asked “How do we repeat the “mountain top?”
• Pray!
• Create your own Rule/Regula.
• “Take time to be holy.”
• Accept Jesus’ invitation to come away to the mountain.
• I would say: Be a good Baptist, follow Jesus’ example!
• This is Sabbath…

Things I realize:
• Our discipline of prayer serves as an example to others about the importance of encountering God. It proved a context for our good works. If we want to be disciples, we have to follow Christ up the mountain from time to time.
• To pray expresses our hierarchy of needs. Here we come full circle to Maslow again. If we do not make time for prayer, what are we communicating? A lack of a desire to be in communion with God? Perhaps…even if that is not our intention. Perhaps we desire to focus our lives upon “right action.” This is one particular religious stance. But I wonder if it is lacking in its emulation of Christ. Somehow there needs to be the both/and of following Jesus.

Oh, and finally...

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God; your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. – Nelson Mandela 1994 Inaugural Address

Posted by tripp at February 18, 2007 04:26 AM