December 16th

The scripture scholar Megan McKenna always insists that you read the context of any scripture passage, otherwise it is just an isolated or random reading-it may well inspire, but we need a grounding and context. I firmly believe that many of the world’s problems could be sorted if we simply appreciated ‘where people are coming from’, as the popular saying has it. Today’s Gospel reading comes in the context of the Transfiguration event (Mt 17: 1-8); Jesus has taken his inner circle of Peter, James, and John up the mountain. There they experience the glory of radiant change as ‘his face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light’ (Mt 17: 2). This vision of glory is shared with the symbol of Jewish Law, Moses and the symbol of Jewish Prophecy, Elijah. In his usual reckless spontaneity, Peter wants to STAY there in this ideal world, but Jesus, ever the realist, sees the need to ‘come down from the mountain’ (Mt 17: 9) and be fully incarnate in a real world-this is what Christmas is all about. In today’s discussion with the disciples, Jesus sees the need to recognise the strength of prophetic witness; the prophets like John the Baptist and Elijah are faithful witnesses to God, often in the face of extreme opposition and death. The birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem is beautiful, and we can make it nice and cosy-however, the baby of the manger grows up to challenge and make demands of us. The true prophets of God know pain and hurt, and Jesus can see that the ‘Son of Man will suffer similarly ‘(Mt 17: 12).

Today: do something today that makes a real demand on you-you are acting like the prophets, going against the accepted cultural way

We can pray:

It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view.

The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts; it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.

Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.  No prayer fully expresses our faith.  No confession brings perfection.  No pastoral visit brings wholeness.  No program accomplishes the church’s mission.  No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.

We plant the seeds that one day will grow.  We water the seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.  We lay foundations that will need further development.  We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.  This enables us to do something and to do it well.  It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.  We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future not our own

 (‘The Romero Prayer’ from the ‘Romero Trust’)