Transfiguration
Commissioning of Stephen Ministers
Exodus 34: 29-35
Psalm 99
2 Corinthians 3: 12- 4:2
Today, we celebrate today the next step in
our Congregation’s Stephen Ministry, a
Ministry which strengthens our spiritual vitality and
allows us to reach out to
our friends, our family, and our community.
In
order to be a care GIVER, a Stephen Minister, You
must be a member of Zion who has undergone 50 hours of training.
But
in order to be a care RECEIVER, that
is, in order to HAVE a Stephen Minister, you
do not have to be a member. You
can be anybody. This
ministry will enable our congregation to minister more fully to
anyone in need of the gentle support of
Christ’s unwavering love.
Today,
our Gospel text is about the Transfiguration. It’s
the same event every year on this day, the
Sunday immediately preceding Ash Wednesday. It’s
the finale to the season of Epiphany. Matthew,
Mark and Luke all
present slightly different details, but
the outline is always the same:
Jesus
goes up the mountain with
what boils down to the Executive Committee, Peter,
James and John. While
they are praying, Jesus’ appearance changes. Jesus
becomes translucent, dazzling,shining
with the light of God. Peter
wants to enshrine the moment. Indeed,
even though Jesus told him not to, there
are shrines there today, marking the spot. Two
of them, in fact, on opposite sides of the mountain: one
for the Roman Church, and one for the Orthodox.
But
I digress. What freaks Peter out, and
would freak us out, too, I daresay, is
seeing this vision of Elijah and Moses in glory. How they
know it’s Moses and Elijah is beyond me! Or
maybe it’s hearing that Jesus’ days are numbered, as
Peter and his companions overhear Moses and Elijah talking
with Jesus about Jesus’ departure, which
he is about to accomplish in Jerusalem. Not
to mention the heavenly speech, mirroring
the speech at the Baptism:,
“This
is my son, the Chosen; listen
to him.”
THEN
THEY COME DOWN THE MOUNTAIN.
Back
into the realm of reality. Back
into the place where children are seized by evil spirits,by
demons, and
where the people of God are
not living up to expectations. Well,
Moses had the same experience. When
HE came down the mountain. Jesus
has some harsh words here:
“You
faithless and perverse generation. How
much longer must I be with you and bear with you?”
It
is a rhetorical question after all. Jesus is with us and
bears with us forever. But,
I think the important point here in this story, and
how it relates to Stephen Ministry, is
that in the end, JESUS casts out the demon. Jesus
is the CUREgiver. Jesus
is still the CUREgiver today. The
Stephen ministers we are commissioning today are
CAREgivers.
So
I want to say to you Luann, and Elaine, Barbara,
and Kathy, and Joan, you
are NOT expected to cast out demons! That
is Jesus’ job. What
we ARE commissioning you to today is
a ministry of accompaniment. You
will be taking the journey with your Care Receiver. Who
might benefit by having a Stephen Minister in today’s
Gospel? The
parents of the child might need one, as
they cope with their life getting back to normal. The
disciples might need one, because
they might be feeling guilty that they had failed to
effect a cure. Peter
or James or John might need one, because
they just heard with their own ears how
Jesus was going to die.
When
we hear that diagnosis, and
take that journey toward the final days, either
our own journey, or with a loved one, it
can be wearing. So
let’s translate this into today’s reality. Whom
might we know of today who would benefit from the services of
a Stephen Minister?
Let’s
start with the person in the crowd who’s
having an issue with his son. Although
today’s parent may have a different issue. Perhaps
the person you are thinking of, the
last child left for college, and
the individual is left coping
with an empty nest. Or
perhaps, like the situation in the Gospel, it
is something more. Perhaps
someone you know is having custody issues. Perhaps
someone you know has
a child – their own, or a relative’s, or a neighbor’s who
is possessed by an unclean spirit, such
as alcohol or drugs.
Stephen
Ministers do not minister to minors, but
they do minister one-on-one to
a parent who is trying to have the strength to
deal with such issues. So let’s take a poll.
In
the last 12 months, has
anyone you know had
issues with their children?
Please
stand.
In
the last 12 months, has
someone you know questioned
the strength of their faith?
Please
stand.
In
the past 12 months, has
someone you know received
a diagnosis of a terminal illness?
Please
stand.
In
the past 12 months, has someone you know lost a loved one?
Please
stand.
In
the past 12 months, has
someone in your family, or someone close to you been
hospitalized for a serious illness or accident?
Please
stand.
In
the past 12 months, has
someone you know had an addition to their family through
marriage, childbirth, or adoption?
Please
stand.
In
the past 12 months, has
someone you know lost
their job or suffered serious financial stress?
Please
stand.
In
the past 12 months, has
someone you know separated
from their spouse or suffered through a divorce?
Please stand.
Thank you.
We
need to recruit a class of men who are interested in Stephen
Ministry, because
in this program, men
minister to men and women minister to women. We
are now ready to take referrals, However,
at this time, we have only women
available as Stephen Ministers. So
we are only prepared to offer women the
caregiving relationship of
a Stephen Minister.
A
Stephen Minister befriends a person who
feel alienated or lonely.
A
Stephen Minister helps their care receiver reconcile with
others.
A
Stephen Minister welcomes a person to Christ, helping
them experience that they are no longer out, but
IN God’s restored human family.
A
Stephen Minister is there as a person makes needed life changes.
A
Stephen Minister encourages a person who has problems of
faith to
realize their great value to God, the
high esteem in which God holds them.
Our
Stephen Ministers will
do in a structured and supervised way what
all Christians are called to do. Stephen
Ministers care for people who are grieving, for
people who have felt betrayed or
let down by others, or by life. Stephen
Ministers help people who have made poor choices consider
more carefully the decisions they must now make. Such
service declares that because of the cross – because
of what Jesus is about to accomplish for us in Jerusalem, that
the walls are down between God and humanity.
Our
Stephen Ministers will care for people whose spouses won’t
seek help, as well as for people whose spouses take all
the help they can get. Our Stephen Ministers will care
for people before and after surgery, before and after marriage, before
and after childbirth. Before,
during, and after divorce.
Such
service declares that because of the cross of Christ, because
of what Jesus is about to accomplish for us in Jerusalem,
the walls are down between God and humanity. Our Stephen
Ministers will care for those who will recover soon, for
those who suffer chronic problems, along with those who
teeter painfully between health and illness, and those
who will never regain their health. Our Stephen Ministers
will show God’s love to
those who are dying and to those who are changing so much
they feel as though they are in the midst of a new birth.
Such service declares that because of Christ, because of
what Jesus is about to accomplish for us in Jerusalem, the
walls are down between God and humanity.
Amen.
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