Devotional 2-27-12

Scripture: Mark 9:2-9
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

The Mirror
Once upon a time, there was a young man named Nate who didn’t quite fit in. As a child in school, he tried hard to make friends, but the other kids picked on him and teased him. In his youth, he wanted to date, but every girl he asked out, turned him down. He knew that his parents loved him and no matter how much praise they gave him, he felt like a disappointment. His favorite song was Billy Joel’s Piano Man, which included the line: “Yes, they’re sharing a drink they call loneliness But it’s better than drinking alone.”

One day, while he was sitting in church, partially listening to the minister’s sermon, Nate felt God’s presence. The preacher had just said, “God love and accepts you just as you are!” “Is that really true?” he thought to himself. “Is it possible that I fit in with God?” he whispered to himself. And somewhere, deep inside of himself, he knew the answer was “yes.”

Immediately after church, Nate went home and looked in the mirror. Not only did he feel different, he even looked different. Instead of appearing distressed and depressed he actually looked joyful. It was the best day of his life. He opened his journal and wrote: “I am loved by God” and underlined it twice.

That week, Nate went out of his way to make friends. He tried talking to seven different people. Out of the seven: two walked away, one said something too mean to repeat, and four told him to “get lost.” He also decided to ask another girl out. He timed it perfectly, so that they would be alone for a moment. He looked her in the eye and said, “would you like to go to dinner with me some night, my treat?” She looked him up and down, smiled, and said, “not if you were the last guy on earth!”

By the end of the week, Nate was struggling to feel loved again. A person can only take so many rejections. He looked in the mirror, expecting to feel the way he did the previous Sunday. Instead of joyful, he saw distressed and depressed. “I am a reject,” he said.

That Sunday, before church, he went to the pastor and told her the whole story. She placed a hand on his shoulder and told him that, “God does love you. People can be harsh and mean at times, but God is not like people. God loves you unconditionally.” He looked at her and said, “but I thought that if God loved me, then God would make things easier for me.”

The scripture begins with the phrase, “six days later.” It should make us want to know just what happened six days earlier. Six days earlier, Jesus had been teaching the disciples that he had to suffer and die, but Peter did not like that one bit (the scripture in Mark 8:31-33 says that Peter began to rebuke Jesus).

Six days later, Peter is on the top of the mountain with Jesus. It isn’t just a good day, it is a great day! Jesus is transfigured and Moses and Elijah appear. So Peter makes Jesus an offer. He wants to build houses so that they can all stay on the mountain and live there. He doesn’t want the fun to end. He knows that the moment they go back down into the valley, things will get difficult again (sure enough the disciples are arguing about a sick child) and that Jesus may start speaking about death again (and that is exactly what Jesus does). Peter wants to stay on the mountain where everything is hunky-dory, but Jesus leads him back down into the valley.

“Nate, God doesn’t promise to make life easy,” the pastor told him. “But God promises to go with us into the valleys of life.” Then she invited him to come the next Sunday in time for Sunday School, saying, “Sunday School is a great place to make friends and learn about the love of God.”

Nate went to worship. Then he went home to look in the mirror. A smile crossed his face as he said to himself, “it’s not easy, but God is with me and God loves and accepts me.”

Prayer
Loving God,
When you created human beings, you created us for relationship…
for relationship with you
and for relationship with each other.
Yet we still get lonely…
sometimes, even when we are with others.
Help us to know that you are there for us,
that you love us,
that you accept us as we are,
and that you forgive us for our misdeeds and for our inaction.
Put people in our lives to remind us that we are loved.
Help us to be there for others who need to be loved and accepted.
We thank you for our pastors,
for our church family,
for the inspiration of worship,
and for a safe place to learn that we call Sunday School.
We pray in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.

Submitted by: David A. Stackpole, M.Div., J.D.