Valentine's Day/Ash Wednesday Mash Up - Mark 9:2-9

The Ash Wednesday/Valentine’s Day mashup headed our way this week has produced some excellent memes. Picture those chalky little candy hearts with Valentine’s messages on them, like BE MINE. The United Methodist Church has been sending around a picture of a candy heart that says, “Remember U R dust” (with just a U and an R in the middle), along with the cheeky tagline, “You can’t spell Valentine without Lent.” Another church posted candy hearts on social media that say things like DUST 2 DUST (with a 2), REPENT, and U R MORTL. Of course, the Super Bowl has added some good stuff to the mix, too. There is a photo going around of Taylor Swift whispering into Travis Kelce’s ear. Although it’s completely absurd to add a religious caption to that, someone did and it was glorious. Taylor’s secret message reads, “Lent is not a diet.” A surprisingly helpful reminder as we head into Lent.

Fortunately, the Church has a lot more substance to offer us today. In order to prepare us for Lent, we are given the story of the Transfiguration of Jesus on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday. I’ve always thought of it as a fitting end to the season of Epiphany, when the light of Christ is made known to the world. Plus, it feels like a gift to hear about divine light before the gloomy days of Lent ahead. In the story, Jesus is literally radiating with light up on a mountain, transfigured right in front of Peter, James, and John. The great prophets Moses and Elijah are there, too, and the voice of God thunders, affirming Jesus as God’s beloved son. The scene is filled with more light and wonder than Peter, or the gospel writers for that matter, could put into words.

This is the year that we hear Mark’s version of the story, and there is always more to Mark than what first meets the eye. The Transfiguration text is no exception. Scholars tell us that in order to really unlock Mark’s version, you have to consider it with the two stories that come right before it, in the previous chapter. Those two events shed significant light on the mountaintop miracle (Bibleworm, episode 126).

First is the curious story of Jesus healing a blind man. He put saliva on his hands and touched the man’s eyes. He asked the man if he could see, and the man said, “I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.” There was improvement, but the miracle hadn’t quite worked. So Jesus did it again, and the man’s sight was restored. Scholar’s believe that this story and the issue of seeing clearly are crucial to understanding everything that happens from then on in Mark’s gospel.

Next, Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter famously answered, “You are the Messiah.” Peter got the right answer because he was beginning to see Jesus for who he was. However, he could not see yet what kind of messiah Jesus was. So Jesus began to teach the disciples just how different his messiahship was than what they were expecting. He told them that Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. Deeply distressed by this teaching and the looming cross, Peter began to rebuke him. Jesus then rebuked Peter with the difficult words: “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” Like the blind man before him, Peter was beginning to see the truth, but could not yet see the whole truth.

Six days after the rebuke, Peter, James and John found themselves on the mountain with Jesus, now transfigured. All that talk of suffering, death, and resurrection hadn’t made sense to them and yet here they were, glimpsing a holy radiance which prefigured the resurrection itself. The found themselves headed into a Lent with Jesus they could hardly imagine. And like the blind man with partially restored sight, they also found themselves with just enough sight to see a bit of Easter, even if not clearly yet.

As we head into Lent and then on to Easter this year, we find ourselves in good company with the disciples on the mountain. They could only glimpse where they were headed and what it all meant. Their mountaintop experience was one moment in a longer, more complicated transformation story, the end of which the disciples could not yet see. The Transfiguration was a spectacular and holy moment within a longer season of change and growth. Jesus was shifting his ministry from Galilee to Jerusalem, from his baptism to his passion and resurrection. The disciples were leaving their old lives into new ones with Jesus, struggling to understand what was happening. And every time they figured some of it out, Jesus was on the move again, calling them further into the uncharted territory of discipleship. I think that’s partly why they didn’t speak of the miracle once they came down from the mountain. How do you put into words your own transformation while you’re still in it? Perhaps you know what that’s like. It’s a comfort to me to know that the people closest to Jesus were works in progress just like we are. We do our best to follow Jesus, even as we struggle to understand what kind of messiah he really is. And in the midst of our lack of clear sight or full understanding, the Transfiguration shines on, promising us that Easter is on its way.

Today (at the 10:30 service) we will baptize Susanna and Violet. Like all babies, their faces shine with what can only be the same light that Jesus dazzled with on the mountain. Through Holy Baptism, we will welcome them into this Christian journey we share, and promise to teach them the good news of their salvation and the love God has for them. Along the way, I trust that they will have their own mountain top experiences, when the joy of Easter shines brightly. There will be other times when they will not be able to see things as clearly. They, like the disciples and like us, will be works in progress. In those times, Jesus will continue to draw them in, teach them about the way of the cross, and show them glimpses of the bigger picture.

It seems especially fitting that we welcome Susanna and Violet into the Church this week. I think they are lucky that their very first Lent will begin with a Valentine’s Day mash up. Over the years, may that mash up teach them well - and remind us all - that the way of the cross is the way of love.