Genesis 17.1-7, 15-16; Mark 9.2-9

Pipes … thousands of pipes run beneath our feet … beneath our cities and towns, across the deserts and through the mountains … underground, unseen, beneath our feet.

On the wall in front of me, a giant map - red lines, blue lines, orange lines … converging on Tulsa, OK - a map of the underground pipes and pumps moving tons of product across the nation - from gas and oil wells to the refineries, to the tank farms, to the tank trucks and the local gas station … and to the ships in Houston, taking gas and oil across the seas.

Underground, invisible, unknown … day in and day out, year after year …  underground pipelines … 

And the glory of God, underpinning our lives … 

The glory of God: large enough to hold the universe, 

small enough for Mary’s Womb, 

small enough to snuggle in her arms, 

wrapped in swaddling clothes … 

small enough to find a room in our heart. 

The glory of God:

All around us:

the birds of morning, the crickets at night … 

our laughter, our tears … 

the noise of the day, the quiet of the night … 

when hell appears, when heaven dawns …

When I’m listening to one of my favorite authors, Jacqueline Winspear and her Maisie Dobbs detective stories … she’s a gifted writer, and ever so often, a moment: Oh my Gosh, a splash of insight, a shooting star, a get-my-attention split-second - the glory of God.

It happens all the time … in a million different ways … God shows up, but always in a way suitable to us, mostly quiet and gentle … Isaiah the Prophet says it so beautifully:

God … will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed [God] will not break, and a dimly burning wick [God] will not quench.

Frederick Buechner, Presbyterian minister and novelist, says this about angels: 

An angel spreads its glittering wings over us, and we say things like  "It was one of those days that made you feel good just to be alive,"  or  "I had a hunch everything was going to turn out all right,"  or  "I don't know where I ever found the courage." 

The glory of God … in special places … thin places … where we can more easily encounter the sacred … 

The Church, and it’s Bible … a text, a book, a page and its words.

hymns and prayers, sermons and liturgy.

Baptism and the LORD’s Supper.

stained glass windows, well-worn pews … the sounds of a great organ.

the Holy Spirit blowing where it will!

Who knows where and when the glory of God reveals itself to us … but it will come our way … God is a God of great love … not to overpower us, but to walk beside us … 

The glory of God … beneath us, around us, deep within us … at work - 24/7 365 … 

Someone might ask, How can you talk about the glory of God when all hell is breaking lose, humankind has lost its way …suffering and sorrow at every turn - greed and malice everywhere?

Yes, caution is needed!

Life is no fairy tale …

And neither is the gospel … 

Jesus rightly says to us: take up your cross … faith demands a great deal of us, love requires everything … this is our calling … this is the Word of God that comes to each one of us, here and now, in this place, this moment of time … 

The story of Abram and Sarai begins where there is no hope … they’re old … too old to have a family.

That train left the station long ago, that door is closed …

But it’s never too late to be great …   

This is truth-story, not a true story.

Any more than Moby Dick or Lord of the Rings are true… 

These are truth stories, and it’s terribly important that we know the difference, lest we miss the point. 

We don’t argue about Bilbo Baggins, or the white whale, or whether or not God could reverse the aging process and give this old couple a child. 

This is not about weird miracles; some kind of a crazy “facts of life” for an old couple … but the facts of faith all of us.

It’s never too late to be great!

If one train has left the station, another one is coming … if one door is closed, there will be another door to open!

Centuries later … Jesus goes up to a high place with Peter, James, and John … Jesus is transfigured … his clothing shines … Elijah and Moses are there …  the disciples see the glory of God.

A cloud comes upon them … a voice is heard: This is my son, the beloved … listen to him.

Peter stammers and stutters … Let’s gather some branches, make a few huts, enjoy the mountain … 

In a moment, it’s all gone … the light, the glory, Moses and Elijah … what’s left is Jesus; the glory of God in tunic and sandals … down the mountain they go, to meet the world … 

At the foot of the mountain, sin and sorrow, sickness and poverty, want and hurt, craziness and meanness … it was a mountain-top experience, but life goes on at the foot of the mountain. 

The glory of God … the call to be great … the light of hope … Elijah and Moses … Jesus our LORD.

Our souls need a North Star … a point of reference to guide our footsteps … we need the glory!

If we don’t move toward the light, chances are, we’ll move in the opposite direction. 

God says to Abram and Sarai: I am God Almighty … and I make my covenant between me and you. 

On the Mt. of Transfiguration: this is my beloved son, listen to him!

Can you see the glory?

The glory of God - that all should live, and live in peace … that every child should be fed … the naked clothed, the lost be found, the gospel proclaimed … can you see the glory?

Consider the blue ceiling above the chancel … the color of the heavens … heaven and earth are not so far apart, after all … can you see the glory?

Above you … hundreds of crosses, no longer carried by the saints - their work is finished - the crosses they carried have been laid aside and exchanged for a crown … can you see the glory?

Mine eyes have the glory of the coming of the LORD …

I have seen him in the watchfires 

of a hundred circling camps,

He has sounded forth the trumpet 

that shall never call retreat;

In the beauty of the lilies 

Christ was born across the sea,

He is coming like the glory 

of the morning on the wave, 

he is wisdom to the mighty, 

he is honor to the brave;

Can you see the glory?

Hallelujah and Amen!

2.18.24, "Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down" - Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

 Genesis 9.8-17; 1 Peter 3.18-22

Good Morning and God’s Peace.

Welcome to the First Sunday of Lent … 

It began on Wednesday, Ash Wednesday!

Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.

here’s who I am, 

this is my life, 

here’s where it begins … here’s where it’ll end …

 and in between … a life - a life to live.

take hands with a neighbor, lift up the fallen, 

offer kindness and grace, go to bat for each other, 

speak truth to power, 

live in faith, hope, and love.

Ask plenty of questions.

Never be afraid of doubt.

Laugh when you can; cry when you must.

And never, ever, be afraid of love … it will take you to good places, even dangerous places, places where Christ lives.

Ash Wednesday … ashes to ashes, we all fall down.

Reality #1, we’re mortal to the core … 

When we’re young, life stretches out ahead as if it were forever … and then some time in our late 30s, early 40s, we begin to hear the clock tick … 

calendar pages pick up speed … 

time hastens on … 

we look at retirement and sign up for medicare.

insurance companies pester us to take care of our loved ones. and - “make those final arrangements” … 

Mortality… we don’t have to dwell on it, but maturity of character requires our awareness of it … honesty demands it … life needs it.

To help us value what’s important, straighten out our priorities … keep little things in check, so we can focus on the really big things, the things that count!

When Sally died, her children and grandchildren took up the task of disposing of her belongings … a house full of old furniture and nicknacks, doilies and books … in the attic, several large boxes, full of china - every piece carefully wrapped and tucked away - beautiful, expensive, china … apparently never used.

One of the grandchildren asked, “Why was this never used? What is it for? I never saw any of this on her table.”

One of the other children said, “She began collecting this as a young lady, and then throughout the years, kept adding to the collection … I think she was saving it for some special occasion.”

A special occasion that never came!

Ashes to ashes, we all fall down.

Reality #2 … sin … now that’s a word to get everyone excited … am I right???

Sin is a part of the story … tragedy, cruelty, selfishness, all curled up tight in our souls.

Sinners we are.

Has the church made too much of sin? I believe so … 

Some parts of the Christian church have devoted way too much time to sin.

Sin is fun to preach … damning a few souls to hell before breakfast has been the stock in trade for many a priest and preacher … whoopee doopee ding dang.

But ignoring sin doesn’t help either … we all know something about the darker side of life, for ourselves, for others … sin is a part of our reality.

Jesus said to the mob ready to stone a woman to death, Let the one without sin throw the first stone. 

I don’t know what sin is, exactly … but I know what it looks like:

A tree shattered by lightening … 

Life shattered, life torn apart, life broken … 

families torn apart … 

nations pitted against one another …

the soul at war with itself …

broken, bent, twisted and torn. 

Ashes to ashes, we all fall down.

Ash Wednesday helps us say the simple, but important words, “I’m sorry … 

I’m sorry for what I have done, for what I have said … I’m sorry for what I could’ve done, and didn’t … I’m sorry for what I should’ve said, but chose silence instead.

The road to life requires reality … 

We are mortal creatures, with only so much time.

We are sinners, always in the need of grace.

All religions deal with this … one way or the other … here we are, in this Christian place, a Presbyterian Church, and here’s a place, as good as any, and far better than some, to grow into the goodness and promise of life … to embrace our realities, understand their importance … the stuff of maturity.

And what is maturity? Mindful of the realities that hurt and harm, we set our minds upon the greater realities of goodness and mercy. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson put it this way:

“To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; 

To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; 

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; 

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.

This is to have succeeded.”

Ash Wednesday - behind us - ahead of us now, the Lenten Road.

Come, and follow me says Jesus, one step at a time … on the Road to Jerusalem, 

to the heart of the matter, 

to confront the demonic powers … 

religion upside down, government harsh and cruel … 

religious leaders long on law and short on love … 

political leaders who know only the sword and the spear … 

and the people, always the people - who get lost in the shuffle, shoved to the side, ignored and even despised … the widow, the orphan, the stranger at the gate … so many who have no voice, but heaven hears their cry.

There is work to be done …

The immediate story ends on Good Friday … a crown of thorns, nails pounded into flesh and bone, a spear thrust into the ribs … three men executed that day, as enemies of the state … but God is the God of the Second Chance, the third and the fourth chance, the fifth and sixth, an infinite number of chances, moments, rewrites on the script, start-overs, mulligans on the golf course, and new days before us.

What looked like the end, wasn’t the end at all … there is always Easter … and a stone rolled away.

The gospel goes forth:

be not afraid … 

you are mortal … God’s love is eternal.

you are a sinner … God is merciful.

walk the Lenten Road … 

you’re with the LORD, and the LORD is with you.

Ashes to ashes, we all fall down … and the hand of Christ lifts us up to a better day … 

Dear friends,

Look for the sunshine behind the clouds.

Take note of a child’s smile.

Listen to the parrots squawking and screeching their way across the morning sky.

Remember your friends.

Give special attention to those who are hurting.

Be mindful of your loved ones, and tell them every day you love them.

Buy a new cookbook.

Take some art lessons.

Celebrate your goodness; appreciate your gifts.

Pay attention to the world, the good, the bad, and the ugly … stay the course: love God for all your worth, and for all your worth, love your neighbor!

It is the Lenten Road we travel …  

It is the Way of Christ we follow …

Hallelujah and Amen!