Sermon by the Rev. Elliott Siteman.
Sermon Text:
Sermon for the Last Sunday
after Epiphany - Transfiguration Sunday
7 February 2016
Parish Church of St. Luke,
Burlington, ON
May only truth be offered
here this day, and may only truth be received; in the name of God: Father (+),
Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
The internet is a
fascinating place. You can find absolutely everything and anything there. With
a few clicks of the keys you can find anything you want instantly. One of the
great blessings and curses of the internet is how fast it works. At one moment it can be an amazing resource
to help us learn about the world and in that same instant it can further
the cause of the desire for instant gratification.
But there is such a vast
amount of content that sometimes it takes years to find something truly
remarkable, or sometimes it take years to simply stumble over something that
can truly blow your mind wide open.
This week, as I was
sitting at my computer at home, tending to a sick child I found, stumbled upon
just such a thing. It is a video posted
some three years ago of some of the finest current East Coast musicians singing
a song. The video is set in a place I
know very well - the Granville Mall in Halifax.
Granville Mall is an outdoor area with shops on either side and you walk
on some of the original cobblestones that were what passed for streets in the
early days of Halifax.
Now a video of East Coast
Musicians singing a song is not all that mind blowing - though the talent that
is inherent in that part of the world is quite undeniable, with performers like
Rose Cousins, Paper Lions, Repartee, and Old Man Luedeke (if you’ve never heard
of any of these performers I would strongly suggest you look them all up). No, not THAT they were singing… it was WHAT they
were singing that completely stunned me.
They were singing, with
love, joy, and amazing talent a song by the late Gene MacLellan (himself a
giant of East Coast Music), entitled “Put Your Hand in the Hand”. You all know
it:
Put
your hand in the hand of the man who stilled the waters
Put
your hand in the hand of the man who calmed the sea
Take
a look at yourself and you can look at the others differently
By
puttin' your hand in the hand of the man from Galilee
It is a beautiful Gospel
song about walking alongside Jesus, going where he leads, and putting your
trust in him. It is a song about
self-reflection. It is a song of faith.
And there, on the old
cobbles of Halifax, sang this group of performers this song that – to my mind
sums up the nature of our faith. They
sang it without fear, without embarrassment, they sang with – could it have
been? – love and devotion. Could it have
been an invitation?
This group of performers,
for me, are the epitome of what the transfiguration is all about. We hear the story of the Transfiguration of
Jesus on the Last Sunday after Epiphany because the season of Epiphany is all
about revelation and seeing things in new ways and being surprised by what we
learn. The season of Epiphany is all
about seeing ourselves in new ways and being surprised what what we learn.
In the Gospel story we
hear today Peter, James, and John see Jesus in a whole new way, they see him
speaking with the great Law Bringer, Moses and the great Prophet, Elijah and in
that moment Jesus becomes the fulfillment of both. Jesus renews the covenant on this mountain
top, Jesus becomes the embodiment of the Law, in that it is his Word, his
example that should guide the lives of all who follow him. He also becomes the personification of
prophetic truth in that it is through him and his teaching that the whole world
can find a better way to live, a way that brings about the kingdom.
Peter wants to live in
this glorious moment forever. He has no
intention of going down the mountain, he wants to revel in the presence of
these great people, he offers to build homes so that they would not have to
depart.
God has other plans.
Those plans are inherent
in what Jesus, Moses, and Elijah were talking about, they “were speaking of his
departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.” God's eye, and Jesus eye is fixed on
Jerusalem. This mountain-top experience
is all well and good but now there is work to be done. Now they must move on to something truly
difficult, painful, and horrific.
Jesus does not react with
fear, or with hesitation, he has been given his mission and it is one that he
means to accomplish. But, of course, he
cannot accomplish it alone. Thus God
speaks to Peter, James, John, and ultimately God speaks to us here today, “This
is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”
This is our call to go
forth, with our hand in the hand of the man from Galilee and do amazing
things. Things that will be difficult,
painful, and sacrificial. Things that will be life-giving, powerful, and full
of God's love.
We cannot, we should not,
we dare not stay on our mountain-tops in fear of what is to come. We are to be like CBC Music's All Star Choir
and launch ourselves out into this world without hesitation, without fear,
without embarrassment and sing. Sing for
all the world to hear that we do what we do through the love of God and that
love is for all people.
The days of Lent are all
to quickly upon us, we have reveled in the joys of the Epiphany, recognized
that Jesus is with us, that the Son of God is our teacher, leader, and friend,
and now it is time to start the work of faith, the work of love, the work
of God.
When we are able to do
that, to live with our fears, put aside our preconceptions, venture out of our
comfort-zones it is then that we too can step out onto the cobblestones of this
world and joyfully invite those around us to:
Put
your hand in the hand of the man who stilled the waters
Put
your hand in the hand of the man who calmed the sea
Take
a look at yourself and you can look at the others differently
By
puttin' your hand in the hand of the man from Galilee
Amen.
CBC Music's
All Star Choir sang “Put Your Hand in the Hand” by Gene MacLellan
In Concert at
Granville Mall (outdoors), Halifax, March 08, 2013
Featuring CBC
Radio 2's Tom Power, Rose Cousins, Old Man Luedecke, Mo Kenney, The Sanctified
Brothers, Paper Lions, Anna Ludlow, Repartee, Xara Choral Theatre Ensemble,
Reeny Smith and Katherine Shore.
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