February 19 Podcast: In the Spotlights

The 7th Sunday of Epiphany, Transfiguration of Our Lord, Year A

Scriptures: 2 Peter 1:16-21; Matthew 17:1-9

Key Verse: “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.” (2 Peter 1:16)

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Hello, This is Jade.

Welcome to Yi.kigai

A space for all to explore the intersection between faith and daily life

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The scripture in Matthew 17:1-9 says that Jesus shone like the sun and his clothes became dazzling white on a high mountain. Who else would we lay our eyes on? No one, but Jesus. It’s like he is right under the spotlight at the center of the stage. Being familiar with the story of Jesus, we know that this is not the first time Jesus was in the spotlight.

Let’s recall some of the events in Matthew where Jesus was in the spotlight: when he was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary; when a star led the wise men to witness his birth; when the heavens were opened to Jesus at his baptism; when angels waited on him after he was tempted by the devil for 40 days in the wilderness; when he preached on the mountain; and finally when he entered into Jerusalem, had his last meal with his disciples, was arrested, and nailed on the cross. As you might have noticed, I skipped many of his glorious moments. For his whole life, Jesus was watched, praised, criticized, even condemned.

Are you comfortable being in the spotlight? About sixteen years ago, I had a conversation that led to many conversations about being in the spotlight that I had with my Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) supervisor. The CPE program is a combination of professional education and hands-on experience, providing spiritual care to patients, families, and staff members in multi-faith clinical settings, prisons, and other nonprofit organizations. In my case, I provided spiritual care to patients and their families on the oncology floor of a hospital.

In our first conversation, I asked my supervisor for advice on how to control my sadness without tearing up whenever I saw people crying or when I learned about their suffering. The main reason I wanted to work on it had to do with my belief. I was convinced that to be a good spiritual care provider, I had to be strong enough to provide a sense of safety, justice, and comfort to care receivers.

After the first conversation, my supervisor decided to spend at least a quarter of our weekly supervision time digging in on my personal life and finding out what triggered me to tear up. I began to feel uncomfortable after several sessions and felt that I was put under the spotlight. Then she said, “I know. I know. The feeling of being watched while being assessed isn’t good, isn’t it?” Then she went on to remind me that only God and her were with me in her office, and that there wasn't an audience watching us. Knowing we were all on the stage together helped me in our later sessions tremendously. Then we discussed the meaning of being in the spotlight for people of faith.

We all have our own certain areas that we can work on to be better caregivers and care receivers. Even knowing that Jesus our Savior is at center of the spotlight, we tend to mistakenly believe that we must have all the answers to any injustices to bring closure. What we mostly overlook in our lives together is that God search every opportunity to make us strong in faith and love for us to be humble caregivers and care receivers.

To be honest, I don’t believe that there will be a day when the world will become a perfect place. As a person of faith, I do believe that God is determined to respond to all our sufferings and injustices as Jesus has preached and taught. As the living testimonies of God’s Good News under the spotlights on this stage of God, we all have our own unique places and roles. Not only do we have God with us, but we also, through faith by grace, participate Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

There is a popular and well used quote saying, “Build your own stage, and perform your dreams to the world. The world can't wait to see your great performance.” As a person of faith, how would you revise this quote? I would say, “God built his holy stage through Jesus Christ to let us bring about how we enter God’s kingdom together. God can’t wait to see our great actions by grace through faith.”

I was and I am still grateful for my CPE Supervisor, the Reverend Amy J. Snedeker who passed away in 2015. She walked alongside me and reminded me that being in the spotlight with God through the life of Jesus was a privilege and a tremendous blessing. I want to pass on this Good News to you, too. Whoever God sends to you, may you also walk alongside them and share this Good News.

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May your coming week be blessed by God’s grace

As together we explore the intersection between faith and daily life

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