Crucifying ambition — Sermon by Rev. Bryan Biba

let us

pray Lord may my speech and my message

not be plausible words of wisdom but a

demonstration of the spirit and of power

so our faith may not rest in the wisdom

of men but in the power of the Living

God we ask this in the name of the

father and the son and the holy spirit

amen you may be seated

I don't know about you but I love going

to the

movies I love uh getting a big thing of

popcorn and like a big soda and some

Milk

Duds and uh sitting down and watching a

good movie it's not something I get to

do very often because I have three kids

and that's not necessarily what I want

to spend my babysitting money on but

when we get to go and see a movie I love

it and the truth is almost more than the

movie the thing I really

love are the Coming Attractions the

trailers I love getting there early and

seeing the trailers and what's to come I

love it so much that often I'll go home

and I'll watch the trailer Again on

YouTube you know a good trailer is a

thing of beauty it reveals just enough

of the plot to get you interested but it

holds back some of the best mysteries

for for the actual film I mean there's

nothing worse than a trailer that gives

away all the good stuff right at

first this morning as we stand on the

cusp of the season of

Lent the lectionary gives us a trailer a

coming attractions of the things to come

in the story of the

Transfiguration this story hints at the

mysteries of Holy Week the glory of

Jesus that we will soon see in in 40

days or so and gives us motivation for

the coming lent and fast but it also

hides away some of the best parts you'll

have to stay with us to experience them

together open your Bibles with me to uh

Luke chapter 9 Our Gospel

Luke 9 · chapter mention

reading The Story begins in Luke 9:

28 we're told that Jesus Took with him

Peter James and John his three best

friends and they went up a mountain to

pray and as he was

praying the appearance of Jesus's face

was

altered and his clothing became dazzling

white like Moses and Elijah before him

Jesus goes up the mountain to meet with

God this is very common practice in the

ancient world Jesus wanted to be as near

as possible to his heavenly father so he

goes on the mountain to be closer to the

father to commune with him climbing as

high as possible but he doesn't go alone

he brings with him his his three best

friends his buddies Peter James and John

and as they go up on the mountain and

are praying together something amazing

happens indeed as we just sang In Our

Gospel hymn when when two or three three

are gathered together in

prayer God meets

them this is completely different than

what we expect I mean Jesus is

transformed the glory that is always

present hidden behind his Humanity now

shines forth on the Holy Mountain he is

altered his disciples recognize him and

yet it is someone different than him

it's Jesus and yet he's completely

different than the Jesus that they know

for the early church this was a

revelation of Jesus's

Divinity the story was evidence used at

the Council of NAA for Jesus's full

humanity and full Divinity United

together in the person of Christ indeed

as Jesus taught in the Gospel of John if

you see me you see the father I and the

father are

one Jesus is not less than God but the

fullness of God

the god of Israel made flesh his

divinity is always there and now on the

Holy Mountain we see him as he really is

glorious transfigured

transformed but more than that we also

see the glory of our

Humanity the Creator and the creature

are not opposed to one another as we may

often think but indeed the Creator longs

to give his glory to his creatures we

creatures were made for the glory of God

we see this in verse 30 and behold two

men were talking with Jesus on that

mountain Moses and

Elijah the presence of Moses and Elijah

is significant for three reasons first

they point us to the hope of the

Resurrection from the dead for those who

are in Christ death is not the end

as Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 4

while our mortal bodies waste away in

the grave our souls have only fallen

asleep to be present with the Lord in

what theologians call the intermediate

state but this disembodied state with

the Lord is not our

destiny we're told that Moses and Elijah

are there but we're not told how they're

there they're not there in an embodied

form they're there in a kind of

spiritual form they long for the day

that their bodies will be raised to dead

and reunited with their souls in

Resurrection and yet here by God's grace

and power they are alive talking with

their lord face to

face both of these men secondly beheld

the glory of God face to face Elijah in

The Chariot of fire that took him into

heaven and Moses as we heard just a few

moments ago in our reading from Exodus

when he went up Mount Si and beheld the

glory of God and was given the law his

face Shone with the brightness of Glory

Moses did not encounter God and remain

the same he was changed so changed in

fact he had to wear a veil over his face

to protect uh himself from the other

Israelites who were terrified by his

shining

face however we might be tempted to

think that the glory of God is opposed

to the glory of humans we see in Moses

and Elijah that indeed they are one they

are destined for one another the third

thing is that Moses and Elijah show us

what a glorified human person looks

like I mean the glory of Jesus we

understand right he's fully God but

Moses and Elijah there with the glory of

God we humans were made for the glory of

God that's our goal goal our end our

destiny we all know this deep down even

if we deny the existence of God because

all of us strive to be seen to be known

to be recognized by other people we want

our accomplishments acknowledged and

affirmed we aspire to Greatness in the

work that God has given

us this is good and right this is a

striving for the glory that we are

destined for the problem of course is

that sin and death have Twisted this

desire for Glory in on

itself and instead of seeking

Glory we are

ambitious there's a difference friends

between aspiration and ambition

aspiration is about seeking to fulfill

your call to the best of your ability we

aspire to be good stewards of what God

has given

us but ambition is different ambition is

about

domination we selfishly seek the glory

for ourselves to the exclusion of others

it's a zero sum game for the ambitious

person either I get the glory or they do

we both can't have it and so I do

whatever I can to outshine my

neighbor we perceive others as a threat

to our Glory aspiration is fueled by

goodness there's more than enough

goodness to go around if we all Aspire

for the same thing but ambition is

fueled by

Pride the 17th century Puritan Thomas

Brooks

wrote ambition is a gilded misery a

Secret poison a hidden plague the inur

ER of Deceit the mother of hypocrisy the

parent of Envy the original Vice The

Moth of

Holiness moth of Holiness I love that

ambition eats up the sanctification in

our lives it erodes our moral

virtue any character or conviction that

we may have will be consumed by our

prideful ambition if we let it

why am I bringing this up well it's

because we see this ambition in Simon

Peter look with me at verse

32 now Peter and those who were with him

were heavy with

sleep when they became fully awake they

saw his glory and the two men who stood

with

him Peter sees the glory of Jesus he

sees Moses and Elijah and he understands

that he's missing out he needs to be up

there with him somehow say take that

glory for himself verse 33 as the men

were parting from him Peter said to

Jesus

Master it is good that we are here

aren't you glad I'm here Jesus don't you

need me what would you have done without

me let us make three tents one for you

one for Moses and one for Elijah not

knowing what he said Luke gives us a

hint this is not a good thing Peter is

asking Peter is moated by prideful

ambition it is good that we are here

that's the voice of ambition he's

self-satisfied he's more focused on his

opportunity to shine than on the glory

of his Lord he offers to make tense for

the transfigured Jesus and his guests

which may seem like a humble Act of

service but in fact he is striving for

recognition indeed often prideful

ambition masquerades as humble

service we ingratiate ourselves to

others becoming indispensable to them

aren't you glad you have

me but true

humility true

aspiration it serves without expecting

anything in return regardless if we're

acknowledged for it or

not God the Father sees Peter's prideful

ambition indeed this is not the first

time in the gospels Peter has strove to

be recognized and it will not be the

last time and we hear in verse

34 the voice of the father as he was

saying these things the father doesn't

even let him finish he cuts Peter off

the cloud came and overshadowed them and

they were afraid as they entered the

cloud and a voice came out of the cloud

saying this is my son My Chosen One

listen to him Peter let go of your

selfish Ambitions of your vain conceits

Focus only on the son The Chosen One

listen to

him and when the voice had spoken Jesus

was found alone

this is one of the few times that we

hear the voice of the father in the

gospels and every time we hear the voice

of the father it's the same thing each

time the father draws our attention to

Jesus look at Jesus my son my beloved My

Chosen pay attention to him don't look

at yourself don't look at anyone else

look only to Jesus

and like Peter the sole focus of all our

aspirations should be the glory of the

son whatever you do however you spend

your time whatever you've been called to

do everything you Aspire for should be

the glory of the son not your own

Ambitions not your

pride friends this is the main thread

the main plot of the trans

Transfiguration story The Glory of Jesus

the vanity and ambition of Peter the

call to focus on

Jesus but like a good movie trailer this

story hints at something else there's

another thread here easily missed if

you're not paying attention our collect

for the week pointed it out if you were

paying

attention the story points to the

ultimate means of glorification to our

glorification and the glorification of

the son we have to start again at the

beginning verse 28 how does it

start now about 8 days after these

sayings Jesus Took with him and you got

to ask what

sayings and you got to go back to Luke

Luke 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9 just

earlier just before this story Jesus

teaches in verse 23 he said to all if

anyone would come after me let him deny

him himself take up his cross and follow

me

daily 8 days after these sayings this is

no accident if you look at all of the

gospels Matthew Mark Luke the ones that

have a Transfiguration they're always

preceded by the call to follow Jesus to

the Cross there's always the teaching of

self-denial and then the glory so Luke

all the gospel writers they want us to

read this story in the context of the

teaching on self-denial and cross

bearing there's another hint of the

Cross here too in verse

31 Jesus is up on the mountain

transfigured with Moses and

Elijah and Luke tells us who appeared in

glory and spoke of his departure which

he was about to accomplish at

Jerusalem and your Bible your few Bible

may have a footnote like mine does that

says Greek

Exodus that's literally the word used

here by

Luke Jesus is talking with Moses and

Elijah about his coming

Exodus just as the god of Israel saved

his people from slavery in Egypt passing

through the Red Sea so will Jesus redeem

all of us by passing through the passion

and death of the cross

this is what Moses and Elijah looked

forward to what was shadowy revealed in

their day now the glory of God is coming

to fulfillment in the

cross friends the cross is God's answer

to our

Ambitions Jesus means to crucify our

selfish Ambitions and vain conceits in

order to resurrect us as humble servants

who only aspire to his glory to the

glory of his kingdom and the way of the

Cross is the way of self denial Luke

says it differently than the other

gospels let him deny himself take up his

cross daily and follow

me James says it this way in James 4:10

James 4:10

humble yourself in the sight of the Lord

and He will lift you up but you know the

opposite is true too right if you lift

yourself up in the sight of the Lord he

will humble

you so I mean you got a choice God loves

you he gives you some Freedom you can

humble yourself or you can experience

his humbling I don't know about you I'd

rather humble myself right I'd rather

take up that cross daily deny myself and

follow Jesus that's the only thing that

kills ambition in my heart

heart why why why is the cross the means

to True human

Glory why did God choose to use this

instrument of torture to bring about our

transformation it's because the cross is

the ultimate demonstration of

love Jesus says in John 15 that no

greater love has won than this than

someone who lays down his life for his

friends

that's what the cross is the creator of

the universe laying down his life

demonstrating his friendship with

us in 1 John chter 4 John writes who

remember was there on that

mountain God is

love his love is glory and His glory is

his love

this is what Paul explains in our new

testament reading from 1 Corinthians 13

you can turn with me there now it was

too good to pass this first Corinthians

text up in no accident the lectionary

puts it with the

Transfiguration Paul is explaining that

all Christians are called to follow

Christ's example as we love God and love

neighbor and practically speaking this

looks like three

things first we must value others more

than our particular

gifts we often forget that the 1

Corinthians 13 passage on love happens

in the context of this broader

conversation Paul has about gifts we

heard it in our reading God gives gifts

to his church he calls people to

different kinds of Ministries all these

gifts are good they're for building up

the body and yet lest we think our gifts

are our Glory

lest we use our gifts for our own

Ambitions Paul reminds us that if we

speak in the tongue of men's and Angels

but have not love for noisy gong

clanging symbol if I have prophetic

powers and understand all Mysteries and

have all knowledge and if I have all

Faith as the move mountains but have not

love I am

nothing Paul is clear that we all have

gifts are all to be used for the common

good but more important than our gifts

is the way we

love for Christians the ends can never

justify the

means because the way we do something is

just as important as the ends we seek to

accomplish the way we treat others is

even more important than our particular

gifts and callings then our own

convictions and our own

knowledge without love it's all all

nothing but secondly Paul explains

that God wants to Bear spiritual fruit

in us this is what love looks like he

describes a number of different moral

virtues in verse

4 love is patient love is kind love does

not envy or boast is not arrogant or

rude this is not dissimilar from some of

Paul's other lists in his letters

notably Galatians 5 where he talks about

the fruit of the

spirit these things are not things we do

through our own power we learn to be

patient and kind and to not envy and

boast as we deny ourselves and take up

our cross and follow Jesus as we mortify

the flesh within us God builds in us and

grows in us spiritual fruit

this process is real there is good news

people change you can change wherever

you are whoever you want to be it is

possible but transformation only comes

through cross

bearing it only comes through

self-denial and following after Jesus as

we do that God bears fruit in us but the

cross must come first it's not about

trying harder trying to be good but

about being crucified with Christ

letting go of our Ambitions our vanity

and our pride as CS Lewis said it's not

thinking less of ourselves but thinking

of ourselves

less this inward spiritual

transformation through

love makes it possible for the Third Way

of practical love bearing with one

another look with me at verse

5 Paul writes it does not insist in its

own way it is not irritable or resentful

it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but

rejoices in the truth love bears all

things believes all things hopes all

things endures all

things Love Never

Ends the truth

is to be honest for a

moment you know we humans are really

hard to love

all of us have that one person in our

lives you know might be annoying

coworker or maybe a difficult family

member or that neighbor or that person

sitting on the Pew you know down the row

from you whoever they are we are

difficult to love try as we might and we

try we can't change

people only God changes Hearts we got to

stop trying to change people

people instead what love calls us to do

is to bear with one

another now this does not mean

tolerating them or looking the other

way love means refusing to be

antagonized by the

neighbor Carl Bart writes extensively

about 1 Corinthians 13 in his church

dogmatics he points out that Paul is not

saying that we have no reason to be

angry with her neighbor and he's not

saying that a person who loves does not

see the wrongs done to them what sets

the lover apart is that they do not give

in to anger they don't sit around

dwelling on what people have done to

them they don't keep a dossier on their

neighbor the only way we can love like

this is by following the teaching of

Jesus and putting to death our own

selfish desires

because often the way we love people is

we love them in a way that benefits us

right and that's that ambition popping

up its head

again the Theologian uh John Howard

Yoder wrote that people who bear crosses

are working with the grain of the

universe and he's so

right at the heart of our universe our

Cosmos is love and not an abstract ract

mushy kind of love a generic love at the

heart of reality is the love of a

crucified God a God who gave himself so

that we might be

redeemed people who bear crosses are

going with the grain of the universe but

those who are selfish who are irritable

who are resentful who are ambitious

they're fighting with the very fabric of

reality following the crucified God is

the only way to

life that is our

glory and that's what lent is all

about through fasting and prayer and

almsgiving we deny ourselves we take up

our cross and we follow Jesus we

reconnect to the very ground of reality

the way of Glory the way of life and we

allow the Holy Spirit to change us to

bear fruit in us so that we can

experience true Resurrection not just in

the life to come but in this life

today the way of the Cross means putting

to death everything in our lives that

distracts us from following Jesus

sacrificing the false glories of this

world sacrificing our own Ambitions we

must nail them to the Cross so that we

might have Abundant

Life St Paul knew this truth he knew it

intimately writing from prison Paul

wrote in a Philippians chapter

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

2 do nothing out of selfish ambition or

vain conceit but in humility count

others more significant than yourselves

Let each of you look not to his own

interests but to the interests of

others friends this is what true love

looks like this is our Glory the glory

of the human creature Fully Alive loving

God and loving neighbor aspiring to the

kingdom of God and crucifying our own

Ambitions so as we prepare to enter into

lent in just a few short days let us ask

ourselves Lord what Ambitions in

me do you need to

kill what pride and vanity and arrogance

must be crucified in me so that I can be

a person

who truly

loves let's take some time and invite

the spirit to speak to us there