February 22,  2009 The Last Sunday After Epiphany also called Transfiguration Sunday Year B 2 Kings 2:1-12 Psalm 50:1-6 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 Mark 9:2-9 Click here for sermons from previous weeks The Rev. Virginia W. Nagel Ephphatha Parish of the Deaf Episcopal Diocese of Central NY This is the last Sunday after Epiphany. Ash Wednesday will be here in a few days and then comes the season of Lent, and today's Bible readings tie in nicely with all this. The first reading is about the ending of the ministry of the prophet Elijah. Elisha was a student or a protégé of Elijah, and was close to him. Elijah informed Elisha that he soon would have to leave him, and Elisha's response was to ask for a double share of Elijah's spirit. This was not a matter of greed. The Bible tells us in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, that the eldest son of a family was to receive a double share of his father's inheritance when the father died. This was because the eldest son was held responsible for the care and maintenance of his mother and unmarried siblings. It was his responsibility and privilege to arrange marriages for his sisters, including providing a dowry, and setting his younger brothers up in business or seeing that they were trained for a trade. The double share was designed to give him the necessary resources to provide for his responsibilities to his family. In a similar way, Elisha, the follower who was closest to Elijah, understood that it would be up to him to carry on Elijah's ministry, and asked for the resources that he would need to do this. It must have been terribly difficult for Elisha to say goodbye to Elijah. I suppose most of us have experienced a similar situation, when we had to leave a beloved teacher or mentor or godparent, and strike out on our own. And Elijah surely left some big sandals for Elisha to fill. Elijah was so well-known and powerful a prophet that he was revered all through Israel and also in neighboring countries. He was a powerful force for the Lord, and it is certain that Elisha had some misgivings about his own ability to carry on such a ministry. Again, most of us have experienced similar situations. It's all very well to have a degree in teaching or in medicine or whatever, and to receive state certification and all that, but when we come to the day when a life or a young mind is entrusted to us, who feels ready? Peter, James and John experienced a similar fear when Jesus began to talk about what was going to happen to him in Jerusalem. When he led them up the mount of Transfiguration, they were quite overwhelmed with what they witnessed there. Elijah and Moses had both been removed from earth in very unusual ways, ways only the Lord knew about. They were fitting mentors for Jesus as he faced his own removal from earth in an equally unusual...but very humiliating and painful...way. They came to give him strength and courage, of course. But, more than that, all through the Old Testament we keep finding reminders that God would send Elijah to help the people prepare for the coming of the Messiah. Even now, at Passover, Jews set a place at the table for Elijah, and leave the door ajar for him to enter. And here was Elijah, in what looked to be flesh! The disciples could not help but understand that all this was somehow connected with Jesus' constant stressing that he would soon be arrested and put on trial, and killed. It was, in a way, a confirmation of what they had suspected, or half-known: Jesus is the Messiah. And the Transfiguration itself: they were permitted for a brief moment to see Jesus in the glory that was his own as King of Heaven, God the Son. It was breathtaking and overwhelming, of course, but even more so was the realization that THIS Messiah would be arrested, scourged, condemned to death and crucified, as he had kept reminding them. No wonder they fainted. It was far too much for any human to take in easily. Psalm 50 helps us to tie this all together with the coming of Lent. Psalm 50 was the psalm that traditionally was used at the annual renewal of the Covenant. Of course the people were sorely aware that they kept breaking the Covenant, and so the beginning of the ceremony, on the feast of the giving of the Law, also called the Feast of Lights, was the recitation of this Psalm. It was followed by the reading of the Book of Deuteronomy, the pouring of water (signifying purification) down the many steps of the Temple sanctuary, and the lighting of torches all through the Temple and its courtyards, and, finally, a sacrifice asking forgiveness for past failures, and strength to keep the renewed Covenant. The Gospel of John gives us a few glimpses of this ritual. And it is, of course, for us a vivid reminder of what Lent is about: growing holier, closer to God, more in tune with God's thinking and God's Law, and, of course, with the remembrance and renewing of our own Baptismal covenant. We have a couple of days left before Ash Wednesday, and it would be good for each of us to ponder these readings and what they might mean for each of us individually. Is there a beloved mentor we should honor? Is there some way we can give greater glory to God by a holier life, or by studying his Law? Is there some sacrifice we might offer, as Jesus offered the sacrifice and humiliation of becoming human and dying on the cross, for God's glory? Is there some way we can better prepare ourselves to be part of God's and Jesus' ongoing ministry and work? It would be a shame for us to enter Lent without any thoughtful plan for using it, keeping it, and finding ways to strengthen our own Covenant-keeping. I hope and pray that each one of us will take Lent seriously, prepare ourselves for the keeping of a holy Lent, and allow this coming Lent to change us in ways that will enable us to give greater glory to God on the coming Easter Day...which is not only Christ's Resurrection, but our own resurrection, once again, from the depths of sin to the glory of praising God in all that we do and say. Amen. Back To Top Home