1Six
days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led
them up a high mountain, by themselves. 2And
he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his
clothes became dazzling white. 3Suddenly
there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4Then Peter said to Jesus,
"Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three
dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 5While he was still speaking,
suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said,
"This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to
him!" 6When the disciples
heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. 7But Jesus came and touched them,
saying, "Get up and do not be afraid." 8And when they looked up, they saw
no one except Jesus himself alone.
9As they were coming down the
mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Tell no one about the vision until after
the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."
REFLECTION | God Transforms Us Into the Body of Christ
On the Day of
Transfiguration, God transformed the Body of Christ in the presence of his disciples. Jesus' time with his disciples was running
out. He had begun to prepare them,
telling him that he must go to Jerusalem and there undergo great
suffering. Jesus foreshadowed his own fate
and challenged his disciples with his words: "If any want to become my followers,
let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will
lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it" (Matthew 16:24-25). And just a few days after he said these
things, Jesus took Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high
mountain, by themselves.
At the top of the
mountain, God transformed the Body of Christ.
Jesus was transformed--transfigured--before the disciples. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes
became dazzling white" (17:1-2). On
the Mount of Transfiguration, the disciples got a glimpse of the glory of the
Lord Jesus. On the Day of Transfiguration, God transformed the Body of Christ.
On this Day of Transfiguration, our
congregations welcome to the Table five of our young people: Emily, Andrew,
Julia, Chase, and Kolin. For the past
month, we have met to learn about the Sacrament we receive today.
At our first Gathering a few weeks ago, we learned that
for Lutherans, a sacrament is three things.
It is
1) something we do because Jesus commands
it ("Do this...")
2) something God does because Jesus
promises it ("For the forgiveness of sins...") 3) something with "stuff," something you can see or touch or taste or smell (Bread and wine).
As we continued to meet, we heard the Word, how Jesus shared his Last Supper
with his disciples, how he took the bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to
his disciples to take and eat.
We prepared to
receive the Meal by baking the bread
we use today for communion. We mixed
together wheat flour and oatmeal, sugar and salt, baking soda and
buttermilk. We formed loaves with our
own hands and baked them in the oven.
Last Sunday, in
our final class we talked about how receiving the sacrament strengthens us for service,
and how our worship service concludes with God Sending us into the world from the meal to do God's work. It was appropriate that our final class was
shortened, so that we could serve others by helping prepare for our
congregation's talent show and benefit dinner.
On this Day of
Transfiguration, as we celebrate First Communion, we might say that God
transforms the bread and the wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. But that is more of a Roman Catholic
teaching. As Lutherans we believe that
Jesus is in, with and under the bread and wine, but we don't teach that the
bread and wine are transformed into Christ's body and blood.
Instead, on this
Day of Transfiguration, it is better to say God transforms us into the Body of Christ.
As we receive the Body of Christ, we become the Body of Christ. As we are fed with the bread of Holy
Communion, we become bread for the world.
To paraphrase Saint Augustine, "we are what we receive." In
Holy Communion, we remember that on the night in which he was betrayed, Jesus
took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to his disciples. In Holy Communion, Jesus takes us, blesses
us, breaks us, and gives us to others.
Today, on this Day of Transfiguration, God transforms Emily, Andrew,
Julia, Chase, Kolin along with the rest of us into the Body of Christ. And we go out from this place to feed the
hungry world with our own selves--sharing breakfast with a lonely old lady,
playing the saxophone to benefit a friend in need, offering someone a ride to their
doctor's appointment, offering forgiveness to one who is undeserving, praying
for a co-worker before a surgery, playing a favorite Sunday School song on your
iPad for a preschooler.
On this Day of
Transfiguration, God transforms us into the Body of Christ. That is good news for us today, and good news
for the world today. I can find no
better way to express this good news than through the words of a favorite communion
hymn:
By your hand you
feed your people, food of angels, heaven's bread.For these gifts we did not labor, by your grace we have been fed:
Christ's own body, blessed and broken, cup o'er-flowing, life outpoured,
given as a living token of your world redeemed, restored.
Send us now with faith and courage to the hungry, lost, bereaved.
In our living and our dying, we become what we receive:
Christ's own body, blessed and broken, cup o'er-flowing, life outpoured,
given as a living token of your world redeemed, restored.
(By Your Hand You Feed Your People, text by Susan R. Briehl)
RECIPE | Communion Bread with Oatmeal
Ingredients· ½ cup softened butter
· ½ cup sugar
· 3¼ cups flour
· 1 tsp baking soda
· ½ tsp salt
· 1½ cups buttermilk
· 2¼ cups oatmeal
Directions
Cream
together butter and sugar until well blended and fluffy. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter
mixture, alternating with buttermilk until all ingredients are used up and have
come together. Add oatmeal and mix until
just blended. Dough will be sticky. Prepare
2 ungreased baking sheets. Split dough
into 4-6 equal clumps. Working with one clump at a time, place on a
well-floured surface and coat sides and edges with just enough flour to make it
workable. With floured hands and/or floured rolling pin, roll dough to ¼ inch
even thickness. Dough will rise slightly and must be rolled this thin to
facilitate easy breaking once baked. Dough can also be placed on parchment
paper and rolled flat right on a baking sheet. Bake bread for 12-15 minutes at 350°
F. Makes 4 to 6 rounds.
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