Transfiguration of the Lord

Year 4: February 11, 2018

Preaching Text: John 9:1-41

Pluto: A Wonder Story by R. J. Palacio

(Written for ages 8-12)

Comment: In his reflections on this text, David Ewart highlights for a culture where disease, illness, and disability resulted in social dislocation from God, family, and neighbor, it is the shift in relationships, rather than the physical healing that is the real miracle of this story. While we may not carry on the idea that disability results from sin, in our culture we continue to shy away from and fear people who are different from us. Christopher, the main character in Palacio’s tale struggles with this in his own life, and in watching others interact with his best friend who has a craniofacial condition. Christopher struggles with the fact that sometimes friendships are hard, and yet he ultimately does the work of being in right relationship with others. As we reflect upon this text and story we are challenged to consider our own relationships and treatment of others. Do we, like the disciples, cringe in fear from people who are different, or do we truly see, as Jesus does, the child of God before us.

NOTE:  The link from the title goes to an audio CD version.  The print versions we’ve found are fairly expensive!!  You may want to check interlibrary loan for this title.

Thanks to Union Presbyterian Seminary alumna Noell Rathbun for writing the Year 4 Narrative Lectionary Links.

Lectionary Links (NL): February 11, 2018 by Storypath is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.