Sunday, March 30, 2025

Lent 4, Year C (2025)

Joshua 5: 9–12 / Psalm 32 / II Corinthians 5: 16–21 / Luke 15: 1–3, 11b-32

This is the homily given at Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown, Pennsylvania on Sunday March 30, 2025 by Fr. Gene Tucker.

 

“WE CAN’T, BUT GOD CAN”

(Homily text: Luke 15: 1–3, 11b –32)

This morning, we encounter the familiar Parable of the Prodigal Son.

Our Lord’s teaching in this parable (remember that He is a master story teller) centers around the idea of something that was lost, but then is found again. In Luke’s Gospel account, chapter fifteen, this parable follows two others which also have to do with lost things: The Parable of the Lost Sheep (verses one through seven), and the Parable of the Lost Coin (verses eight through ten).[1]

The theme of these three teachings, then, is to focus on something that is lost, but then is found by the owner/keeper/father.

In the last of these three parables, the lost item is, by far, the most valuable: The father’s son.

The contrast in this last parable couldn’t be sharper, for it centers on the lost (and deplorable) condition of the younger son, compared to the security of the father.

Before we look at the implications of the lessons to be learned from this parable, let’s mention a couple of unresolved aspects of the parable:

·         Once the younger son has spent all of his father’s inheritance, does the father restore that inheritance again? (My guess would be that the father doesn’t restore or make up for the lost wealth, and – I think – the text seems to support that conclusion.)

·         Why does the father not call the older son out from the fields once his younger brother has returned home?  Why does the father initiate the celebration, but leaves the son out of it? (Here, I think, the reason might be that the father is so overjoyed at the younger son’s return that he overlooks calling for the older son to come in from the field.[2])

In the very early Church, a common way of interpreting the meaning of the Scriptures was to use analogy. By that we mean that, essentially, analogy is this = that. So, the purpose of this parable might have been for our Lord to portray to his listeners (God’s chosen people, the Jews) that their true spiritual condition resembles the older son’s state more accurately than the younger son’s. We might explore this idea a bit…The older son relies on his achievements as the basis for respect in the father’s estimation. “I have always followed your commands,” he says. In a similar way, God’s chosen people at the time of our Lord’s earthly ministry relied on their faithful adherence to the Laws of Moses (Torah). In response, Jesus reminds them that God requires “mercy, not sacrifice”.[3]

To follow God’s commands so closely does indicate that God’s people are somewhat aware of God’s sovereignty and God’s nature and God’s desire to possess a people for Himself.

So, we can say that – like the older son – that son (and God’s people, by analogy) get “half a mark” in their walk with God.

But Jesus makes clear that it is the younger son who finds favor with the father (God, by analogy).

How so?

The younger son “comes to himself” in a foreign land, but only when he’s reached the very bottom of existence: He works for a farmer, feeding pigs. (Recall that, for God’s people, pigs are unclean animals. This means that the younger son is also unclean, by being with unclean animals.) By this time, Jesus tells us, the younger son’s money and whatever assets he took with himself when he left home are gone. Jesus tells us, furthermore, that no one in the foreign country gave him anything.[4]

Now, the younger son realizes where he can get help: From home, and from his father.

It’s interesting that Jesus relates to us the rehearsal of the younger son’s speech, once he encounters his father upon his return home. But note that the younger son doesn’t get to finish all of that speech, for the father interrupts him midway. (I think this is an important aspect of the story, and one which shows how eager the father (God) is to welcome the new life that the younger son’s return means. It also mirrors the two previous parables in chapter fifteen, when Jesus tells us that the finder of the lost sheep and the lost coin each say, “Rejoice with me, for that which was lost is found”.

Perhaps the point of this parable is to make clear that we are to be mindful of God’s goodness, God’s holiness, and God’s love, all three. At the same time, we are to be mindful that – absent God’s presence and God’s intervention in our lives – we’d be pretty much in the same boat as the younger son who’s fallen into the depths of life.

Once we see the contrast between God’s love and God’s holiness and our condition absent those things, we can see how central the movement of the Holy Spirit is to make us aware of our lost-ness absent God’s work and presence, and to see how blessed we are when some measure of God’s desire for the way in which we live our lives enables us to move closer to God’s ideals. To be sure, absent the movement and work of the Holy Spirit, no amendment of life is possible. We must remain aware of that reality.

We pray then, for the Holy Spirit to come before us and ahead of us, to prepare our hearts and minds to see ourselves as God sees us, as extraordinarily important creations of God, deliberate and beautiful creations, and yet, as creations that require remaking and remolding into the image of God. Such a remaking and remolding begins, as it did for the younger son in today’s parable, with the need each of us has to “come to ourselves” and realize how helpless we are to move toward God’s ideals.

AMEN.

 



[1]   It’s possible that Jesus didn’t tell all three of these parables in the order in which Luke presents them. Luke may have had in mind presenting these three related parables together to emphasize the importance – to God – of the recovery of things that are lost, and – in particular – people that are lost.

[2]   If we follow the analogical method of text interpretation, perhaps the Lord is pointing out that God’s chosen people will be left out of God’s plans if they do not realize their own need for repentance and amendment of life. By the time of Luke’s composition of his Gospel account, this reality was beginning to take shape, as the Gospel message went out into the Greco-Roman world, where it was embraced by Gentiles.

[3]   Matthew 9:13

[4]   If we think about it, this is the essential meaning of Baptism, for it is to be buried in a death like Jesus’, but to be raised to new life in a resurrection like His (see Romans 6:3 – 9). Baptism is a sort-of “bottoming out”, an admission of our own helplessness to bring about new and godly life. 

Sunday, March 23, 2025

Lent 3, Year C (2025)

Isaiah 55: 1-9 / Psalm 63: 1-8 / I Corinthians 10: 1–13 / Luke 13: 1-9

This is the homily given at Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown, Pennsylvania on Sunday, March 23, 2025 by Fr. Gene Tucker.

 

“MEASURING UP”

(Homily text: Luke 13: 1–9)

Let’s ask ourselves, each of us, a question: “Compared to God’s holiness, how do I measure up?”

Imagine that we have before us a yard stick, held upright. At the bottom is the zero marker, and at the top, the thirty-six inch marker. Imagine that the thirty-six inch marker is the mark of God’s holiness.

Now, how would we, each of us, measure up against God’s holiness?

That’s a good introduction to today’s Gospel reading, from Luke’s account, chapter thirteen.

Luke relates to us that our Lord put a question to those who’d gathered around him, comparing the fates of two different groups of people who’d suffered awful deaths, to the self-estimations of His hearers as to their own righteousness and holiness before God.

Hold that thought for a moment, and let’s look at some aspects of this passage.

For one thing, this is material that Luke, alone among the Gospel writers, tells us about.

The other thing to notice is that we know absolutely nothing about the two incidents that are described in this morning’s reading. We do know that Pontius Pilate was the Roman Governor of Judea for ten years, from 26 to 36 AD,. We also know that he could be a ruthless person, so the incident that Jesus describes of the fate of the Galileans who’d (presumably) been killed by Pilate, and whose blood had been mingled with some pagan ritual, were victims of Pilate’s violent ways. The Lord’s report on the fate of these Galileans fits quite well with what we know about Pontius Pilate. The other incident seems to be some sort of a construction accident, involving the collapse of a tower.

One thing I think that the Lord is making clear in His citation of these two incidents is to say that, in the case of the first group, their deaths were deliberate (perhaps Pilate’s response to some sort of a rebellion?), while the second group of deaths seems to be accidental.

However, Jesus is making a point, and that point seems to be that, despite the nature of the deaths of these two groups of people, it wasn’t their sinful condition, necessarily, that was the root cause of their fate.

At this point, it’d be a good idea to return to the commonly-held ideas that influenced people during the time of our Lord’s earthly ministry.

Recall with me that people seemed to believe that if a person lived a good and righteous life, and lived by the precepts of the Law of Moses, then God would honor that person with good health and also, with the blessings of life (often material blessings). Conversely, as we’ve noted on other occasions, the reverse attitudes were also common; If a person was sickly or poor, then their condition must surely be due to some grievous sin against God.

According to the prevailing “wisdom” of the day, the higher one found themselves compared to God, the more likely it was that their place on the ladder was due to their own efforts.

The image of our yard stick now comes in handy.

People during the time of our Lord’s visitation hoisted themselves up the ladder by their own efforts. Also true was that they assessed their own standing by their own standards of measurement, not God’s. And, in addition, they looked down this imaginary yard stick at those who (they thought) were below them, or who were even at the bottom. We can even imagine that people who thought they’d made their way up the ladder believed that those at the bottom were beyond God’s ability to lift up.

Jesus knocks the props out from under such self-assessed, self-righteous persons.

“Do you think,” He says, “that those who perished were worse sinners than all the others?

Then, the point is made: “No, unless you repent, you will likewise perish.”

Our Lord’s message is as pointed today as it was 2,000 years ago.

Individual repentance is the beginning point of any journey with God. An honest self-assessment opens the door to God’s lifting us up, and to clothing us with the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Welcome to Lent, dear friends! Time to self-assess. Time to be honest with ourselves and with God, admitting that – absent God’s intervention were are likely to be puffed up and full of ideas about how “good” we are. But, when compared to the full measure of God’s holiness, we see how badly we need God’s help.

Thankfully, that same holy and righteous God waits for us to come clean, to admit our true spiritual condition, to seek the Holy Spirit’s help to see ourselves as God sees us, and to realize that God’s love awaits our confession.

AMEN.

  

Saturday, March 15, 2025

Lent 2, Year C (2025)

Genesis 15: 1–12, 17–18 / Psalm 27 / Philippians 3: 17 – 4: 1 / Luke 13: 31–35

This is the homily given at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Carlisle, Pennsylvania on Saturday, March 15, 2025 and Sunday, March 16, 2025 by Fr. Gene Tucker.

 

“HOPE, HOPELESSNESS, FAITHFULNESS & FRUITFULNESS”

(Homily texts: Genesis 15: 1–12, 17-18 & Luke 13: 31 – 35)

Not too long, ago, we were driving through the small community of Saint Thomas, Pennsylvania. As you enter Saint Thomas from the east, traveling west on US 30, Saint Thomas Lutheran Church is on the right on the east side of town.

On the front lawn of the church, there is a small, white sign which reads, “God’s Got This”.

My wife noticed the sign and said that it was a refreshing reminder that God is, ultimately, in control, even at times when we can’t see God’s plans or God’s hand at work in the events of life as they unfold.

“God’s Got This” might be a good way to characterize the situations that are presented to us by our reading from Genesis, and our Gospel reading from Luke, the thirteenth chapter.

In Genesis, we encounter Abram[1] and Sarai as they agonize over the reality that they are getting older, and – as yet - they had not had any children. Their circumstances seem hopeless. In much the same way, Jesus agonizes over the seeming lack of fruitfulness in His ministry.

The themes of a lack of hope and a lack of fruitfulness tie the Genesis reading and the Gospel reading together.

But the themes of faithfulness and – therefore – fruitfulness, are also present in each account.

In each case, God asserts that He is in control, that He’s “Got This”.

Let’s look in more depth at each situation.

Abram complains to God that he has no heir, and that Eliezer of Damascus (a member of Abram’s wider community, but not a blood relation) is due to become Abram’s heir. In response, God says – in essence – “I’ve Got This”, and you, Abram and Sarai, will have your very own son in the fulness of time.

Genesis tells us that Abram’s faith was “reckoned to him as righteousness”, and yet, the route to faithfulness to God’s plan took some interesting turns. Abram didn’t follow God’s direction completely and immediately. He had to commit some missteps before coming into alignment with God’s design. Recall with me that Sarai said to her husband that, perhaps, Abram ought to take her slave, Hagar, to be Abram’s wife, so that he could have a son through her. But God intervenes and says that isn’t the plan: The son promised by God is to be the fruit of Abram and Sarai’s marriage.

The problem is that Sarai is now old (as is Abram,), and she is no longer of child-bearing age. (The King James Version of the Bible quaintly describes Sarai’s condition this way: “It had ceased to be with Sarai after the manner of women”.)[2]

Eventually, Abram and Sarai are faithful, conceiving Isaac naturally. It is through Isaac that the blessings God promised will be realized.

Now, let’s fast-forward about 2,000 years. We find our Lord Jesus looking over the city of Jerusalem, lamenting the seeming lack of fruitfulness of His labors to bring God’s truths to God’s people.

It must have been a depressing sight, seeing the city lying before Him, and knowing the level of corruption, misplaced priorities and self-serving leaders of God’s people who were in control there.

The level of deceit and evil will come to reality in the events of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

The depth of our Lord’s humanity is seen in His lament.

And yet, the course of His faithfulness to God’s plan can be seen in His comment response to Herod’s threat to kill Him, and in His comment about the city of Jerusalem: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to it….” It is clear that He will be faithful on the road that leads to Good Friday.

Knowing what we know about the nature of the power structures that were in place in Jerusalem during the time of our Lord’s ministry, it shouldn’t surprise us that the powers that existed then: The Chief Priests, the Scribes, Pharisees, the Herodians and the occupying Romans, could all manage to set aside their various differences to deal with – and eliminate – any threat to their positions and power.

“God’s Got This” was true in Abram’s case, and in our Lord Jesus’ journey to Good Friday and Easter Sunday. That doesn’t mean that the journey for any of these was easy. Far from it.

Because we believe that “God’s Got This”, it might be a logical conclusion to think that coming to such a realization is an easy thing. But the events in Abram’s life and in Jesus’ work tell us a different story.

Christians have wrestled with this reality before, and we continue to wrestle with it today.

In the mid-second century, a person named Marcion claimed that God simply wants to shower us with good things. Marcion focused on the pleasant things of our walk of faith, and rejected all the hardships and difficulties that often lie in our pathway. The Church rejected Marcion’s views.

Today, Marcion’s ideas survive in a somewhat different form, something known a the “Prosperity Gospel”, the idea that following the Lord leads to good things and all sorts of blessings, but little else.

Our task is to come to the realization that “God’s Got This”, and to patiently seek to understand God’s plan.

God’s plan will be better than any one we can think of or imagine. (That is certainly my own life’s experience!)

But coming to the knowledge of God’s plan will sometimes involve waiting, watching, and – perhaps – a few missteps.

If we believe that “God’s Got This”, then we can affirm, with St. Paul, these words from his letter to the early churches in Rome: “If God is for us, who can be against us?”[3] Then, a bit later on, Paul affirms that nothing can separate us from God’s love.[4]

Perhaps John Newton, the author of the text to the hymn “Amazing Grace”, had this same sentiment in mind when he wrote:

        “Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come.

        ‘Tis grace that brought me safe thus far,

        And grace will lead me home.”

Indeed, we believe that “God’s Got This”. Thanks be to that same God.

AMEN.



[1]   At this point in the Genesis narrative, neither Abram nor Sarai’s names have been changed. In time, Abram will become Abraham, and Sarai will become Sarah.

[2]   Other translations offer similar wording.

[3]   Romans 8:31b

[4]   Romans 8:39 

Sunday, March 09, 2025

Lent 1, Year C (2025)

Deuteronomy 26: 1–11 / Psalm 91: 1-2, 9–16 / Romans 10: 8b–13 / Luke 4: 1–13

This is the homily given at Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown, Pennsylvania on Sunday, March 9, 2025 by Fr. Gene Tucker.

 

“DOING OUR PART”

(Homily text: Romans 10: 8b–13)

One Sunday morning, the Pastor is busy getting ready for the morning service. As he does so, he notices that Charlie (one of his parishioners, but not one he sees with any regularity) is sitting in the back pew. From the looks of it, Charlie is engaged in intense prayer. If the Pastor could hear what Charlie was doing, he’d hear this: “Lord, I need to win the lottery this week. I need you to help me win. Thank you, God. Amen”.

Charlie leaves the church after the service, shakes the Pastor’s hand and makes his way through the week.

But there is no winning lottery for Charlie that week.

The following Sunday, Charlies is again in the back pew, engaging in even more intense prayer. This time, his prayer has more urgency: “God, I asked you to help me win the lottery last week, but you didn’t help me. I need to win this week, and I’m counting on you. Thank you, God. Amen.”

But there is no winning lottery for Charlie again that week, either.

The following Sunday, Charlie is in the back pew again, a long time before service time, just as he had been the previous two Sundays.

Charlie begins his prayer, but it is interrupted as God’s voice rings out from the rafters, saying, “Charlie, work with me here, buy a ticket, why don’t you?”

There’s a lesson in human behavior in this joke: We often want God to do something for us, but we’re not willing to do our part. We don’t want to buy a ticket. Without our response, nothing is going to happen.

The Church has struggled with the relationship between God and God’s people down through time, and – in particular – how much might God do, and how much might we human beings do.

At some points in history, the focus has been on what we human beings can do and accomplish. An example of that would be the selling of indulgences at the time of the Reformation in the 16th century. Back then, people were paying money to the Church for the purpose of lessening the time they or their relatives spent in Purgatory or in hell.

Martin Luther and many of the other reformers saw this practice as an evil from a number of perspectives. For one thing, the practice offered relief from punishment that had no basis in Holy Scripture. For another, the reformers correctly saw that it promoted the false idea that we human beings could save ourselves.

Luther and others realized that it was God’s grace, God’s goodness alone that could offer salvation.

But there was another reaction to the emphasis put on human ability that was taking place with the selling of indulgences: The French reformer John Calvin came to the conclusion that God’s initiative, God’s power and God’s will was more important that any human will or activity. It’s almost possible to believe that Calvin thought that God’s was like a master chess player, with human beings being moved around the chess board of life at God’s direction. (That would be my way of describing in simple terms Calvin’s thought…I hope it’s a fair assessment.)

The question then arises: Does God have a role to play in His interaction with human beings, and if so, then do human beings also have a role to play?

I think the answer is that both God and God’s people have roles to play, both, not one or the other.

I think St. Paul would agree.

Notice his writing in his letter to the early churches in Rome (our reading for this morning). He makes clear that the Lord is the grantor of riches to all people, to all who call upon Him. (We should note that this section of Paul’s letter deals with the reality that many of God’s chosen people had not come to faith in Christ, a reality that troubled Paul greatly.)

God, then, is the provider of the riches of a relationship with Him.

Notice also that Paul tells us that it is the Lord who raised Jesus Christ from the dead.

God’s work is affirmed. God’s saving actions are affirmed. God’s power is demonstrated in the raising of Jesus.

But then, notice that humankind also has a role to play. We are to call upon God, for, Paul reminds us, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”.

It’s been said that Holy Scripture, the Bible, can be described as having two threads, which are wound around each other, much like a piece of twine or rope. The one thread is God’s, and the other one is the human one. God’s thread predominates. Notice the two aspects of the relationship.

God sets in motion His plan for the saving of the world and the people in it, and God’s people respond, calling on God’s name and seeking to know God’s will as they set about to share the good news of God in Christ.

Assist us then, O God, with your Holy Spirit’s power and wisdom, that we might know your will and act to put that will into motion.

AMEN. 

Wednesday, March 05, 2025

Ash Wednesday, Year C (2025)

Joel 2: 1–2, 1 -17 / Psalm 51: 1–17 / II Corinthians 5: 20 – 6: 10 / Matthew 6: 1–6, 16–21

This is the homily given at Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown, Pennsylvania on Wednesday, March 5, 2025 by Fr. Gene Tucker

 

“LENT: A TIME FOR ‘NOT FORGETTING’”

(Homily text: Joel 2: 1–2, 12–17)

 

Ever forget something?

I have, but I can’t remember what it was, or when it was that I couldn’t remember.

We’ve all had that experience. For example, my mother used to say, “I need my glasses to find my glasses”, meaning, of course, that she’d left her glasses somewhere, couldn’t find them, and needed the very object she was looking for to find what she was looking for.

When I can’t remember something (like people’s names, for example), I attribute my forgetfulness not to the specter of advancing age, but to the fact that my mind is concentrating and working on so many important matters. (OK, with that last statement, it’s possible that I’m forgetting – or overlooking – the fact that I am getting older.)

With the arrival of the holy season of Lent, instead of looking at this season in the ways we used to, that is to say, as a time to give something up, or to deprive ourselves, perhaps we might change our focus and concentrate, instead, on looking at ourselves honestly to see what it is (if anything) that we’ve forgotten about our relationship to God and our walk with Him.

In our relating to God, reminders of God are all around us.

For example, Holy Scripture (the Bible) is full of reminders. There, we find times when God’s people remembered God, and – in particular – God’s mercy and faithfulness. Holy Scripture reminds us of God’s holiness, and God’s judgment. (These two markers of God’s nature, God’s mercy and lovingkindness and God’s holiness and righteousness, are key parts of Lutheran theology and understanding.)

Holy Scripture is full of accounts of those times, however, when people forgot God, or lived like there was no God. Invariably, those were times of difficulty, of failure, of distress. Notice the Old Testament prophet Joel, who says to God’s people, “Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping and with mourning; and rend your hearts, not your garments. Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love…”. Joel is calling God’s people to remember God’s nature, and to remember their relationship with God.

Our Communion liturgy always has reminders of God’s lovingkindness and of God’s saving acts down through time. (Those reminders occur after the “Holy, Holy, Holy”.) This reminder is literally known as the “not forgetting”, or the “remembering”.

People that we come into contact with are reminders. Ever meet a person who seemed[1] to be especially godly? A person who earnestly sought after God’s heart, mind and ways? Such a person is a reminder of what it means to live a saintly life. (Of course, just the opposite is also true: A person who’s living an evil or a wayward life is a reminder to us that we shouldn’t emulate such a lifestyle.)

Now, as we begin our Lenten journey, perhaps we might search our hearts, our minds, and the ways in which we spend our time, or the ways in which we relate to God and to others. Are there times when we live like God has no place in our lives? Are there times when we neglect our prayer life, or our devotional life? We might ask ourselves, “Is there something about my life in God that I’ve forgotten? Is there something that I should devote more time and attention to? Is there something I’m overlooking or missing?”

We will need the Holy Spirit’s help in this soul-searching endeavor.

Welcome, then, to the living of a holy Lent. May it be a time for remembering.

AMEN.

 



[1]   The technical term is “anamnesis”, coming from the Greek. We all know the word “amnesia”, meaning to forget. “Anamnesis” inserts the prefix “a” (or “an”) before the word, changing its meaning to the negative. 

Sunday, March 02, 2025

Last Epiphany (The Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ), Year C (2025)

Exodus 34: 29-35 / Psalm 99 / II Corinthians 3: 12–4:2 / Luke 9: 28-43

This is the homily given at Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown, Pennsylvania on Sunday March 2, 2025.

 

“RESOURCES TO REACH THE DESTINATION”

(Homily text: Luke 9: 28-43)

Most likely, we’ve all had the experience of going on a trip. Let’s reflect a little on that experience, and, in particular, think a bit about what steps were necessary to be sure the trip went smoothly.

For example, we’d want to be sure we’d planned to bring enough money to buy the things we’d need along the way. If we were driving, we’d want to be sure the car or truck was in good shape and was ready for the drive. We’d want to check the route. If we were taking a plane or a train, we’d want to be sure to check the departure time, the places where we’d have to transfer, and our arrival time.

If, however, we weren’t making this trip on our own, but had decided to go on some sort of a tour, then the tour company or organizer would need to check all these details (and more). Moreover, if we were going on such a tour, we might want to check out the ratings of the company to see how well they plan their offerings, and what contingency plans they had in place when the unexpected happens.

Jesus’ original band of disciples are on a journey with the Lord. He has told them what the destination is: His coming suffering and death in Jerusalem. (See Luke 9: 21–27.)[1]

Now, as Peter, James and John ascend the mountain with the Lord, they are provided with the assurance that though that journey to Jerusalem will entail difficulty, it will ultimately be successful.

Except that these three of Jesus’ original followers didn’t realize what they were experiencing as Jesus’ appearance is altered on that mountain, not at that moment, at least.

As Jesus is enveloped in a cloud, the Father’s voice says, “This is my Son, my Chosen One, listen to him.” Jesus’ appearance becomes dazzlingly white. He is joined by Moses and Elijah: Moses, who is the giver of the Law, the Old Covenant; and Elijah, the one whose appearing would herald the coming of the Messiah.[2]

As Peter, James and John witness the Lord’s transfiguration, and as they hear the Father’s voice declare Jesus’ oneness with Him, they are given a glimpse of the Lord’s true identity. No longer will it be possible for them to regard Jesus as nothing more than a marvelously gifted human being. Now, they’ve been given the gift of knowing that Jesus shares the Father’s identity and relationship.

We said a moment ago that these three disciples didn’t realize at the time what they were experiencing. Peter, writing many years later in his second letter, would recall the events that took place during the Lord’s transfiguration. He would say, “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.” (II Peter 1: 16-18)

As events unfolded in Jerusalem, and as the Lord suffered, died, was buried, and then was raised from the dead on the third day, His followers began to make sense of all that had happened. They realized that God’s sovereign hand was at work in all of these things. Their journey to Good Friday and to Easter was anticipated by God, every contingency was foreseen. Their journey had reached its destination.

In time, they came to understand that the Lord Jesus Christ is One with the Father. In time, they came to understand that God’s Spirit was also One with the Father and with the Son. These realizations didn’t happen overnight, but as God revealed these truths to those early disciples and to the Church, God’s people were able to see the plan that God had designed.

As we journey through life, there will be times of challenge, times of difficulties, times when the unexpected happens. As we look back over the course of our life’s journey, can we see times when God’s hand was present in the challenges and trials we’ve faced? Oftentimes, God’s hand and God’s care for our journey in His provision for us won’t be apparent at the time, but – oftentimes – only in retrospect.

If we can identify times of God’s presence in the past, then perhaps we can be assured that God’s care and provision for whatever might come along will be ours to rely on. As Holy Scripture assures us, nothing can separate us from the love of God. (Romans 8:39)

AMEN.

 



[1]   This is not the last time the Lord will tell his disciples about His coming death. It is the first one, however.

[2]   This understanding stems from the common belief, in the time of our Lord’s earthly ministry, that Elijah would return to usher in the Messiah’s coming and reign. The text which underlaid this expectation is Malachi 4: 5–6, which reads, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”