HELLO!

February is Black History Month. Our story for today reminds me of Martin Luther King’s well-known speech, delivered in Memphis, Tennessee, the night before he was assassinated. In it, he spoke words that turned out to be prophetic. “I’ve been to the mountaintop. I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we as a people will get to the Promised Land!”

Like Moses, who stood on Mount Nebo to see the Promised Land without entering it, like Jesus, who was transfigured on the mountain but would soon walk the road to the Cross, Dr. King saw the vision of God’s justice, the promise of an end to segregation, but would physically not get there himself. And yet, like Jesus, Dr. King knew the vision calls all of us down into the valleys, where the work of liberation happens. But action requires focus, it also requires presence, and it also requires understanding. Peter is falling all over himself looking for something to do, when the voice from heaven literally interrupts him and asks him to listen. Peter falls to the ground. And then it’s over. The light, the heroes of the past, the voice, “Just listen to him”, all gone, only Jesus remains.

This pattern, I think, shapes the life of every Christian. We, too, of course, try our best, sometimes succeeding and sometimes coming up short. We, too are called to listen, called to discern God’s way in the world, called to partner with God and in this way be transformed. Whenever we grow complacent, self-righteous, or lazy in our lives of faith, it’s good to be brought to our knees by a God whose thoughts are not our thoughts, and whose ways are not our ways. There are very good reasons to encounter Jesus on the mountaintop. But Jesus’s way, like Dr. King’s way — the way of the valley, the way of the cross, the way of humility, surrender, and sacrifice — is to learn to follow.

Lent, which begins this Ash Wednesday, calls us to rediscover our spirituality, to be, to quit our frantic babbling, to pay attention, to consider who we are, God's precious children, loved, held, and from that identity, gifted and called and sent to do God's work in the world. If we don't get the "being" part, then the doing will only be chaotic, frustrated attempts at self-justification or else grounded in fear and devoid of joy.

Listen. Look. Join us in the valley. We are children of God. Peace, Kevin

PS I hope to see on Sunday as we reflect on Matthew 17:1-9, the Transfiguration of Jesus, at 10 am.

PPS And I hope to see you at our Shrove Tuesday Pancake meal in the Brick Hall, at 430-6 pm.

PPPS And I hope to see at our Ash Wednesday service to mark the beginning of Lent, at 7 pm.