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Ordination Sermon Adam Back Resolving Transfiguration Arguments: the keys to faithful ministry in Christ (Adam Back, Charlene, Madeleine) There is a legendary high school football play in 2019 in which a player from Fairfield High in California picked off a pass from the opposition. Unfortunately the intercepting player took off running for the wrong end zone. One of his own players chased him for 50 yards and stopped him at the 10 yard line to avoid an embarrassing safety. I once did something similar in a rugby match in SA but this was due to a concussion! As I read about the responses of Peter and his fellow apostles in this event of the transfiguration of Jesus, and in the stories that follow it, I get the distinct impression they are running in the opposite direction, running towards the wrong endzone. Peter sees the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, and he is focused on shelters … shelters instead of the Saviour, he is constructing tents instead of contemplating the Master. Instead of contemplation, what ensues in the narrative is argumentation. Distractions from what Jesus was calling his disciples to. Adam, it is a privilege to be with you today on this the service of your ordination, and to celebrate the work of God in your life, and to do so along with your better half, Charlene, with Madeleine, and with this lovely community of believers which has called you, and among whom you minister, along with Lydia, your intrepid and gifted and caring partner in ministry. If there is one thing I want to share from this passage and from my own experience in pastoral ministry is to urge you forward to what I know you are really all about anyway, ministry in contemplation of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, ministry that is an outflow of participation in him and his mission to the world. The pressures to do many other things and be preoccupied with many other priorities can easily seduce you to start running in the wrong direction. Actually, this exhortation is also for the whole church because it is so easy for the church also to lose its way by becoming preoccupied with non-essentials and trivia, instead of keeping the main things the main thing, which is Christ and his glory, Christ and his mission. Argumentation easily replaces contemplation for all of us. Four arguments are set off by this remarkable revelation of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, this lifting of the veil which had kept his divinity incognito. In John 17 Jesus prayed that after his resurrection he might have the glory that he had with the Father before the world began. Here the disciples are given a preview of that glory on this mountain called Tabor. But it’s funny how even in the midst of the most sacred and glorious moments, question and arguments arise in human hearts. The chapter begins: 9 And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.” I am sure Jesus was at minimum referring to the Transfiguration, though perhaps this in turn anticipated the resurrection which according to Paul revealed “the Son of God in power” (1:4) My desire for you Adam, is that in the resolving of these arguments you may find the kingdom of God in power, and the keys to faithful ministry. The first is found in vv.5- 7: 5 Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.) 7 Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” 1. An argument about priority: it reveals that ministry is about the pre-eminence of Jesus the Son of God and affirmation in Him! So Peter creates the first disputation. By the way, Adam, a good rule of thumb for a minister or anybody for that matter, is that when you don’t know what to say, say nothing! Pressure to say something in ministry is high. Don’t assume you can resolve all problems and mysteries for people. Especially in the presence of wiser people, say nothing. “Better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you are a fool that to open it and remove all doubt.” Peter by his actions created an awkwardness which was dramatically resolved by the voice of the Father from heaven. There can be no comparison between Moses, and Elijah, the Lawgiver and the greatest of the Prophets, with the Son of God now transfigured before them. “This is my Son! My only and unique eternally begotten Son, Peter. Not one amongst others. He’s the one you need to listen to! Listen to Him!” Moses and Elijah had both seen visions of the glory of God; P, J and J now see it in Jesus. Jesus is not seeing God, He is the God being seen! And Moses and Elijah both heard the voice of God in their encounters, but here the Father says, listen to Christ. PJ and J are to hear the voice of God in Christ! Listen to Him! Should we build a tent for each person? No, Peter! This is an argument and its settlement around the issue of priority: ministry is about the pre-eminence of Jesus the Son of God! Jesus is the priority in ministry, the unrivalled Lord. The kingdom of God with power is associated with his glory, and our centeredness on him, our listening to him! In ministry, to keep your focus and priority on the Son, is all important. In your theological life there are probably great heroes, Adam: my best guess would be Irenaeus, Teresa of Avila, James Torrance, Fleming Routledge, Malcolm Guite and Stanley Hauerwas. Remember they are mere women and men, and that your allegiance transcends allegiance to them, for it belongs to only one Man, the Man Christ Jesus, fully and truly God, fully and truly Man, Incarnate, Creator, Reconciler and Redeemer, the One whose glory alone is iridescent. All of the glory of other humans is reflected glory. His is radiant glory, the effulgence of the divine being. Listen to Him! Not that you aren’t accountable. Listen to wise leaders around you who reflect the voice of God, but ultimately you answer to Christ, and you listen for His voice. And your ministry is contemplative, lived out of listening to the voice of the Master. Teresa of Avila said, Mary and Martha come together in the mature soul. I need to be fair to Peter. In retrospect, he would learn so much from this encounter. In his second epistle he writes, “we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.” But in the moment here, he is distracted and the change it would make would not be apparent until after the resurrection. In the meantime, he is all over the place, sometimes speaking well and mostly putting his foot in his mouth. Preoccupied with tents at Tabor, instead of being transfixed with the iridescent glory of God. Peter was preoccupied with doing, when Jesus wanted him just to be. He was ‘footering aboot’ instead of resting in the presence and acceptance of God. One of the most important messages of the Transfiguration event has to do with the pleasure of God the Father with God the Son, expressed in the words, “This is my Son whom I love. Listen to Him.” Another Gospel tells us that the subject of conversation of that meeting of Jesus with M and E and PJJ, was the departure he would accomplish, his journey to the cross. The Father’s approval and affection for his Son is an affirmation of all that he had been and done so far in his incarnate life, and of all he would do as he went on to the trial, the cross and on to resurrection and ascension glory. One of the vital blessings of the contemplative life is to live in that place of the approval and affection of the Father, which is ours vicariously in Christ. Adam, the Father takes delight in you for you are in the beloved Son. Live in that place of security and affirmation so that you can avoid seeking it in other places, running for the wrong endzone ... the approval of people, the approval of the politically powerful, the seductions of fame instead of faithfulness. Adam, it will be good to ask the question, what is that most challenges the supremacy of Christ and affirmation in Christ, what are the tents and shelters that threaten to send you off into the wrong endzone? Positively, what space do you need to create for time spent at Christ’s feet so that your soul can be replenished, so that you can minister out of fullness not out of an empty tank? This involves hearing the written Word, reading and meditating on it, not just for sermons, reading in order to meet the living Word, prayer, time in creation, time fishing in order to contemplate the glory of God in the colours of a rainbow trout, time enjoying the presence of Christ in Charlene, in Madeleine, time just being with your sisters and brothers in Christ who are Christ to you, time being with the poor in whom Christ comes to us.
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