Love is Our Super Power

 

Oh. My. God.

That's the only thing I could think after seeing clips of the Oval Office meeting between our president, vice president, and secretary of state...and Ukranian President Volodymr Zelensky. 

As one who grew up in a very Republican household...I was steeped in anti-communism and distrust of the Russians.

So to see so-called Republicans berating Zelensky for defending the freedom of his country for these three long years after a Russian invasion....

Oh. My. God. 

And what I realized about myself is that the more I see of this administration...the more they are pushing my anger button over and over and over. I can sense that I am falling headlong into that pit of hell called "Hate." 

And spending too much time in that pit leads to hardness of heart.

And hardness of heart leads to death.

Time to counteract that.

See what you think of this antidote that I offered to my congregation.

Text: Luke 9:28-43a

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There’s a common phrase that gets used in church circles: “Mountain top moments.”

Mountains in the Scriptures…as we see in today’s readings…are those places where big transformational things happen.

It’s those times when something so extraordinary happens that it takes our breath away.

These can be some of the most fleeting…and yet profound experiences when we feel almost a tingling sensation that says, “God is here.”

In those moments…we might want to respond as Peter does.

We want to preserve this…keep it…dwell in this space forever.

But there’s a reason these are called mountain top “moments” and not “mountain top forever and evers. Amen.”

Even for Jesus…this is not a time that he will get to remain in a state of wonder and bliss.

In fact for Jesus…this is probably not the most wonderous moment.

It was more likely a sobering awakening and understanding of what was to come.

I say that because of who shows up.

As Jesus is praying…he’s joined by Moses and Elijah…the symbols of the Law and the Prophets.  

They’re talking to him about “his departure, which he was about to achieve at Jerusalem.”

The Greek word in the text for “departure” is “exodus.”

And this is not merely some excursion.

This mountain top moment for Jesus is the time for him to prepare for the most difficult and demanding part of his ministry: his exodus…as in his crucifixion.

We don’t know what Moses and Elijah said to Jesus in this moment.

But it makes sense that if two figures were to come to Jesus in this time of prayer…these two would be the ones.

Biblical scholar Richard Swanson shared in a commentary about a conversation he had with a friend from the Lakota tribe. The Lakota talk about the circles of wisdom in life.

There are several of them.

Joni Mitchell fans might consider her song, “The Circle Game”…where the seasons go ‘round and ‘round as we are all on a carousel of time.

Children live on the outer most circle…touching and feeling and exploring the world as they learn.

And as they learn…they move in to the next circle of wisdom.

The ones on the innermost circle are the oldest…the elders.

This circle is closest to true divine wisdom.

 And for Jesus…as a Jewish man of the First Century…there can be no greater pillars of divine wisdom to appear in a moment of prayer than Moses and Elijah.

What did they want him to know?

Again…Luke doesn’t give us the details of what was said in this moment between the three of them.

But we can imagine that these two were giving him something of a spiritual pep talk.

Both Moses and Elijah faced trials and tribulations as leaders of Israel in their own times.

Moses took his people out of the bondage of slavery in Egypt under an oppressive regime of Pharoah.

Elijah exposed King Ahab’s corruption of the people when he led them into following the false God Baal.

Jesus is now facing the same sort of situations.

If we remember from our earlier readings in this season of Epiphany…at the time that Jesus was presented at the Temple…two elders of the community…Simeon and Anna…both saw in this baby the promise of one who would deliver his people from the hardships and injustices of the Roman Empire.

But for Jesus…this is not the sort of revolutionary deliverance that involves weapons and war.

His is an effort to take down the oppressive “power over” and controlling systems of Rome…and disrupt that human lust for greed…and bring everyone to a place of living into and for God’s love.

God’s love…which has no asterisks or expiration date…no boundaries at all.

In prayer…the young man Jesus has moved closer to the inner circle…with Moses and Elijah…

And in this space…his true being and purpose is beginning to shine through.

As he converses in prayer…he’s growing brighter…shinier…filled with light.

Meanwhile…his good friends Peter…James and John…have been fighting to keep their eyes open.

Drowsiness…in the Bible…is often a sign that a person isn’t paying attention and letting other things distract them.

They’re awake enough to see this sight.

And Peter thinks this is a time to build booths…make that moment last forever.

Until the cloud descends and the voice thunders out:

“This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to him.”

No more Moses.

Elijah has been whisked away again.

Only Jesus is before them.

This “mountain top moment” for Peter…James and John left them speechless.

That’s a normal response to something so awe-inspiring…and other-worldly.

Such an encounter with the holy is the sort of thing that requires time and space to process it.

But this vision is now in their memory banks…and it will become important to them and to Jesus’ ultimate mission of spreading love…after his exodus at Jerusalem.

For now though…it’s time to go back into the valley.

And for Jesus…it’s clearly back to work encountering a man whose son needed healing from a demon.

Our modern medicine tells us that this boy likely was suffering from epileptic seizures…but for our Biblical ancestors…such convulsions were blamed on demons.

This story of this boy with a demon exists in both Matthew and Mark…and we hear how this poor desperate father sought help from the disciples…but it wasn’t working.

In Mark’s telling of the story…there’s more of an exchange between Jesus and this dad…which comes to a head with the father crying out, “I believe; help my unbelief.”

I’m really sorry that Luke left that detail out of his account…because it brings us full circle to the mountain top…and what I think is most useful for us in our current time.

Because that prayer: “I believe; help my unbelief” is such an honest plea.

It’s one that many of us can probably relate to…especially as we bear witness to things happening around us in the world.

It’s that unfiltered appeal…that willingness to drop any façade of being assured of our own strength to make things happen.

This is a case where the only thing that father could do is to turn everything over to God.

Through this interaction with this boy and his father…Jesus shows us that no demon we face is stronger than power of Love…if we will only allow ourselves to believe it…trust it…and live into it.

Jesus needed prayer to stay true to his mission and maintain his strength to meet the task before him.

Just as this father did…Jesus…the very human part of Jesus…in his mountain top moment…had turned himself over to God…and sought God’s help.

And God…through linking Jesus to the greatest prophets of the Jewish people…answered Jesus’ prayer…connecting to Jesus to his inner divine self…and it radiated from him.

Prayer is powerful.

We need prayer to stay true to the mission we have as followers of Jesus:

To love.

 That Love that Paul talks about in the First Letter to Corinthians…when he described this Love that is “patient…kind…bears all things…endures all things……is not rude or boastful…rejoices in the truth.”

That is the Love of God…which is in each of us.

Through prayer…we are embark on a journey to that inner circle of wisdom.

And in that place…we can connect to God…and give God the pathway to light that fire of Love within our hearts…helping us to shine Love back out into the world.

Love is the super power we have as followers of Jesus.

Unconditional love…and promises of health…healing…and hope…is a world vision worth our effort.

In the name of our One Holy and Undivided Trinity.