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This is a TEST to see if you were paying attention to the Scripture readings we heard this morning.  Did you hear in the Epistle…Paul’s letter to the Philippians… where he said that there were some whose minds are set on earthly things…in fact, he said…their god is their belly?!!!   Well, thank goodness that doesn’t apply to any of us,   since WE all know we are in the season of Lent and so it is the time to give up good things for the belly like booze and candy!!

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On this First Sunday of Lent we always hear about Jesus in the wilderness being tempted by the devil.  Of course, this is by no means the first we have heard of wildernesses in the Bible.  Noah was in the wilderness of the landless waters for 40 days.  Jacob wrestled with an angel in the wilderness.  Moses encountered a burning bush in the wilderness, and the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.  Later, the prophet Elijah heard a still, small voice in the wilderness.  So, what is it about these places where there are no familiar landmarks, no resources, and such solitude, that they become the venue for an encounter with the sacred … the holy … the divine presence of God?

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Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing.  Return to the Lord your God, for God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love./////   This from our first reading  from the Book of Joel.

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Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

Every year, on this last Sunday of our Epiphany season … the Sunday before Ash Wednesday … we hear the account of the Transfiguration of Jesus from one of the synoptic Gospels.  It is obviously the record of a mystical experience, and for many that is sufficient … a testimony to the divine nature of Jesus.  However, for me there is much more … not just about Jesus, but about the lives that you and I live in this world today.

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​A preface to my sermon:  As I mention later, this is not the sermon I intended to write when I sat down at my computer yesterday morning.  It is as if the Spirit were leading me in a different direction from where I planned to go.  Then, after spending several hours writing this sermon, I printed it out and stuffed in in my backpack.  However, at 2am this morning I woke with a start … I had second thoughts … is this really what I want to say?  It is too simplistic?  There are too many holes in my reasoning.  It just doesn’t add up.  There is always the other side of the argument.  I’m not sure I should preach it as it is.