2 Kings 2:1-12 and Mark 9:2-9
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| Photo by Geoff Scott on Unsplash |
This past week, the NFL’s 2018 season ended with the Philadelphia Eagle’s historic Super Bowl victory.
It was historic in many ways.
It was the Eagle’s first ever Super Bowl Victory against the Patriots who were favored to win by a four and a half point spread!
Tom Brady broke the record for yards passed in a Super Bowl, which only made the Eagle’s victory seem that much more improbable!
He also broke the record for most passes in a career, most completions in a career, most passing yards in a career, most touchdown passes in a career, and the most passes in a Super Bowl completed without a single interception!
All in all, if you looked at the numbers alone, it is hard to tell how the Eagles came out victorious!
On top of that, the Eagles were starting their benchwarmer, Nick Foles.
Their number two quarterback, who almost quit a mere 18 months ago before being signed on with the Eagles to hold Carson Wentz’s helmet.
Now, I haven’t watched much football since coming to St Michael, but I used to enjoy it a lot.
I even organized my own fantasy football league for a few years.
So when I heard that Nick Foles was the starting quarterback, I was surprised.
After all, the last time I saw him play he was a hot and cold quarterback who lacked consistency from game to game.
He was the goofiest looking guy I had ever seen in the NFL, too!
He looked like a cross between Napolean Dynamite and Shaggy from Scooby Doo!
But I felt for the guy, because yes he was an underdog but he was also the backup, the number two guy, who, I’m not so sure had signed up to be the starting quarterback for the biggest game in the NFL, against the biggest team, with the most dominant quarterback in the league.
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| Departure of the prophet Elijah and Elisha, Eastern Orthodox icon 17th Century PD |
The starter in our first lesson today is pretty obvious; Elijah.
He holds the record for taking on four hundred fifty prophets of Baal.
He has stood up to King Ahaz and Queen Jezebel, who had not only threatened him with death but they had instituted pagan worship in Israel and condemned the worship of Israel’s God.
Elijah had been the conduit for many miracles that God had instituted through him, drawing Israel back to God, and returning them to their true faith.
He had helped to overthrow King Ahaz and Jezebel, when the odds were stacked against him.
And as Elijah grew more accomplished, his bandwagon got a little bigger.
At least big enough for a company of prophets.
And as he makes his way from Gilgal, Elijah tells his backup, the number two, Elisha; “I’ll take it from here.”
Elisha’s response usually gets a little bit glanced over for a number of reasons, not least of which is that…. well…
He’s just the backup!
But Elisha’s response to Elijah is revealing, first stating his own faith in God, and then his devotion to the mission the two of them share.
“As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not abandon you, Elijah.”
Elisha repeats this phrase three times throughout our first lesson today, each time in response to Elijah’s command to stay where he is.
The number of prophets with them fluctuates, but Elisha follows his team’s starter from beginning to end.
It could be seen as a selfish quest to take up the mantle of Elijah, but after all Elisha has seen him go through, I doubt it looked like a job that he wanted.
In fact, this isn’t really a story about inheriting Elijah’s mantle at all. It is a story of devotion to the man who is Elisha’s teacher and devotion to the mission that they share.
Elijah’s double share and his mantle is passed on to Elisha, but Elisha is left alone to know that Elijah’s no longer the starter; Elisha is.
But this isn’t what causes Elisha to cry out in grief, tearing his clothes in mourning.
It is that he has been separated from the man he followed and loved, the man who had given him a fuller understanding of God.
And although we usually see Elijah portrayed as riding on that chariot into the heavens, the purpose of the chariot is that it separates the two, showing us the depth of the relationship shared between the Elijah and his disciple,
Teacher and student,
A disciple who must now fill the teacher’s shoes.
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| 16th Century Icon by Unknown artist, PD |
It's not always a position we like to have popped on us, being pulled off the bench.
I wrestled for a little bit in high school.
I wasn’t really good and to be honest, I only participated because I liked to workout at the practices.
To be honest, I was awful.
I attended a match in Greenville, PA once where I wasn’t supposed to even wrestle.
I just attended as a member of the team to show my support, but when I got there I found out the guy that wrestled in my weight class was not there and I would be taking his place.
My teammates and my coach kept telling me it was no big deal, I’d be fine, do my best, etc.
I went out on the mat and I sprawled around on either my face or my back for the entire 6 minutes of that three 2 minute period match.
When the match was over and I was walking off the mat, I was shocked to hear clapping and cheering with my name.
I looked up at the scoreboard which read 14-1 in favor of my opponent.
(I got a point when he put me in a headlock.)
Confused and disoriented, I asked why everyone was cheering.
“You didn’t get pinned and he only scored 14 points!” they advised as they all patted me on the back and cheered for me.
“Why is that good?” I asked.
“He was the state champion last year!,” they replied.
One of the comforting things about being the number two, the sidekick, the benchwarmer, is that you can watch from the sidelines.
You can avoid the criticisms of others. You can also “Monday morning quarterback” as they say, giving unsolicited advice which is rarely helpful but usually makes us feel pretty important.
But one thing about being called up to number 1 from number 2 is that when that call is from God, it's usually not a call we are seeking, especially when it involves our call as disciples.
It is also pretty scary when we don’t know what we may be up against, what we are prepared to face, after all life can throw a lot bigger challenges at us than Tom Brady or a 135 pound state champion.
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| Alexandr Ivanov, Transfiguration 1824 PD |
The Gospel lesson for today tells a similar story.
A teacher takes three of his students up onto an unknown mountain, where the greatness of that teacher is fully revealed to them.
Not because Jesus made it so, but because God the Father changes Jesus before their very eyes.
It's a strange story but it is central to this day, the Transfiguration of our Lord.
It holds an important place in Mark’s Gospel and in our church calendar.
Today is the last Sunday of our Epiphany season. It is also a turning point in our church calendar as we begin Lent this week with Ash Wednesday.
Because from this point forward, Jesus comes down off this mountain, heading straight to Jerusalem where he will be arrested, tried, convicted, and executed upon the cross.
We have reached the very climax of Mark’s Gospel, and it is quite literally all downhill from here.
Jesus is about to begin the final leg of his mission. It is one of the reasons he has climbed this mountain.
His plan is confirmed by God’s revelation through him and by both Moses and Elijah.
His plan is to march towards his own death, in order to reveal once and for all that death is no longer to be feared.
But there is also a painful irony in this episode for his followers, especially Peter.
Jesus is transfigured by God the Father in order to reveal the value and beauty of what is going to be humiliated and executed in the most shocking and disgraceful of ways.
They cannot fully know the tragedy of what lies ahead until they, and we too, see the beauty of what is sacrificed, not to God but to us.
It is revealed to Peter, James, and John and it is so glorious that they don’t even want to leave!
The glory dissipates as soon as they begin making their way down, leaving behind the full glory of a messiah that could change the world with relative ease, without a cross, if everyone could just see what Peter, James, and John have seen.
But this is not to be so, and what is worse is that they are not only marching towards Jesus’ death but when they get to Jerusalem, they’re going to be called off the bench.
And they aren’t going to be winning any trophies based on the performance that lies ahead when they abandon him and deny him at the foot of the cross.
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I’m fairly sure that none of us want to hear it or think about it, but in our baptisms we are all called off the bench.
We can claim that it is someone else’s job or hide behind the gatorade jug all we want, but at some point we are called off the bench to follow Christ.
It doesn’t mean we break records or we go home with a trophy based on our performance, because much like Peter, we really don’t have that much to offer.
But God doesn’t work through the MVP’s of this world,
Because that would only show that God can pick a good team based on our own merits.
God uses the benchwarmers because it shows that God can EVEN use us.
Amen
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| Novgorod school, 15th Century PD |
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