"What Shall We Do?"

From Luke 9:28-36, the transfiguration of Jesus

• "Blessed Assurance" was composed by two of the most prolific Christian hymn writers in history. The lyrics come from a woman with over 8000 hymns to her credit and the music comes from the organ of a lady with over 500 hymns to her credit. One day, Fanny Crosby was visiting her dear friend, Phoebe Knapp. She played a tune for Fanny and asked her afterwards, "What does it say to you, Fanny?" Her reply was simple: "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine." 

Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine.

There’s something of today’s gospel reading in that… a foretaste of glory divine. Jesus glorified, given the divine witness of Moses (the Law) and Elijah (the Prophets) and, if that weren’t enough, the disciples get the divine witness of both the presence of God in the cloud and the voice of God: This is my Son, my chosen one. Listen to him!”

Where we’ve had chapters of signs pointing to Jesus’ identity as greater than a prophet, greater than Moses, even the chosen one of God, here we hear again the claim that was made at his baptism: This is my Son. Jesus is God’s Son.

• The Disciples wanted to preserve the moment. Wanted to build shrines, tents tabernacles, shelters for Jesus and Moses and Elijah, wanted to preserve the divine moment revealing again the identity of Jesus, Son of God.

But it is just a moment. And just as Jesus cannot fulfill his purpose and remain on the mountain, so the disciples cannot fulfill theirs, but they must follow Jesus off the mountain.

They don’t know what awaits them (although they may have picked up some clues that the road won’t be easy). They will follow Jesus. They have a foretaste of glory divine, and perhaps the beginning of the knowledge that they have a divine inheritance of salvation through Jesus the Son of God, and that inheritance cannot perish. Oh, what a foretaste.

• Two weeks ago it was announced that the SPRC requested that the bishop appoint another pastor to Campbelltown, and reappoint me somewhere else. I have witnessed a variety of reactions and responses, and I know there are a lot of different feelings out there, including shock, sadness, and anger. I get that. Don’t leave those feelings in a bottle, and don’t let them be the brakes on your car, stopping you from discipleship. Let those feelings rather be your steering wheel, guiding you. Work through those feelings in connection with each other. Express your sadness or your anger and direct it to your hope for the future.

It is my hope and prayer that no matter what your feelings are in this season of Campbelltown UMC’s life, you would strengthen your resolve to follow Jesus, and that you’d commit yourself to his service and to service to the community through service to this church. Be a part of the healing of Campbelltown UMC.

• In your bulletins you’ll find a 2013-2014 commitment card. I’d like to ask you to take this card home, as you’ve done in other years, and prayerfully consider how you’ll be involved in the life of the church in the year to come. I hope you’ll choose some kind of meaningful involvement that both strengthens you as a disciple and allows you to be involved in mission and ministry with others here at CUMC.

Take the commitment card home, consider how you’ll be a part of the body of Christ at Campbelltown, and bring it back next week, when we’ll receive commitment cards during the worship service.

• I started my message with a tale from Fanny Crosby’s life… Did you know she was blind her whole life? Yet she wrote thousands of hymns, one of the most prolific hymnwriters in history.

She once described how her blindness affected her songs. "I verily believe that God intended that I should live my days in physical darkness so that I might be better prepared to sing His praise and lead others from spiritual darkness into eternal light.  With sight I would have been too distracted to have written thousands of hymns."                                                                    

• Blessed Assurance. Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine. Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of his spirit, washed in his blood. This is my story.

• Hymn 345 Blessed Assurance