What would you do if you were a parent and you found a bag of Marijuana in your kid’s gym bag? And let’s say that kid is a senior in high school and is a good student. And then let’s add that this kid is also captain and star player on the school’s basketball team. And let’s say this “finding” happened just days before the playoff were to begin . . . and the team is undefeated and ranked #1 in the section.
This actually happened to a family in Battle Lake a few weeks ago. You may have heard about it. What would you do as a parent? Obviously the parents were heart broken and had no idea that their son was smoking pot. When they confronted him about it, he begged them not to report it to the school. For not only is it illegal, it is in clear violation of the MN State High School rules.
What’s the best thing to do? Keep it private (and ground him, etc.) or take it to the authorities, which would mean the star basketball player would not be eligible to play in the play-offs?
The gospel has Jesus take his three trusted disciples and go up a mountain. You know that something wonderful is going to happen . . . for in Matthew’s gospel all the good stuff about Jesus happens on mountains. For example, last week’s gospel had the final temptation of Jesus occur on a mountain (Mt 4:8); Jesus proclaimed the Beatitudes (part of the Sermon on the Mount) on a mountain (Mt 5:1); he multiplied bread on a mountain (Mt 15:19) and at the end of the gospel after Jesus rises from the dead, he commissions the disciples to go out to the whole world (Mt 28:16).
So Jesus is up on the mountain and the dim-witted disciples (especially Peter) are again shown who Jesus really is . . . he is transfigured (sort of like a Scooby Do moment . . . bah-dah-dah) His face radiates, his clothes become like light. And he stands between the two men who represented the Old Testament, one represented the law, the other the prophets. Moses, who God gave the 10 Commandments to (i.e. the law) on a mountain and Elisha who was considered the greatest of all the prophets (and heard God’s voice in a whisper on top of a mountain).
So Jesus stands between these two biblical legends . . . that is, the rules (law and Moses) and what could be possible (prophecy and Elijah). I believe we are invited into this same combination when faced with a decision . . .
Back to our basketball player . . . it gets more complicated, because the boy’s father is also the Athletic Director for the school. They decide to fess up and take it to the school. The kid even has to apologize to his teammates. He is not allowed to play, the team makes it through the play-offs to the Section Championship game, which happened a week ago, Saturday . . . and the team loses by three points to a “so-so” team that played perfectly. So this undefeated team is three points away from going to State.
Sometimes the right thing to do is also the hardest thing to do. It would have been so much easier for the parents not to fess-up or to do it after the tournaments, but that’s not honest.
The kid from Battle Lake was obviously ashamed and embarrassed . . . and assumed that everyone would hate him . . . but they didn’t. His teammates accepted his apology and said that they will make the best of it. The town, though sad, was able to say, “Well we all make mistakes and at least no one was hurt. And we can’t let this one loss overshadow the wonderful season that we had. We were 27 and 1, making us the best team ever to come out of this town.”
We all have secrets or things that we hope nobody finds out about ourselves. Often times it is ourselves who are the real culprit, because as the basketball player found out, people will be supportive and understanding if we give them a chance. But many times, we spend so much anxiety and fear about exposing ourselves. It’s called the shadow self.
You see, this feast of transfiguration is also an invitation for us to be transformed . . . to trust in the goodness of ourselves and to let people know the real us. I believe that the words of God spoken to Jesus on the mountain are the same words that God will speak to you if you give God a chance. Open up; be honest with yourself, with God and with others.
God says, “You are my beloved son or daughter; oh I know about that thing or that part of you, let’s work on it. but please know that with you whom I am well pleased.”