Leaving the Locker Room

Brad Sullivan

5 Epiphany, Year C

February 7, 2016

Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church, Bay City, TX

Luke 9:28-36, [37-43a]

Leaving the Locker Room

I was at a men’s retreat this weekend with the men of St. Mark’s in Richmond.  Kristin is their go to supply clergy when their rector is away, and she supplied for him last summer when he was on sabbatical.  So, the congregation knows and loves her and our kids, and the rector, Bert, thought it would be nice if they got to know me to, so I was invited on the retreat.  They actually call is a “gathering of men” because “retreat” is just not something men do.  So we gathered for great food, fellowship, games, various beverages, Bible study, skeet shooting, fishing, Eucharist, etc., and I contacted the men on our vestry yesterday afternoon and said, “this thing has been great; we have to do one here.”

So on Friday night, one of the men who leads a weekly Sunday Bible study, led us all in Bible study.  It was a thematic study of sports and sport analogies in the Bible (of which there are many), and we looked at these passages, what these sports analogies teach us about our faith, and how the Super Bowl can relate to our faith.  Admittedly, I was kinda skeptical at first, but it worked. 

From Philippians 3:12-14, “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal.”  There are four quarters of football, and the team lays aside their previous touchdowns and their previous mistakes, that’s the team that’s gonna win.  For us too, we cannot live in the past, forever grasping on to that one glorious moment, or forever haunted by the sins of our past.  We have to let our past go, give that to Jesus and follow him.  From 1 Corinthians 12:12-20, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.”  Special teams doesn’t win the game; offense doesn’t win the game; defense doesn’t win the game.  It takes the whole team playing together to win.  Within the body of Christ, no one person or group fulfills God’s mission of reconciliation.  The whole church, working together fulfills God’s mission of reconciliation.

So, can we get some Gospel truth from the Super Bowl?  Yeah, we actually can.  When we’re watching the Super Bowl this afternoon, we can think of Jesus and the church a little bit. 

Looking then at today’s Gospel story from Luke, we heard the story of Jesus’ transfiguration.  Jesus’ glory was revealed.  The glory of the Lord was shining out of and through Jesus, and the glory of Jesus full and true humanity was shining.  Here is a true human, guys, fully reconciled and connected to God.  Whenever Moses was near to God up on the mountain, when he came down, his face was glowing.  The nearer we are to God, it seems that the glory of God, in whose image we were made, radiates through us.  Jesus revealed this truth of himself and this truth of humanity to Peter and James and John on the mountain.  He showed them his glory as if to say, “Here’s who I am guys, and here’s who I am leading you all to be.  I am the fulfillment of the law and the prophets.  Follow me, and fear not, for I am restoring all things to God.” 

Then, once the excitement and joy of the moment was over, Jesus basically said, “ok, back to work.”  Why did Jesus take those three disciples up the mountain with him?  Perhaps just to pray.  That’s why Jesus went up there; maybe he didn’t know the transfiguration was about to happen.  We don’t really, know, but in any case, once it did, they didn’t stay there in that moment, stuck forever in the past.  They moved on into the future or into the always present moment, continuing God’s mission of reconciliation. 

Prior to this, the twelve had been sent out by Jesus to begin their work on God’s mission.  They’d done great, preaching and healing, and then, after they all came back, Jesus was curious what people had been saying about him and asked, “who do people say that I am,” and the people had been saying that Jesus was John the Baptist, or Elijah, or one of the prophets.  Then, Jesus asked the disciples, “who do you say that I am?”  Peter nailed it, declaring Jesus to be “the Christ of God.”  Jesus went on to teach them more about that, about how he will be killed and be raised on the third day.  He taught them that as his disciples, they too needed to take up their cross and follow him, telling them, “those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.” 

So the disciples had been doing great.  They started their ministry living out God’s mission.  They declared and began to understand who Jesus is.  They were a little perplexed by the “if you lose your life for my sake, you will save it” part, but they were working through that, and then, Jesus takes Peter and James and John up the mountain to pray. 

It was like halftime, and Jesus was in the locker room with the team giving them some instruction, a pep talk and then showing them, the game plan.  “Here’s where we’re going guys:  restoration, reunion with God.  We’re going toward reconciliation and true humanity.  I know it’s tough and scary, but when I told you not to fear losing your life, I meant it.  Look here are Moses and Elijah, alive and well.  Here’s the glory of God and the glory of true humanity shining through me.  Trust me guys, I really am restoring all things, and living out God’s mission of reconciliation, it’s leading somewhere great!  Now let’s get out there and let’s play some ball.” 

So they got this great halftime talk and they got to rest in the locker room for a bit, and then Coldplay and Beyonce stopped singing, halftime was over, and it was time to get back in the game. 

The very next day, there was a boy who needed healing.  There was gospel work to be done, and for some reason, the disciples couldn’t do it.  They’d done great at preaching and healing before.  Perhaps they were daunted by what they had heard and seen on the mountain.  Jesus had been talking about his coming death on the cross which disturbed the disciples.  Perhaps they were still stuck in that moment and just not ready to face the world again.  In any case, Jesus showed them that as his disciples, they really did get to keep doing the work he had given them to do.  The encounter they had on the mountain with Jesus’ transfiguration gave them strength and encouragement, nearness to God, but it was not a place they were going to stay. 

I think of our worship in a similar way.  We have an encounter with Jesus in the words of Scripture and in the Sacrament.  We get instruction and encouragement.  We also have a model for our lives with the liturgy.  Our liturgy teaches us to give thanks to God first in everything we do.  Our liturgy teaches us to read and study scripture.  Our liturgy teaches us to pray for ourselves and for others, to examine our lives, offer our sins to God, and to ask his forgiveness that we may be freed from the past and press on toward to goal.  Our liturgy teaches us to encounter Jesus in the ordinary things of life, and then our liturgy gives us an encounter with Jesus in the bread and wine. 

Our worship is a place where we are meant to return, but like the mountaintop of Jesus’ transfiguration, our worship is not a place where we are meant to stay.  In what our liturgy teaches us, it is like practice or a halftime speech.  We get to rest.  We gain strength, support, and instruction for our lives from an encounter with Jesus.  Afterwards, we give thanks that we get to go forth from here to continue as Jesus’ disciples, living out God’s mission of reconciliation.  At the end of each service, halftime’s over, and we get to go out there and play ball.  Amen.