The Transfiguration

"Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother,and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them."

I like you have heard these reading hundreds of time since my childhood and I have found it hard to experience on a personal level. It seems more like us getting a window into the experience of James, John, and Peter.

This Sunday I was struck, however, by the contrast in God's message in the reading. On the one hand we have this vision of Jesus appearing with Moses and Elijah, and then God the Father saying in a booming voice that strikes fear into the apostles, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” If the apostles were looking for a sign of Jesus' divinity they got TWO signs that day: a vision, and the voice of God saying, "Listen up, it's more than just a nice vision, I'm trying to show you that this is the Son of God, my Son. So pay attention and listen to him!"

This is the Old Testament God I'm used to hearing about, the one who reminds me of the booming voice of the Wizard of Oz who scares the Bejesus out of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion.

Then in contrast, we get the gentle, loving companionship of Jesus. "Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and do not be afraid.” He touches them. He says, "It's okay. I'm with you. Don't be afraid." Thanks the kind of God I need today, a God who touches me. "Rise, and do not be afraid. It's gonna be okay. I will help you. My Father just wanted to show you who I am. I'm sorry He frightened you."

Last year I was blessed to travel to Israel and walk up Mt. Tabor with my fellow pilgrims. It is a very scenic, yet challenging 30 minute walk. I image Jesus walking with Peter, James, and John. This was his inner circle of friends. (They would later be with him at Gethsemane also.) What would they have talked about as they wanted up the mountain? What was the conversation like when they came down?

I imagine they had some kind of hope in their hearts as they walked up the mountain, and that hope was transformed as they descended. This hope was now more than just a feeling, they were shown by God that this hope was real. Jesus was the Son of God, and he was walking with them.

That day the heavens touched the earth in a supernatural way, but the Son of Man also reached out and touched the apostles on the shoulders and said, "Don't be afraid." I'm going to hang on to that idea and sit with it this week.

Who is My Neighbor?

Housing Opportunities for Women (HOW) has provided housing for homeless women in Rogers Park since 1983. The goal is to provide women housing as soon as possible to get them off the streets and then offer “wrap-around” support services to help them move forward in their life (e.g. mentally, financially, emotionally).

HOW’s philosophy of housing homeless women reminds me of the parable of the Good Samaritan that Jesus tells us in Luke 10:25. In the parable, the Samaritan man is the one who stops to help a man who is attacked by robbers on the road to Jericho, and he attends to his needs by putting him up in an inn to rest and heal from his injuries. Key to Jesus’ call to love our neighbor in this parable, is the giving of hospitality - - especially giving hospitality to those who have been abandoned.

In the parable, the Samaritan man takes out two denarii and gives them to the innkeeper, saying, “Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.” At HOW, the women served typically stay in their program for an average 4-5 years. In this context I think about the parable and wonder how Jesus’ audience at the time would have reacted if the Samaritan would have agreed to care for the injured man for this period of time. They probably would have laughed. The parable was challenging enough for them already.

On the other hand, most of the time when Jesus physically healed someone he was doing more than attending to their physical needs, he was healing them spiritually and forgiving their sins. While outwardly their injury or disability was visibly obvious, Jesus cared more about the condition of their hearts, and I think this is true of HOW.
Building on the initial impact HOW has made with homeless women in Rogers Park, HOW decided ten years ago to get involved in Partners for Rogers Park (PRP), which is a coalition of a dozen community organizations. The coalition began to try to make the community safe from crime, drugs, violence, and to create a community plan and promote affordable housing in the neighborhood.

Thinking of Jesus’ ministry again, one thing that was always apparent was that as he went from town to town preaching, teaching, and healing, the Scribes and Pharisees were always at his heals criticizing and challenging him. “You can’t do that. What gives you the right to do that? Who are you, and under what authority do you do these things?”

Similarly, I was surprised to learn that PRP has had problems with its own brand of Pharisees: Bloggers. It seems these bloggers have used the Internet as a way to criticize and challenge the progress being made in Rogers Park. I guess it all goes to show that human nature hasn’t changed that much over the last 2000 years.

My Yoke is Easy and My Burden is Light

A key part of my faith journey these days involves paying attention to apparent coincidences. As a Christian I believe God is acting in my life every day so these coincidences can be seen as evidence that he is speaking to me.

I had one such coincidence occur the other day when I heard Matthew 11:30 repeated to me twice within an hour by two different people, "My yoke is easy and my burden is light." So I began to meditate on the scripture to see what the Lord was trying to tell me.

The first "Aha" I experienced came after Googling the word, "yoke" to see what one actually looked like, and I was surprised to realize that a yoke is designed for TWO oxen to put a plow, wagon, or other farming implement. And furthermore, farmers would usually pair one seasoned ox with a younger ox in the yoke to train him in the work being done.

So immediately I got this image of Jesus right beside me as the seasoned ox, helping me shoulder the load of my yoke and guiding me on the path ahead. But actually I realized that he was asking me to be yoked to HIM and his work, rather than giving me strength to carry MY yoke, a yoke that I had been intent on carrying.

What does this scripture require of me? How does it convict me? Well first it tells me that I've got to let go of the yokes I've been hanging on to - - burdens I've chosen or clung to that are not Christ's burdens. Then I need to choose be obedient to him and follow him in carrying HIS yoke.

It's a paradoxical concept because, on the one hand I know that Christ came that I might have life and have it more abundantly, but on the other hand he wants me to be yoked to him. Does it make me a slave to him? Aren't I giving up my freedom? Well, yest and no. I think he calls me to carry this yoke with him and by doing so I'll experience the freedom of his love and grace. I don't want to be yoked to selfish desires, worldly things, or sinful things. I want to be yoked to someone who loves me and wants to give me my heart's desire - - so I actually GAIN my freedom by surrendering and being yoked to him.

Another interpretation of this scripture comes from the perspective that Jesus was telling his followers at the time not to be yoked to the 613 Jewish purity laws that the Pharisees would lord over them. I can see a connection to this teaching in my own life also. What things do I burden myself with daily, saying, "I should be doing this, I should be doing that. I'm not doing enough, etc."

I don't think Jesus wants us to "should" ourselves to death. He wants us to do our best, he wants us to love him, and he wants us to enjoy our life. When we "should" ourselves to death, we are focused on what we didn't do yesterday and what we have to do tomorrow and we are not living in the present moment. We are carrying anxiety and burdens about work left undone and are not at peace.

I think that is what Jesus is saying in this scripture. He says in the preceding lines, "I will give you rest," "learn from me," and, "I am gentle and humble of heart." So he wants to give us a peaceful, fulfilling life not a burdensome and troubling life - - but it takes that first step of agreeing to be yoked to his will, not our own.

I'll have to admit that I also see parallels to Jesus' conversation with Peter in John 21:18 in this scripture. In it, Jesus says to Peter, "When you were younger you used to fasten your own belt and go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go."

Like Peter before me, only by professing my love for Christ and carrying his yoke can my heart find peace. I'm learning that it's a struggle everyday to recommitt to this, but I know that if I do he will help me carry the load and grant me his peace.