Passing the mantle, commissioned to serve
March 2, 2025 Transfiguration
Lighting of the Christ Candle
Welcome and Announcements
Call to Worship
Lord, you have called us to the mountaintop.
Help us to look forward to where you would have us go.
Help us to listen carefully to the words of your healing love.
Open our hearts and spirits to receive your glorious directions.
Place your trust in the Lord in all your ways.
Lord, we have come here to give our lives to you.
Hymn: 350 To God be the glory
Prayer of Approach
God, we come to the mountaintop to be covered in your presence. We are comforted by your holiness and your glow; we are comforted by the hope of the mountain top, where you are so close, so accessible, where there is no doubt of your glory
The mountain top reminds us why we worship you. We witness your bright power, and your plan for the nations of the earth.
As we prepare for worship, God bring us to the mountain top; bring us to the mountain top so that we may be inspired to do your work in the valley below.
We make ourselves available for you as servants, as we pause to confess our sins and renew our focus on those things you call us to be and to do….
Prayer of Confession:
God of mountaintops, the din of the world can harden our hearts to your Word. Our faith is placed in those who fail us, our trust is given to those who misplace it. Our misplaced trust leads to disappointment, and draws us away from you.
Forgive us, Revealer of Mystery. You offer mercy to us, so we might hear your call to discipleship. You whisper our names, so we might know how loved we are. Caught by the surprise of your never-ending joy in us, we vow to follow our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, onto the mountaintops of worship and into the valleys of sacrifice and service! Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
On mountaintops and in valleys, in our
homes and in our hearts, God knows us
better than we know ourselves, and God
forgives us when we cannot forgive ourselves.
Therefore let us live believing that by God’s mercy, we are forgiven; and that by God’s mercy, we are made whole. Then with confidence in God’s mercy let us go forth equipped to serve others.
Passing the Peace
Hymn: 376 Shine Jesus shine
Scripture:
Responsive Psalm 99 p 936
Luke 9: 28-34 p 1608
Sermon: Passing the mantle, commissioned to serve
Today we encounter the revelation of God in the mountain top experience of Jesus, Moses and Elijah. Like all mountain top experiences those who are involved encounter the living God and then, when they are strengthened by the experience, are sent out as servants.
In Scripture we see this same pattern in the mountain top experiences of Moses and Elijah.
Moses encountered God late one night while tending sheep for his father-in-law. Alone on the mountain with the sheep, he became aware of a bush that was burning, and just kept burning. He came closer to explore this event, and from the bush, God spoke to him, saying, “Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, because you are standing on holy ground. 6 I am the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Exodus 3: 5-6 NIV
Hearing this Moses covered his face, because he was afraid to face God. He was aware of his sins, and his shortcomings. All that came flooding into his mind as he wondered why God was speaking to him.
What followed was a long discourse as God sought to reassure Moses, and then gave him the commission to go back into Egypt and free his people from Pharoah. It took a lot of reassuring, but Moses agreed, left the mountain and returned to Egypt.
Later, as he led the people through the desert, he had many other moments when he went up the mountain to talk with God, to be reassured in his calling to serve the people, and then reluctantly descended to lead the people once again.
For him, those mountain top experiences gave him the reassurance of God, revealed God’s will and grace, and impelled him to continue with the work with which God had tasked him.
Elijah had that similar experience in his encounter with God on the mountain. Exhausted from his battle with the priests of Baal he retreats into the wilderness determined to die. An angel revives him, feeds him and sends him to the mountain. There he hides in a cave. The word of God came to him, asking, Elijah why are you here?” 1 Kings 19: 9 NIV
God then advises Elijah to go stand on the mountain side and God passes by in a wind, an earthquake and the fire; but God’s voice was not in them. Then, in the silence, Elijah hears a still small voice, asking again why Elijah was there.
After listing his complaints before God, God simply reminds him of his calling and sends him forth to “Go back on the road that leads to the desert around Damascus. Enter that city, and pour olive oil on Hazael to make him king over Aram. 16 Then pour oil on Jehu son of Nimshi to make him king over Israel. Next, pour oil on Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to make him a prophet in your place.” 1 Kings: 19: 15-16 NIV
Both Moses and Elijah encountered God on the mountain, where refreshed and renewed in God’s presence they are sent forth to be God’s servants in the world.
Those encounters gave them a mission to be the one who removed their people from oppression and led them into a life with God.
It is no wonder, then, that they appear on this mountain top with Jesus.
It was an act that was symbolic for those who were there to observe. Jesus in the company of two of the greatest leaders in the history of the people of God. Moses who led the people out of slavery and Elijah who at the end was simply caught up and transported from the earth.
The mission of Jesus displayed in this visit is clear. He is to be the salvation of the people, and he is to provide for the people to be transported from this life and into God’s presence at their death.
However as much as Moses and Elijah point to the calling of Jesus, that calling was never in doubt for Jesus.
The other Gospels point out that in the days before this mountain top experience Jesus had been telling his disciples over and over again that he was called to go to Jerusalem and die. He and Peter often had words about it and Peter was told to stop behaving like Satan.
But in Luke we see a different time-line in the narrative. Just before this mountain top experience, Jesus asks the disciples who they say that he is. Peter’s response is given to him by the revelation of God, and he blurts out, “God’s Messiah”. Luke 9: 20 NIV
Then, Jesus predicts that he must go to Jerusalem to suffer, be rejected and die. Immediately on the heels of that announcement Jesus says to them, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9: 23 NIV
So we can see that Jesus was clear about his calling. This mountain top experience was not to realign him and restore and revitalize him. This experience was for the others.
We often overlook this fact, as we experience the wonder and awe of Peter, James and John. Peter impulsively wants to act to hold onto this moment, and stay there in the company of Jesus, Moses and Elijah. But what this gathering is meant to be is merely the prelude to the main event.
Mountain top experiences are where God’s people encounter God, and at this point in the experience God was not yet present. Well of course he was present, he just had not yet revealed his presence to those for whom this experience was to be extended.
As soon as Peter speaks, Moses and Elijah leave, and a cloud descends over the mountain and Peter and James and John were afraid.
I think that fear and reluctance are always predominate emotions when we stand on the precipice of what God is calling forth from us. We saw it in Moses, and we saw it in Elijah. This calling is a big deal. There is so much that depends on how we fulfill our calling.
There are people who need to hear the good news.
There are people who need to be comforted by God’s grace.
There are people who are waiting for the justice that only God’s servants can bring to them.
This list of ways in which God’s people can alter lives, and the world, and bring all of it closer to God’s mercy is endless. And that is our job.
And that is the point of the Transfiguration account.
It wasn’t for Jesus. Jesus knew what he was called to do. It was for Peter, James and John.
As the cloud descends, God proclaims what the disciples are called to do. “A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” ‘ Luke 9: 35.
We didn’t hear that in the reading from Luke this morning. Why do you suppose that was?
We need to hear that message in a different context. Peter, James and John are not the only ones on the mountain watching. They are not the only ones being confronted by their calling.
We are there as well. We stand on the mountain, and we observe what happened and we hear the voice of God. This may not be an actual physical encounter for us, but in a profound spiritual sense we are there, and the message is for us.
That is true of all scripture. When we read it, we enter into that experience, and the message that we encounter is for us.
So, today we are on the mountain top and we hear the voice of God. We receive the message. We are given our calling.
“This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.”
What exactly are we supposed to listen for?
Simply this: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9: 23 NIV
The mantle has been passed to us. Let us pick it up and go forth in the name of Jesus, to flood the earth and the people with the grace of God flowing through us.
Amen.
Hymn: 363 All hail the power of Jesus name
Offering and Doxology 830
Offertory Prayer
Lord Jesus, preaching good tidings to the people, proclaiming release to captives, setting at liberty those who are bound:
We adore you. May the offering we bring you this day be a part of this mission to your world.
Lord Jesus, friend of the outcast and the poor, feeder of the hungry, healer of the sick: We adore you. May the offering we bring you this day be a part of this mission to your world.
Almighty and loving God, you loved the world so much that you gave your only Son to be our Saviour. Yet by your grace we have beheld his glory, such glory as befits the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth. May the offering we bring you this day be a part of this mission to your world and remind us to be your servants. Amen.
Gathering Prayer Requests
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession
It is a strange time of year, O God. We linger between the seasons of Epiphany and Lent. We are between the joy of your appearing and the horror of your undoing at the hands of those who would not or could not embrace your way of life.
Perhaps we – like Peter, James, and John – wait for your appearing in dazzling light and unmistakable clarity: We are in need of a glimpse of Jesus who is the way through the mix and mess of this life.
Having glimpsed Jesus, we turn our hearts to the prayers that this world needs at this time. Your planet is fragile and so is the life that claims it as home. So we pray for the earth:
Floods that devastate, earthquakes that rock our foundations and gales that blow and disturb the peace you bring. For all those places where devastation is happening, we pray for your mercy, your hand of grace and your healing touch so that the earth and all people affected may know a return to peaceful life.
So we pray with joy for the ways we know you intervene to make our peaceful world and peaceful lives …
Thank you for Ron’s successful surgery and continued healing
Thank you that TT is home again
We pray with love for those for whom come to our minds and hearts….
The woman who this week was injured by a car coming through the window at the clinic. For the doctors, staff of the clinic who were affected, and for the rebuilding they will need to arrange before they can again bring services to their patients.
We pray for the people of the world whose names we will never know,
President Zelenski and the people of the Ukraine. May they continue to be strong in the face of adversity, and please bring an end to the war that respects the sovereignty and democracy of the Ukrainian government.
Prayer for democracy: that democratic nations be empowered and grow stronger as they serve the people that they are called to serve.
Canada: That we remain a strong nation and translate that strength into providing justice and mercy for all.
We pray for ourselves and the community of this congregation.
We are in need of a glimpse of Jesus who is the life; inviting us to follow in his footsteps as he trod the way of love and justice, inviting us to follow him in prayer as he lived out his faith and made You known. Make yourself known to us as we meet this afternoon, and plan for the ways we will serve you in the coming year.
Draw us to the rhythm of Lent as it unfolds in our midst;
a sacred invitation to explore the corners of our soul.
Help us to see our journey as a place of your appearing –
that like Peter, James, and John we may come down from the mountain and set one foot in front of the other in your name and for your sake. Saying as Jesus taught us, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, for ever. Amen
Hymn: 371 Love Divine all loves excelling
Benediction
Go now, and speak of what you have seen of God’s glory.
Do not cling to the holy moments when heaven overshadows you,
but as the Lord lives, listen to Christ and follow him from the places of revelation to the places of mission.
And may God shine the light of glory into your hearts.
May Christ be with you and never leave you.
And may the Spirit renew the image of God within you.
go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
Blessing Song: 445 Open our eyes Lord
Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus
To reach out and touch him, and say that we love him. Open our ears Lord ad help us to listen
Open our eyes Lord, we want to see Jesus
1976, PCC
3-Fold Amen