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2023. 02.26. 2nd Sunday Lent ●● Genesis 12:1-3 ●● Psalm 33 ●● 2 Timothy 1:8b-10 ●● Matthew 17:1-9 ●● Title: Transfiguration. "One L"
[__01__] There's a vision on top of the mountain – the mountain of the Transfiguration of Jesus. And the vision is meant to help the disciples to think ahead. To think ahead, not just a few days, a few weeks, but really probably more than a year in Gospel time, to Jesus' actual passion and death and resurrection. We are thinking ahead right now you got to set your clocks ahead one hour …
[__02__] Do you know what 1 L stands for, as in the numeral one (uno) and L as in Lima ?
“1-L”
is an abbreviation for a student in law school, one studying to be a lawyer or
attorney. Specifically “1-L” means a 1st year (ONE) law student (L).
Scott
Turow, a well-known author, wrote his very first book about his first year in
law school and the title is One L. He was a One L. And the book ends in the
spring the semester. I found out later that he finished law school, and
became a lawyer, but that is not in the book. The book is all about the
unfinished business of the law students and the law professors. Some of the law
students are really don't come across very well. Some of them are quite
selfish, overly competitive. It seems the professor are out to get them and some of the students are out
to get the professors as well. It's all about learning the practice of law and
justice. But it's also about the unfinished business of learning their
profession of law and justice.
[__03__] We read in the Gospel this Sunday about Peter, James, John going up a high mountain with Jesus.
We
might say that they are like “beginning students” as well in their
discipleship.
While
they are on the mountain they see a vision of Moses and Elijah who were
biblical heroes in the history of salvation. But Moses and Elijah stand out
because Moses liberated the Israelite people from Egypt, where they were in
slavery.
This
liberation happens early - in the 2nd book of the Bible - Exodus -
with “Exodus” being the exit that was accomplished by freeing the people from
slavery.
(By
the way, in Luke’s Gospel of the Transfiguration we are told that the
conversation of Jesus with Moses and Elijah was about the “exodus” he would
accomplish in Jerusalem by his death and resurrection).
During
the book of the Exodus, Moses is the leader appointed to receive the 10
Commandments on the mountain of Sinai. The 10 Commandments are law. Moses
represents the tradition of the law.
[__04__] Who is Elijah?
Elijah
represents the prophets of God’s people and Elijah was a prophet at a time of
great national adversity with the king / ruler being Ahab who was known as the
worst of all the kings of Israel
Elijah
went up a mountain this was Mount Carmel - not Mount Carmel church in Orange,
but the original Mount Carmel where there was a famous showdown between Elijah
as prophet and the pagan prophets/magicians of King Ahab.
Elijah
wins in this battle but also nearly costs him his life during his 40 days
without food running away from Ahab.
From
a historical point of view, Moses and Elijah represent the “law and the
prophets” and Jesus himself that he came to fulfill the “law and the prophets.”
Moses
and Elijah experienced God’s miraculous power on a mountain top. And: [ Mountains have a
logical religious symbolism for Jewish and Christian cultures since they are
“closer to God” who dwells in the heavens (as in the sky). As a result, God
often reveals himself on a mountaintop in the text. Source: BustedHalo.com]
[__05__] Peter, James and John have were
taken up a mountain with Jesus and this is no recreational - but rather a
religious retreat - type of climb.
PJJ
are the inner circle to Jesus, the 3 closest disciples. To them, Jesus reveals
certain things that he does not show to the other disciples.
For
example, Peter, James and John are the specifically told at the Garden of
Gethsemane to watch and pray.
Jesus
desires their spiritual and moral support at his hour crisis before his arrest
and passion, before he is taken in by the “law enforcers” of the city.
PJJ
were told to “watch and pray”. What happened? The same thing that happens in
this episode on the mountain. They were tired, exhausted. They fell
asleep
[__06__] I myself identify with PJJ falling asleep at these moments because I myself was often falling asleep in class when I was in school.
I
apparently come a long ancestry DNA line of “heavy sleepers”. Sleep is good,
right!
But,
drowsiness or sleepiness is not just a physical condition. It can also be a
vice and part of our human sinful condition.
And,
on a positive note, wakefulnesS and being alert can be a virtue. Staying
awake is not just about how much work you can achieve or accomplish. It is
about being present and aware of God’s work in your life and my life right now.
Later
in Matthew, chapter 24, we read, “Stay awake for you do not know the hour when
your Lord is coming” (Matthew 24:44)
I would also associate my drowsiness or sleepiness with a lack of wanting to see what God is doing in my life. I can think of moments when I've done something wrong. Maybe I hurt somebody's feelings. Maybe I got lost my temper, numerous things I've done wrong, and and I'm regretful over what I've done wrong. And then I think, well, I did it wrong. I gotta fix it. And maybe I do have some responsibility. But am I willing to see what God was showing me in what I did wrong? Because God permitted some sin to happen. Are you willing to see in your own life, what God may be working in you when something goes wrong, when you do wrong when you because we all need God's mercy. God's mercy is not given to us after we change. God's mercy is not giving us as part of a business transaction, like you change and then you get some mercy. It's the other way around. God gives us the mercy in order for us to change.
[__07__] I would also associate and attribute my drowsiness or sleepiness with a lack of reflection, thoughtlessness .. giving into bitterness. It is not just that I am more cranky or when I am tired. We all are that way.
Rather,
I am simply guilty of being more resentful, short tempered when I have not
recognized I may need time to think, to pray, not necessarily to figure out
what to do… but to recognize that God may be doing or showing me something that
I am not yet willing or able to see.
This
was also the message to Peter who wanted to build tents. Jesus, Moses and Elijah
do not need shelter !
Peter wanted to respond right away. Sometimes, I am guilty of trying to respond too fast too soon..and when I am not really quite awake yet. We live in a world with real time access information in which we can talk text and make trouble 24 by 7.
Sometimes,
hardest thing to do is to keep quiet in a moment when we feel anxious or upset
or distressed.
But,
for me this is exactly when I must recognize I need rest or time before I speak
or act.
It
is better, in particular, not sleep-walk through life. Been there. Done that.
[__08__] The disciples are asked to
stay awake, to listen to Jesus our Lord, not just on this mountain but always
Right
now they are beginning students of the law being fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
They are shown this vision of Jesus not on a big screen but on a big
mountain with Moses and Elijah to remind
them of Jesus’ divinity and strength when he is weakened physically and put to
death and when they would otherwise be discouraged.
This is during Holy Week the days and
liturgies of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter. Even on Easter, they are
not really sure what happened yet.
It
is their final exam before being sent out into the world as messengers of the
good news, messengers that his death is not the end. That in general, death is
not the end.
We
are also being taught as beginners as “1 L ” students of God’s law and the
prophets and that Jesus came not just with one law but with one love for you,
and we are called that same one Lord, one love, one faith, one baptism, to be
awake and alert to his salvation
As God the Father
says from the cloud, ‘This is my beloved Son, listen to Him” (Matthew 17:5)
Or as we sang in our opening song today, the 4th verse of Be thou my vision:
High King of heaven, my victory won / may I reach heavens joys Oh, bright heaven's sun / heart of my own heart, whatever befall / still be my vision, O ruler of all.
[__END__]
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