The story from 2 Kings for this Sunday is a story about change. Elijah, the well known prophetic leader is about to be taken up to heaven (as the scripture tells us), and he keeps trying to get Elisha to separate from him. But Elisha won’t go away. He is persistent in staying with his mentor. Their travel s together, and Elisha’s request that he receive a spiritual blessing from Elijah, illustrates some of Elisha’s anxiety. There seems to be some ambiguity about who will take over the prophetic leadership role after Elijah. And it is also a time between ruling kings. So this ambiguity creates a sense of loss and vulnerability. One era is ending and another is beginning. But this idea of “era”, of time, is a human construction. If we believe that God is active in the world, then God is not bound by time, calendars or eras. But it’s that ambiguity, that waiting on God’s time that can make us nervous.
In the Gospel (Mark 9:2-9), Jesus takes Peter, James & John up to the mountain top. And there in that moment Jesus is transformed and is joined by Elijah and Moses. While Peter thinks that it’s appropriate to build tents for the three, what we realize is that he’s trying to make this experience last. Tents would confine the Law, the Prophets, and the Fulfillment in such a way as to make them subject to time and place. Again, human constructions. Instead, God breaks in and says “listen to him”. Up to this point in Mark, Jesus has been trying to tell the disciples about his death and resurrection, and they may have heard him, but they haven’t been listening. Jesus’ death and resurrection means change. And change implies that there will be loss, fear, ambiguity and vulnerability.
But see, we know the “end” of the story and the disciples don’t. We have the ability to say, “well of course Jesus had to die and be resurrected…it was how the Kingdom was going to happen…it was a necessary change”. But we’re not in the shoes of the original disciples. They didn’t understand how the death and resurrection of Jesus would change the world. They didn’t understand how it would empower them for ministry, to become the prophetic leaders, to heal, preach and teach. They didn’t understand how necessary change was.
And sometimes we don’t either. The church needs change in order to continue in the role of prophet, preacher, teacher and healer. For those of you who were part of the church before the ordination of women in 1978, maybe you didn’t think there was anything wrong with all male clergy. But I stand here today, because others before me were willing to risk the change of allowing women at the altar as representation of the full body of Christ. Even in our more recent history with the consecration of Gene Robinson, there were those who were resistant to change and those willing to take a risk. Bishop Robinson’s election and consecration have since allowed the door to be open and the conversation begun about our gay brothers and sisters. These changes have not been easy by any means, but they have allowed us to grow in our ministry.
I mentioned time earlier… how the Elijah and Transfiguration stories disrupt our constructions of time. We’ve all heard the clichés about our time vs. God’s time. But there is some truth to the cliché. The Holy is not bound by time or place. It is in-between. In my mind’s eye I imagine that when Elisha was Elijah being carried away by the fiery horse and chariot, or the disciples saw Jesus become dazzling white, that it was almost as if time had stopped. The veil between heaven and earth was dropped for a moment. God’s time was happening. And God’s time is ambiguous, not fixed. God’s time challenges us to change, inspires us to grow, and moves us in our ministry.
So what do Elisha and the disciples do after these incredible moments? They engage in their ministries. They don’t stand around looking up to heaven, or hang out on top the mountain. They continue on. Where exactly their journey takes them is unknown at the moment. They have been changed.
And what are we to do when we’ve experienced God’s revelation and been challenged to make changes? We do our ministry. We continue our journeys into unknown places, not always having the answers. We allow ourselves to be vulnerable. We engage and embrace the change.