Pilgrim Uniting Church, Adelaide SA SUN 14-FEB-2021 - 11.00 AM Sermon Rev Dr Greg Elsdon Transfiguration of Jesus – While Jesus, God's beloved son, was on a mountaintop revealing his majesty, down in the valley someone else's beloved son was in the agony of demon-possession. The victim was surrounded by an ever-growing crowd which included some of Jesus' disciples. The disciples had tried to cure the boy but had failed, in spite of doing what Jesus had taught them to do. When Jesus returned from the mountain, the father begged Jesus to cure his son; and when the father showed faith, the boy was cured with a word. It is a common human experience: that while we are feeling comfortable with God's presence, someone nearby is crying his or her eyes out because of God's absence – it's unbearable. In a prosperous country like Australia, could the privileged be dwelling in comfort on so many mountaintops, while others down in the valleys are suffering from hunger, violence, war and abuse? Here is a challenge. Can "glory" speak to "agony", and "agony" to "glory", denying neither and embracing both? During Lent, whatever it is that you hear, the invitation of the risen Christ is to listen to joy or agony, and to listen carefully. Mark 9: 2-9, 14-29 Playing Time   –   18:00