Last Sunday after Epiphany A

In 2010 a man named Robert decided to step out of his comfort zone

and try something new.

He signed up with the National Mentoring Partnership to become a youth mentor.

He was quickly partnered with a youth named Demetrius.

Since then, 

Robert and Demetrius have done a little bit of everything together. 

As they tell the story,

"From a first-time fishing trip in earlier years, 

to touring college campuses, 

the duo continues to find ways to connect and grow. 

Robert has remained a consistent fixture in the life of his mentee, 

providing guidance and consistency in Demetrius’ life. 

But the impact goes both ways, 

with Robert noting that his relationship with Demetrius 

has helped him grow and gain insight into how young people view the world. 

In the spring of 2015, Demetrius graduated high school 

and received acceptance letters from three community colleges and two universities. 

When they were first matched, 

Demetrius asked how long Robert planned to be around. 

Robert’s reply was simple and stands true, 

“This is for life. I am not going anywhere.”

For a youth with a difficult background in a difficult life situation,

those words made all the difference in the world. 

Someone was going to be with Demetrius

and help him through life.

There are lots of ways for people to be involved as mentors in our area.

Big Brothers, Big Sisters,

Youth Alternatives,

the United Way,

CASA - Court Appointed Special Advocates,

National Mentoring Partnership

People can make a difference in the life of a child or youth

and thus a difference in the life of the community and the world

simply by being a mentor, a life experience teacher and friend.

The word mentor comes to us from the Greek,

through the work of Homer.

Did all of you have to read the Odyssey in school?

Mentor was the name of the character in the Odyssey

who guided Odysseus' son, Telemachus

during his search for his father.

If you read the epic poem, the character Mentor

actually turns out to be Athena, the goddess of wisdom,

undercover.

Mentors then are those in our lives who give us wisdom 

and guide us on our journey,

even if sometimes that wisdom requires

a knock on the head.

Even in the church, mentoring is important.

Without someone to teach us what it means to have faith

or when we are supposed to celebrate different festivals,

we cannot follow in the journey of tradition and the communion of saints.

As a child growing up in the Episcopal Church,

I had dozens of mentors in the faith.

Some were personal mentors, relationships formed in classes and fellowship,

others were more impersonal, mostly from books and VeggieTales videos.

As a book lover, many of my most beloved mentors have guided me through books.

If Thomas Cranmer taught me to pray through words someone else had written, and he did,

Edward Hays, a universal Catholic, while reading prayers he had written, taught me to pray in my own words.

Madeleine L'Engle taught me to wonder and find the awe in the world. 

Thomas Merton taught me to always look deeper.

My parents taught me to continue on through the arguments and rough spots in life.

My Sunday School teachers got me interested in the stories of the Bible and reading it myself,

and questions about theology, which I have dived into in my life.

Some of these mentors were in my life for a short time, 

and I learned what I could from them 

and whether I was ready or not, our lives moved apart.

While others have been in my life throughout my whole life.

Who are your mentors in the faith?

When we look at the gospel passage for today,

we find an interesting mix of characters.

Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up the mountain.

While they are there, Jesus is joined by Moses and Elijah.

Now, if you are like me and you know a bit about Hebrew parallelism and Greek symbolism,

or... you just have happened to read the Bible before 

and know that there is a reason certain people are involved in certain stories,

You know there has to be a reason Jesus is joined by Moses and Elijah.

Let's think about this for a moment.

When we think about the Jewish patriarchs, the first few to come to mind are always

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

But its not one of them.

The other first name which always comes to mind is King David.

Pairing Moses and David

would have made sense for Hebrew parallelism and Greek symbolism,

since both of them created new epochs in the life of Israel.

And honestly, if we are going with Hebrew parallelism and Greek symbolism,

and you want Elijah, 

then he would be better paired with Enoch, 

Since they both went into heaven with God without leaving behind their bodies, 

they didn't die in the way most humans traditionally die.

So there must be something about Moses and Elijah that is symbolic in this story.

Actually, there are two similarities.

Moses and Elijah 

were both men who experienced God directly on mountain tops.

They knew God's glory face to face.

Which is part of what happens in this story of the Transfiguration. 

The second similarity is that they were both mentors to people 

who had moved the people of God forward on their journeys.

Moses was Joshua's mentor and he died before Joshua was ready, 

but then Joshua had to move the people of Israel forward into the Promised Land.

Elijah was Elisha's mentor and Elisha was so distraught at Elijah leaving that he ripped his clothes apart. 

But afterwards he had to help the people of Israel return to God.

The Hebrew parallelism and Greek symbolism find their completion in

Jesus being Peter's and James' and John's mentor 

and they don't know it yet, but he is going to leave too soon 

and they are going to have to get moving into the world to share Jesus' good news.

Sometimes this is the way of mentors,

we are too busy trying to learn from them,

or perhaps despite them, 

that when they leave, we are left confused as to what to do next. 

Certainly, this happened to Peter, James, and John.

Jesus was trying to teach them about the kingdom of God here on earth,

while they were too busy trying to stave off the Roman occupation,

that when Jesus died on the cross and left them, 

they were confused and afraid. 

They were almost in danger of being paralyzed 

and the whole Jesus movement could have ended there.

Thankfully it did not.

We have benefited from centuries of people

mentoring and handing on 

the message, the wisdom, the guidance 

they have received from God through Jesus 

to help us move into the future. 

Sometimes we do not feel ready to move into the future,

sometimes like Joshua, Elisha, and Peter, 

our mentor leaves us way before we feel ready to put up the mantle and carry on.

Jesus wasn't able to teach the disciples everything they needed to know. 

The Bible would be so much longer if we had been handed down everything we needed to know.

Yet, we are assured of God's guidance

and we know where we are going. 

We are called in this day and age to be mentors in our community.

To help people see the importance of faith in their lives

and to mentor people in the wisdom and guidance God has given to us. 

We are links in the chain

from Abraham to Moses, from Tamar to Bethsheba,

from Elijah to Jesus, from Ruth to Mary,

from Peter to Thomas Aquinas, from Macrina to Catherine

from Absalom to us, from Florence to us,

God shares wisdom and guidance

on the mountain tops and in the valleys,

showing us the way forward.

Amen.