Have you ever used the wrong kind of tool and regretted it?
Like trying to use a screw driver to pry something apart and you bend or break it?
Or using a shovel to uproot a stump and snap the handle?
Or tried to shovel a pile of mulch with a shovel rather than a pitch fork?
The kitchen is the same way.
I once tried to shred a ginger root with the blender and succeeded only in burning out the motor.
How much of our lives do we waste doing things like that that are just foolish and wasteful and frustrating? Like wearing flip flops in the snow, or pouring our garbage into our drinking water.
We often loose sight of the how and why of things and end up making costly mistakes.
The lack of vision distorts our priorities and things just fall apart.
The Church is the same way.
It is easy to forget why we are really here, and waste our time doing something contrary to the nature of being the body of Christ.
Too often we become a place just to have friends or to have a dose of good feeling religion, or to entertain the children and not a place that prepares us for mission and ministry to the world.
The story of the transfiguration is a reminder that Jesus is the one that we are to attend to, to follow, to listen to. It is easy to loose track and to forget that central message and foundation. The transfiguration is a blast of glory reminding us not to forget that this is all about getting to know Jesus, this all about listening to him. Jesus is where things happen so stick close.
He is why we are here this morning and why we are sent forth from here.
The vestry of Grace Church has a written and adopted a new mission statement for this parish as part of the constant reminder that we keep the first thing first. It is found in the bulletin. It is short and too the point.
We were tempted to make the mission statement simply “Jesus and BBQ” but were not sure of how the Bishop would take it so what we have is: “Grace Episcopal Church proclaims and celebrates the word and sacrament that God in Christ embraces the world.”
That’s it.
That is what we are about, or rather it is who we are about.
Who we are is because of who God is and what God is doing.
We proclaim the word, we celebrate the sacraments that Jesus is God embracing the world.
We proclaim and we celebrate Jesus, we embrace the world because Jesus is God’s embrace of the world.
So there it is, the mission, what all we do is all about.
Let’s keep it up front and mull it over and dream about how we can live it out.
Otherwise we might forget what we are about and do something silly like try to cut a steak with a butter knife.
Grace Episcopal Church proclaims and celebrates the word and sacrament that God in Christ embraces the world.