Juxtaposition

In our Sunday morning Bible study, we are at the hinge point between the end of 1 Corinthians 12 and the beginning of chapter 13 (the ever so popular love chapter).

After a lengthy discussion of what it looks like to be the body of Christ, Paul goes into how that body is supposed function in love. We can personalize it at weddings, because we don't reference chapter 12, "The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don't, the parts we see and the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance. You are Christ's body—that's who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your "part" mean anything. You're familiar with some of the parts that God has formed in his church, which is his "body": apostles, prophets, teachers, miracle workers, healers, helpers, organizers, those who pray in tongues. But it's obvious by now, isn't it, that Christ's church is a complete Body and not a gigantic, unidimensional Part? It's not all Apostle, not all Prophet, not all Miracle Worker, not all Healer, not all Prayer in Tongues, not all Interpreter of Tongues. And yet some of you keep competing for so-called "important" parts. But now I want to lay out a far better way for you..."

Love at it's fullest isn't merely about you and your loved ones. It's about God loving the world through the only body he has, the church.

In the same way, our reading from Matthew 17 doesn't make any sense out of context. Thankfully, we read the end of chapter 16 yesterday, "Before you know it the Son of Man will arrive with all the splendor of his Father, accompanied by an army of angels. You'll get everything you have coming to you, a personal gift. This isn't pie in the sky by and by. Some of you standing here are going to see it take place, see the Son of Man in kingdom glory."

Today's reading starts, "Six days later, three of them saw that glory."

Advent is about waiting for Jesus to return. The early church mistook Jesus' statement to mean that the world was going to end within their lifetimes. The Gospels weren't even written down until a generation later. It was an oral tradition. Besides, Jesus was going to be back in like ten minutes.

When we see it for what it truly is, the transfiguration is a foretaste of the feast to come. Notice that right after they experience this, they go down into the valley to serve and heal people. And God provides for their needs.

We have communion every Sunday, a foretaste of the feast to come. Right after we experience this, we are to...

In case you are wondering, the fill-in-the-blank is not just "drink coffee and chat". =)