Minnesota Conference of The UMC



Worship Resources for Sunday after General Conference 2019 (Transfiguration Sunday): March 3, 2019IntroductionThis resource has been compiled in the time preceding the 2019 Special Session of General Conference. None of us knows what the result will be, but many of us will be responsible for leading worship with our respective congregations immediately following the conference. This resource is not geared toward any particular outcome of the General Conference vote. Rather, we hope to combine the liturgical recognition of Transfiguration Sunday with food for the heart and soul regardless of the outcome. This resource seeks to be sensitive to the multitude of emotions of clergy and laity, and the range of reactions that are sure to surface in every possible outcome.We clergy have a powerful task this particular Sunday to lead our congregations into God’s future. We will set the tone of the church’s conversation—we may stir fear, we may retreat into sides, or we may remind our congregations of the ministry that God is yet doing among us and the ways Jesus’ transforming presence is in our midst. The Way Forward is not complete after the Special General Conference ends. It will be carried by us in the local church.These resources were gathered/written by Pam Serdar, Michelle Hargrave, and David E. Brown, members of Bishop Ough’s Human Sexuality Task Force in MinnesotaLectionary ScripturesExodus 34:29-35 (CEB)Moses’ brightly shining face29 Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two covenant tablets in his hand, Moses didn’t realize that the skin of his face shone brightly because he had been talking with God. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw the skin of Moses’ face shining brightly, they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called them closer. So Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and Moses spoke with them. 32 After that, all the Israelites came near as well, and Moses commanded them everything that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. 34 Whenever Moses went into the Lord’s presence to speak with him, Moses would take the veil off until he came out again. When Moses came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 the Israelites would see that the skin of Moses’ face was shining brightly. So Moses would put the veil on his face again until the next time he went in to speak with the Lord.Copyright ? 2011 by Common English BiblePsalm 99 (UMH 819, NRSV)Praise to God for His Holiness1 The Lord is king; let the peoples tremble He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!2 The Lord is great in Zion; he is exalted over all the peoples.3 Let them praise your great and awesome name. Holy is he!4 Mighty King, lover of justice, you have established equity;you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.5 Extol the Lord our God; worship at his footstool. Holy is he!6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel also was among those who called on his name. They cried to the Lord, and he answered them.7 He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud; they kept his decrees, and the statutes that he gave them.8 O Lord our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings.9 Extol the Lord our God, and worship at his holy mountain; for the Lord our God is holy.Copyright ? 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America HYPERLINK "" Matthew 17:1-8 (CEB)Jesus’ transformation17 Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and brought them to the top of a very high mountain. 2 He was transformed in front of them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light.3 Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Jesus. 4 Peter reacted to all of this by saying to Jesus, “Lord, it’s good that we’re here. If you want, I’ll make three shrines: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”5 While he was still speaking, look, a bright cloud overshadowed them. A voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son whom I dearly love. I am very pleased with him. Listen to him!” 6 Hearing this, the disciples fell on their faces, filled with awe.7 But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.”8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.Copyright ? 2011 by Common English BibleMark 9:2-8 (CEB)Jesus transformed2 Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and brought them to the top of a very high mountain where they were alone. He was transformed in front of them, 3 and his clothes were amazingly bright, brighter than if they had been bleached white. 4 Elijah and Moses appeared and were talking with Jesus. 5 Peter reacted to all of this by saying to Jesus, “Rabbi, it’s good that we’re here. Let’s make three shrines—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 He said this because he didn’t know how to respond, for the three of them were terrified.7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice spoke from the cloud, “This is my Son, whom I dearly love. Listen to him!” 8 Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.Copyright ? 2011 by Common English Bible HYPERLINK "" Luke 9:28-36 (CEB)Jesus transformed28 About eight days after Jesus said these things, he took Peter, John, and James, and went up on a mountain to pray. 29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed and his clothes flashed white like lightning. 30 Two men, Moses and Elijah, were talking with him. 31 They were clothed with heavenly splendor and spoke about Jesus’ departure, which he would achieve in Jerusalem. 32 Peter and those with him were almost overcome by sleep, but they managed to stay awake and saw his glory as well as the two men with him.33 As the two men were about to leave Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it’s good that we’re here. We should construct three shrines: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—but he didn’t know what he was saying. 34 Peter was still speaking when a cloud overshadowed them. As they entered the cloud, they were overcome with awe.35 Then a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, my chosen one. Listen to him!” 36 Even as the voice spoke, Jesus was found alone. They were speechless and at the time told no one what they had seen.Copyright ? 2011 by Common English Bible2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 (CEB)12 So, since we have such a hope, we act with great confidence. 13 We aren’t like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the Israelites couldn’t watch the end of what was fading away. 14 But their minds were closed. Right up to the present day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. The veil is not removed because it is taken away by Christ. 15 Even today, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But whenever someone turns back to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Lord’s Spirit is, there is freedom. 18 All of us are looking with unveiled faces at the glory of the Lord as if we were looking in a mirror. We are being transformed into that same image from one degree of glory to the next degree of glory. This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.4 This is why we don’t get discouraged, given that we received this ministry in the same way that we received God’s mercy. 2 Instead, we reject secrecy and shameful actions. We don’t use deception, and we don’t tamper with God’s word. Instead, we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God by the public announcement of the truth.Copyright ? 2011 by Common English BiblePrayer/Liturgy ResourcesHoly Christ,Like Peter, James and John before us, we come to the mountaintop grumbling, exhausted, reluctant.We are not sure we want to see Jesus transfigured, in a different light.Unclench our spirits, nourish our souls,that we may continue your ministryof hope and healing in a wounded world. —Pam SerdarGod of vision,We long to see your face and are afraid to see it;we long to break the grip of suffering,And we cannot cast it out.Uncover our facesand expose us to your glory,that we may comprehend the outcast in their suffering and insight, And the world may be transfigured in you. Amen. —Janet Morley from “Bread of Tomorrow,” Orbis Books Original prayer used “poor” rather than “outcast.”The mountain waits, ready to show us mysteriesbeyond our comprehension.The mountain waits, ready to change our very beingbeyond our singular power.The mountain waits.Let us go boldly together,uncertain about the future,but willing to behold the face of God, willing to be transfigured in the image of the Christ,willing to follow The Way of Jesus. —Pam Serdar A Call to WorshipCome to the mountainThe mystery of what will be is yet to be revealedCome to the mountainWhat is clear is the face of JesusCome to the mountainListen to the prophetsCome to the mountainExperience the power of the glory of GodCome to the mountainLet us worship in awe, expecting new life from God. —David E. BrownA LitanyWe stand on a mountain of potential division.Some of us side with Moses and the Law.We stand on a mountain of potential division.Some of us side with Elijah and the Prophets.Standing on the mountain, we see Jesus,Standing together with Moses and Elijah.We want to take sides, but God says:“This is my Beloved Son. Listen to Him!”“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”“A new command I give you, ‘Love one another’. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”“Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”Then Jesus said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”Those who have ears to hear, let them hear what Jesus says to the Church. —David E. BrownA CollectGracious and loving God who gave all humanity your Son, Jesus, the Light of the world: Shine your light upon us, within us, and around us that we might see clearly the path that Jesus would have us walk. Not our own path lest we move away from your grace and mercy, but the way of Jesus, the good way, that leads to Life. We know it is the more difficult way, the narrow way; but walking together, filled with your Spirit and encouraged by your presence, we will persevere. And we are grateful. Hear our prayer, God, and lead us into your future. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen. (David E. Brown)A BenedictionHaving seen Jesus, let us go down from the mountain and into the world.Strengthened by worship and our worldwide community of faith, we will let the light of Christ shine forth.Having seen Jesus, let us go down from the mountain and into the world.Following Jesus, we will proclaim the good news of grace and salvation, peace and reconciliation, healing and hope to all people.In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, go in peace. —David E. BrownCall to Worship Come to the mountaintop to pray for God will not keep e to the light of God’s revelation for we are in darkness apart from God’s e, as God’s covenant people, for we will be faithful to God. —Michelle HargraveUnison Prayer of Confession O God of transformation, we hear all around us invitations to change—to change our minds, to change our bodies, to change our politics, to change our hopes. We often long for change ourselves—easier relationships, more meaningful jobs, greater stability, a sustainable hope. Yet we are reminded here, this morning, that you are the one who creates change. You are the one who can shift the heaviness in our hearts. You are the one who transforms us, who transfigures us, who continually shapes us until we begin to look as you imagined us, long before our birth. Enter our lives and make us yours, O Holy One. Amen.Silent PrayerWords of Assurance:The One who created us will not forget us. The One who dreamed of us will continue to call us. The One who loves us will not abandon us. Amen. —Michelle HargraveSermon IdeasProvided by Pam SerdarHave you ever witnessed a transfiguration moment? What was it? How did it affect how you live your life?Have you ever (or wanted to) “constructed a shrine” for Jesus or for a particular story in scripture? Which one, and why? Is the shrine still there, or have you dismantled it? Why?Transfiguration plays a large role in the “Harry Potter” books. Professor McGonagall is the teacher of the art of transfiguration. We, as readers, are witnesses to Harry’s conversation with Dumbledore in that luminous space as he discerns whether to go back to fight, rather like the disciple’s mountaintop experience. How might you use this cultural icon to introduce or deepen the transfiguration story?What other books or movies feature transfiguration stories? Have you ever felt yourself being transfigured? How/when/where? How did you discern the meaning of the experience? How did it change the direction of your life?Moses returns from the mountain veiled. What do you make of this veiling? What veils do the disciples wear? What veils does the church wear? What veils do you wear? When and why were they put on? What do our veils keep us from? What happens if we remove the veils?On this transfiguration Sunday, can we trust, as we as United Methodists say we do, that the Spirit was present in the deliberations and vote of the General Conference? Can Peter, James, and John, trust what they have seen? >If so, why? Is it because our position was upheld in some way? If that is the case, is it trust in the workings of the Spirit or is it something else? How do we support our brothers and sisters whose position was not taken by General Conference? How do we respond to those who are pleased with the result. What would Jesus do?>If not, why? Is it because our position was not upheld in some way? If that is the case, is it lack of trust in the Spirit or something else? How do we respond to our brothers and sisters whose position was taken by General Conference? How do we support those who are not pleased with the result? What would Jesus do? Heavy That timeI thought I could not go any closer to grief without dyingI went closer, and I did not die.Surely God had His hand in this, as well as friends. Still, I was bent, and my laughter, as the poet said, was nowhere to be found. Then said my friend Daniel (brave even among lions), “It’s not the weight you carry but how you carry it—books, bricks, grief—it’s all in the way you embrace it, balance, it, carry it when you cannot and would not, put it down.”So I went practicing. Have you noticed? Have you heard the laughter that comes, now and again, out of my startled mouth? How I linger to admire, admire, admire, the things of this world that are kind, and maybe also troubled—roses in the wind, the sea geese on the steep waves, a love to which there is no reply? —Mary Oliver, “Thirst,” Beacon PressPracticing the presence of God, whether on a mountain top or in the slog of ordinary life, is a lifelong journey of challenge and change (none of us is Christ-like; as John Wesley said, we are going on to perfection but we have not yet attained it). When a theological position of ours is confirmed or denied, God is still with us. How do we continue the journey in either situation?EcotonesProvided by Michelle HargraveEcotones are overlapping areas where two different ecosystems come together. They are diverse areas rich in plant and animal life, providing security and food for flora and fauna. The Transfiguration happened in an ecotone—the top of the mountain, an edge space. Then immediately Jesus came down, and entered another ecosystem. How does the movement between the two systems enrich the story? How is the current conversation in the United Methodist Church like an ecotone? We are not one ecosystem. We are a different ecosystems overlapping one another. Does this provide a richness of habitat, abundance for those living there, or not?According to Wikipedia, an ecotone is a transition area between two adjacent ecological communities (ecosystems). It may appear on the ground as a gradual blending of the two communities across a broad area, or it may manifest itself as a sharp boundary line. Changes in the physical environment may produce a sharp boundary, as in the example of a shoreline or the interface between areas of forest and cleared land. Elsewhere, a more gradually blended interface area will be found, where species from each community will be found together as well as unique local species. Mountain ranges often create such ecotones, due to the wide variety of climatic conditions experienced on their slopes. They may also provide a boundary between species due to the obstructive nature of their terrain…most wetlands are ecotones. Ecotones are particularly significant for mobile animals, as they can exploit more than one set of habitats within a short distance. This can produce an edge effect along the boundary line, with the area displaying a greater than usual diversity of species. The word was coined from a combination of eco(logy) plus -tone, from the Greek tonos or tension—in other words, a place where ecologies are in tension.The “high mountain” has traditionally been identified as Mount Tabor in southern Galilee, a hill that rises only a few hundred feet above the surrounding plain. The high mountain symbolizes the border zone between earth and heaven, between the material and the spiritual.—Douglas R.A. Hare, “Interpretation: Matthew”One thing I learned in that house was that I love and need the stimulation an edge provides, and I know I’m not alone in this. It’s a commonplace that our best writing grows out of the land, but more specifically I believe it grows out of those rich, overlapping areas, those unstable, uncategorizable places that aren’t one thing or another. Just as biological ecotones are areas of great species diversity and biological density, of intense life and death, so literary ecotones are the places where words come most alive. These edges—between genres, between science and literature, between land and sea, between the civilized and wild, between the earnest and comic, between the personal and biological, between urban and rural, between the animal and spiritual—are not only more alive, but more interesting and worthy of exploration. And it is only here, in these places in-between, that we are able to make maps complex enough to mirror the uncertain and often chaotic fluidity of our true, confused selves.—David Gessner literary accountAfter the Mountain What work continues for us after a powerful event is over? How hard is it to transition to “normal” life? How is life changed? How is life different now that the Special Session of General Conference is over? How do we adjust to the new normal?The play’s not done, Oh, not quite,For life never ends in the moonlit night.And despite what pretty poets say,The night is only half the day.So we would like to truly fnishWhat was foolishly begun,For the story is not endedAnd the play is never doneUntil we’ve, all of us, been burned a bitAnd burnished by the sun.—Jerry Schmidt and Tom Jones, The FantastiksThe Exodus text describes Moses’ appearance when he descends from the mountain with the second set of tablets. Having been exposed to the glory of God, Moses’ face shines with radiant beams—a vision that wholly unnerves both the priests and the common people who see him. Moses’ face apparently has been permanently transformed by his exposure to the divine. This radiance that reveals itself as a sign of God’s presence is simply too much for the Israelite’s to bear. Henceforth, Moses takes to wearing a veil over his face except when he is repeating messages from God to the people. —Homiletics, 1998Grinding up the steep incline,our calves throbbing,we talked of problemsand slapped at flies.Then you touched my shoulder,said, “turn around.”Behind us floatedsurprise mountainsblue on lavender,water-colored ranges:a glimpse from God’s eyes.Descending, how could we chatmundanely of the weather, like deejays?We wondered if, returning,James and John had squabbled:whose turn to fetch the water,after the waterfall of grace?After he imagined the shining tents,did Peter’s walls seem narrow,smell of rancid fish?Did feet that poised on Taborcross the cluttered porch?After the bleached light,could eyes adjust to ebbinggrey and shifting shade?Cradling the secret in their sleepdid they awaken cautiously,wondering if the mountaintopwould gild again—bringingthat voice, that face?—Kathy Coffey, “After the Transfiguration”Visible SpectrumHow was Jesus seen differently by the disciples after the Transfiguration? When do we see things differently, in a different light? Do we see anything differently this Sunday?According to Wikipedia, the visible spectrum is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible to the human eye. Electromagnetic radiation in this range of wavelengths is called visible light or simply light. A typical human eye will respond to wavelengths from about 390 to 750 nm. In terms of frequency, this corresponds to a band in the vicinity of 400–790 THz. A light-adapted eye generally has its maximum sensitivity at around 555 nm (540 THz), in the green region of the optical spectrum. The spectrum does not, however, contain all the colors that the human eyes and brain can distinguish. Unsaturated colors such as pink, or purple variations such as magenta, are absent, for example, because they can only be made by a mix of multiple wavelengths. Visible wavelengths also pass through the "optical window", the region of the electromagnetic spectrum that passes largely unattenuated through the Earth's atmosphere. Clean air scatters blue light more than wavelengths toward the red, which is why the mid-day sky appears blue. The human eye's response is defined by subjective testing, but atmospheric windows are defined by physical measurement. The "visible window" is so called because it overlaps the human visible response spectrum.The story of the transfiguration of Christ functions, Henri Nouwen says, as something of an icon; it offers access through the gate of the visible to the mystery of the invisible...Illumined by this new light, we can at last comprehend him as fully human and fully divine. We see through the gate of the visible to the mystery of the invisible. This knowledge will change forever how we live, how we face death and how we begin to see beyond the grave. And that changes everything. —Patricia Farris, “The Christian Century”We lay in our bed as in a tombawakened by thunder to the darkin which our house was one with night,and then light came as if the black roof of the world had cracked open,as if the night of all time had broken,and out our window we glimpsed the worldbirthwet and shining, as even/the sun at noon had never made it shine.—Wendell Berry, “The Storm”The sun’s golden splendour now sunders the night, and shatters the power of the evil one’s might. —Wolfgang Amadeus MozartElsewhere in the New Testament, the verb “transfigured” occurs only in the Marcan parallel and in Romans 12:2 and 2 Corinthians 3:18. The basic meaning is “undergo a change in form.” In the transfiguration accounts it refers to a change that is outwardly visible; in the other two passages the change is internal and cannot be seen by the physical eye. —“A Translator’s Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew”More readings about the Transfiguration It was Jesus of Nazareth all right, the man they’d tramped many a dusty mile with, whose mother and brothers they knew, the one they’d seen as hungry, tired, footsore as the rest of them. But it was also the Messiah, the Christ, in his glory. It was the holiness of the man shining through his humanness, his face so afire with it they were almost blinded. Even with us something like that happens once in a while. The face of a man walking his child in the park, of a woman picking peas in the garden, of sometimes even the unlikeliest person listening to a concert, say, or standing barefoot in the sand watching the waves roll in, or just having a beer at a Saturday baseball game in July. Every once and so often, something so touching, so incandescent, so alive transfigures the human face that it’s almost beyond bearing. —Frederick Buechner, “Transfiguration”Transfiguration is living by vision: standing foursquare in the midst of a broken, tortured, oppressed, starving, dehumanizing reality, yet seeing the invisible, calling to it to come, behaving as if it is on the way, sustained by elements of it that have come already, within and among us. In those moments when people are healed, transformed, freed from addictions, obsessions, destructiveness, self worship or when groups or communities or even, rarely, whole nations, glimpse the light of the transcendent in their midst, there the New Creation has come upon us. The world for one brief moment is transfigured. The beyond shines in our midst on the way to the cross. —Walker Wink, “Interpretation”We of the Taize community look upon the transfiguration above all as the celebration of that presence of Christ which takes charge of everything in us and transfigures even that which disturbs us about ourselves. God penetrates those hardened, incredulous, even disquieting regions within us, about which we really do not know what to do. God penetrates them with the life of the Spirit and acts upon those regions and gives them God’s own face. —Kathryn Spink, “A Universal Heart”Suddenly they saw himthe way he was,the way he really wasall the time,although they’d never seen it before,the glory which blinds the everyday eyeand so becomes invisible…We all know that if we reallysee him we die.But isn’t that what isrequired of us?Then, perhaps, we will seeeach other, too.—Madeleine L’EngleO Shining One,you are the flame burning within,the beacon on the horizon,the radiance in all creation,the bright idea apprehending us,the sparkling in the eyes of our loved ones,the uncreated light that is lighting all.Transfigure us, this very day,as we open into the radiance of the Christin each other, in song, in word, and witness.May this be the day of our enlightenment,when we see with claritythe sacred life we are called to manifest.Remake usas sacraments of the Holy,that we might embrace our calling:to see with new eyes,reach out with gentle hands,imagine with transformed minds,be still with hallowed presence,and be filled with grateful prayers.In the name of the Transfigured One we pray.Amen.—Bruce Sanguin, “Light Transfusion” from “If Darwin Prayed” ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download