"Change is Possible", February 27, 2022

 Change is Possible

By Rev Jamie Green Klopotoski
Based on Matthew 2:1-12
February 27, 2022
First Baptist Church, Gloucester, MA

Watch here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/476126755790467/permalink/4896368630432902/

I have to be with honest with you. I had an entirely different sermon prepared to preach for today.

Today is Transfiguration Sunday, the day when Christian churches read stories of transfigurations in the bible, including the one I read today from the Gospel of Luke about the time when Jesus’ appearance was changed by the radiance of God’s light. Some also read the story of when Moses went up Mt. Sinai, entered into the presence of God, received the 10 commandments on stone tablets, and came back down the mountain with his face shining, transfigured, because God’s face had shown on him. 

Transfiguration is all about transformation, about change, not just a change of physical appearance, but a change of the inner self. I had planned to talk to you about change by telling some stories from Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” and the Broadway musical “Wicked”. And maybe some other day, I will tell you these stories. But it didn’t feel right today. Because on Thursday morning, Russian forces launched a devastating assault on Ukrainian territory — the largest such military operation in Europe since the end of World War II. Missiles rained down on Ukraine's cities and columns of Russian troops began streaming into the countryside. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have left their homes in search of safety, some sleeping in subway tunnels that have been turned into bomb shelters. Russia's barrage has already killed at least 130 Ukrainian civilians and wounded 300 others, with many many more deaths and injuries predicted. 

  

It sounds trite to say that my thoughts and prayers are with the people of Ukraine, but I’m not sure what else to do about what’s happening in a country almost 5,000 miles away. I feel the powerlessness in the fact that most of us will be unable to directly influence Vladimir Putin or the course of this war. But I don’t want to do nothing, and prayer feels like something I can do, something we can do. But what are we supposed to say or feel when we pray for Ukraine? What do these prayers achieve? And how will these prayers be answered? 

Especially in times like these, I find comfort in something a few of my favorite theologians have said about prayer. C.S. Lewis, a 20th century British theologian (also known for writing the Chronicles of Narnia), once said, “I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. Prayer doesn't change God. It changes me.” This is a rephrasing of something Soren Kierkegaard, a 19th century Danish theologian wrote 100 years earlier, “Prayer does not change God, it changes the one who offers it.”

In other words, we pray not because prayer changes God, but because prayer changes us. A deep, heartfelt, meaningful, prayer can do so many things to promote change within us. Prayer can open our hearts and minds. Prayer can align our thoughts and feelings and actions with God’s. Prayer can awaken in us a sense of intense compassion for the victims of war. Prayer can move our hearts to action. Prayer can inspire us to work for peace and reconciliation in our own lives. Prayer can give us hope that our daily words and deeds will inspire others and have a ripple effect across all of humanity, so that our desire for peace will one day be the world’s desire for peace.   

Prayer doesn’t change God, prayer changes us. This is transfiguration. We must believe that change is possible, and we must believe that thoughts and prayers really can create change. 

The Ukrainian Union of Evangelical Baptist Churches, the largest Protestant community in Ukraine, with over 2000 churches and 113,000 adult members, has been motivated by prayer into action. They are turning church basements into refugee centers, stocking up on supplies, and readying members who have medical backgrounds. Volodymyr Nesteruk, pastor of Regeneration Baptist Church in Rivne (Reev-ne), Ukraine, said, “We very much hope that our house of prayer will not be needed to shelter people, but we are preparing so that people can come here, if necessary, to find safety and shelter.”

Last week, at Grace Christian Church in Kyiv, Ukraine, over 1,000 people gathered to pray for the unity, peace, and blessing. They prayed for wisdom and courage, they prayed for Ukrainian citizens, the national army—and even the enemies of Ukraine, that their hearts and minds may be transformed. 

Rev. Mikhail Myshchuk of the St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church in 

Watervliet (Water-vleet), New York echoed this desire, saying, “We pray for peace so that those who have dark and evil desires, like escalating war, can change their mind.”

As Christians, we believe that God’s mercy, forgiveness, salvation, restoration, and peace are available to all. We believe that all people can be redeemed, all people can be forgiven, all people can be transfigured, all people can change. People can change from something closed down and locked up into something wide open and accepting. People can transform from something shadowed and secret into something truth-telling and filled with light. People can be transfigured from numb to feeling, from selfish to generous, from narcissist to other-centered, from wounded to healer, from war-monger to peace-maker. Cardinal Pietro Parolin said this week, “We believers do not lose hope for a glimmer of conscience in those who hold the destinies of the world in their hands.” 

On this Transfiguration Sunday, may we be filled with hope that change is always possible, and may we use prayer to help us make the change. Please join me now in a spirit of prayer:

Holy One, Keep the faces of our Ukrainian neighbors always in our view. We pray that this conflict will be short-lived, casualties will be few, justice will prevail, wounds be will be healed, suffering will be relieved, and peace and prosperity will overflow within Ukraine. 

For world leaders and all of humanity, including ourselves in our daily lives, we pray for an end to insecurity and mistrust. May we build trust with others on the basis of our shared humanity.  May past harms be acknowledged, and new partnerships envisioned. 

For world leaders and all of humanity, including ourselves in our daily lives, we pray for wisdom and courage to take small, verifiable, and independent steps toward peace, inviting others to reciprocate.  May we work hard on conflict resolution and cooperation.

For world leaders and all of humanity, including ourselves in our daily lives, we pray for peace and love. May we be peacemakers. Give us the courage and the strength to cry out against wickedness that dares to harm others made in your image. In your holy, loving, and peaceful name we pray, Amen.