March 6, 2011 PAGE 1 of 7 Matthew 17:1-9

In 2010, the term Spiritual but Not Religious peeked the curiosity of

many people in the Christian church, especially those in leadership

roles. The term started popping up all over the place. A website

called SBNR.org appeared on the scene. And various news outlets

got in on the action with a wide variety of comments from a wide

variety of perspectives.

Why the interest on the part of Christian leaders you might ask?

Well, one of the major demographic sets identifying as “Spiritual but

Not Religious” is the Millennial Generation. In a 2010, USA Today

reported that in a survey of 1200 18-29 year olds conducted by

Lifeway Christian Resources, 72% of those polled classified

themselves as more spiritual than religious.

Look around you – how many 18-29 year olds do you see

worshipping with us here today? Now do you know why so many

church leaders are taking interest in this issue? I think we can all

identify with the fear of what will happen to our church and our faith

tradition if the younger generation decides to go it alone and not

darken our doors.

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And so a huge debate has ensued. Including an extensive discourse

on the Washington Post’s website prompted by Anne Rice declaring,

“In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being a Christian”.

Elizabeth Tenety used this event to pose the question to Post

bloggers, “Can you leave religion and keep Christ? Can you be

spiritual without being religious?” A sampling of the titles of the

responses:

Escaping the tyranny of me

Christianity compels us to love the spiritual, not just the religious

Christ without Christianity is D-I-Y religion

“Christian” belongs to Christ

The problem with spirituality

Spiritual but not religious? Okay, but you’ll be hungry in an hour

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As you can imagine, many of the responses cry foul of a person

declaring themselves Spiritual but Nor Religious. What about

community? What about accountability? What about Truth?

The spiritual but not religious movement is destroying our faith. It’s

against what the Bible teaches us. But is it?

In this morning’s scripture Jesus has taken Peter, James and John up

to the mountain. And when they get to the top, Jesus is transformed.

“…he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun,

and his clothes became dazzling white.” And just in case we aren’t

quite clear that this is supposed to be impressive, that something very

special is going on here – Moses and Elijah show up on the scene,

chatting with Jesus like it’s a summit meeting of God’s elect.

As if all the shining Jesus and appearance of Moses and Elijah were

not enough, only a few verses later we suddenly hear God say, “This

is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”

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Just one chapter prior to this one, Peter affirmed Jesus identity as the

Messiah – but it seems like God is not going to leave this to chance.

Up on the mountaintop, God is going to make sure those disciples get

it, if their thinking hasn’t been transformed yet, surely God’s

thundering voice will do the trick.

In chapter 16 of the Gospel of Matthew, after Peter has identified

Jesus as the Messiah, Jesus tells the disciples that he must go to

Jerusalem where he will be persecuted and killed. Despite

acknowledging that Jesus is the Messiah, Peter challenges Jesus

assertion saying, “Never, Lord. This shall never happen to you.”

Jesus responds by saying, “Get behind me, Satan.” Soon after, they

go to the mountaintop, where God seems to be reminding Peter that

Jesus has a handle on what is happening – Peter is not to question

Jesus, rather Peter needs to listen.

But I think there is more going on in this passage than God

reassuring the disciples of Jesus’ identity. Did you catch what was

going on when God spoke? Let’s look at the reading again:

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Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will
make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them,
and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am
well pleased; listen to him!”

Peter was talking. In fact, The Message (The Message is one of the

many translations of the Bible available on the market today and to

me is sort of a modern Good News Bible), The Message translates

this scene to say that Peter was going on, babbling, when God

interrupted him. God interrupted him – couldn’t God wait? Shouldn’t

even God have some manners?

God interrupts Peter as Peter is going on and on about preserving the

moment. “It is good for us to be here,” Peter says. I can build

dwellings – set up the appropriate structures for such a holy

gathering. Make sure we are doing things in the appropriate way.

Make sure we dwell in this moment.

God, however, has a different plan. God breaks in, cutting Peter off

as he babbles on about how to hold on to this amazing moment –

God’s only instruction being, “Listen to Jesus.”

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I wonder if this could also be God saying, Peter stop being so

religious! Stop getting caught up in the structures. Stop trying to

freeze moments in time. It’s much more fluid than that. Focus on the

spiritual, Peter. Listen to Jesus and discern. Be present in the

moment.

Now I have to say, that I too am critical of people asserting that they

are spiritual but not religious – and not just because my vocational

future depends on the church continuing. I think community is an

essential component to a person’s faith journey and I do worry that

people who choose to leave the “church” identifying as spiritual but

not religious are in some ways avoiding the hard work of developing

relationships that ask us to critically examine our faith and our

actions.

But I also think that our church communities should respond to polls

like the one in USA Today, by critically examining ourselves rather

than just shunning those who stay away because they are spiritual

but not religious. What does their aversion to organized religion tell

us? Shouldn’t we be at least a bit unsettled by their assertion that

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they need to leave the church to be spiritual? Maybe, like Peter, we

need to think about how we too can be more spiritually focused.

I think God’s interruption was meant to transform Peter’s

understanding of what it means to do “church.” Church, being in

relation with God, is not about setting up the right buildings or

dwelling on extraordinary moments in history – it’s about actively

listening and responding to the moment. If the disciples had already

known what Jesus was going to say – they would not have had to

listen to Jesus. This morning, may God’s command to listen be a

reminder to all of us, that we are called to be spiritual, to be

captivated by the voice of God breaking through, pointing us in the

direction to go next. Amen.