Three Steps to Glimpse God's Glory

* Sermon by Rev. Dr. Nezer A. Soriano delivered during Transfiguration Sunday in Kamuning UMC, Quezon City last February 15, 2015.
Text: Mark 9: 2 - 9.

The Lord be with you.

Recently puro, bad news ang nababasa natin at puro bad news din ang sinasabi ko sa mga patients ko. So, I am happy to share God’s good news today.

Let me share a story. I recently told a patient she has hypertension. She cried after I told her that. I asked what made her sad? She replied, she will probably die of heart attack or stroke in a few years time. I told her, she can reduce the risk if she would change her lifestyle. I told her if she would avoid eating lechon, kare kare, stop eating too junk foods, burgers and fries, avoid softdrinks, stop partying at night, sleep early and exercise regularly she would decrease the risk. She cried even further. (You are supposed to laugh). She was only seeing the disease. She only sees superficially.

Let us pray.

Today is Transfiguration Sunday and our Gospel story tells us about this event.

A week ago, Jesus was talking to the disciples about his coming suffering, crucifixion and resurrection. The disciples were scared at what they heard. They criticize Jesus for speaking about death. They only understood the superficial meaning of the sufferings Jesus will experience. Maybe they were scared for Jesus. Imagine your friend talking about the pain, humiliation, struggles and even death that he will experience.

Even though the disciples has been with Jesus for the longest time, and have witnessed the miracles of Jesus, how he healed the sick, how he fed thousands, how he commanded the wind and rain to stop, they only saw a Jesus as a mortal being prone to suffering and pain.

How long have you been Christians? I have been a Christian since I can remember. I know of Jesus from Sunday School. Every CI I receive Jesus in my heart. Just to be sure. Yet, everyday in the clinic and in the hospital, I only see things as they are. I only see sickness, suffering and pain as they are. And for many of us Christians, we just see things as they appear to us. Look at the person beside you. He is just a friend. Look at the other person across the pew, just any other church member. Every Sunday, we just see the worship service as a time to sing songs and recite your prayer requests. We often do that. Yes, we see Jesus but only superficially.

Now, everything changed for the disciples when they saw beyond the superficial. This is especially true for Peter, James and John in their transfiguration experience.  An experience when they had a glimpse of God’s glory.

We need to learn to see beyond the superficial to be able to see the glory of God, even if it is just a glimpse. Let us continue our story and journey with the Disciples and learn from them, how they were able to see beyond the superficial. And have a glimpse into the glory of God. Three basic actions.

First, climb and expect to see God.

Jesus invited Peter, James and John to climb up the mountain.  In the mountain, they saw God. The mountain has been symbolically the place where we meet the divine. I do not tell you to climb mountains although that is a good spiritual exercise that I will encourage you to do. But climb mountains everyday. Be intentional in meeting God out of the ordinary. In everyday people you engage with. In everyday activities that you do. In every place that you go. You can meet God there.

For example, when you go to church on Sundays. Do you expect to see God out of the ordinary things we do here in church? Or do you expect to sing hymns only? Do you expect that the words that comes from your mouth will be heard by God? Or when we light the candles as we begin the worship service? Do you just see a candle being lit? Or do you expect to feel the presence of Jesus symbolized in the light? Or when we give offerings? Are you intentional in allowing God to use these resources for his work or do you see money subtracted from your budget? Do you expect to see Jesus in the fellowship of your fellow Christians? Do you expect to see the image of God in the other person beside you? Hindi ko naman kilala yan eh. If you do not climb the mountain - if you are not intentional in finding time to meet God, it will be difficult to see God’s glory in ordinary things. Peter, James and John found time and were intentional when they climb the mountain that they will commune with God. Climb the mountain.

Let us continue our story. The disciples are now ready to see God. They prayed. So they closed their eyes and fell asleep. How many of you are falling asleep when you are praying? Paminsan nga kahit sa sermon, natutulog. Tignan mo yung katabi mo, kung nakapikit ang mata, wag mo distorbohin, nagdarasal lang yan.

In the Gospel of Luke, while the disciples were in the mountain praying, they were sleepy. Their eyes were closed or maybe half closed. The disciples had to open their eyes wide to see the transfiguration.

Open your eyes. That is the second principle.

Luke noted that Peter, James and John were very sleepy at that time but when they opened their eyes and became fully awake, they saw the glory of God. We need to open our eyes to see God’s glory out of the ordinary. We will only see the physical being of Jesus if we are sleep and half awake.

By opening our eyes, I do not simply mean that idilat mo ang iyong mga mata. Ako, dilat na dilat ang mga mata ko but sometimes I still do not see clearly. More than the physical eyes, we must see with the eyes of our hearts and our soul. That is the message of the song “Open the eyes of my heart” by Michael Smith. “Open the eyes of my heart… I want to see you… High and lifted up… Shining in the light of your glory”

When the disciples opened their eyes, the eyes of their hearts and soul, they saw a bright light shining from Jesus. God’s glory was revealed to them. If we open the eyes of our heart, if we are fully awake we can see God’s glory beyond the ordinary. They saw that Jesus was not just any other prophet or teacher, they saw he was divine.  They saw God’s glory.

Now I have to explain that the transfiguration of Jesus did not mean Jesus was transformed from ordinary to divine. No. when the disciples opened their eyes, they saw Jesus beyond the ordinary, and saw who Jesus really is and has been all along.

Since yesterday was Valentines, let's use the example of your best friend na babae. Dati you saw her only as a friend, but you have that transfiguration moment, she was not just your ordinary friend, she was the love of your life na pala.

Their view of the ordinary was transfigured. It was transformed. We can see God’s glory in everyday people we meet. We can see God’s glory in ordinary events in our lives. We can see God’s glory out of the sufferings we endure. We can see glory in everyday of our lives.

Speaking of Valentines Day. It was a day to celebrate love. But what kind of love did you celebrate? Did you celebrate your love for your husband and wife? Did you see God’s love in that? Where does the love come from in the first place? The love that you received from your parents? Or relatives? Where does that come from? The love that you give to your friends? Is that kind of love the love of God? What does it mean then for us Christians to confess that God is love if your love is not the glorious presence of God in your relationships?

Open your eyes to see God’s glory in the ordinary. Open your eyes to see God’s glory in ordinary relationships between husband and wife, parents and child, among friends and even with a stranger. Lagi ba kayong nag-aaway ng asawa mo? When you forgive your spouse and confess your shortcomings to God, do you not see the glory of God? Even among strangers, when you see boy respectfully giving his seat to the elderly in a full bus, do you not see the glory of God? When you go in the hospital and see a newborn baby cuddled by a mother, do you not see the glory of God? When you see a stranger, worshipping with us for the first time, do you not see the glory of God? Open the eyes of your heart and soul to see God’s glory in the ordinary.

The third action from the disciples is going down the mountain.

Going down the mountain means moving beyond the moment. After Peter, James and John saw the transfiguration of Jesus, they wanted to bask in the moment. They were awe struck and that was understandable. If you experience the most wonderful thing, you don’t want to let it go. Maybe that is why Peter suggested that they build altars there. He wanted to enjoy the experience and stay in that moment. He wanted it to last forever.

Just like many of us, we enjoy having wonderful experiences. I remember as a student, I had those wonderful moments after receiving grades from your exams. Pagkatapos mong maghirap mag-aral at magpuyat, you will receive the passing score and your grade for the semester. You enjoy that moment. You want it to last. Sometimes, you want it to be your last. Ayaw mo na. Kaya hindi ka na papasok sa next semester. What you do after the glorious moment will spell the difference. So for most of us, after that glorious moment, you have to go down from the mountaintop experience.

The disciples just did that. They had a glorious experience and wanted it to last. But like any wonderful moment, it had to come to an end. They had to go back down and continue the ministry work. And when their faith was being tested, they used that moment to strengthen them during the difficult time when Jesus was arrested, crucified until he resurrected.

You don’t have to hold on to that singular glorious moment. My dear brothers and sisters, the good news is that we can glimpse of the glory of Jesus anytime, anywhere. But we need to go down the mountain to have more glimpses of God in our everyday life. For God is always with us and around us. We can have a transfiguration experience and catch a glimpse of God’s glory everyday. Those little glimpses of God’s glory will assure us that God is always around us. That God is in control of everything. 

You can choose to live in that glorious moment or use that moment to find hope in times of struggles. You can choose to make that glorious moment help you carry through difficult times knowing that Jesus who is both human and divine had to suffer and be crucified like what we experience in this life. But just as Jesus overcome death, we know we will also triumph.  Allow God to transform our minds.

Climb. Open your eyes. Go down.

So my dear brothers and sisters, find and see the transfigured Christ in the ordinary things in our life and experience the glory of God. What you do after the transfiguration experience is up to you.

Palm/Passsion Sunday

Luke 19:28-40

Luke 23:1-49

This sermon was preached last Palm Sunday in the English Service of Kamuning First UMC. 

I also preached a similar sermon for the Vesper Service that same day.

 

Today is Palm and Passion Sunday where we celebrate the journey of Jesus from his triumphant entry to Jerusalem leading to his betrayal, torture and death in Calvary, and so I would like us to start journeying with Jesus by looking back into his triumphant entry. The gospel of Luke tells of Jesus triumphant entry into Jerusalem as the king. It was a big parade and there were lots of people there. People praise him because of the goodness he has done. Jesus was leading his crowd of disciples as they literally go up to Jerusalem.  

We see Jesus choosing to ride a donkey, a donkey whom no one had ridden before, just like the king Solomon rode a donkey in a peaceful and humble manner as next to the throne of David. In Zechariah 9:9, we read; “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” As Jesus riding on a donkey enters Jerusalem for all the public to see and all the crowd gathered around, we can see a picture of Jesus announcing himself as the messiah – the King of Israel.  

We see people excited and happy to see their king arrive. People are waving palms and some people removing their cloaks to spread in the streets as an act of honor and respect to the entering King. Do you feel like we want to take part in that celebrations and welcome the king too? Do you also want to remove your cloaks and wave palms and spread it in the road for the entering king?

I always picture this triumphant entry of Jesus like one great parade that I am watching. Do you remember attending a parade and seeing some celebrities or personalities. I remember attending the Penagbenga Festival and waking up early to get a spot for the parade. We wanted to have a good spot so we can have a good look with all the celebrities and personalities. When the parade started, people were lining up to have a picture taken with the lead group who were riding a wrangler jeep. The crowd were excited to have their pictures taken but I just stared there because I did not know who these people were. Apparently it was the mayor and his council but I do not know them so I did not join in the frenzy that excited the crowd. Then the flower floats came with the celebrities and personalities and the crowd got excited again as they ran to have their pictures taken and ask for autographs. Again, I just stood there in the land because I did not recognize the celebrities… because they belong to GMA 7, eh kapamilya po ako eh… so hindi ko sila kilala. So I just ended up appreciating the flowers to enjoy the parade.

You see, my dear brothers and sisters, to be able to participate fully and enjoy such parade, you must be able to have an appreciation of the people involved in the parade. And so when Jesus enters Jerusalem and welcomed by a multitude of crowd, you know that these people recognize who Jesus is and the great things that he had done and can do. Now, that is the next question – who is Jesus to the crowd watching in the parade. To the disciples of Jesus who were there, they wanted to praise God for the good deeds he has done. They were welcoming a king who comes in the name of the Lord. But I was wondering, weren’t there some people who do not know who Jesus is. Like me when I attended the parade, who do not recognize Jesus?

There are people who just happened to be in the crowd but do not really know what was happening, just like many of most of the time. We find ourselves in the middle of a celebration or a parade and we don’t know who is in there. We do not recognize Jesus as king but just an ordinary guy like any of us. We do not see the greatness and the majesty of that person and so we cannot really appreciate his worth. And so like in that great parade, it is difficult for us to fully participate in the celebrations because we do not recognize the great person that is making an entrance. We cannot appreciate the significance of that person and the great things that he has done. So we do not care to have our pictures taken with him, we do not busy ourselves to get some souvenirs or autographs from him. We do not care – Keber, malay ko kung sino yan, pakialam ko.

And because we do not know him and recognize him, how can we even care when later he gets mocked, and humiliated, and tortured, flogged and punished. Further in the account of Luke, Jesus is blindfolded, they mocked him and beat him and insulted him, despite his innocence. Does it matter to you? How can we care for a person that does not matter to us? We may have pity for his pain and suffering because of how he looks but what would it be like if the person was somebody dear to us.

In the hospital, I always see patient who suffer and in pain as they get diagnosed with life threatening diseases – a mother gets diagnosed with breast cancer, a father suffers a heart attack, a little girl having leukemia or a little boy with congenital heart disease – I pity these person whenever I see them and that is the best I can do. But it becomes different when that sick person is somebody I personally know and have a relationship with – the pity for the woman with cancer turns into a personal concern, I now want to offer help to the best of my ability to the man who suffered heart attack, I want to donate my blood, share any of my resources for the girl with leukemia or simply give my time playing and taking care with the boy with a congenital heart disease.

It all becomes different if the person who suffers is somebody you recognize and care for – somebody like a king whom you worship and adore – a king who has done a great deal for your benefit, a king who will sacrifice himself even in death for your own goodness. But if you do not know the person, if you do not have a good relationship with that person, he will not matter and you will not care. You will not care if you do not know who Jesus is. It will not matter if Jesus enters Jerusalem, or if he gets tortured, humiliated and even killed because you do not know who this Jesus guy is.

But then, there were another group of people in the crowd during the triumphant entry of Jesus – and these were the Pharisees and other religious leaders. The Pharisees recognize Jesus and yes they acknowledge his claim to be king as legitimate. What these Pharisees and religious leaders see is a Jesus who is a threat to them, a king who might overthrow the powers at that time. These same religious people are the ones who plotted against Jesus that led to his betrayal, torture, mockery, suffering and death. Now, we find ourselves in the court of Pilate.

Jesus is arrested and the same crowd that welcomed him in Jerusalem shout crucify him, crucify him. Jesus was a different kind of king in the eyes of the Pharisees, scribes and his enemies – he was a threat to the status quo – a threat to those who are in power at that time and therefore they needed to get rid of him. And the crowd, he was not the kind of king they expected. And Jesus is still such a threat to most people even today – a threat to those in power – a threat to those declaring themselves as king. But Jesus entered Jerusalem and declared himself to be the king who will take over everything including their lives.

That proclamation of Jesus as king is reason for todays people to kill him, to crucify Jesus. Jesus announces that he is king – and you feel threatened. No Jesus, you will not be king. I and myself is king – my desires, my priorities in life- my career, my business, my education, my lovelife - these are the kings of my life and I want it that way. The human empire that we have built for ourselves stands in judgement against the kingdom of God that Jesus proclaims. The human empire includes the church – as we have made into an organization of good people who in the outward do good things especially on Sundays. You are good, I am good and so let us form a committee for our ministries. How many committees are you a member of from the local, to the district, to the conference level? But how many of these committees respond to those in need? If there are, how many have actively participated in these ministries? And how many actually did this because of love of Christ our king?  What makes us different from the Pharisees, scribes and religious people that Jesus rebuked?

Do not shake the boat, do not change the status quo, Jesus do not assert your kingship or else we will crucify you. But to establish the kingdom of God here on earth, Jesus needs to proclaim his kingship as he enters the Jerusalem of each person’s heart. And because our priorities are all mixed up and something else sits as king in our heart, we do not want Jesus to be king and so we shout, “Crucify him, crucify him.”

Yes, we are shouting crucify him, crucify him with much gusto and passion when we also declared Hossana in the highest, blessed be the king of Israel. We have betrayed Jesus, just like the disciples. Just like Peter. Everyday, we betray Jesus with our misdeeds, but unlike Peter we did not only betray him once, not twice, not even thrice… but everytime.

Yes we are part of the crowd, we are there when we shout blessed be the king and we are there when we cry crucify him. And with the sins in our hearts, we crucify Jesus.

Sometimes we think that the triumphant entry of Jesus is just another story in the passion narrative in the Bible. That the life, suffering, torture, passion and death of Jesus is a true to life movie worth remembering once a year. What we fail to recognize is that, everyday of our lives, every actions that we take, every word that we say and even every thought that comes to our mind is part of the reason Jesus courageously entered Jerusalem despite the knowledge that it will be the culmination of his suffering and death within a week time. We often forget that the things we celebrate holy week for is not, it is NOT just a memorial or a celebration of things that happened more than two thousand years ago. The significance of Christ life, sacrifice and death is felt even today, and should be felt everyday of our lives.

In the early church, the celebration of palm and passion Sunday is the culmination of the long years of preparation for the new converts to Christianity. The Palm/Passion Sunday is the day wherein  the new converts will begin intense preparation as they will be baptized and receive communion on Easter. The Palm/passion Sunday is a time to reflect upon the question, “do you confess Jesus Christ as your Saviour and King?” For us Christians, it is a time to reflect upon our baptismal vows. It is the recognition that the one who claims to be King will willingly die in our place to give us eternal life and that we will be steadfast in our claim that He is our King.

My dear brothers and sisters, the parade has started and a certain Jesus is leading the way as he enters Jerusalem, as he enters your heart. Do you know him?

The good news my dear brothers and sisters, even before you call him your Saviour and King, even before you acknowledge him, Jesus already included you  in his plan of salvation when he entered Jerusalem .

Are you going to join in the celebrations? Will you be able to recognize Jesus in the crowd? Are you going to shout, “Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord?” Will you declare him to be your saviour and your king? Or will you be frustrated in your expectations and cry out, crucify him. Crucify him?

Who is Jesus to you?

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Dirt in your Forehead

"There's dirt in your forehead."

I usually give this joke to my friends after they attend the Ash Wednesday Service. They would tell me with all seriousness that it is Ash Wednesday as if reminding me that I better get one too. Then I begin to look serious and ask them, "why put ashes in the forehead? What does it mean?" Then I get blank stares.

I have been brought up to always ask and know WHY things are done the way they are done. A case of function over form.

Why put ashes in the forehead during Ash Wednesday?

One reason (I guess there could be other reasons) is that it is supposed to be a ritual that represents an ancient Near East tradition of repentance from sin against God. Yes, repentance from sin.

Now, if my friends do not know why they have dirt in their forehead, does it not follow that they do not know what it symbolize. Does it also mean that they were not repentant? They have the form but not the function?

I am not against ashes. In fact, I hope more Christians (especially liturgical Christians like umc) practice it. I just hope that more Christians also understand what they are doing because it matters. Now, how do I remove this dirt from my forehead?

Jesus enters Jerusalem, Jesus enters our hearts

As the Lenten season ends and as we enter the Holy Week, let us reflect on what we have done during this Lent. The Gospel of according to Mark gives us a beautiful text to reflect upon.

When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’” They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,

“Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. - NRSV

As doctors and healthcare providers, we have consciously reminded our patients about healthy diet especially this Lenten season. But that's it. We have treated the Lenten fast as a way to diet instead of a spiritual discipline. We have obviously lost the meaning of the fast, worst, the meaning of Lent. Instead of preparing ourselves and disciplining ourselves during Lent, we have made it a reason to feed on our other desires. Example, since we wanted to fast on meat during Lent, we have made it an excuse to eat seafoods (despite being expensive) all the time. Obviously, seafoods taste much better and it feeds more our desire for (comfort) foods.

The Gospel text tells us of Jesus planning to enter Jerusalem. As Jesus plans to enter, his followers prepare for this event by looking for a colt that Jesus will ride on. The followers obeyed Jesus and prepared for his entry.

As Jesus plans to enter this Holy Week in the Jerusalem of our lives and our hearts, what preparations have we done? The Lenten season was the season to remind us to prepare ourselves, our lives and our hearts for the entry of Jesus. As we remember the great love of God that saved us from sin and death, how did we prepare ourselves? As Christians, we are supposed to be the followers of Jesus tasked to look for the colt for him to ride. Did we follow his plan? Did we go look for the colt for him to ride? Did we follow his plan? Did we obey Jesus? What concrete ways did we do this Lent to prepare for the entry of Jesus?

The way we treated this Lenten season is a testament to how we value and give worth to the grace and love of God highlighted this Holy Week.

Cleaning the Temple

What do we do when the Holy Ground becomes dirty and filthy? This is the Bible Study topic we discussed this week. The Gospel from John 2:13-22 tells us:

13 tThe Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus uwent up to Jerusalem. 14 vIn the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make wmy Father's house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, x“Zeal for your house will consume me.”

18 So the Jews said to him, y“What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, z“Destroy this temple, and in three days aI will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple,1 and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about bthe temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, chis disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed dthe Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. (ESV)

Let us examine closer the text and think about these questions:

-Where did Jesus go?

-What did he find there?

-What was the reaction of Jesus?

-Why was Jesus upset?

-What was the temple Jesus was referring to?

-What were the people doing to the temple Jesus was referring to?

As we try to answer these questions, let us not forget that we are in the Lenten season. This is the season where we discipline ourselves to refrain from doing evil. Jesus Christ referred to his body as the Temple, what is the body of Christ today? If we say that it is the Church then let us this be our Lenten reflection:

What are we doing with the body of Christ today, the Church? Are we also desecrating it? Is Jesus happy with our works or is he going to whip us too?

This Lenten Season, as we prepare ourselves and move towards Christian perfection, what should we do to the body of Christ/ to the Church? How can we keep the temple clean? What actions should we initiate to keep the temple holy?