Youth co-preach!

Every once in a while, our children and youth do a take-over in worship. Liturgy in true form! It's wonderful.
Yesterday was one of those days. I got to co-preach with an eloquent, articulate, prayerful and faithful youth. Here's what we preached on Matthew 17.1-9.

LM+:               The Gospel this morning is filled with wonder and mystery and excitement. It's another one of the passages that invites us to celebrate the mystery and majesty of God here on earth - for anyone and everyone to see. And, best yet, it invites us all to participate in that celebration.

So, the setting is pretty spectacular: Jesus and three friends are on a mountaintop, presumably to pray, when Jesus' appearance changes, he shines brighter than the sun, his clothes are dazzling, and then there are 2 other people standing there. These folks are so recognisable, form generations of history and theology, that immediately the disciples recognise them to be Moses and Elijah - two heroes of the bible, champions of the faith, just appear, chatting with Jesus.

WOW. Is it any wonder then, that Peter in his excitement blurts out that he wants to make that moment last forever? Wouldn't we all do everything we could to make that perfect moment last?

But, of course, it can't last as it is... just like every perfect moment, we know we can't stay there forever - life has to go on.

And God - the voice of God - makes this very clear to Peter and James and John. He says the famous words: "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased!"

                        Sound familiar? Where else do we hear that?

(youth):           In Matthew 3. 13-17 it states “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went

up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.  And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’”

LM+:               Exactly. So then - God then says to the disciples: "Listen to him." And what do they hear?

(youth):           "Get up - and do not be afraid."

LM+:               And that's exactly what the disciples do: they get up, and realise that their lives are changed. They have heard the literal voice of God. They have seen the glory of Jesus. They have been inspired to live their lives as a celebration of faith, as an on-going opportunity for ministry.

And this is why we celebrate the transfiguration - because even now, some 2000 years later, we are still being invited to get up, and not be afraid, and to think of our own baptismal vows when we live out our lives as followers of Jesus.

So let's think about those now, and how knowing Jesus is reflected in the vows we have all taken:

LM+:               We have promised to continue in teaching, and Eucharist, and prayer.

(youth):           An example of how I have promised to continue teaching the Eucharist and prayer is by praying at home and attending chapel at school. Going to a Christian school has provided me the prefect place to expand my learning and teaching while interacting with others who share the same passions as me.

LM+:               We have promised to resist evil and repent and return to the Lord.

(youth):           A way that I do this is forgiving others when they make mistakes and asking for forgiveness from the person that I have hurt and the lord.     

LM+:               We have promised to share in word and action God's good news.

(youth):           An example of how I do this is by talking with others about my faith and exploring new thoughts with my friends and family. Another way that I share God’s good news in word is by talking about my day with my family so that I can share all of the great things that have happened, and learn about the things that God did in other people’s days.

LM+:               We have promised to see God's face in everyone, and love one another.

(youth):           A way that I do this is by not judging a book by its cover. While I sometimes do this literally in my school library I also do this figuratively at school. On the first day of school this year my friend Courtney introduced me to one of her friends. Even thought I am shy and not exactly comfortable with new people I made sure that she was comfortable and knew where to go for all of her classes. This one example greatly changed my life because now she is a great of friend of mine and has made my school year even more enjoyable.   

LM+:               We have promised to do things for justice and peace in the world, and respect the dignity of everyone.

(youth):           A way that I do this in my life is by volunteering my time at Jordan Arena and being a program assistant. I help to teach and assist young kids who are just learning how to skate and doing simple tasks to help the children and coaches. Another way that I can do this is by donating to community care.   

LM+:               We have promised the take care of God's creation.

(youth):           A way that I do this is by taking care of the environment. In grade 7-8 we had different roles that we all had, one of these roles was the eco-team. On this team we helped collect the recycling and make sure everything was sorted correctly. Being on this team helped me to do my part to protect the environment that God created.

LM+:               So that shows just one example of someone who is changed by seeing the presence of God in her life. For all of us, this change is there. Howe we see the world is different when we choose to see Jesus in it. How we act in the world is different because we are reacting to the presence of the Christ around us. And other people will see a difference too - in us - the light of Jesus shining from who we are, and whose we are - and how we live that reality.

So let us all embrace this love and light of Christ in our lives.  Let us all be  changed by having seen Jesus; let us be fearless to celebrate that reality in our lives; let's get up, and go - for the love of God.