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Text of the page (random words):
o eternal life with your good upstanding life there s bound to be something you ve overlooked something you ve neglected so jesus turned things topsy turvy for this rich young man go sell all you have give it to the poor and follow me you ll have plenty of treasure heaven the man went away sad and dejected it was not a matter of his possessions it was rather a matter of his heart and where he was placing his trust the disciples were flummoxed too you mean that s not how we please god and get into heaven nope jesus said you a human being a mere mortal a person infected by sin and enslaved by death cannot save yourself with man this is impossible but with god all things are possible matt 19 26 peter jumped in on behalf of the twelve lord we ve left everything to follow you what will we get in eternal life still thinking in terms of work and fair pay putting something in and getting something out so jesus said oh peter you ll get plenty in eternal life a hundredfold even but not because you earned it or deserved it you see peter many who are first will be last and the last first matt 19 30 jesus loves to turn things topsy turvy what about you how do you like it when jesus turns things topsy turvy for you we re not talking about the topsy turviness of family strife or losing a job or hearing a cancer diagnosis sure those things make us squirm and turn life on its head enough already we re not talking about about downturns in the economy or questionable policies by elected leaders that lead to uncertainty or confusion or an erosion of our liberties sure those things make life plenty topsy turvy no what jesus is focusing on is your life with him your life in his kingdom now and into eternity how would you like to be those first workers hired at 6 00 a m having borne the burden and scorching heat of the day and merely get paid what you were promised what you had agreed to while all those other lazy bellies got the exact same pay for putting in much less time how would you like it if landowner god called you friend with that little growl of disapproval and told you just to take your pay and get out that term for friend is not a positive one in another parable a king uses it for the guy who snuck into the wedding feast without the proper wedding garment matt 22 12 in the garden of gethsemane jesus uses it of judas who is about to betray him matt 26 50 talk about topsy turvy you and i if we re like those workers hired first and we are might just turn to grumbling and complaining that s not fair that s not right why is their hourly wage more than ours we might and do become just like the israelites grumbling and quarreling in the wilderness where s our water where s our food where s what we have a right to have you and i since by nature we are like those first workers and those israelites might and do put god himself into our handy dandy excel spreadsheet of spirituality and find him coming up short in our spiritual bean counting god himself just doesn t seem to offer a balanced budget for his eternal kingdom after all doesn t it mean something that we ve been christian for however many years doesn t it count that we re here in his house however many sundays out of the year or put x amount of dollars in the weekly offering see how much i ve been serving you lord see how dedicated i ve been see how much i read your word and pray and help other people and this is why jesus loves to turn things topsy turvy we need him to we need to have our spiritual bean counting turned on its head and we need to squirm in our self centered spiritual bookkeeping we need jesus reversal of grace you see god s kingdom of heaven reaches into our earthly life and works solely by grace solely by the generosity of landowner god and his foreman jesus it s jesus himself the eternal son of god the eternal foreman of our salvation who doles out all the gracious rewards that come to us in god s vineyard after all he is the founder and perfecter of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of god heb 12 2 topsy turvy yes it s the reversal of god s grace but do not let this bountiful grace of landowner god and foreman jesus lull you into a false sense of idleness life in god s vineyard his church does involve work no not work in order to get the job so to speak you re already in god s vineyard completely and solely by his gracious work sola gratia and as we see in the parable our divine landowner is very generous with his rewards at the end of the day on the last day but now that you re in it s time to get to work what is that work to which you and i are called using himself as our example st paul calls us to exercise self control like an athlete he exhorts us not to run aimlessly and not to box as someone merely beating the air in the spirit of st paul we are to discipline our bodies and keep them under control the work we are given to do in the vineyard of landowner god is the work of confessing our sins and learning to live at the receiving end of his bountiful grace and mercy it s the work of rooting out the pride that leads us to cry unfair or to think we deserve more and better than what our landowner god already gives it s the work of taking our eyes off of ourselves and fixing them squarely on jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith and the eternal reward he has labored to win for us and give to us it s the work of learning his word and learning to rely on his promises it s the work of taking the time to pray gathering around his word with our fellow workers and faithfully receiving his body and his blood for our refreshment and strength it s the work of having our whole life even our whole self turned topsy turvy by jesus reversal of grace you see when jesus turns you and me topsy turvy by his bountiful grace and and lavish forgiveness he actually sets everything right side up with landowner god both now and into eternity amen posted by randy asburry at 11 57 am no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels gospel grace homilies jesus christ mercy pre lent preaching 08 february 2017 homily for the transfiguration of our lord 2017 metamorphosis matthew 17 1 9 listen here this past tuesday treasury of daily prayer gave us 2 timothy 3 for our new testament reading if we didn t know better we might think that st paul who wrote these words almost 20 centuries ago was writing about life in today s world paul said understand this that in the last days there will come times of difficulty for people will be lovers of self lovers of money proud arrogant abusive disobedient to their parents ungrateful unholy heartless unappeasable slanderous without self control brutal not loving good treacherous reckless swollen with conceit lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of god having the appearance of godliness but denying its power 2 timothy 3 1 5 now how many of you as you hear these words again think of things going on in our time news headlines or recent protests facebook or twitter posts popular sitcoms or movies senate committee hearings or supreme court decisions how many of us honestly admit that even we too have these same disruptive loves desires and passions after all such things well up and bubble forth from our fallen sinful hearts it certainly adds new depth of meaning to the bible s words being the prophetic word and a lamp shining in a dark place doesn t it and as our epistle reading exhorts us we will do well to pay attention enter jesus and his glorious transfiguration in our gospel reading to set this brilliant scene in its proper light let s back up into matthew chapter 16 jesus quizzes his twelve disciples on who he the son of man is some were saying john the baptist others elijah and still others jeremiah or some other prophet jesus turns the question on the twelve peter boldly answers you are the christ the son of the living god matt 16 16 well done peter jesus responds this confession of faith does not come from flesh and blood but from god himself jesus promises to build his church on this very confession and not even the gates of hell can prevail against jesus church as she confesses him then jesus talks about going to jerusalem about suffering many things about being killed and about rising on the third day but peter cannot stomach that he tries to save jesus from himself then jesus rebukes peter for setting his mind on the things of man rather than the things of god then jesus speaks of followers following him by denying self taking up a cross and losing life the dark shadow of the cross suddenly looms large fast forward six days jesus takes peter james and john up on a high mountain probably mt tabor crucial things in god s saving plan often take place on mountains then it happens jesus appearance suddenly transforms in a bright radiant glorious metamorphosis his face radiating like the sun his clothing as white as pure light this was no hollywood spotlight beaming onto him this was pure light coming from him he is the source of this light after all he is the light of the world and whoever follows him will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life cf john 8 12 not only that but in the kingdom to come that eternal city which god will give to his faithful people has no need of sun or moon to shine on it for the glory of god gives it light and its lamp is the lamb rev 21 23 the greek word for he was transfigured is the word from which we get metamorphosis when you look up metamorphosis in merriam webster you get these meanings first a change of physical form structure or substance by supernatural means and second a striking alteration in appearance character or circumstances that s most certainly true for jesus on the mountaintop the real question is why why does jesus show this change of his physical form why this striking alteration in his appearance remember peter had just made that glorious brilliant confession of jesus as the christ the son of the living god remember peter had just rebuked his savior for merely speaking of suffering and going to a cross remember jesus had just spoken of self denial taking up crosses and losing one s life as hallmarks of following him and remember just like peter we do not like to hear such things either even less do we like to experience them that is suffer them what s even more radical is that jesus himself would actually show the way he himself would come down from that glorious mountain of metamorphosis he would once again hide his glorious appearance he himself would walk through the valley of the shadow of death he would suffer in the garden he would be arrested he would be falsely tried and unjustly convicted he would carry his own cross to golgotha he would feel the heavy nails piercing his wrists and feet he would experience the lifting of the cross into its place in the stone he would feel the weight of his body against his hands pulling out from the horizontal beam he would willingly give up his last breath in fact all of this is what jesus and moses and elijah were discussing even in the midst of the glorious metamorphosis luke s account says they spoke of his departure lk 9 31 literally his exodus his work of leading his people out of slavery not from egypt but from sin death and devil from all the self centered things that paul says will come and do come in these last days knowing all this lay ahead of him our lord jesus wanted to give just a glimpse of his glory why in order to sustain and strengthen his world weary disciples not only peter james and john but us too you see as glorious as his mountaintop metamorphosis was jesus real glory is revealed most brilliantly in the shadows of his suffering and the darkness of his death in his transfiguration jesus reveals his true exodus he leads god s people you and me included through the gates of death into his eternal life now that s a genuine metamorphosis and so the voice from heaven god the father proclaims the same thing we heard at jesus baptism this is my beloved son with whom i am well pleased but now the father adds a crucial life giving command listen to him you see jesus alone has the words of eternal life so god the father tell us to listen to his beloved son alone moses and elijah also direct us to the savior as moses once said the lord your god will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you from your brothers it is to him you shall listen deut 18 15 not the decaying world lunging headlong into deep dark death not the sin tainted voices in our own heads and hearts that lead us to be ungrateful unholy heartless unappeasable slanderous without self control or even swollen with conceit lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of god rather listen to him listen to this jesus who transfigures himself so that he can transfigure you his metamorphosis is no shallow show or trivial rebranding his metamorphosis is meant to sustain and strengthen you because this is what he works in you and me both now and into eternity this greek word for metamorphosis also gets used of christians even in this life in this fallen world hear this exhortation from st paul in romans 12 do not be conformed to this world but be transformed metamorphosed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of god what is good and acceptable and perfect v 2 when you listen to your savior jesus the word of life you hear his words of life and forgiveness and salvation and you are transformed metamorphosed because of jesus and his glorious cross you get to have a striking alteration in your character and circumstances the times of difficulty need not perplex you or depress you instead of being a lover of self you become a lover of god in christ you become a lover of your neighbor too also hear this proclamation from st paul in 2 corinthians 3 and we all with unveiled face beholding the glory of the lord are being transformed are being metamorphosed into the same image from one degree of glory to another for this comes from the lord who is the spirit v 18 new life in christ new character new circumstances whatever your vocations male or female mother father or child in the family in the workplace or in the church you now live as god s glorious child however mundane your work however hectic your home life you are being transformed into the image of christ now and into eternity how can you be sure of this even in these times of difficulty ponder what we are about to do yet again here this morning around this altar here even today jesus is still transformed he was transformed metamorphosed from humility into glory now he comes transformed in the bread and wine of his holy meal and not only that but there s still another transfiguration yet to come our god will take our bodies and transform them into bodies just like the body of jesus today again in the sacrament our god begins to transform our...