2-14-10
Bulletin Listen Watch video

Dear Friends,  

Every one of us knows what it’s like to take a giant step out on a limb in life, only to experience that lonely feeling of doubt, dread, or regret moments later.  It’s something like “buyer’s remorse” where, after the thrill of the moment is gone, we wonder if we made the right decision.  Why is it that, in the face of some significant decision, we can feel so bold and confident one minute yet tremble with self-doubt the next?  Did I make the right choice?  Can I trust God?  Do I really want to go through with this?  Do I have what it takes? 

According to Luke, there came a time when the disciples experienced that hard moment of self-doubt.  It wasn’t so much that they did not trust Jesus; it all came down to whether or not they could act on that trust.  When Jesus told them that his mission was to suffer, die, and be raised back to life, their entire world was turned upside down.  This was not the kind of mission they had signed up for.  Following Jesus wasn’t supposed to include death and darkness. 

What the disciples couldn’t see was the light at the end of the tunnel – how it was all going to end, the purpose behind this mission with Jesus, the outcomes.  That’s when Jesus gave them a glimpse of the end, a luminous moment in which they could see, however faintly, how the story would play out, and where it all was leading.  When all they could see was the suffering and death part of the story, Jesus showed them the glory that would follow it.  It is called the story of the Transfiguration, when Jesus appeared before a few of his disciples all lit up in his future, resurrected glory.

Such luminous moments may seem rare in our lives, but they do happen.  While there is no way around the death and darkness part of life, Jesus reminds us this Sunday that even the darkness can be transfigured into something far more luminous that we might have imagined.

See you Sunday,

Rev. Mark