Hyde Park United Methodist

The Transfiguration of Jesus serves as the hinge or pivot point in Mark’s gospel. There are the teachings and miracles of Jesus that take place before then, followed by the predictions of Jesus’ death and promise of resurrection that take place after. Directly preceding the Transfiguration is an important conversation between Jesus and the disciples, whom Jesus asks about public opinion. Only Peter appears to answer the question correctly: “You are the Messiah.” That response is the key in Mark to understanding fully what Jesus came to earth to do, and is the gateway to eternal life. It is also the most important question we have to answer in our own lives.

David is nearing the end of his life, and he recognizes that because of his warlike nature, God has forbidden him from building the Temple. His final words therefore not only seal his achievements and summarize his life, they also serve as a transition to Solomon and his reign. More significantly, in the next chapter, David decides to build an altar of praise and confession to God, praying for an end to the plague. That act of contrition cements that location as the very place where the plague would stop and where the Temple would eventually be built. This story reminds us that God always has the bigger picture in mind. Where we see defeat and despair, God sees resurrection. Where we see an end, God sees a transition into a bright future. Where we see only the limits of our existence, God sees the enduring legacy that we can leave behind.

The very first thing we learn about David is that he is a worshiper. From his days out in the field to his final years on the throne, he worshiped God. Worship should be a whole-life expression for us, too. Many of the Psalms are attributed to him, and in them we see the intersection between human pathos (the breadth of the human experience) and divine pathos (the purpose and will of God). In 2 Samuel 6, we see David’s actions in relation to the entrance of the ark of the covenant. He exhibited a free-spirited, wholehearted praise of God, caring little of what people thought of him. His primary focus was on pleasing and thanking God. That can be a model for how we come to worship and express our praise to God.

David’s hubris and his inability to practice self-control led to his greatest downfall. He committed adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah. But his downfall began even before these events occurred. It began with his arrogance, his delusional belief that he was the source of his accomplishments and could therefore acquire and achieve anything he desired. He was so blinded by his delusion that Nathan’s indictment of him caught him completely off guard. Sin is like that. It convinces us that we are better than we are, and lures us away from vigilance and trust in God.

Every quintessential hero story has a “rite of passage” moment, in which the hero explodes onto the scene with a captivating, high-profile achievement. This is what the story of David and Goliath is. It is a story of good vs. evil, underdog vs. oppressor, hope vs. despair. David was able to conquer Goliath because of God’s presence and power. But even before that, he exhibited bravery based on his remembrance of what God had done for and through him in the past. We can learn how to conquer all that threatens us, by trusting in the same God who saw us through in the past.

Peter is one of the more notable figures in the New Testament, in part because he represents us so well. Like him, we are impatient, ambitious, and think more highly of ourselves than we ought. It often got him into trouble. John’s gospel ends with a powerful, private conversation between Jesus and Peter, in which Peter gets a second chance. As a result, he preached the sermon of his life and became a pivotal figure in the birth and development of the church.

No person had it worse in the Bible than Job. His story does not fit cleanly into the chronology of the Bible. He is a kind of helpless pawn between God and the forces of evil, maybe in a way that we sometimes feel so helpless. But even though Job’s world fell apart, God’s presence and power became more real to him in the middle of his suffering. Job teaches us how to trust in God.

Since birth, Moses was fighting against the odds. He narrowly escaped murder by Pharaoh because of the sacrifice of his family. He lived a life of privilege but had to suppress his ethnic heritage. After committing murder, he was a lost soul on the run. But God found him, called him, and believed in him. The story of Moses is a reminder that each of us are part of God’s grand design. All we have to do is trust that God will help us do our part.

Few people had it worse in the Bible than Joseph. He was despised by his brothers because of his father’s favoritism. He was cast from the family into slavery, framed by a high official’s wife, cast into prison, and long forgotten by his family. But Joseph not only persevered; he maintained his faith and integrity. He is a model to us of how to keep going, no matter what hardship we are facing.

The Sunday after Pentecost is traditionally known as Trinity Sunday, the only holy day of the year named after a doctrine of the church, rather than a biblical event. The Holy Spirit which touched the earth on Pentecost is still active in our lives and throughout the world today. But for many, the Holy Spirit is the most mysterious member of the Trinity, one we often overlook when it comes to thinking about God. We will discover together new understandings and appreciation of the Holy Spirit based on John 16, in which Jesus describes how the Spirit “guides us into truth” and prompts us to “glorify Jesus Christ."