Death and Life (Ash Wednesday sermon)
I recently read some practical advice given to a young man who has been struggling with the idea of death. The advice approached the issue from several angles.
First, it summarized Socrates, who suggested that if one could look back at one’s life and see that you had been responsible and responsive to the people, responsibilities and challenges, that would bring a good measure of contentment. If one lived a long life and was physically spent, then those together would be helpful. Therefore, be attentive to those priorities today. Fair enough.
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Seeing Jesus
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai in today’s reading, the two tablets of the Covenant contain the Ten Commandments. This is his second try. You may recall that the first time he came down with the Ten Commandments, he found that Israel had turned away from God. They had coerced his own brother Aaron, who had been his right-hand man and will become the forerunner of the Levitical priesthood, to cast an idol, a golden calf. Things got, shall we say, a bit tense. God was angry, Moses was furious and it got rough.
But God called Moses up the mountain again. Moses was allowed to see God’s back, any more would have killed him, and God gave him the new set of the Ten Commandments. This morning, let’s focus on his shining and the Ten Commandments, and how they compare to the Transfiguration of Jesus in today’s Gospel.
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Faith and Trust
The story of Joseph is most compelling. A quick recap is in order. He is one of Jacob’s sons. He is the “golden child” among many siblings. He’s very smart, very talented and very confident. His brothers grow to resent him. They seize him with the idea of killing him and blaming a wild animal, but relent and decide to sell him into slavery and tell their father he was killed by a wild animal, showing him his torn and bloodied technicolor dream coat.
Joseph winds up as a slave to the pharaoh of Egypt. He winds up interpreting pharaoh’s dreams and eventually rises to become pharaoh’s chief executive officer, overseeing his entire kingdom.
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