Jesus' Coming Out Story

The Last Sunday After Epiphany

**Please note this service is based on the format of the Anglican Church of Canada. Unless otherwise indicated, all prayers come from the Book of Alternative Services (BAS) and the hymns from the Book of Common Praise (BCP). Other hymns and prayers have been sourced to give appropriate credit.

**NRSV translation used for the readings, unless otherwise stated.

**This is for personal use at home as the church is unable to gather in our houses of worship but together we can worship in our own homes.

Opening Prayer

Today we are celebrating the holy light that illuminated Jesus.

We celebrate his transfiguration on the mountain.

Light of light: transfusing & transforming light.

Divine light flooding out the shadows.

Light of love, light of delight.

Light that turns doubters into followers.

It is the same God who at the beginning said:

“Let there be light,”

who has shone in our hearts with an understanding

of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

The mightiest One of all, God the Eternal,

speaks and summons the whole earth

from the rising of the sun to its setting.

From God’s holy mountain, God’s light,

the perfection of beauty, shines out.

(written by Bruce Prewer, and posted on Bruce Prewer’s Home Page)

Opening Hymn – Be Our Light - words and music by Gord Johnson, used with permission from st benedict's table  

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

And also with you.

Collect for Purity

            Listen Here

The Gloria

            Listen Here

Collect of the Day

Let us pray.

Almighty God, on the holy mount you revealed to chosen witnesses your well-beloved Son, wonderfully transfigured: mercifully deliver us from the darkness of this world, and change us unto his likeness from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The Readings

A reading from the Second Book of Kings                                                                      2:1-12

Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. The company of prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he said, “Yes, I know; keep silent.”

Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here; for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. The company of prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know; be silent.”

Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground.

When they had crossed, 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.” He responded, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.” As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha kept watching and crying out, “Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be the God.

Psalm 50:1-6

The mighty one, God the Lord,

    speaks and summons the earth

    from the rising of the sun to its setting.

Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,

    God shines forth.

Our God comes and does not keep silence,

    before him is a devouring fire,

    and a mighty tempest all around him.

He calls to the heavens above

    and to the earth, that he may judge his people:

“Gather to me my faithful ones,

    who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”

The heavens declare his righteousness,

    for God himself is judge. Selah

A reading from the Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians                          4:3-6

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Gradual Hymn – Jesus, Name Above All Names performed by Tom Buxton

            Listen Here

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark.                         9:2-9

Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.

The Gospel of Christ.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Sermon

May only truth be spoken and truth received. Amen.

Jesus and his three closest friends, Peter, John, and James, went up into the mountains. There Jesus transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as the light.

Two other men, Moses and Elijah, appeared and spoke with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which was about to be brought to fulfilment at Jerusalem.

Jesus’ friends were so scared to be seeing all of this that they had no idea what to say or do, so Peter suggested they build three shelters, one for each of Jesus, Moses, and Elijah.

While Peter was speaking, a great cloud covered them and a voice from the cloud said, “this is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

When Peter, John, and James heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. But Jesus touched them and said, “Get up. Don’t be afraid.” When they looked up, only Jesus stood with them. Moses and Elijah had disappeared.

Jesus, as he tends to do, told them not to tell anyone what had happened on the mountain, leaving his three friends to wonder what just happened and what it all meant.

The season of Epiphany is bookended by two different declarations from God about Jesus’ identity.

In the beginning of Mark’s version of the story, Jesus is baptized and a private conversation takes place between him and God, where God says, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” It’s not clear that anyone else sees the heavens slashed apart or the Holy Spirit diving into Jesus. But for Jesus, he knew that God had his back and would be there to support him.

The Transfiguration is a very different kind of a revealing, however. Jesus becomes a beacon, like a lighthouse planted in the middle of the desert. The heavenly voice addresses all the witnesses Peter, James, and John declaring, “this is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” This time the message was for Jesus’ friends, so that they would know God was present and that God wants them to have Jesus’ back and be there to support him.

This is Jesus’ coming out story. Maybe not for his sexual orientation but for who he truly was.

This beautiful passage can be a source of hope for someone who is gay or lesbian or transgender or non-binary and is tired of living in hiding.

One of the greatest challenges a person of the LGBT* community has is having to come out to friends and family. Anyone who is heterosexual or cisgender doesn’t have to tell people this is who they truly are; it is assumed.

The struggle of anyone who is coming out or has come out about their sexuality or their gender identity is that they be seen and known for who they truly are, that they are loved for who they are, and that they are accepted for who they are.

This passage has many resonances to my own coming out experience, first as a lesbian then as transgender.

It is fitting that Jesus takes his closest friends up onto that mountain, the ones he trusted the most out of the group of twelve. He takes them up the mountain to have a private conversation with them. It is at this moment that he reveals his deepest and closest-held secret about himself.

It has been my experience, that those who are just starting to come out of the closet, do so to their closest friends. It is almost like a test, to see how it feels to say the words out loud and to see what people think about it. It is also the hope that your closest friends will then become your fiercest allies. I was no exception to this rule.

For Jesus, it was important that his friends knew who he really was because not only was he needing to live as himself, but he was about to have some stuff happen to him where it was going to be important to have allies, people who would stand up for him during a time of duress.

One of the significant pieces of this story is God’s declaration of “this is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Not only was God giving a public lecture to the disciples about how they need to be there for Jesus, but God was publicly declaring divine support for Jesus’ coming out as his true self.

While most of us won’t get such a grand exit from the closet as Jesus did, this passage is so beautiful because there is this moment where so many of us can read our queer experience into the text, and I think that is a really wonderful thing.

It is also a moment of such great tenderness and vulnerability. When those of us in the queer community make the decision to come out to others, we become very vulnerable in that moment because we don’t know what the reaction of the person or people in front of us will be.

It is the same for Jesus in this passage. While he hopes that his friends will be accepting, there is that moment of vulnerability in his coming out as his true self.

Peter, John, and James have an understandable reaction. They are confused and not sure what to do with the information. And while they continue to walk with Jesus, which is really all we can hope for when we come out to our friends, they question what it means and what it will do to their friendship.

No matter that they were confused by the whole situation, Jesus’ friends stood by him during his most vulnerable time. The declaration from God that “this is my Son, whom I love” is also important to take to heart because not everyone queer person who has a coming out, leaves the conversation with love and support.

I pray that everyone who comes out with one of the many queer identities has someone, whether it is a parent, a friend, a priest, a teacher, who can say to them “you are loved, good, worthy, and righteous just the way you are” just as Peter, John, James, and God did for Jesus.

Amen.

Affirmation of Faith

The Prayers of the People

(From Intercessions for the Christian People)

With our eyes fixed on Christ, the beloved Son who intercedes for us, let us offer our prayer with confident faith before the throne of God, saying:

Lord, have mercy.

That the church of Christ may be ever attentive to his voice, persevering in prayer and zealous in his service, let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

That Christ, the morning star, may dawn upon the hearts of all and herald a new day of justice and peace, let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

That those whose lives are overshadowed by physical pain or anguish of spirit may know the healing touch of Christ and the transfiguring power of his resurrection, let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

That we who have been called by Christ to this mountain of prayer may find strength here to be his witnesses in the world, let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

Please take time to offer your own intercessions or to pray in silence.

That those who during their earthly pilgrimage acknowledged the dominion of Christ and all whose faith is known to God alone may be drawn into the radiant joy of heaven’s kingdom and behold the face of God, let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

God of majesty and power, whose beloved Son is your word of truth and the light shining in our darkness, receive the prayers of your church, and grant that all peoples may come to know the peace of your kingdom and the splendor of your name. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Confession and Absolution

Dear friends in Christ,

God is steadfast in love and infinite in mercy; God welcomes sinners and invites them to the table. Let us confess our sins, confident in God’s forgiveness.

Song of Confession - words and music by Gord Johnson, used with permission from st benedict's table

            (Silence)

Almighty God, have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver you from all your sins, confirm and strengthen you in all goodness, and keep you in eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The peace of the Lord be always with you.

And also with you.

Offertory Hymn – Sing Hallelujah To The Lord

            Listen Here

Prayer over the Gifts

**Although not physically at our church buildings to share our offering together I would encourage you to set your offering of money aside so that it can be dropped off or placed in the church once services resume, to mail your offering to the church, or to make donations online. Please remember ministry is still taking place.

Let us pray.

Holy God, receive all we offer you this day, and bring us to that radiant glory which we see in the transfigured face of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

And now, as our Saviour Christ has taught us, we are bold to pray,

Our Father, who art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

As we forgive those who trespass against us.

Save us from the time of trial,

And deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

The power, and the glory,

For ever and ever. Amen.

 

Doxology

Glory to God,

Whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Glory to God from generation to generation, in the Church and in Christ Jesus, for ever and ever. Amen.

 

Blessing

Go now sure footed in faith with eyes wide open and waiting for God’s glory to surprise you in unexpected ways. And the blessing of God, Son, and Spirit – Mystery, Sign, and Hope – be with you and those whose lives you touch now and always.

Amen.

(written by  Rev Sandi McGill and posted on the Church of Scotland’s Starters for Sunday website. http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/)

Closing Hymn – Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise (BCP #393)

            Listen Here

Dismissal

May God now send us back down the mountain of our worship.

We have been changed.

We can’t be silent anymore.

We have seen the Light of the World.

Go and share the radiance of love!

Thanks be to God.

(written by Rev. Dr. David Bahr, pastor of Park Hill Congregational United Church of Christ in Denver, Colorado.  Posted on the United Church of Christ website.)