How many Anglicans does it take to change a lightbulb?
CHANGE?! My Grandmother donated that lightbulb – that’s why
we put a plaque on it!
In general, people don’t like change. There’s sometimes we
deal with it better than others. But change – scares us. It causes us stress.
Change brings about “THE UNKNOWN” – even with changes that we are expecting,
have planned for, are excited about – there are always going to be unknown
factors.
Well, today we’re changing a few things. Some we have
prepared ourselves for – like the change of worship time. Some we maybe
haven’t… for example, how many realize that today is the LAST Sunday of the
season of Epiphany? Yup – a change of seasons is fast upon us. We’re going to
shift from this season of light and Ah-HA! revelation to the season of
penitence in Lent.
It’s a change. And we can view it from a variety of
perspectives. There are some folks who dread Lent for it’s somber
self-reflection. There are some who are eager to start a new spiritual
discipline. There are some who avoid church from Pancake Tuesday until
chocolate bunny Easter.
I’ve had opportunity this past week to reflect on change.
This parish was asked to have a conversation with another parish about our
story: we’re being held up as a successful parish whose experiences may help
others. So, along with a few folks from across the broader parish, we have told
our story: it’s a story of change, of compromise, and mostly of trust. We
opted, over the past few years, to make changes. Some we were ready for, some
we weren’t quite prepared for, some caught us completely off guard. Some of the
changes have been great, others okay, others –well, instead of saying ‘failure’
I’ll say they allowed us to re-evaluate and change again.
The story of this parish in recent years – OUR story – is
one of prayerful people willing to embrace change. Willing to be flexible while
remaining faithful, willing to be courageous while maintaining a sense of
humility, willing to find joy in those ah-HA! moments and make our ministries demonstrate
that to the broader community.
The Gospel today is full of people just like us – faced with
change, faced with a final ah-HA! epiphany that challenges them: their
perspectives, their pre-conceived notions, their future. They have been changed by witnessing the
transfiguration: the moment when Jesus is fully revealed as the Son of God, the
fulfillment of the law and the prophets, about whom they hear the voice of God
declaring that this IS the Son of God, with whom God is well pleased.
This is big. This is monumental. This is life-changing. As
such, they cannot come down the mountain and go about their lives the same way
as they did before. Nope, life has changed for these folks. Now they get to
decide how they will respond to it. They have to ask themselves some hard
questions:
How do we follow Jesus now?
How do we remain faithful now?
How do we deal with how BIG this is for us?
These are the same questions we can ask ourselves today,
too. We, as followers of Jesus, are being faced with change, with different ways
of responding to seeing the presence of Christ in our lives. Throughout this
soon-ending season of Epiphany, I’ve been challenging us to think about our
discernment – our prayerful consideration of where God is calling us into
ministry. I’ve been challenging us to consider what it means to be the people
of God, individually and collectively. I’ve basically been inviting us to ask
ourselves these same questions:
How do we follow Jesus now?
How do we remain faithful now?
How do we deal with how BIG this is for us?
Now, normally I ask questions and leave the answering part
for your own reflection. But today I’ll change that a little, and share with
you the answer that comes to my mind. It’s an answer that comes from the
disciples’ response to Jesus, it comes from our conversation with that other
parish, t comes form a hundred little chats and reflections over the past few
weeks.
The answer:
commitment.
How do we follow Jesus now? We commit ourselves to Christ
and to God’s church. We look around us and notice the things that are going
well and should continue, we consider those things that have maybe outlived
their heyday and are ready to end. We try to see the scriptures with renewed
energy and passion, committing to answer the call to ministry in all its
various, wonderful forms.
How do we remain faithful? We commit ourselves to one
another, seeking to find Christ in everyone we meet. We commit ourselves to a
prayer practice, to spiritual development, to faith nurture. We commit
ourselves to being the children of God that we are.
How do we deal with how BIG this is for us? We commit to trust
that God’s plan is at work in and through us. We acknowledge the uncertainty of
the future, the unknown, and do our best to trust that these unknowns will
bring us new joys and new possibilities.
How do we respond to the fully revealed Christ? We commit.
It may require us to see things from a new perspective, or to do some things
differently; it may force us to gasp CHANGE. Not a change out of fear,
or reluctantly, or with resentment. A change because of joy, and faith, and
commitment. A change because of our trust that God will provide for us what we
need. A change that shows our commitment to the Christ as we see him in our
lives, resplendent and dazzling and encouraging us on.
*with thanks to a sermon by Jon Martin for inspiration
