St. John’s United Church of Christ
February 3, 2008
A Sermon by the Rev. John Krueger
First Among Almost Equals Matthew 17:1-9
Who are the authority figures in your life? Who do you pay attention to, and have come to respect? Who do you have confidence in, rely on, or lean on?
When we were very young, before we went to school, Mom and Dad were the unquestioned authority figures. They knew everything, they could do anything, and they were big and smart and strong. And, of course, they could send us to our room or whatever punishment they thought was needed. Almost without exception, they were our most influential people, the ones who shaped out lives and the ones we wanted to be like when we grew up. We fondly refer to those as The Good Old Days when we parents commanded such respect and honor.
And remember what an awful day it was when our children went to school, left home, and suddenly the Kindergarten teacher replaced us? That teacher became the most respected, the most quoted person in our children’s lives. “Mrs. Graham told me that, so it must be true.”
And if that wasn’t bad enough, pretty soon it was some other child who became a competing authority figure. ”I know that because Rachel, or Tommy, said so”, end of discussion! So parents have to make room on the top of the pedestal for alternatives, even substitute authority figures like teachers, neighbors, friends, or relatives. And soon parents come to feel that they are pushed aside, not even equals to the others, that no one listens to us anymore for we are just part of the furniture.
When we become adults there are also many possibilities for our authority figures. In many cases it is still our parents, interestingly enough, for, miracle of miracles, by the time we mature into our 30’s or so our parents have learned a great deal and they know so much more than they knew before. Other possibilities are a spouse, a supervisor, a colleague, Paul Harvey, a news commentator, a political figure, an economic perspective, or a political philosophy, something or someone who helps to construct a framework in which we can set the pieces of our lives, something that allows us to compare and sort and judge and decide.
It is wonderful when all or most of the authority figures agree, when they coincide, mesh and nicely fit together. It would be like when Mom and Dad had the same rules and expectation, or when all the voices are singing the same song, or when advice from Source A and advice from Source B neatly overlap and reinforce each other.
But what happens when there is a clash of authority figures, when the voices do not nicely fit together, when people we trust give us conflicting advice, when new information does not match what we had come to know from our past?
Each year this story of the Transfiguration of Jesus is the suggested Gospel lesson on the Sunday preceding Lent. The inner circle of the disciples, Peter, James and John, go off with Jesus for a very special field trip of sorts. They go off to a high mountain, the usual place where unusual God things happen, and suddenly there is Jesus, flanked by Moses and Elijah representing the Law and the Prophets, the very best of Jewish insight, wisdom and faith.
It was such a wonderful event that Peter, impetuous Peter, suggests they should freeze the moment and build a religious theme park, there on the mountain. This theme park could be called Bible Land, or Torah World, or God’s Little Acre, with permanent pavilions for Elijah and Moses and Jesus. They could advertizing this very special place with special access to these outstanding people,
and who knows what a commercial success it might be.
But just as Peter is pacing off the real estate, a voice shatters the nonsense, one that says, “This is my Son, the Beloved – listen to him!” And then, poof, the vision is over, Moses and Elijah are gone and Jesus and Peter and James and John make their way down the mountain. There they will be confronted by a boy whose life is tormented by an evil spirit, and Jesus heals him. There is no time to glory in this extraordinary experience for there is work to be done down in the valley of real life.
This story, rehearsed every year in the Christian Church, is foundational for me as a Christian. In fact this is the story that makes me a Christian instead of just a religious person.
Here we have this pantheon of great religious figures, Moses and Elijah representing the Law and the Prophets, the two representing the best of the Hebrew scriptures, with Jesus of Nazareth, the new rabbi, the new teacher of God’s truth. And the voice says “listen to him,” to Jesus. We are told not listen to them, all three, but to him.
This is not to throw away the witness of Moses and Elijah or to discount their influence as important God people. But the story does create a hierarchy of authority figures, that Jesus is The First Among Almost Equals. Jesus gets top billing. Jesus has priority over every other voice in the scriptures. If ever there is a dispute about a passage from the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus, Jesus trumps everything else for Jesus has the final word. The voice says “listen to him,” overriding all of the religious wisdom that preceded him, and I believe overriding all of the religious wisdom that has come since.
Listen then to some of the words of this One we call the Son of God, this First Among Almost Equals:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your friends, hate your enemies.’ But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so you may become the children of your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:43-45
“Happy are those who work for peace; God will call them his children.” Matthew 5:9
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too.” Matthew 5:38-39
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the most important commandment. The second most important commandment is like it. Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Matthew 22:36-39
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth no rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there you heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21
“You Father in heaven knows that you need all things…be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and with what God requires of you, and God will provide you with all these other things. So do not worry about tomorrow; it will have enough worries of its own.” Matthew 6:32-34
Yes, we can find some rather strange things in the Bible and sometimes strange things attributed to God that make God a pretty scary figure. We are Christians because we make Jesus Christ our final authority, the First Among Almost Equals. It is in the life and ministry of Jesus that we see most clearly the face and heart of God. We are at our best when we seek to listen intently to Jesus, to conform our lives to this awesome Son of God. May his words and his life comfort us, and convict us, and empower us, to follow him.