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Up-to-the-minute jumping-off points for sermons, linking the reading to the latest news and global issues

 

Glory in troubled times

‘Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain?’ (Psalm 2:1)

Context

One of today’s lectionary psalms, Psalm 2, is clearly set in troubled times, so troubled that rulers are described as conspiring against God. They, and by extension we, are challenged to be wise and to serve the Lord with fear (vv.10-11).

We plainly live in troubled times. Over 40,000 people have died in Turkey and Syria in earthquakes even as living people continue to be found days later. War and earthquake are quite different things, yet they come together in northern Syria. Across the world, conflicts rage not just in Ukraine but in Myanmar, Somalia and many other places. In some western democracies people seem to be turning to simplistic nationalistic rhetoric. Israel has its most right-wing government ever; Italy, Hungary and Poland are led by people with similar underlying ideas. And in the USA Donald Trump and his former ambassador to the UN (Nikki Haley), two people whose policies seem virtually identical, are as yet the only declared candidates for the Presidential elections in 2024. And the Guardian reports on a hacking and disinformation team meddling in elections.

 

Ideas for sermons or interactive talks

Against the background of these troubled times, it can be easy to despair. What can we sensibly make of the vision of Jesus in glory revealed in today’s gospel passage? How is the Jesus revealed in glory on the mountain to just three of his disciples relevant in these times?

First, it is worth recalling that this was a vision. Jesus and his followers lived in an occupied country ruled by a military power just as brutal as today’s Russia or Myanmar. The event we call the transfiguration is  a special revelation. In Matthew’s version Jesus tells them ‘do not be afraid’ (v.7). And even this special event is not to be revealed to others until after the crucifixion. We should not confuse a vision with everyday experience or expect such revelations routinely. We each may have moments in our lives in which we have received special experiences of God. We should treasure them but we should not expect them to be regular occurrences. They are a ‘lamp shining in a dark place’ (2 Peter 1:19). Everyday reality has to be faced.

Second, as I write this (on Tuesday, 14 Feb) in glorious sunshine after a bike ride up one of the hills here in North Dorset, I reflect on the ways in which we use the word ‘glory’ and related words. Our war memorials frequently refer to the glorious dead, though I confess that I find it hard to think of my grandfather (who died on the western front in 1917) in such terms. Human glory, it seems, is often found in conflict.

Third, and even more apparent in Mark’s version of this story than Matthew’s, there is Peter’s inappropriate response. How might we have reacted had we been one of the three disciples whom Jesus took with him up the mountain? And how often do we, like Peter, respond inappropriately when aspects of God are revealed to us?

Finally, we who live in troubled times can take comfort from the Psalms. They encompass a huge range of human emotions. In a single Psalm we can find anger and awe, glory and dread, cursing and praise. While nations conspire and peoples plot (Psalm 2:1), despair is surely not an appropriate Christian response. For, as John Wesley is reported to have said on his death bed, ‘the best of all is that God is with us’.

 

Questions for discussion

• How should the disciples have responded to the vision of Jesus in glory?
• How should we respond when we see glimpses of God’s glory in our everyday lives?
• How should we respond to these troubled times?

Dudley Coates is a local preacher in the Yeovil and Blackmore Vale Methodist Circuit and a former Vice President of the Methodist Conference.

 

Check-in

Connecting faith with everyday, real-life issues for young people

Chocolate, roses or decapitation – what pops into your head when you think of St Valentine’s Day?

We don’t know much about St Valentine; he may have got into trouble secretly marrying persecuted Christians – there’s the legend that in prison he healed his jailor’s daughter’s blindness and sent her a note that simply read, ‘From your Valentine.’ However, one of things we’re most sure of is that he ended up with his head chopped off. Oddly enough, that doesn’t feature heavily in Valentine’s Day cards.

How did you feel about Valentine’s Day this week?

Whether you loved it or hated it, it’s fair to say that real love is more than just chocolates or stuffed teddy bears. Love, romantic or otherwise, is experienced through closeness, spending time with people, getting to know and take care of each other.

In Matthew 17, the disciples witnessed a real moment of closeness with God. They were high up a mountain when suddenly Jesus’ face shone and Moses and Elijah stood before them and God spoke, saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!’

This was a wondrous moment and at its centre was the idea of being loved.

Jesus walked closely with his heavenly father, knew that he loved him, and this gave him the strength to go to the cross. The disciples walked closely with Jesus, knew that he loved them, and this gave them the strength to go out into the world declaring that he was the Messiah. In the centuries that followed, this closeness with God has inspired Christians to live out their faith when it was difficult. For St Valentine his love for God was so deep, he was ready to lay down his life for it.

Let’s not settle for love that is just chocolate and flowers. Let’s embrace God’s love for us. A love that gives us courage and transforms us.

Chris Neilands is the co-founder of Play it by Ear drama company, based in Belfast.

 

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