Deep Spirituality. Bold Discipleship. Daring Justice

Today’s sermon has been adapted from a message written by David Sparks that the United Church of Canada is sharing with all congregations that are part of our denomination:

“The church, our church, The United Church of Canada, has deliberated, the church has wrestled with some different concepts, the church has come to a conclusion, and now we have a Call and Vision, endorsed by the 43rd General Council.

Here it is: “Deep Spirituality. Bold Discipleship. Daring Justice.”

These six words are our call as a United Church. And they go with a vision:

Called by God, as disciples of Jesus, The United Church of Canada seeks to be a bold, connected, evolving church of diverse, courageous, hope-filled communities united in deep spirituality, inspiring worship, and daring justice.

Sounds great, sounds challenging, but whatever has it to do with Transfiguration Sunday, the mountaintop experience of Jesus and the disciples?

Well, we celebrate the last Sunday of Epiphany, which is the season of ‘a -ha’ or eureka moments, the season of light coming into the chaos of this world and giving new insights, new visions of what it means to be a Christ follower. Today we reflect on what it means to be a disciple.  The mountain top encounter was a hugely important experience in the lives of Peter, James and John, almost as important as the easter resurrection.

Wait a minute, “hugely important,” but was this a historical incident, were there historical incidents where God actually spoke on mountaintops, or has another story about how Moses talked to God been modified by the gospel writer Matthew?

Wrong question!

This is not just a story of some guys going on a hike. It became supremely important to them, to get to understand who Jesus was, what he was about, and what his mission was.  It was so breathtaking that Peter, James and John didn’t know how to respond, they were filled with questions, excitement and adrenalin with their new experience.

To go back to the new United Church Call and Vision, the story is reminding us that it isn’t the state of the economy that matters most, or our financial or workplace success, it is what we have going for us in the realm of spirituality, deep spirituality. The followers found Jesus to be unlike anyone they had ever met, and he became central to their quest for spiritual learning.  They became inspirations for our own spirituality. And more than that, we are united in our spirituality. We find it, we are silent with it, we pray it from the bottom of our hearts, and we share it in the faith community. The spiritual is a hopeful faith-shared sphere of our existence, and it matters hugely.  There are times we talk about it, like in our first reading today, and there are times we have to process it, waiting for the right time to share it, just as the disciples were told by Jesus not to share just yet.

This may be a deep spiritual experience, but how did they move from spirituality into boldness?

Okay, remember you are not dealing with history. This is likely a very good story, and we only have read 1 Peter to see that he went from confused tent raiser to ardent writer and speaker.

Throughout Matthew’s gospel the training and work of the disciples has a prominent place. Not far into the gospel of Matthew (Matt. 10:9‒15) there is an account of the training program for the disciples, and it even includes a section on what to do when rejection comes your way.  That’s great training!

The Call and Vision talks about bold discipleship. Bold―not perfect!―and that is what is made clear in the gospel record. As the early church finds its feet, disciples emerge and grow, sometimes not very expertly in their committed following of Jesus.

But what about now?

If ever there was a time for developing a bold program for local evangelization, using Facebook and other social media, it is today (or maybe yesterday!). If ever there was a time to go out in twos and knock on doors and tell people, “The church is alive; this is what the church is really about, not what the media often says it is about,” it is now! You could try it!

Fair enough! But what about “Daring justice”? Do we have some daring justice stories that tell what the church has been up to recently? Our local church or the national church with Mission and Service stories?

Actually, we have. We help raise money for Lee Thunder’s headstone, and we are building safe space for youth in our community who are isolated and alone. We have talked about and advocated for homeless initiatives in Athabasca, and started a youth group for kids who need a safe space to be kids. We helped kickstart food programs for kids at the high school and are a part of Athabasca PRAAC.  We talk about racism, sexism, homophobia and other forms of discrimination.  We partnered with the Library to bring back the Blanket Exercise to Athabasca.

So to sum it all up, what emerges from the ancient story of transfiguration as it relates to the Call and Vision statement?

What we have in this story in the Epiphany season, what we as church people have in the mountaintop experience, is of huge fundamental importance.

It calls on us to take the Call and Vision statement seriously.

It calls us to deepen our spirituality. It calls us to be emboldened as disciples. It calls us to be daring as we strive for justice.

Are you up to the challenge? Am I? Amen

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