Transfiguration Sunday Church Action on Poverty Sunday – 11 February 2018 The Mission and Discipleship Council would like to thank Rev Sally Foster-Fulton, Head of Christian Aid Scotland, for her thoughts on Transfiguration Sunday and Church Action on Poverty Sunday. Please note that the views expressed in these materials are those of the individual writer and not necessarily the official view of the Church of Scotland, which can be laid down only by the General Assembly.

Contents

Introduction ................................................................................................... 2

2 Kings 2:1-12 ................................................................................................. 3

Psalm 50:1-6 .................................................................................................. 3

2 Corinthians 4:3-6 ......................................................................................... 4

Mark 9:2-9 ..................................................................................................... 5

Sermon ideas ................................................................................................. 7

Time with children ......................................................................................... 8

Prayers .......................................................................................................... 8

Musical suggestions ...................................................................................... 11

Introduction The texts for this Transfiguration Sunday give focus to God’s consistent cry to us for justice and Christ’s call to ‘come and bring that justice with me’, to speak up and act out against long-standing challenges that prevent all human beings from being and becoming – from the human flourishing for which we were created. The stories speak of the succession of believers who either take up the mantle handed them or don’t, who hear and see what God calls them to – or won’t. The lectionary texts are full of these allusions – references to a series of prophets and people, and we are called to join them. This is also Church Action on Poverty Sunday and a vital opportunity to do exactly that – challenge the structural injustices that keep people across our planet poor. Being prophetic takes boldness and bravery, because we (as individuals, as communities, as the church) need to look in the mirror at our own behaviours as much as point out the window at external causes. In these texts, and on this Church Action on Poverty/Transfiguration Sunday, prophetic and personal walk hand in hand. Leaders of worship for this Sunday may find statistics, though stark, important tools in unpacking the extent of the inequality people face globally. It is equally important, however, not to lose sight of our sisters and brothers – behind every statistic is a story, behind every number a name, love and dreams.

• 767 million people live below the international poverty line of $1.90 a day • 795 million people of the 7.3 billion people in the world, or one in nine, were

suffering from chronic undernourishment in 2014-2016. Almost all the hungry people, 780 million, live in developing countries.

• It is estimated that the world’s poorest countries are missing out on $160bn every year in money that is not being paid in tax.

• Since 2015, the richest 1% has owned more wealth than the rest of the planet. • Eight men now own the same amount of wealth as the poorest half of the world. • Over the next 20 years, 500 people will hand over $2.1 trillion to their heirs – a sum

larger than the GDP of India, a country of 1.3 billion people. • Seven out of 10 people live in a country that has seen a rise in inequality in the last 30

years. • Between 1988 and 2011 the incomes of the poorest 10 percent increased by just $65

per person, while the incomes of the richest 1 percent grew by $11,800 per person – 182 times as much.

• Today, there are 65 million refugees (1 in every 113 people globally). The vast majority (over 40 million) are internally displaced people, forced from their homes due to violent conflict or the effects of climate change. They remain within their own borders or spill over into neighbouring countries hard-pressed to cope.

2 Kings 2:1-12 This text marks the end of Elijah’s prophetic career and the ‘handing on’ of the mantle to Elisha. It is a story rich in imagery, the travel from Gilgal, to Bethel, to Jericho and finally to the Jordan only making sense when recognised as a symbolic retracing of the steps taken by Joshua into the Promised Land. Gilgal and the Jordan are only meters apart, so the reason for the journey is to herald the changing of the guard. When Elijah strikes the water with his mantle, it evokes images of Moses parting the Red Sea and Joshua (Joshua 3) fording the same River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant. In all of this, Elisha steadfastly refuses to leave Elijah’s side, but walks the journey with him. When they cross the Jordan and Elijah asks what he can offer Elisha, Elisha asks for ‘a double portion of his spirit’. This is a request to follow in his prophetic footsteps, to take on the role he has watched and learned from Elijah. We hear echoes of others who have asked wisely – Solomon’s request for wisdom as he leads is heard in Elisha’s request for the ‘spirit of Elijah’. When, in the story, Elijah is taken into Heaven, we have a very different end to this retracing of steps. They have walked backwards towards Egypt, but instead of a return to oppression and slavery, Elijah is freed and Elisha picks up the mantle – one that will work for the freedom and flourishing of the people. Questions to consider: Do we show that same solidarity, that same determination to be alongside? Does the mantle we pick up (justice, equality, compassion – love) lead to freedom and flourishing for all people?

Psalm 50:1-6 The lectionary for today focuses on only a portion of this psalm, but for it to resonate deeply, we need to understand it holistically and I would challenge the preacher to consider the entire psalm. God, in this song, is described as constantly calling to the created order of which we are a part, is active in every corner of existence, can be experienced, as defined by the psalmist, in the perfection of Zion and in the chaos and challenges expressed as ‘fire and tempest’. God calls ‘to the heavens above and to the earth’ so God can judge equitably. And there is evidence-gathering – what is God seeing and hearing about how the love and vision of the Divine creation has been cherished? What does the life of the earth tell God about how human beings are being to each other and to the planet? Those who made covenant with

God, through a sacrifice of self for the sake of being community, are asked to gather and listen. When God speaks throughout the rest of Psalm 50, it is with a sense of ownership of the Earth and the people – Verse 7 says ‘Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God.’ And it is not for lack of bringing token sacrifices that God calls them to answer, but their lack of love for each other, their broken relationships and the absence of a gratitude for life that leads them to compassion. In this challenging psalm, those who are not willing to live out God’s justice are told not to speak God’s words. Verse 16 says, ‘what right have you to recite my statutes, or take my covenant on your lips?’ It must live in our hearts and be lived out through our actions if we are to be part of the transfiguring of ourselves and the world. The transfiguration of Jesus; that ‘aha’ moment we will discuss in the story found in our gospel reading, resonates here – God ‘shines forth’ in Zion when the people are faithful to God’s call for just relationships with each other. Like the succession of Elisha from Elijah, we take our place by walking faithfully with each other.

2 Corinthians 4:3-6 Will our lives reflect the image of God or the image of something else that has usurped God’s central position? – that is the question being posed here. Our passage makes a striking contrast between the little ‘g’ ‘god of this world’ and the big ‘G’ God who brings light. This is a profound and provocative image for Church Action on Poverty Sunday. Inequality, fueled by an imbalance of economic, social and political power, pulls humanity apart. For those who struggle daily under the structural injustice of poverty (those systems in place that benefit the few who have over the many who have not) and those who suffer from ‘Affluenza’ (the epidemic overwhelming our ‘developed’ world, where people have so much stuff; yet, remain miserable - assuming their unhappiness stems from not having quite enough stuff, they pour more and more things into this deep gaping hole in their souls, but it won’t fill because what they crave is connection, not things.) both suffer – the poor are devastated and the very humanity of those who have is diminished, as they become consumed by their consumerism. The ‘little god’ blinds those who are slaves to its cause, and the vision of justice, compassion, equality and love is veiled to them and denied to those they mistreat. The question echoes in this passage – who is more blind than the one who cannot see the suffering of her or his neighbour and respond? Christ comes to free us all from the bonds of inequality.

In Christ, we see, we learn, we experience the vision and will of God, and today offers an important opportunity to bring to light other images and stories of Jesus.

• The ‘Nazareth Manifesto’ (Luke 4:16-21), where Jesus sets out his stall, saying ‘I have come to bring good news (gospel) to the poor, release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind – to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’

• The Beatitudes (Luke 6:20-26 and Matthew 5:1-12) Jesus laying out his stall – in the world we can create together, he says, the poor, those who mourn, those who are fragile and frightened and forgotten, are brought to the centre and considered first. This is a very different message and one that can set us free.

• The parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46) reminds us that we are faced with Christ when we encounter injustice- how will we respond?

• The parable of the rich young ruler (Matthew 19:16–30, Mark 10:17–31, Luke 18:18–30) who ‘went away grieving’ when faced with the choice between possessions and people.

The preacher can build on these images to shine a light on the darkness of poverty. Again, this text calls the hearer to follow in the footsteps of others who have been servants for Jesus’ sake. Finally, the light imagery resonates with the transfiguration story in Mark – light and the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. We, as his body, are called to embody and reflect that light – not the ‘little g’ god of consumerism, but the ‘big G’ God of compassion and justice.

Mark 9:2-9 Where to begin! This is a rich text, full of powerful symbolism. The story has Jesus speaking with Moses and Elijah, two figures chosen for their preeminence - Moses representing the Law, and Elijah, the prophets. In our tradition, these two characters place Jesus on a high level indeed and when God’s voice from heaven says, ‘This is my son, the Beloved: listen to him’, there is a realigning of influence. The heralding of a new order in the story of Jesus’ baptism has come to fruition as ‘with whom I’m well-pleased’ becomes ‘listen to him’. If there is a doubt about which voice, which direction, we are to listen to Him. When you are in doubt about what your faith is calling you to do – remember the love, the forgiveness, the healing and teaching and feeding – follow him. When you are called to discern between what you need and what you want – when you’re

tempted to judge success by pound signs, remember the story of the camel and the eye of the needle, listen to his voice as he says “if you do it to the least of these, you do it for me”, go back and sit at his feet and hear again “blessed are the poor” – get behind him and follow where he leads. When you are tempted to use your faith to prove that you are right and others are therefore wrong, remember his words about 'judge not’ - when the desire is for righteous revenge, remember him blessing the peacemakers and forgiving seven times seventy. When the temptation is to confuse rules and cultural norms for God-given limits and commands, remember the healings on the Sabbath, the touching of lepers, the Good Samaritan and the Syrophoenician woman – listen to him, follow him back down that mountain and along his path – breaking down barriers, building bridges and making his kingdom come. For Church Action on Poverty Sunday, this is another strong idea to conjure with – In 9:5, Peter says, ‘Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ There is a desire to stay on the mountaintop, above the clamor and the chaos – to remain where the vision was pure and clean. But that is not to be - staying on the mountaintop is not the call of Jesus, and they go back down. As they go back down (9:9), Jesus ‘ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen’. Echoing words from Psalm 50 - there can be no telling without doing. What they needed to be about was showing people what they had seen by living differently, doing justice, loving mercy – being the body of Christ - a strong challenge on Church Action on Poverty Sunday - Don’t tell them. Show them! Another rich question to consider is what ‘transfigured’ means for us? It is from the Greek, metamorpho – to change, evolve or become (tadpoles to frogs, caterpillars to butterflies). And it is important to unpack what it doesn’t mean as much as what it does. It doesn’t mean that Jesus became something he wasn’t already; his substance didn’t change – Instead, it was an ‘aha’ moment when the disciples saw him as he truly was, in his complete state. What if we sought to be part of transfiguring – walking with and nurturing the beauty that is already in every human being, but stifled and kept down through poverty, oppression, prejudice, fear, greed, privilege? Is this image about transforming, turning someone into something they aren’t, transforming the world into something it’s not - or is it more about transfiguring –recognizing the full glory of God, unveiled in every life and working to release it.

Sermon ideas Journey - There is an opportunity in these passages to highlight the line of succession we are called to be part of by focusing on the image of journey: the story of Elijah and Elisha retracing the steps walked by the children of Israel, reminding Elisha of the hard-learned lessons before handing the mantle and the mandate to him. In the Gospel story, Jesus and the disciples go up to a mountaintop, but are called back into a world that needs them there, fully engaged in bringing the justice and love they witnessed to life. This poem, by theologian Walter Brueggemann, brings to life the need to embrace our call to be the body of Christ. "You, majestic sovereign…move off the page! Move off the page to the world, move off the page to the trouble, move out of your paged leisure to the turmoil of your creatures. Move to the peace negotiations, and cancer diagnoses, and burning churches, and lynched blacks, and abused children. Listen to the groans and moans, and see and hear and know and remember, and come down!" Blindness and sight– Another theme in these passages is blindness and sight. What keeps us from seeing each other, what veils our sight, narrows our minds, hardens our hearts? What keeps us from seeing Jesus for who he really is – a transfiguring figure for the world? What keeps us from being part of that radical call to justice? In 2 Kings, Elisha will be given the double portion of Elijah’s spirit if he ‘sees’ him being taken from him – sees and understands and embraces the challenges, sees and understands and embraces the lessons left for him. What are the challenges we need to see, understand, embrace? The veil or light imagery in 2nd Corinthians builds on this and we are asked to examine whether there are things – money, power, fear – that have usurped God’s place and put the gospel (and connection with our sisters and brothers) in shadow. The story of the transfiguration speaks of that ‘aha’ moment when the veil is lifted and the disciples see exactly who Jesus is and what he stands and walks for. They, like us, are called down the mountain to live the light. These texts are powerful stories for Church Action on Poverty Sunday. Don’t shy away from their edginess, but lean into the possibilities for transfiguration!

Time with children Privilege Walk – Have children/mixed group stand at a start-line. Have each one choose a sealed envelope from a bag or box. Inside are answers to questions they will all be asked to answer, based on a person they will represent. Below are examples of possible questions:

• If you have never gone a day without food or water, please take one step forward. • If you go to school, please take a step forward. • If there is a computer in your home, please take a step forward. • If your family has ever left your homeland or entered another country not of your

own free will, take a step back. • If you have an invisible illness or disability, take a step back. • If you have ever had to skip a meal or were hungry because there was to enough

money to buy food, take a step back. • If you have ever tried to change your appearance, mannerisms, or behavior to fit in

more, take one step back. • If you can go to the doctor whenever you are unwell, take a step forward. • If one or both of your parents is employed, take a step forward.

Read statements aloud, asking that participants take one step forward or backwards depending on their answer. There are many examples on the internet to provide guidelines and ideas for appropriate questions. This exercise offers an opportunity to discuss the privileges we often take for granted – enough food, clean water, education. There are injustices that mean many people in our world do not have a fair opportunity. How can we be part of finding solutions?

Prayers Calls to Worship Funny thing about perspectives: you have to move to see a different one. If you don’t climb the mountain, you can’t view the plain. Brand new, blank sheet, clean slate, twinkle-in-the- eye-idea not yet formed. A new day is dawning, but it will be informed and impacted by your yesterday. As you gaze over the vista that stretches before you, remember the steps that brought you here. As the light plays on the horizons of new insight, revisit the paths that have led you, the voices that have called

you, the hands you’ve held. Carry them on, not as a burden to bear, but as guardians to guide you. Step on into your new-day-dawning. Prayers *God of light and love, forgive us when we simply do not believe in Your better world enough to invest ourselves in it, when we are so afraid of the dark that we hide under cover rather than venture towards the light. Forgive us when we do not shelter each other, but leave the most fragile to fend for themselves. God of all, including what is yet to be, give us courage to use our gifts for Your good. If we do that, the best is yet to come, so come and change us. *When our spirits are lifted high and our world is dazzling white, brimming with newness and potential – Christ who inspires, You are here to transfigure us. When our spirits are weighed down and our world is heavy with failure and confusion, Christ who inspires, You are here to transfigure us. It is in the “here” that we find promise and potential, comfort and call. Christ of all, forgive us when we’d rather be transported out of hard times, when we’d rather be transferred to a calling more suited to our taste. When we are transfixed by things, turn us round and introduce us to each other again. Christ of all, You are here to transfigure us, to bring us together as Your body and send us out to love the world back to life. Repentance means to turn around and do things differently. On this Church Action on Poverty Sunday, challenge everything we do that impoverishes others and diminishes our common humanity.

Turn us round, God, and set us straight. *Fold us together God, edges to the inside, corners to the centre – like dough that needs kneaded, work with us. Fold us together God, this world is full of corners where people get trapped … pockets of poverty and prejudice, fragments on one side where fear festers while on the other, the choicest ingredients are clustered and all has become sickeningly rich. Fold us together God, for only when we bring the edges to the inside and the corners to the centre, can we be the bread of heaven. Forgive us when we resist Your desire to mix us well, when we are so content with keeping to our kind that we are unkind to the stranger, when we are so busy minding our business that we shut others down, when we walk by where people sit who need a hand up or just someone to slow down enough to notice them. One God, who calls us to be one body, forgive us when we forget each other and forge ahead. * “Am I disturbing you?” that’s what you say to us, God … and then you ask us to move over, or pass some of what we have on down the line. “Am I disturbing you?” you say as you clear your throat and gently inquire whether we intend to speak up or not; whether we intend to step up or not. That’s the way it is with You – and on a good day, we’re thankful for the push. Keep on disturbing us God. When we are tempted to plod on towards the same old things – when the false gods of money, success, comfort become the goals; throw our routines out of kilter. Keep on disturbing us God. The world needs some shaking up – violence has become common-place and doesn’t even have the power to shock us into sense. Sometimes we even see it as sensible – how frightening! Images of hunger and poverty move us, but only for a moment.

We sigh wistfully, nod sagely and go back to sleep - how sad! If apathy has become a habit, help us break it. We pray that when we hear Your call to love, we will take it seriously, turn around and embrace the change. We pray that we will not just say our prayers, but live them. We pray that we will work for peace like people who believe it’s possible. “Am I disturbing you?” You say. Please do, God. Amen.

Musical suggestions

Transfiguration • CH4 355 – “You, Lord are both lamb and shepherd” – This hymn expresses the

fulfilment of the Christ in the life of Jesus

• CH4 353 – “Bright the cloud and bright the glory” – This hymn works well with the theme of change in us for the sake of the world. The final verse, ‘Lead us, Christ, to prize compassion more than riches or renown’, also works well for Church Action on Poverty Sunday Church Action on Poverty Sunday

• CH4 360 – “Jesus Christ is waiting” – By asking the singer to see Jesus in others and in ourselves, by calling the singer to join Jesus where he is, this hymn is a solid compliment to the lectionary

• CH4 533 – “Will you come and follow me” – This song genuinely asks if you will join the call of Jesus to come and work for justice, so it works well with the theme of journeying with those who live on the sharp end of poverty, not imposing an answer but walking and working in solidarity

• CH4 253 – “Inspired by love and anger” – The 2nd Corinthians concepts of ‘blindness’, of veiled understanding born of a narrow, entrenched perspective, are explored well in this hymn

• CH4 291 – “When out of poverty is born” – Although traditionally an Advent hymn, this song is a powerful way to explore the agency and strength of those who struggle with poverty and the struggle those trapped under the oppression of financial wealth have to find spiritual food

• CH4 258 – “When the hungry who have nothing share with strangers” – A beautiful

expression of God’s vision of justice and right relationship

• CH4 685 – “For everyone born, a place at the table” – the refrain ‘God will delight when we are creators of justice and joy’ encapsulates the challenge for this Sunday – how can we be part of the change we want/God wants to see With children

• CH4 359 – “He came down that we may have love” – This hymn offers a straightforward way to sing about the mission of Jesus. It works really well to have one person call and the congregation respond

• CH4 771 – “If you believe and I believe” – This is a challenge and affirmation that the

work of God’s justice is work for us to do, not watch being done

• CH4 116 – “Loving Creator” – Although these are mature lyrics, they are the kind that are absorbed and understood at different levels