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The Gospel of Matthew Bible Studies
The Gospel of Mark Bible Studies
The Book of Acts Bible Studies
January 2009
February 2009
March 2009
April 2009
May 2009
June 2009
July 2009
August 2009
September 2009
October 2009
November 2009
December 2009
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The Transfiguration of our Lord As we heard earlier from our first reading: "When they had crossed (the Jordan River), Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you." Elisha said, "Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit." Elisha's request seems a strange one to us today. The "double share" is actually the easiest part for us to understand. In the society back then, it was traditional for the eldest son to receive a double portion (as compared to the rest of his brothers) of the estate when his father died. So Elisha was asking that he be recognized as the principal "son" or successor of Elijah in carrying out God's prophetic ministry in Israel. But what does it mean to inherit someone's SPIRIT? And why is that important? And does this have anything to say to us right here and now? In dealing with these questions, I would like to share a story which was written by Walter Wangerin, a Lutheran pastor and storyteller. It is called "The Spittin' Image". Wangerin begins by telling of his relationship with Grandpa Storck (his mother's father - an elderly man who had emigrated from Germany), about what life was like with him when Walter was a small boy living in Chicago. At that time he was one of Walter's favorite people in the whole world. Grandpa Strock was a skilled tobacco chewer, which is to say that he was also skilled at accurately spitting tobacco juice. Anyway, going on with the story... The day Grandpa Storck died, six year old Wally and his mother were sitting at the kitchen table, eating lunch. The phone rang, and they both knew by the ring itself what the message was. Hanging up the phone, Mrs. Wangerin broke into tears - death seems so sudden, no matter how prepared we think we are - and the young boy tried to console his mom by reaching out his hand and placing it upon her arm. When her sobbing subsided, the mother searched her son's face, gazing into his eyes. Smiling faintly, she said, "Wally, Wally - you are the spittin' image of your grandpa." It was the very first time the boy had ever heard that phrase, a phrase that would make him proud and also cause him great concern for almost three decades. He knew what "image" meant, and he was proud to think that he looked like the man who was his hero, his favorite person. Wow...he was the image of his Grandpa Storck. But "spittin'" image....what was the SPIT? What did that mean? Was he going to have to learn to chew his grandpa's chaw, the one he chewed before he died? Now let me continue the story in Walter Wangerin's own words. He writes... "Some twenty-seven years thereafter I was sitting in another kitchen in another city altogether, Evansville, in the home of one of my parishioners. The woman across the table from me was Musetta Bias, a strong-boned, strong-hearted woman as capable of love as any of my forbearers, but nowhere as stern in Lutheran rectitude. Lutheran she was. German she was not. Musetta was black. Her love had no hard edges. We drank tea together on that particular day, because we had only recently buried her husband; and, though the committal service had been smooth and gracious and (she told me) comforting, ther'd been no chance for personal words at the graveside. Arthur had died of a wasting cancer. He had been a big man, a police officer, a man who liked his green beans cooked with bacon fat. We were spending a holy moment remembering him. Suddenly Musetta turned her face to the window. "Arthur Junior," she said, speaking as though their son were just about to enter the room. "Arthur Junior," she said, "is the spittin' image of his daddy." No! No, she did not say "spittin'" at all. "What did you say?" I asked. "Musetta, what did you just say?" "I said," she said, "that Arthur Junior is the spee-it'n image of his daddy..." "Did you say 'spit?" "No," she said. There was Southern blood in the woman, ancient roots to the language in her mouth. "You didn't say 'spit'? Spit? Like spittle, spit?" "No," she said. "I said 'SPEE-IT.' " SPEE-IT! That's the way the South elides its syllables, swallowing Rs in the process. SPEE-IT is SPIRIT. Musetta was saying SPIRIT. She was saying that Arthur Junior was the spirit and image of his daddy. That's what the spit was. "And my mother," Wangerin concludes, "whether she knew it or not, had said no less. I did more than look like Grandpa Storck. His spirit, the character and the force of his being, dwelt within me. When I put forth my boyhood hand to touch her, why, it was as well the hand of her father. Her father had come consoling her, not gone at all, not altogether gone, abiding in his grandson..." That is what Elisha wanted from his mentor, Elijah. He wanted a special share of Elijah's SPIRIT. To be the SPEE-ITing image of the great prophet. And, of course, that is exactly what he received. The same is true for us as well! In sometimes subtle, but very real ways, we receive the SPIRIT of those who are close to us. We receive their love, their attitudes, and their power. And even after they are gone from this life, they are somehow still present in us as we become the SPEE-ITing images of them. Jesus himself was the SPEE-ITing image of Moses and Elijah - and that is one of the major points of their appearing to him at his transfiguration in today's gospel lesson. That he had inherited and indeed FULFILLED their spirit - everything that had made them great! And, not only that, the voice from heaven bore witness that he was the special recipient of GOD'S SPIRIT so that he was called God's beloved Son! All of what made Moses and Elijah so special, and all of the glory and authority and love of God Himself, rested on and in the person of Jesus! We as Christians are also the SPEE-ITing images of our Lord Jesus! For when we were baptized into his name, he became a part of our lives in a very special way. Our baptisms were more than just a ceremony. Somehow, in a way that defies human explanation, Jesus' SPIRIT has become a part of us. We have received his love, his holiness, and have also received the hope of one day sharing his glorious power! To have new bodies which are free from the power of sin and death. We have received that promise that some day, we shall be fully as he is! But for now, let us remember that even if not yet complete, we are SPEE-ITing images of our Lord. We have received the power from him to live new lives and get through whatever difficulties we may now be facing. By his grace, we have received from him, as Elisha did from Elijah, a "double share" of Christ's spirit to comfort us and strengthen us for service in his name. Spitting images - SPEE-ITing images of Jesus...that's who and what we are! Abiding in his love and holiness now, even if not yet perfectly. Living in the hope of our resurrection and our transformation to eternal glory! SPEE-ITing images of Jesus! Thanks be to God! Amen! -------------------- Pastor George Karres 418 W. Main St. Sidney, MT 59270
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