Liturgy

Transformation doesn’t happen when
we look ahead. It is something we only
see in hindsight. This morning you are
invited into this space.

All of you,
All parts of you,
All chapters of your story.

As we pick up the pieces
of ourselves, invite them in.
Let them gather around you.
All parts of you are welcome here.

You were welcome then,
You are welcome now.
Welcome yourself
to sit and remember.

The story of God’s people is a long one,
and the Divine that they knew had many names.

Jehovah.
El-shaddai.
Elohim.

In the midst of our lives, may we stop for a moment
and invite the many stories of ourselves to sit in the
presence of the God with many names.

Today we welcome our stories.
Today we welcome our multitudes.

In the name of the Eternal Father,
Resurrected Son,
and Bountiful Holy Spirit,
amen.

(Naomi Jackson)

Scripture Reading

We invite you to hear from the Gospel of Mark 9: 2-8.

2 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James
and John, and led them up a high mountain apart,
by themselves. And he was transfigured before them,
3 and his clothes became dazzling white, such as
no one on earth could bleach them.

4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses,
who were talking with Jesus. 5 Then Peter said
to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here;
let us make three dwellings, one for you,
one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
6 He did not know what to say, for they were
terrified. 7 Then a cloud overshadowed them,
and from the cloud there came a voice,
“This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!”

8 Suddenly when they looked around, they saw
no one with them any more, but only Jesus.

The Good News of the Lord.
Thanks be to God!

The grass withers and the flower fades,
but the Word of the Lord endures forever. Amen.

Sermon and Reflection

Sermon Podcast 02.014.21 Transfiguration and Transformation

How might you be invited to expand your symbols of God?

How is listening to Jesus being embodied in your life?

How are you being invited to sit in the paradox of wholeness and woundedness?

Benediction

Rise up, lift your eyes up to the mountain to be blessed.

Embedded in your very skin is the code of life.
Built into your cells is growth and renewal.

Breathed into your lungs is the
divine kiss of transformation.

The bits of ourselves that we leave will be scattered.
They return to the dust from whence they came.

And the bits of memory, the ones that stack up like books;
they aren’t the kinds of things to be sorted or stored.

Those words, the ones that move our hearts and bend our minds;
They move and float, settle and disperse, and occasionally evaporate.

Change is long; time and pressure occurring bit by bit and day by day,
but sometimes it looks straight at you and flashes away

And once in awhile we see something so beautiful, so extraordinary
We have no choice but to stop and soak in every moment of it.

May we find these moments in ourselves
and around us this week,

in the name
of our Triune God,
Creator,
Redeemer,
and Transformer.
Amen.

Go in peace, and live the church.
May you find safety and rest throughout the week.

(Naomi Jackson)

[Photo by Scott Evans]