Super Sunday

As far as weeks go, this is certainly a Super one. Tonight is the Super bowl, and Tuesday was upgraded this year from Super Tuesday to Super Duper Tuesday. With all of the excitement, it’s hard to focus on the ordinary, mundane aspects of life. This isn’t always a bad thing, but when we equate elections and football with things that are super, we lose sight of those things which are really extra ordinary.

If you paid attention to the bulletin today, you will notice two things are different. The first is that each bulletin has a name tag in it. If you haven’t done so already, I would like to invite you to put it on. The second thing that is different is that we did not have a time to greet one another. I specifically removed it from its normal place in order that now when you stand up to greet one another, you might do so with new eyes; that when you look at the person whom you are greeting this morning, you see Jesus.

So now, I invite you all to stand up and greet each other.

Let me read to you the story of Jesus Transfiguration.

“Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

Up until this point, Peter, James and John, and I’m sure the rest of the disciples thought of Jesus as just an ordinary guy who had some great thoughts on how to live life. Yes, there were some impressive miracles in there, but this was the point in which Jesus which changed these three men’s lives. They finally realized that Jesus was the Son of God. It is something which we tend to take for granted. We all just assume that Jesus is the Son of God. It isn’t exactly a startling statement to make to a bunch of believers. The opposite is true today though. So often we seem to forget that Jesus was a regular person.

I gave you all nametags today because we need to begin to see Jesus in the ordinary, non Super days of our life.

On Friday, there was a man waiting in the hallway of Hahle hall when I arrived. He needed money for the train. He had been here a few months before when his wife kicked him out of the house. This time, he had come to collect his things, which wasn’t much. Everything he had was in a bag not much bigger than this. I gave him the money he needed for his train ticket, and as I was walking him out the door, he asked if we had an extra umbrella, as you will remember that it was raining quite heavily on Friday. Well, I took him into the sanctuary and went to the umbrella rack and let him have his pick. So if someone notices that their umbrella is no longer there, please speak to me, I owe you a new one.

Well, I got back to my office and a friend from college happened to call me. I told him the story I just told you, but when I got to the part about this man asking for money, he couldn’t help but ask, “Well, what did you do?”

The answer is, of course I gave him the money. Now, I have to admit that I do such things for a purely selfish reason. I can’t even tell you this mans name because I forgot it just a few seconds after he told it to me, but I gave it to him because I saw Jesus and someday, when I am dead, I will stand in front of the Transfigured Christ and be called to account for my actions. I want Jesus to say to me, thank you giving me money for the train. Thank you for sharing a meal with me at McDonalds when I came to you homeless and out of jail. Thank you for caring about the people I care about, the people who are not considered Super, but plain, ordinary people who need a little help.

When you look around this room, and when you leave this worship today, I hope that you see everyone wearing a name tag that says “Hello, my name is Jesus.” Care for each other in that manner. Go home from here and read a gospel before getting ready for the football game. Realize that when people saw Jesus, they invited him into their homes for a meal. Realize that when people saw Jesus, they wanted to hear his story. Realize that when people touched Jesus, they expected to be healed

Then, realize that when you see other people, you need to see Jesus in them and invite them into your home for a meal. Realize that when you see other people, you want to know their life story and be a part of it. Realize that when you touch other people as Jesus, you can expect some aspect of life to be healed.

This is what we need to intentionally start doing my brothers and sisters. Too often we fail to see Jesus in the people around us. The people who are lonely and seeking companionship. We need to look at each other and say I want to share my story with you, because that’s what happened when Jesus was around other people. If we do not make an active effort to see those around us as Jesus, there is very little point in understanding Jesus to be the Christ, for you cannot have one without the other.