Halftime

Mark 9:2–9

Text Focus Sentence: Mark’s gospel presents the transfiguration as a preview of what would become apparent to Jesus’ followers after he rose from the dead. Confused disciples are given a vision of God’s glory manifest in the beloved Son.

Sermon Focus Sentence: Jesus knows what lies ahead and instructs his disciples to tell no one what they have seen until Jesus is resurrected.

Function Statement: God is calling us to the next chapter in our history as God’s beloved children.

“Halftime”

Questions for Reflection

God calls each of us to take up our cross and follow, what does that mean for you in your day to day life?
As a member or friend of First Presbyterian Church of Bethlehem what are you most proud of in our history?
How can we honor the rich history of First Presbyterian Church and move forward in the 21^st century?

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

Much of the hoopla surrounding the annual Super Bowl football game deals with the commercials that are aired during the super bowl
1. About a dozen years ago
  1. One particular ad for Chrysler was aired at halftime in the game and starred Clint Eastwood and the text is as follows
  2. It’s halftime.
  3. both teams are in their locker room discussing what they can do to win this game in the second half
  4. it’s halftime in America, too
  5. people are out of work and they’re hurting
  6. and they’re wondering what they’re going to do to make a comeback
  7. and we’re all scared
  8. because this isn’t a game.
  9. the people of Detroit know a little something about this
  10. they almost lost everything
  11. but we all pulled together, now the Motor City is fighting again
  12. I’ve seen a lot of tough eras
  13. a lot of downturns in my life
  14. and times when we didn’t understand each other
  15. it seems like we lost our heart at times
  16. when the fog of division, discord and blame made it hard to see what lies ahead
  17. but after those trials, we all rallied around what was right
  18. and acted as one
  19. because that’s what we do
  20. we find a way through tough times
  21. and if we can’t find a way, then we’ll make one
  22. all that matters now is what’s ahead
  23. How do we come from behind?
  24. How do we come together?
  25. And how do we win?
  26. Detroit’s showing us it can be done
  27. and, what’s true about them is true about all of us
  28. this country can’t be knocked out with one punch
  29. we get right back up again and when we do the world is going to hear the roar of our engines
  30. yeah, it’s halftime America
  31. and our second half is about to begin
2. Well, my dear sisters and brothers

A dozen years later and this ad seems just as current as it did in 2012

For FPC-Bethlehem you have endured a schism that broke the congregation apart
What lies ahead for our second half?
How have we picked up the mantle of those who founded FPC-Bethlehem?

And it is half time in the Gospel of Mark

The Transfiguration story which lies at the epicenter of the Gospel of Mark
1. Halfway between his baptism and his resurrection
2. A voice from heaven tells Peter and James and John to “Listen to him”

That is to believe that Jesus’ word, which Peter had disputed, that rejection, suffering, death and resurrection are integral to his messianic mission

And that the way of the cross is equally integral and inescapable for all who follow him
The transfiguration is an apocalyptic moment
Just as at Jesus’ baptism the heavens are torn open and the divine voice first names that Jesus is God’s beloved Son

Or when the “young man” announces to the women at the tomb that Jesus is risen
God enters the story to uncover what has been hidden from human perception or recognition

Mark locates the transfiguration within a section of the Gospel that weaves together teaching and healings focused on sight and blindness- especially the disciples’ own blindness and resistance to Jesus’ teaching concerning the cross that waits him in Jerusalem
Against this canvas of blindness and misunderstanding, the transfiguration dazzles the senses with images of unearthly white clothing, the presence of Elijah and Moses
And the overshadowing cloud that brings revelation

The whole scene is addressed to any disciple struggling to see, to hear, comprehend, and believe the gospel reality
The voice from heaven proclaims
This is my Son, the Beloved, listen to him

And so we find ourselves hear today

Struggling to determine what is next for our congregation
We’ve had a glorious first half
It wasn’t always easy
It wasn’t always smooth

We’ve been knocked down before

But we have always risen
Sure we are vulnerable now
But our vulnerability lies in God’s hands
Yes, there are challenges in front of us
Yes there are and will continue to be struggles
But these don’t make us weaker
Not at all
They point us to God
To depend on God’s mercy
And it is in God’s mercy that the true power lies
It is in God’s mercy that our second half begins
It is in God’s mercy that we will win
As Clint Eastwood said, this is much more than a game
1. but after those trials, we all rallied around what was right
2. and acted as one
3. because that’s what we do
4. we find a way through tough times
5. and if we can’t find a way, then we’ll make one
6. all that matters now is what’s ahead
what matters for us at First Presbyterian Church is listening to God
because it isn’t up to us alone
it is in the difficult times in our lives that God proves God’s faithfulness
as together we discover what lies ahead
as together we discover that to be strong in faith is to accept our vulnerability
to trust ourselves to the words of the prophets before us

and to Jesus Christ who chose not the way of power but the way of vulnerability and self-sacrificing love

to be a prophet today is to be immersed in the challenges confronting us as God’s people called into this community of faith
amid our difficulties and our struggles to throw ourselves to the mercy of the God of Elijah and Elisha
to the mercy of the God we know most fully in the beloved Son
and so to give voice to God’s vision for wholeness and life
both for us and through us for the world
and so we begin the second half
Amen

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