It has been vouch saved to me that this happened in an Anglican church, and I can believe it. One Sunday morning a stranger whose worship background was somewhat different came to the service. All went well until the sermon when the stranger became vocally involved, calling out: Praise the Lord, Amen brother, Hallelujah! The minister was somewhat disconcerted by these outbursts. He stopped and eyed the stranger and said to him, " Sir, you are most welcome here but we don't do that sort of thing in this church." To which the stranger excitedly responded, " But brother, I got religion!" And the minister replied, " Well, you didn't get it here."

Religion has gotten a bad press. Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist, has written a best selling book called "The God Delusion" in which he argues against a belief in the existence of a god. More than that he maintains that religion has not been good for humankind. It has caused much hostility, hardship and even bloodshed. And you know, he is right.

Read Karen Armstrong's "The History of God" which is really a history of religion and you will agree that religion has released violence and turned humanity against itself. Indeed, the Bible should have a warning on its cover that it contains material that may be offensive. Near the beginning the Hebrew people believe that they have heard their God tell them to cross the Jordan River and ethnically cleanse the territory, to put to the sword men, women and children, because God had decided to give the territory to his people as an everlasting inheiritance. God is described as male, angry and jealous, not a great role model for our children.

The history of Judaism as told in the Old Testament is like nature itself, bloody in tooth and claw. It tells of intrigue, war, murder and exile. That history comes to an end only forty years after the crucifixion when the Romans levelled the temple and then fifty years later banned the Jews from Jerusalem. By this time many of them had been dispersed to all known countries in the world.

The Christian religion, which began as a small sect among the Jews underwent a phenomenal growth in spite of periods of severe persecution. Within three hundred years it became the state religion of the Roman Empire under the Emperor Constantine. The church became powerful and widespread. Historians speak of the "Babylonian captivity of the Church" that is, the church was now a vassal of the state. It took on the trappings of authority and became wealthy...and corrupt.

Three hundred years later a new religion came to the fore. Under the inspiration of Mohammed and illiterate merchant from Mecca, Islam united many of the Arab tribes. Soon Christians faced off against Islam as Christianity wanted to keep the Holy Land holy. Stephen O'Shea has written a wonderful book called "The Sea of Faith" referring to the Mediterranean Sea. He describes graphically the struggle between these two religions, the battles they fought in the countries surrounding this sea.

But Christians also turned against each other, as Protestants and Catholics tortured, fought and killed each other. In the meantime, in cahoots with the Conquistadores they went to the Americas to "pacify" the Aboriginal people of that continent. Of course Islam didn't stay united but split into different sects. Today Suni and Shiites blow each other up on a daily basis. It isn't a beautiful history, is it? Of course, it isn't all bad or else I wouldn't be standing here wearing these funny clothes. The Christian as well as other religions have produced some wonderful and loving people and helped the poor and downtrodden in many parts of the world.

Chris Levan, a friend of mine and principal of St. Stephen's College in Edmonton has written a book with a very catchy title "God Hates Religion". He speaks to the modern problem of declining membership and church attendance and the loss of power of the church. I recall a time when I was ordained, 50 years ago, when churches were full and when the clergy occupied a place of influence and prestige in society. But that's no more, one is scarcely allowed to pray in public. Levan suggests that this might in fact be a liberation, allowing the church to be what it was intended to be. Jesus did not have it in his mind to build a large organization but rather to reform the Judaism of his time, to instill love, forgiveness and justice in all people.

Jesus set his course to the cross when he went to the great temple in Jerusalem and lost his cool. Seeing the moneychangers and the sellers of sacrificial animals cheating the public made him very angry. The pilgrims came a long distance and had to buy the animals to be slaughtered and had to change the money to coins acceptable to the temple treasury, but they inflated the prices and the exchange rate. He threw over the tables and denounced them who turned the house of prayer into a den of thieves. He challenged the establishment and that could not be allowed to go unpunished. He was soon in deep trouble. Jesus' intention was to liberate the people.

Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians writes that "where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom" freedom from the law and from the "principalities and powers"of this world.

In the fifties and sixties of the last century a new theology developed largely among the peasants of Latin America, a very poor and oppressed people. But the church that should have stood on their side was supporting the dictators and the rich. The new theology known as Liberation Theology was meant to empower the peasants. The Vatican was not amused and still is not today.

Across the ocean in South Africa, Desmond Tutu was deeply impressed with this liberation theology and applied it to the situation of apartheit in South Africa where it was undergirded by the doctrine of the white Dutch Reformed Church. He was very much afraid that eventually this situation would lead to a bloody revolution. Instead, Tutu appealed the President Reagan and Prime Minister Thatcher and other leaders to levy economic sanctions against South Africa. This in time brought the country to its knees. But even then there was the danger of violence. He thus instituted the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Not everybody was in favour of it. Whites were afraid of exposing themselves to the judgement of the blacks and some blacks, on the other hand, felt that this was not hard enough to bring justice. But Tutu believed that reconciliation was the only way to bring peace to his land. "Without forgiveness there is no future," he said. A man from one of townships was asked how he would feel about meeting the policemen who had arrested, tortured and killed his sons. He replied, "How can I forgive them if I have not met them." True liberation is both inner and outer. Certainly South Africa has a long way to go. There is still much poverty and sickness but the changeover has been peaceful.

This is Transfiguration Sunday. Today we remember the occasion when Jesus invited three of his disciples to go with him to a high place. We heard the story of what took place there. Suddenly Jesus was transformed and began to glow. Then Moses and Elijah, two of the most important figures from history appeared to speak with Jesus. Then a great cloud overshadowed them and a loud voice spoke, " This is my beloved Son, listen to him."

Well, it didn't happen, at least not in the way that it is recorded in the Gospels. Most biblical scholars believe that this is a misplaced resurrection story. But don't discard the story, it is important. It was not that Jesus was transfigured but rather that the disciples were changed and saw Jesus with new eyes. They would need this in the future as they accompanied their friend on the difficult road that lay ahead.

Some years ago when I preached on this text I was unsuccessful in finding and appropriate hymn, so I wrote these words to express what the Transfiguration means to me:

On a high hill with his comrades,
They beheld a wondrous sight;
Saw their friend transformed in glory,
Jesus shone with wondrous light.
And a voice proclaimed the message,
“My beloved son, hear him.”

In the valley of our wanderings,
In the canyons of downtown,
Voices call to u and beckon,
Offer fortunes and renown.
Will we hear them speaking to us?
Can we see God’s live made flesh?

With the beggars and the wealthy,
In the valley, on the hills,
In the city and the country,
It is always our God’s will,
That the love with which he loved us,
Be the power of our life.

But the prospect of love frightens,
It demands so much of me.
Yet without that love life withers,
Hope and meaning cannot be,
When we turn our backs on others,
And forget what Jesus said.

Hear the Lord speak out to Peter,
“Stand and be not filled with fear.”
Stand with Peter and the others,
Hearts and ears his words to hear.
Then all life will be transfigured,
And a new world shall we see.

Last year a very dear friend of mine died. The Rev. Cliff Elliott was a great preacher. Ron Chappell who later will give the Prayers of the People knew him and was touched by him. Cliff was a world traveller but not to "sight see" but rather to stand with hurting people. During the civil war in Lebanon he went to Beirut and walked the Green Line that divided the factions. I had the privilege of travelling with him in eastern Europe before the Iron Curtain was lifted. Cliff was a volunteer at Casey House in Toronto, a hospice for people dieing of AIDS. He was one of the leaders in the struggle for the ordination of homosexuals in the United Church. He himself had experienced hardship, he had a withered hand. His daughter suffered from Downs Syndrome and had a weak heart and died as a young woman. His wife, a gifted artist, also died and when some years later he remarried Metropolitan Church in Toronto was filled to the rafters. Someone joked that if the church had been bombed the whole of the United Church's left wing would have been wiped out.

Cliff was my mentor. He always closed his services with words that summed up the mission of the church, the essence of true religion. I appropriated them and want to speak them to you now. Will you receive them? Will you stand?

" Go into the world with a daring and a tender love,
The world is waiting for you,
Go in peace,
And may all you do be done because of love,
And the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you always.
Amen"