Genesis 12:1-4
2 Tim 1:8-10
Matthew 17:1-9
Bishop Untener's Homily
I’d like to put a question on the table. Do you think that God wants to save the whole human race?Well, let's take it a step further. Do you think that God wants to save, not just all people, but the whole universe? Do you think that's what God has in mind?
Genesis: The First 11 Chapters
Let’s take another look at that Scripture reading from the Book of Genesis. This is a big turning point in the book of Genesis. It's the beginning of Chapter 12. The first 11 chapters are what we call "pre-history." They're not historical accounts of creation, and the actions of the first men and women. They're more like parables that teach us truths in story form.
In those first 11 chapters of the Book of Genesis we hear the story of creation - which happened literally billions of years ago. Then we hear the story of the first man and woman. Then we hear about sin, not only Adam and Eve's failure, but then Cain's murder of Abel. This sort of thing keeps going on, and then there is the great flood. After the flood the human race grows and grows, and then there is the story of the Tower of Babel, which, among other things, explains the origin of languages. This brings to a close the first 11 chapters - the parables - of the Book of Genesis.
God's Plan for the Universe
It is at that turning point that today's reading from Genesis begins. We're now talking about things that have historical roots. The first event is the call of Abraham, which took place about 2,000 years before Christ.
Note that God clearly "calls" Abraham. God doesn't simply suggest to Abraham that he might consider being part of God's great work. God gives Abraham a clear imperative: "Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father's house to a land that I will show you."
God takes the initiative and sets in motion the plan for the human race, and for all creation. What does God have in mind? That first reading is a short one. Let's listen to it again. (Notice, by the way, that the word "bless" is used five times in this short passage. That's what God has in mind. God's plan is to bless us.)
"I will make of you a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
so that you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and curse those who curse you.
All the communities of the earth
shall find blessing in you."
Did you notice that last line: "All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you"? This is not a small-time plan that God has in mind.
We believe that God called each of us the same way God called Abraham. We were called explicitly, and we were called to have a part in God's great plan. It may seem to us that we have a small part ... but we've been called to have a part in something that is magnificent ... something that will affect the destiny of the whole human race, the whole universe.
Physicists tell us that this earth will be habitable for about a billion more years, which makes this a larger project than anyone ever thought a generation ago. We're talking long range, which means that our part in it is even more important. Small changes early in such a vast enterprise have a huge effect.
In our second reading, from the letter to Timothy, the author speaks of "God's design" which was formulated "before time began." Once again we're made to realize that this is not a small-time project that we're part of.
In the Gospel we have the transfiguration. This isn't just a flash in the pan. Jesus gives his disciples a glimpse of what one-day shall be. The whole human race will be transformed. All creation will be transformed, luminous with the presence of God. It is not only Jesus who is transformed on that mountain. Peter, James and John found themselves enveloped in a lustrous cloud, and they hear the voice of God. They're awestruck and don't know what to do, except to fall down in worship. I like to picture them trying to describe this to the other disciples later that day. It was too much for words, and yet, it's only a hint of what is to come.
Take Heart
Do you find yourself sometimes getting down on the human race - all the problems in our world, and the things that some people do?Do you find yourself sometimes getting down on yourself?Have these first 10 days of Lent been, for you, more or less a failure?
Take heart. God's grace is at work in our world. God's grace is at work in you. You have the Lord's own life within you. If it were visible to the naked eye, you'd see a lustrous cloud enveloping you - God's presence. That's not mere imagery. You really are, right now, surrounded by God's love. And you have God's life within you. If it could be seen, your face would shine. Your whole self would shine.
So take heart. You and I may let ourselves down. We may even put ourselves down. But our hope and our strength aren’t in ourselves. It's in God who is at work in us and in the world. The transfiguration is a sign of the stuff we're made of. Take to heart that saying, "Let go, let God." Let God work in you, through you. Let God work in the world, in the whole human race through you. Bring some of God's love into your world today, tomorrow. It always has a good effect, even though we can't see it.
Listen again to those words to Timothy: "Beloved: Bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God. He saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works but according to his own design."