Plans

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Church Episcopal
March 24, 2024

Palm Sunday 

          The year my great-grandmother celebrated her 90^th birthday, which was 1971, my parents spent weeks if not months planning the party.  A festive meal was planned, invitations were issued, tables and chairs were rented, decorations were procured, beverages were purchased, food was cooked, gifts were wrapped, and the house was cleaned.  When the great day finally arrived, the guests arrived at 6pm and the whole thing was over by 8:30, not including clean up.  The ratio of time spent planning to time spent partying was absurd.  And most holidays were like that when I was a child.  Weeks and months of planning for a joyful delicious event that was over in half a day.  My mother believed that hospitality and good food were worth almost any amount of effort and that every detail was important.

Mark’s account of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem reads like an account of one of my mother’s great parties. Jesus spends eight verses preparing for his entry into Jerusalem. Only three verses describe the trip itself and of those three verses, most of two verses is spent quoting psalms. Jesus’ planning for this event seems to be at least as important as the trip into Jerusalem itself, if not even more important. So, what do we learn about Jesus from all the verses leading up to the actual procession into Jerusalem?

The first thing Jesus does is arrange for a colt. Jesus sends two disciples off on this errand and says to them "Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find there a colt that has never been ridden." Jesus knows exactly where the colt will be and that the animal has never been ridden. Why a colt? Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem will demonstrate humility. 

Then Jesus says "If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’" The people were used to having Roman soldiers co-opt their property on a moment’s notice. The promise that Jesus will return the animal is something new. Jesus is on a different kind of mission from one the Roman soldiers would typically engage. Jesus’ mission is not of a military nature. He has to borrow a colt. Jesus is not organizing an event that will highlight raw power and wealth.  In addition to humility, Jesus entry into Jerusalem will demonstrate a different kind of power. 

Lastly, if Jesus was planning a military procession into Jerusalem, now would be the time to acquire some weapons. Instead, we hear that the people threw their clocks on the poor unsuspecting colt that has never been ridden. Then Jesus sat on the colt and the people spread their cloaks and leafy branches on the road. Quite frankly, this sounds like a recipe for disaster. One young animal, never ridden, Jesus sitting on cloaks on the colt, and riding over more cloaks and leafy branches. This does not look like a recipe for success, even success grounded in humility.  Jesus is going to show us a new model for success, one that involves risk.  Then Jesus rides into Jerusalem, to shouts of “Hosanna,” goes into the temple, looks around, and leaves.  All that planning leads to a rather anti-climatic ending if one is looking for drama. 

What do we learn from all that planning? We learn to watch for humility, a different kind of power, and a new understanding of success as we enter into the events of holy week.  We learn about a kind of power that is joyful and humble, a kind of power that draws the people in and engages them without force, and success that takes risks and emerges from the appearance of failure.  That joyful yet humble demonstration of a different kind of power and success plunges us into Holy Week. On the one hand, as disciples of Jesus, we know that we are called to walk this journey with the one who rode into Jerusalem on a colt to turn our notions of power and success upside down. On the other hand, I can identify with the crowds who say "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord" and the Psalmist who says "Hosanna, Lord, hosanna! Send us now success!" Can’t we just fast forward to Easter?

The truth is that Easter will come next Sunday whether we journey with Jesus or not. But if we leap from "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord" to the great Easter acclamation which involves the use of the word we buried on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, we are thinking like the crowds and missing the message of Palm Sunday. We will move from the request for a great display of human power and might to the great display of God’s power without allowing our understanding of real power to be transformed. The details of the Palm Sunday story tell us that Jesus is up to something new and we need to keep our eyes open. As we walk through the events of Holy Week, the mighty power of God will be revealed in ways that are consistent with the arrival in Jerusalem of a humble Messiah on the back of a colt with little likelihood of success.

Amen.

Seeing Jesus

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Church Episcopal
March 17, 2024

5 Lent B 

          At Christ Church, our vestry meetings begin each month with the question “Where have you seen God this week?”  The answers are honest and thoughtful.  Some provoke laughter and others provoke tears as we hear about experiences of God in answered prayers, the work of medical professionals in scary situations, the antics of our children and grandchildren, the relationships among people at Christ Church, nature, and in so very many other places.  Hearing where others have seen God at work helps us see God’s presence in our own lives in new ways.  Answering that question has deepened relationships among the vestry members and brings energy and joy to our meetings.  We see each other with new eyes when we are willing to share what God has been up to in our lives.

          This morning, some Greeks approach Philip and say “Sir, we wish to see Jesus” which is simply the future version of “Where have you seen God this week?”  Philip tells Andrew, then the two disciples tell Jesus.  Jesus’ reply has always struck me as a little odd if not downright rude.  Rather than give a direct answer to the Greeks, Jesus goes on about a grain of wheat falling to the earth, losing and gaining life, and serving and following Jesus.  A simple “yes” or “no” would have sufficed.

          Rather than being rude, however, I think Jesus may be doing the Jesus version of “Be careful what you ask for.”  When we ask to see a doctor, for example, or this time of year, an accountant, we do not just want to look at a medical or tax professional.  We need something from that person.  We trust that person to provide what we need.  We want a real and honest encounter.  I believe that is what the Greeks wanted in their request to see Jesus.  They do not just want to look at Jesus.  What Jesus wants the Greeks to know is that seeing Jesus in that real and honest sense comes at a cost.

First, the Greeks will be encountering someone who will soon fall to the earth and die, in order to bear much fruit.  While the bit about the seed may be common agricultural sense, Jesus is also reminding the disciples to whom he is speaking that all of the fruit will be connected.  When the seed falls to the ground, that seed reconnects with all of creation, and when the seed finally bears much fruit, all of the fruit is connected through its relationship to the seed.  Through our connection with Jesus, we are connected with all humankind.

Secondly, those who love their life so much as to put up boundaries around it, guard it and protect it from any challenge will inevitably lose their lives.  Those who are willing to give their lives unreservedly in service to others and God will live into eternal life.  Encountering Jesus means encountering the one who models the giving of one’s life.  And thirdly, whoever serves Jesus must follow him and where Jesus is going is to give up his life for the life and love of the world.

          So, if the Greeks really want to see Jesus in a deep and honest way, they need to know what they are getting into.  And what they are getting into is living as people who are organically connected with God and the whole human family, being willing to die to self to bear much fruit, and being willing to follow Jesus as he is raised from the earth and draws the whole world to himself.

          Sir, we wish to see Jesus.  When we say “Sir, we wish to see Jesus” and only see Jesus in people who look and act like we do, we are not looking at Jesus.  When we say “Sir, we wish to see Jesus” and do not live as people who believe that the whole human family is connected through both creation and the death and resurrection of Jesus, we are not looking at Jesus.  When we say “Sir, we wish to see Jesus” and do not rise up to claim our connection with the marginalized, the vulnerable, those without power, those trying to escape war or persecution, or even our enemies, we are not looking at Jesus.  As long as we think in terms of “us” and “them” whoever us and them may be, we do not really want to see Jesus.

          Jesus reminds us this morning that seeing Jesus means seeing Jesus, serving Jesus, and following Jesus, not just when Jesus goes places where we are comfortable and feel safe, but when Jesus goes where the reconciling love of God is needed.  We practice seeking, serving, and following Jesus here at Christ Church, which is an incredible blessing but not an end in itself.  Practicing here gives us the courage and the ability t0 seek, serve and follow Jesus at all times, in all places, and with all people.  Tolerating bigotry, hatred, and division is not an option for followers of Jesus.  The only option for those who want to see and follow Jesus, is love. 

 

                                                                                      Amen.

Beauty and Life

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Church Episcopal
March 10, 2024

4 Lent B 

          Last Sunday at Lego Church, we heard the story of Jesus in the wilderness.  We talked about the three temptations the devil offered Jesus: power, privilege, and protection.  We wondered in what way the angels waited on Jesus and what Jesus’ relationship with the wild animals might have been.  When it was time for the Lego build, everyone was asked to build a wilderness scene.  Both the children and the adults at Lego Church take the Lego build very seriously and we had some very interesting wilderness scenes.  We had a beach scene that represented one kind of wilderness. We had a wilderness with flowers and friends.  One person built a representation of Jesus in the wilderness with the three temptations.  One very small child put a Lego person in a Lego escape car.  A child after my own heart.  Interestingly, almost all of the wilderness scenes were happy ones.  A beach. Flowers.  Friends.  A getaway car.  None of the scenes were scary.  The children found life and beauty in their wilderness scenes.

          The Hebrew people could use a little life and beauty in the wilderness this morning.  They are brutal in their complaints against God.  They complain about the lack of food and water and insist that God has brought them into the wilderness to die.  While I have never complained to God about not having enough to eat or drink, I have certainly done my share of complaining to God about war, natural disaster, the illness of beloved family and friends, and any number of other things.  And this is hardly the first time the Hebrew people have complained against God in the wilderness.  Plus the Psalms are full of complaints.  So I would really like to know what about these particular complaints has sent God over the edge.  These complaints caused God to send poisonous serpents to bite and kill God’s chosen people.  I would really like to avoid those complaints!

          As utterly bizarre and inexplicable as it is that God would send poisonous snakes to attack God’s beloved people, perhaps we would do well to focus on what goes right in the story.  The people recognize their sin in speaking against God.  They ask Moses to intercede for them, which Moses does.  And God tells Moses to make a bronze serpent, put it on a pole, and tell anyone who is bitten by a snake to look at the serpent and live.  While on the one hand, the story has gone from bizarre to incredible, and where does Moses get bronze out in the wilderness anyway, God’s plan works and the people live. 

          If we try to be like our children and focus on life and beauty in the wilderness, which is admittedly a challenge in this story, what we see is an agent of death, a poisonous snake, being turned into an agent of life.  All the people have to do is look at the bronze serpent being raised on a pole, and they will be healed and live.  The people recognized their sin, repented, believed God could heal them if Moses asked, then did as God asked of them.  In the end, this is a very weird story about life, but it is a story about life.  Psalm 107 is a reflection on this story, praising God for God’s healing word, God’s mercy, and the wonders God does for God’s children.  At the end of the day, even a day like the Hebrews were having in the wilderness, God is a God of love and mercy.  There is beauty and life in the wilderness.

           In a clear reference to the story in Numbers, this morning we hear Jesus say "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." Jesus is not saying that whoever gets the best score on the correct belief test will be saved, whatever the John 3:16 billboards might imply. The cross itself looked like the very essence of the wilderness-a place where God could not possibly be present and where the poisonous snake of death has done its worst.  But once again, God will take an agent of death, this time the cross, and turn it into life.  In the wilderness of the cross, ultimately there will be beauty and life.  In John’s gospel, the cross and the resurrection are two pieces of the same theological statement.  When we look upon the cross on Good Friday, we will also hear words of resurrection in our liturgy.  When we experience the empty tomb on Easter morning, we know that resurrection is possible only because of the cross.  Jesus beckons us to look at the cross, that serpent of death, to feel that wilderness, and trust that out of death, God will bring life.  When we are bold enough to open our eyes and look at Jesus raised on the cross, and trust that life will prevail, then we can also trust that in the midst of the snakes in the wilderness of our own lives, whatever those snakes may be, God will also act to bring life.  There is beauty and life in the wilderness.

                                                                             Amen.

 

         

Focus

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Church Episcopal
March 3, 2024

3 Lent B

          In seminary, I took a class entitled “Anglican Church History.”  I enjoy history and took a lot of history classes in college, so I was looking forward to the course.  In the first nano-second of the class, we figured out that our teacher, a graduate student from the University of Chicago, had never taught a class before.  Ever.  But we were kindhearted souls and tried to be patient with convoluted lectures and confusing assignments.  The last straw came when we were given a take home open-book test.  I took the test home, found and wrote all the answers, turned the test in, and was quite puzzled to receive the test back and have one of my answers marked as incorrect.  How can you get an answer wrong on a take home open-book test?  I was just as competitive as a student as I am as a parish priest, even if in a slightly different way, so I was not amused.  At the end of class, I went up to the teacher and inquired about my answer, which he insisted was wrong.  So, I politely got the textbook out showed him where I got my answer.  I got nowhere.  My patience was running thin at this point.  I left the room before I said something I would regret and headed home confused and furious. 

          I wonder if the people in the temple felt that same combination of confusion, frustration and fury when Jesus comes barging in with his whip of cords this morning.  The people in the temple were faithful people, trying hard to live according to God’s commandments.  Cattle, sheep, and doves were sold at the temple to help weary pilgrims procure the unblemished animals God required for the temple sacrifices.  Worshipers had walked for miles to get to Jerusalem for Passover.  They couldn’t bring cattle, sheep and doves with them.  Unless they could buy the animals at the temple, they could not make the sacrifices they had traveled so far to make.  The money changers were required to convert the Roman currency into temple currency, just like we convert currency when we travel to another country.  There is always a fee, and in the case of the temple, there were sales taxes to be paid to the Romans.  Everyone at the temple was trying to be faithful to the laws given by God in the book of Leviticus and the laws of the state as dictated by the Romans.

          So, what is Jesus so upset about this morning?  Which of the commandments are the people breaking?  Fortunately, we hear those commandments this morning in the reading from Exodus.   The people in the temple buying and selling animals for the sacrifice do not seem to be dishonoring their father or mother, murdering, committing adultery, stealing, bearing false witness, or coveting.  So, they are good on the last six commandments.  The problem must be in the first four commandments.  But the people don’t appear to have put another god before God, made an idol, made wrongful use of God’s name, or violated the Sabbath.  Quite frankly, they are doing all in their power to keep the law and honor God with the required sacrifices.  So what is Jesus’ problem?

The temple was thought to be the place where humans encountered God in a unique way, the place where the divine and the human meet.  The claim was not that the temple was the only place where the people encountered God.  The Hebrew people had experienced God in their Exodus from Egypt, during their time in the wilderness, in their exile in Babylon far from the promised land, and on and on.  The claim was also not that the Temple was bad.  There are many examples in the New Testament, particularly in the book of Acts, of followers of Jesus worshipping in the Temple.  But the experience of God in the temple was uniquely holy.  However, in John’s gospel, Jesus is the place where the human and the divine meet.  John’s gospel begins “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God….and the Word became flesh and lived among us.”  In that sense, Jesus is the new temple.  When Jesus is asked “What sign can you show us for doing this,” Jesus replies “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”  The resurrection will allow people in all times and places to experience the meeting of the human and the divine in Jesus. 

          The people in the temple are no doubt confused, frustrated, and angry when Jesus shows up this morning and interrupts their faithful activity.  Sometimes we are so busy and so focused on our faithful activity, trying so hard to do everything right, that we fail to see what new thing God is doing right in front of our faces and we get downright annoyed when interrupted.  In our faithful activity in this holy place, we encounter Jesus in the bread and wine of the Eucharist, in our music, in scripture, and in our relationships with each other.  But Jesus makes clear this morning that there are other places we encounter Jesus as well, sometimes in places where we least expect to have an encounter with the divine.  We encounter Jesus in conversation with those with whom we disagree or do not understand.  We encounter Jesus in a friendly greeting from a stranger or the opportunity to make a difference in the life of someone we don’t even know.  We encounter Jesus in the anger expressed against the injustices of the world.  Whatever else Jesus is up to this morning, Jesus challenges us not to let our focus on our faithful activity prevent us from seeing Jesus right before our very eyes.                                                                

Temptations

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Church Episcopal
February 18, 2024

1 Lent B

When our sons were young, I used to pick them up after school and wait to hear about their day.  I'm a mom.  I wanted to know how their classes had gone, how the test went, who they sat with at lunch...all the details a mother needs to know.  And every day, without fail, the conversation with a certain child went like this: Me: "How was your day?" Child: "Good."  Me: "What did you do?" Child: "Stuff."  If I probed a little deeper and asked who he sat with at lunch, the answer was “people.”  I suppose that I should be happy that the child's day was "good," he did nothing worse than "stuff" and he had lunch with “people.” But the lack of detail left me with little information about the child's day and a whole lot of room for my imagination to work.

The writer of the Mark’s gospel must have been a similar child.  This morning, we hear that Jesus was driven into the wilderness where he stayed for 40 days, was tempted by Satan, he was with the wild beasts, and angels waited on him. The entire story of the temptation in the wilderness takes one sentence.  The story is so short that we have to hear the ending of the story of Jesus' baptism and the beginning of Jesus' public ministry to make a complete paragraph!  With what was Jesus tempted?  What did Jesus do out in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights?  In what way did the angels wait on him?  Wilderness room service? Did the wild beasts try to eat him or were they nice beasts? Mark gives us little information and leaves a lot to our imaginations.

          The writers of Matthew and Luke must have been similarly frustrated by the lack of detail in Mark's story.  The later two gospels tell us that Jesus was tempted with bread, since he was fasting in the wilderness.  Jesus was tempted with special privilege when the tempter told Jesus that God would send angels to catch him if Jesus would throw himself off the pinnacle of the temple.  And Jesus was tempted with power as the tempter offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if he would only worship the tempter.  Each of these temptations would draw Jesus away from the God who had claimed Jesus as God's beloved son at Jesus' baptism and prevent Jesus' work in the world.

As we gather on this first Sunday of Lent, we might think for a moment about the ways in which we are tempted away from being the children of God we are called to be. What forces keep us, both as individuals and as Christ Church, from doing the powerful work God has given us to do?

First, I believe the tempter says to each of us "What you, one little person, has to offer, does not make a difference.  So why bother?"  The tempter knows that if each of us can be persuaded that our little bit does not matter, life here will grind to a halt and we will be unable to do anything to make the Kingdom of God a more present reality.  The tempter wants us to think only about our one pledge, our one voice, our one bottle of laundry detergent, and forget that when we all offer what we can, we make a powerful difference in the world.  The tempter says "Keep what you have and use it for yourself, where it will make a real difference."  Scripture says that we are the body of Christ, and when all of the parts, no matter how small, work together, gospel work is done.

The second temptation is the follow-up to the first temptation.  The tempter says "Don't worry-someone else will do it" whatever "it" might be, and the possibilities are endless.  The need might be serving on the vestry or the need might be cleaning up after an event.  The need might be singing in the choir or the need might be serving as an usher for a special service. The need might be serving on the Altar Guild or making a meal for Youth Group and Lego Church.  When the tempter can convince us that someone else will meet that need, the tempter wins because nothing happens.  As long as we think that someone else will meet the need, we cannot move forward.

          The last temptation is a "I don't have time.”  The tempter says "you are far too busy and important to take time for worship and study, much less ministry."  We are busy, all of us.  But if we think God cannot run the world without us for a few hours a week so that we can worship and be renewed, we have decided that we are God.  And the tempter does love that.  Our relationship with God takes work, just like every other relationship we have.  When the tempter can convince us that we don't need to do that work, the tempter wins.  If we want our relationship with God and our relationships with fellow Christians to sustain us in good times and bad, we have to do the work of building and maintaining those relationships.

These temptations and others like them try to keep us from being the people God has created us to be.  When we fall for those temptations, we are unable to do the work God has given us.  When we keep our focus on who we are called to be as God's beloved children, and what we are called to do to make the Kingdom of God more present now, the angels will be with us and the wild beasts will encourage us.  Our relationships with God and each other will be strong, and our ministries will flourish.  And the Tempter will not stand a chance.                                           Amen.

Treasures

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Church Episcopal
February 14, 2024

Ash Wednesday

          My favorite part of Ash Wednesday and Lent is undeniably the Lenten devotion booklet that we create together.  The booklet contains a reflection for each day of Lent, Holy Week, and Easter written by a parishioner or friend of Christ Church.  Some of the reflections are written by our children and youth.  Others are written by those with many Lents under their belts. Some reflections are poignant, others challenge us, and some have a touch of humor.  Collectively, all of the reflections speak beautifully about our connections with God, each other, and the world around us.  Each of the reflections is a living example of Jesus’ words at the end of today’s gospel reading.  “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” 

          Ash Wednesday and Lent offer us some treasures so that we know where our hearts are and where they might be better aligned with God so we can be the people God calls us to be.  In the Litany of Penitence which we will pray in a few minutes, we confess the many ways that our hearts are self-centered.  Greed, envy, negligence, failure to forgive, exploitation, anger, dishonesty, prejudice, waste and pollution-it is all there right before us and God in our prayers this day.  Those prayers point us to the many places where we misplace our treasure and thus our hearts. 

          However, the disciplines or treasures of Lent are not punishments for our misaligned hearts.  The disciplines of Lent help us see where our values have gone astray and where we can realign our hearts to better live into our lives as people of God and followers of Jesus.  Jesus also warns us not to take on these disciplines in order to be seen by other people, for that completely defeats the purpose of realigning our hearts to be more in tune with God.  On Ash Wednesday, Jesus gives us three treasures to help us find our true hearts.

          The first practice is almsgiving.  Alms are offerings, whether of money, or time, or of talent.  If we are thoughtful and intentional about our almsgiving, we give in order to recognize our connection with those who have less, who need food or clothing or shelter.  If we are sacrificial about our almsgiving, we go without so that someone else has what they need.  At our Shrove Tuesday pancake supper last night, our offering was a benefit for Habitat for Humanity, making home ownership, something many of us take for granted, possible for those with very limited income.   Or we make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for those who are hungry, warm knitted items for those who are cold, or provide laundry detergent for those who experience more month than money.  Almsgiving helps us recognize the needs of others, value what we have to offer, and treasure the opportunity to serve.  Almsgiving orients our hearts to the needs of others.

          Secondly, Jesus instructs us to pray.  Prayer is a treasure that gives us time with God as we offer God the cares and concerns of our hearts and listen for what God may ask of us.  When we pray honestly, prayer connects us with God, with those for whom we pray, with those we need to forgive, with those whose forgiveness we need, and with ourselves as we reveal to God the deepest longings of our hearts.  When open our hearts and make ourselves vulnerable to God, our hearts are changed.

          Lastly, Jesus gives us the treasure of fasting.  There are many ways to fast, all of which help us recognize our dependence on God and our connection with each other.  We may abstain from certain foods or practices, and that can be helpful.  But there are many other ways to fast.  I know of a church that posts a banner in front of the building that says “This Lent, keep the chocolate and give up bigotry, judgement, misogyny, hatred, bias, and divisiveness.”  That makes giving up chocolate look pretty easy!  Pope Francis suggests that if we want to fast this Lent, that we fast from hurting words and say kind words, or fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude, or fast from selfishness and be compassionate, or fast from words and be silent and listen.  Fasting forms our hearts as we are reminded of our dependence on God as we struggle to go without that from which we fast as we move away from actions that divide us and toward actions that bring wholeness and healing.

          “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  In First Thessalonians, from which we do not hear on Ash Wednesday although I wish we did, the apostle Paul writes “Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances.  For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  Jesus puts it more succinctly today when he says “Do not look dismal.”  I believe that our Lenten practices can be rooted in joy-not necessarily happiness, but joy as we seek to find our true hearts in the treasures of Lent. 

                            

                                                                                                Amen.

Turning Corners

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Church Episcopal
February 11, 2024

The Last Sunday after the Epiphany 

          Today is my father-in-law’s 92^nd birthday.  Don and I spent Friday and Saturday in Springfield celebrating this milestone with Fred, his wife Babs, our two sons and two of our grandchildren. In many ways, Fred is the same person I met over 42 years ago-honest to a fault, kind, loving, and willing to question and think deeply about matters of faith.  And yet, when I met Fred, he was a faithful Southern Baptist and now he is loyal and devoted Episcopalian.  He wrote and self-published his autobiography 10 or 15 years ago.  The book is entitled “Turning Corners: And recognizing untenable positions.”  Fred was raised by very conservative Baptist parents who did not allow dancing or playing cards, or movies, much less other vices. The part of his upbringing that Fred internalized was the willingness to follow Jesus.  The part of his upbringing that Fred turned from over the course of many years was the specifics of how to do that.  Throughout his 92 years, Fred has recognized what was tenable for him and what was not, and kept following Jesus just in different ways.  He meandered through less conservative Baptist churches, then a Methodist church or two, then wound up living in Springfield where Don and I lived and he joined the Episcopal Church, attending worship, Christian education, and coffee hour every Sunday until just recently.  His best friends at church are gay, he enjoys a beer or a glass of wine, playing cards, and is fully and completely Episcopalian.  I am sure the 20 year old Fred Reed never saw the 92 year old Fred Reed coming!eHeHHHhhhhhhhhHThe ptHtHtHE ttTHTHttH     1tTtHE tHE The

          I think of Fred and Turning Corners this morning when I see Jesus take Peter, James, and John up the mountain where Jesus is transfigured in the presence of Elijah and Moses.  On that mountain, Peter, James, and John turned a corner in their understanding of who Jesus is and what it means to follow Jesus.  Just prior to their trip up the mountain, Peter misunderstood Jesus so badly when Jesus predicted his suffering and death that Jesus said to him “Get behind me Satan!  For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”  Then Jesus tells his disciples and the crowds that those who want to save their life will lose it and those who lose their life for the sake of the gospel will save it.  Jesus has hard teachings about what it means to be his follower.  When Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up the mountain, Peter is probably still stung by being called Satan, and all three are likely confused by the whole bit about losing their life and saving it.  That was not exactly what they had in mind when they left fishing behind and took off to follow Jesus.

          And yet, now they stand on the mountain with Moses, Elijah, and the transfigured Jesus and my guess is that they feel a bit vindicated in the midst of all of that glory.  This is more like what they had in mind when they said “yes” to Jesus’ call.  No doubt they feel a bit of privilege since they are the only disciples to be treated to this incredible experience.  Peter wants to build three dwellings on the mountain, one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah, which seems a little odd since Peter is a fisherman not a carpenter.  But however Peter thinks he might accomplish that on the top of a mountain and with his fishing skills, the point is that Peter sees Jesus with new eyes now, even if he still does not understand.

          When the cloud overshadows them, a voice proclaims “This is my Son, the Beloved.  Listen to him.”  In other words, the voice is saying “Jesus is right.  Pay attention.”  The point is not the glory.  The disciples will still fumble about and get things wrong, deny Jesus and flee the crucifixion.  But they will also go on to start a new movement and build the Church.  The glory helped them see Jesus in a new light, listen more closely, and understand themselves as followers in a new way, even if only in hindsight after the resurrection.

          This morning we will baptize Isabelle Gugleilmi, making her a follower of Jesus.  Baptism is a mountain top experience where we, too, hear the voice of God say, in the words of the church, “This is my child, my beloved” just as Jesus heard those words at his baptism and at his transfiguration.  Baptism also sends us down the mountain and into the world, following Jesus where Jesus leads, which is not always where we thought we were going.  Like the disciples, we will still fumble about and get things wrong, sometimes very wrong.  But following Jesus as we seek and serve Christ in all people, respect the dignity of every human being, and work for justice and peace will take us places we never imagined, challenge our understanding of Jesus, and transform us in ways we never saw coming, sometimes only in hindsight.  As Jesus told his disciples, following him will take us to the cross, through pain and suffering and into new life. 

          So today, we sing great hymns and bury the Alleluias on this little mountaintop that we create here.   Then we turn the corner and journey into Ash Wednesday and Lent, the betrayal, trial, suffering and death of Jesus.  Following Jesus means following Jesus and allowing ourselves to be changed by the journey, whether than change comes in an instant or over many years and decades.  If we follow faithfully and open ourselves to the journey, we will arrive at Easter ready to be transformed by new life.

                                                                             Amen.