Transfiguration Sunday, by Rev. Lindsay Conrad
First Presbyterian Church, Mankato, MN

Jesus went from shining bright on the top of a mountain blown down into the valley -
the deepest valley of a beloved family,
a beloved child,
one of God’s own heart.
And I imagine his hands,
still shining from a God moment in the mountains,
rests on the child
and shakes the glitter on the people watching.

And you know the problem with glitter -
it never goes away.
like grains of sand, it has a way of getting on everything and in everything
but not in a way that can irritate like sand does -
no, but it will continue to glimmer, to sparkle -
to remind and reflect back on you
the charge that Jesus gives to each of the disciples this day,
indeed, the same charge that is given to each of us -
“if you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you can move mountains.
you can usher in miracles,
you can be my hands and my feet,
you can shine… just like me
just as my Church was meant.”

So today you are going to have an opportunity
to sparkle – like Jesus – literally
we have biodegradable glitter mixed with holy land oil
that was developed and shared widely
by an organization called Parity -
a group that gathers and promotes queer faith, social action
and promotes and insists that Jesus
has called and empowered each and every one of us
no matter our story or identity or expression
or whatever the world has told us –
Jesus has passed on the God-sparkle so that we, too, might transform
into being sources of light and hope -
glimmering and glittering,
shining and sparkling just like Jesus.

Now, I will also say that this glitter,
Like Jesus, isn’t loud or showy,
insane or blinding or embarrassing,
it just is a little glimmer,
a little spark that reminds us exactly how Jesus sparkles -
not in massive rock concerts of worship
or as a shining pedestal God,
but the one who wraps the suffering children into his arms
and lovingly shovels heaping blocks of lasagna onto plates for hungry people
or digs through the closets and cleans up the rooms in our top floor
so we can make room for God’s people to come and rest and be.

So in a little while as we pray for the needs of the world,
you will be invited to come forward for a glitter blessing,
come forward and ask Bailey or I to place a cross on your head
because maybe you need to remember this day
that you are beloved of God -
no matter what the world has ever said -
you are essential to the mission of God in the world
and your charge is to shine each and every day as Jesus intended.
Or come forward and ask Bailey or I to bless your hands.
because maybe you need the courage or the reminder
that all the work of your hands and hearts
need to leave a glimmer on all that you touch
like Jesus did when he came down from the mountain healing the little boy.
You need to sparkle enough
that there is glitter like grains of sand
speckling all of Mankato and beyond
because of every door you hold open and hand you hold in yours
and every little act of love you embrace like lives depend on it
and every little act of justice in which you step out in faith

It is our lesson, our reminder,
our charge, our delight,
to embrace the challenge
of learning to sparkle a little more
and a little bolder each and every day like Jesus did.
Not in a way that leaves the world blinded,
but in small acts of kindness
and in the brilliance of genuine conversation
and hardnosed hope
as we are practicing and preparing
and can finally mean what we say when we pray
God, your kingdom come
your will be done
on earth – right here – as it is in heaven.

So we hope, so we pray, so we work, so we act,
each and every day until it is done.

Let all God’s people say,
AMEN.