You're a Firework!

A sermon preached by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry UMC February 27, 2022. “Shine On!” series.

Text: Luke 9:28-43

You’re a Firework!

A sermon preached by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry UMC February 27, 2022, Transfiguration Sunday. The last sermon in our “Shine On!” series.

Text: Luke 9:28-43

It is common on Transfiguration Sunday for preachers to focus on what the disciples experience on the mountaintop—the way Jesus’ face and clothes “dazzlingly” change and the appearance of Moses and Elijah talking to Jesus about his upcoming “departure.” 

But today I want to focus on the next part of the story, what happened when they’d come down from the mountain. Evidently, while Jesus was busy praying and preparing for his exodos (ἔξοδος, Greek for departure or death), a man brought his son to the disciples who’d remained in the valley, desperate that they should save the child. But they couldn’t do it. Jesus was, to put it lightly, disappointed—in a way that may seem harsh. After all, disciples of Jesus aren’t…Jesus. I’ve often heard it’s not fair to say that we are expected to live, love, or serve like Jesus since Jesus had the whole “God-human” thing going for him. But that’s a cop out.

Because Jesus was clear that his disciples were to follow directly in his footsteps. At the beginning of the chapter we read from today you’ll find, “Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.” (Lk 9:1-2) And then, when more than 5,000 people who’d gathered to hear some good news and receive healing got hungry, the disciples wanted to send them away. But Jesus said to the disciples, “you feed them.” And in the chapter following our story today, Jesus appoints 70 more to go out and proclaim the Kin-dom and heal! (Lk 10:1,9)

Recently as part of my spiritual practice for Black History Month, I’ve been drawing inspiration from the wisdom of Marian Wright Edelman, human and children’s rights activist, founder and President Emerita of the Children’s Defense Fund, and a part of the Foundry family for many years. She says this: “A lot of people are waiting for Martin Luther King or Mahatma Gandhi to come back—but they are gone. We are it. It is up to us. It is up to you.” 

In this moment when a new war has broken out, racial, economic, and environmental injustice continues to thrive, divisions grow wider and more fortified, and shadows of helplessness and hopelessness threaten to overtake us—the voice of God speaks from a different kind of shadow, the overshadowing cloud at the mountaintop, and calls us to listen to Jesus! And again and again, in a variety of ways, Jesus says to us: It’s up to you. YOU are called to proclaim in word and deed the good news of God’s Kin-dom and to be an agent of healing grace for bodies and spirits. Jesus knew he was not long for this world. He knew he would be gone. And he started saying it early: it is up to you! You feed them. You heal the suffering children… You proclaim love and justice… You stand up to the bullies and tyrants… You heal, mend, and make gentle this bruised world. Jesus honors disciples through the ages, honors each one of us saying, “I’m going away—don’t wait for me to come down the mountain or wait for me or any other leader to return before you get to the work that is yours to do. You are made to reflect the life of God, to embody the love of God, to shine with the courage, peace, and hope of God just like me.” 

On this transfiguration Sunday, we see a “dazzling” Jesus on the top of the mountain. The word translated “dazzling” is the Greek exastraptó which means “to flash or gleam like lightning, be radiant.” And all the stories surrounding this mountaintop moment reveal to us a very important truth: Jesus isn’t the only one made to dazzle, to gleam like lightning, to shine. We who follow Jesus can try to make excus