As we move to the Second Sunday of Lent, we continue our series on Becoming a Resisting Church. This Sunday we focus on the Transfiguration of our Lord.
Transfiguration is part of our move away from the temptation of the world such as power, greed, and authoritarianism. It is a transfiguration into the type of people Jesus calls us to be. And Jesus calls us to be compassionate, caring, and helpful to those most in need.
Rev. Dietrich Bonhoeffer spoke about this in his writings about Life Together:
“God does not seek the most perfect human being with whom to be united but takes on human nature as it is. Jesus Christ is not the transfiguration of noble humanity but the Yes of God to real human beings, not the dispassionate Yes of a judge but [the] merciful Yes of a compassionate sufferer.”
Jesus seeks to make our world a more loving and compassionate place. He calls us to help the poor, homeless, immigrants, women, people of color, and those in the LGBTQIA community. He calls us to love rather than hate.
In a world that continues to slide toward more and more hateful rhetoric, we are called to show more and more love. We cannot love our neighbors and hate the immigrant, the poor, the women, the people of color, and the LGBTQIA in our midst.
Today is the day to make a change. Today is the day for transfiguration.
Will you be transformed, or will you continue to follow the world?
Pax et Bonum,
Bishop Greer