WELCOME
Thank you for coming! 
We're so glad you've chosen to worship with us today.
This is a sacred time, as we gather in community to open our hearts to God.
I invite you  to light a candle,
As our candles are lit here in our sanctuary,
to remind us of God's presence with us,
and to set aside this as a time of worship for you.

I'm going to go ahead and play our Gathering Music,
and run the announcement underneath.

GATHERING MUSIC
Be Thou My Vision – Audrey Assad
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Optrm7lF16s

First United Church of Christ and Conference Center is 
a church with full real life standing in the Eastern Association;
Southern California Nevada Conference of the
United Church of Christ (UCC). 
And anyone you see with a "Minister" tag is an ordained UCC minister in real life. 
As we like to say, it's good to be real in Second Life! 
And as a UCC church, we'd like you to know that
"No matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey, 
you are welcome here."
Our service will be in voice and text.  
Music will be on the media viewer, so be sure that you have media turned on. 
Please try not to touch the viewer,
it just stops playing for everyone.
There will be a link in Nearby Chat if you want to view the video in your own browser.
If you would like a bulletin for today's service you can find it in the red binder in the back.
If there are any other announcements about the life of the church, please type them in Nearby Chat at this time.

SHARING OUR GIFTS
Most churches have a time of offering.
Making an offering, 
sharing what you can in God’s name,
is a spiritual practice.
That offering can be an offering of prayer, of presence, 
an offering of work on behalf of the church doing things like reading scripture, serving on the board of directors,
hosting social events, being a guide,
leading Psalter, participating in church governance by being a voting member, 
helping with any of the myriad of things that are needed for the church to function,
or that offering can be of money.
As a UCC church, we support the work of the wider church both with prayer and with donations, as do all UCC churches. 
And though we don't have a physical building, there are monetary costs for this ministry to function.
If you would like to make an offering by participating in leading worship or social events,
or if you would like to become a member of this church,
let any clergy of staff member know. 
If you would like to make an financial offering to support this ministry 
there is a donation bowl by the door to the sanctuary,
or you can go to our website:
firstuccsl.org
and make a donation in RL currency. 
We are a 501(c)(3) public charity, so monetary donations are tax deductible in the U.S. 
We thank you for the blessing of your presence and your support. 

SCRIPTURE INTRODUCTION
On the liturgical calendar, the last Sunday of Epiphany is designated as Transfiguration Sunday.
It’s when we tell again the story of the Transfiguration of Jesus, a story told in all three synoptic gospels 
Of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
Today, we’ll here Mark’s version.
It’s kind of a strange word, “transfiguration,” 
Today, if you find someone who has heard the word
They are more likely to associate it with Professor McGonagall,
Who taught “transfiguration.”
But then they might, at least, understand it’s basic meaning of “a complete change of appearance.”
Let us listen to the Spirit speaking to us through the words of Mark, chapter 9, verses 2-9. 

MARK 9:2-9
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, 
and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. 
And he was transfigured before them, 
and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. 
And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 
Then Peter said to Jesus, 
“Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; 
let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 
He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 
Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, 
“This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” 
Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.
As they were coming down the mountain, 
he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, 
until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

The Word of God for people of God.
Thanks be to God.

“Once Seen . . .”

Let us pray.
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts
Be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.
Amen.

You know, in the church,
We’re all about the light.  
Jesus light of the world.
The Divine light at the core of all creation.
Light, as the Gospel of John says, that shines in the darkness, which the darkness cannot overcome. 
I, myself, have a – small – candle obsession.
And the story of the Transfiguration of Jesus we read today, 
Jesus shining on a mountaintop – is usually told as a story of light – the divine light within Jesus revealed. 
Shine, Jesus, Shine. 
But this is Black History Month, and given the turmoil in America over the continued racism in our society,
And controversy over movements like Black Lives Matter,
I think it’s especially important to look again, with a different lens,
At this prototypical Biblical story of light as an image of the Divine.
We are a culture that likes things in black and white – and who often lump dark things into the category of bad, unclean, less desirable, scary: 
White hats vs. black hats
White or light = good
Black or dark = bad
Dark times, Dark ages, Black sheep, black mark
It’s a simplistic ideological bias that manifests in many ways – including the way we treat people of color.
It can go beyond words to be a kind of light oppression.
You may have heard about the 4 “I”s of Oppression
I find it a very useful model.
The first “I” is “Ideological” oppression.
Every oppressive system has at it’s core an idea that one group or thing is better or more deserving than another. 
More intelligent, harder working, stronger, more capable, nobler, more advanced, chosen, superior, and so on. 
Typically the dominant group holds this idea about themselves,
While attributing the opposite qualities to the other group:
Stupid, lazy, weak, incompetent, worthless, less deserving, ignorant, inferior and so on. 
This bias, or ideological oppression, may be in the realm of ideas, but it has serious, real world consequences.
As we can see as we look at the other “I”s.
The second is “Institutional.”
This is how systems or institutions manifest and reinforce oppressive ideology.
That ideology gets embedded into the very fabric of society through things like
laws, the legal system and police practice, 
the education system and schools, 
hiring policies, public policies, housing development, 
media images, political power, and so on. 
When a woman makes two thirds of what a man makes in the same job, 
there is institutionalized sexism. 
When one out of every four young black men is currently in jail, on parole, or on probation, 
There is institutionalized racism. 
When psychiatric institutions and associations “diagnose” transgender people as having a mental disorder, 
There is institutionalized gender oppression and transphobia. 
Sometimes those systems and institutional oppression is used as a tool of the dominant group 
To maintain their privilege and power.
But institutional oppression doesn’t have to be intentional. 
For example, if a policy unintentionally reinforces and creates new inequalities between privileged and non-privileged groups, 
It’s institutional oppression,
Even where there is an outwardly neutral rationale for that policy,
Which can blind us to its oppressive effects.
But sometimes things happen that rip those blinders from our eyes,
And that oppression is revealed for what it is.
The killing of George Floyd and COVID-19 are two such events.
And once seen, the oppression cannot be unseen.
This third “I” is “Interpersonal”
This is what we usually think of when we think of racism, sexism, and so on.
The idea that one group is better or more deserving than another
That gets baked into institutions and systems
Then gives permission and even encouragement for individual members of the dominant group
To personally mistreat or disrespect members of the other group.
For example, interpersonal racism is what white folk do to people of color up close:
Like racist jokes, stereotypes, micro-aggressions, passing over for promotion or hiring, 
right up to things like beatings, harassment, threats, and so on. 
And it’s important to recognize that most people in the dominant group are not consciously or intentionally oppressive.
They can even be very obviously and consciously supportive of individuals in the other group. 
But they have internalized the negative messages and idology about the other group, 
And have normalized the systems and policies that oppress the other group,
So they can’t see their own prejudice and how it plays out in their ideas and actions.
They also cannot see how their own connections to the systems of oppression create privilege,
Even if they are not conscious of that privilege or actively take advantage of it. 
It just seems normal, the way things are.
Their perspective is the right perspective, and their experience is everyone’s experience. 
The fourth “I” – and the most insidious, I think, is “Internalized” oppression.
Oppressed people internalize the ideology of inferiority, 
they see it reflected in the institutions, 
they experience disrespect personally from members of the dominant group, 
and they eventually come to internalize the negative messages about themselves 
and accept as normal the systems and policies that oppress them.
When people have been told they are stupid, worthless, abnormal, 
and have been treated as if they were that all their lives,
then it is not surprising that they would come to believe it. 
Oppression always begins from outside the oppressed group, 
but eventually it gets so internalized, 
that the external oppression need hardly be felt for the damage to be done. 
Sometimes these internalized patterns of behavior originally developed to keep people in the oppressed group alive.
They were a survival mechanism in an oppressive situation.
But when the external oppression begins to lighten up, they can become their own cage.
Acting out internalized oppression runs the gamut from passive powerlessness to violent aggression,
Which reinforces the ideas about that group and the whole oppressive cycle continues,
Until something happens to reveal what is,
And we see this cycle of oppression at work.
Once seen, it cannot be unseen.
In a youth Confirmation class I once taught,
An African-American boy asked me, 
“If we talk about Jesus, and God, as being light, does that mean God is not in the dark?”
When we read the story of the Transfiguration earlier, 
If you are like most people – including most scholars – 
one of the things that stood out for you was what happened to Jesus:
“his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them.”
And we have interpreted that, as I believe we are meant to, as a revelation of the divinity of Jesus.
We didn’t invent the white/light equals good, divine association,
It’s been around a long time.
There’s nothing wrong with it. 
The problem starts when we give such priority that one image, and then intentionally or by implication label non-white, or dark as it’s opposite.
It’s a simplistic ideology that has been, and continues to be, a tool for a dominant white majority.
But what if we looked at our sacred scripture and theology from a different perspective,
One that doesn’t assume that images of divinity need to be white or light? 
For example, did you notice the image of darkness that was also in the story we heard today?
I’m going to ask Vee to read the scripture again. 
See if you can find it.

MARK 9:2-9
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, 
and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. 
And he was transfigured before them, 
and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. 
And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 
Then Peter said to Jesus, 
“Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; 
let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 
He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 
Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, 
“This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” 
Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.
As they were coming down the mountain, 
he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, 
until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

What did you notice this time? Where was the darkness?
Go ahead and type what you noticed in Nearby Chat.

Yes, a “cloud overshadowed” Peter, James and John
They were in the darkness of shadow.
And what came from that dark cloud?

The voice of God.
In this story both white or light AND darkness or shadow are associated with the Divine.
This is not the only time in scripture this sort of thing happens. 
Take, for example, the story of the Annuciation in the Gospel of Luke
where the angel Gabriel appears to Mary and tells her she will bear a child who will be called Son of God. 
She asks, “How can this be?” 
And the angel tells her that “the power of the Most High will overshadow you; then the child to be born will be holy.”
God in the shadow; Holy Darkness.
A place of encounter with God, where the divine and human meet – a place of creation, creativity; of revelation and blessing. 
It’s also an image that represents Holy Mystery, with a capital “M.”
God as Divine light may be an image with ancient lineage,
But so is the image of a Holy Darkness.
We need them both.
And after today, we are heading into the season of Holy Darkness,
The liturgical season of Lent. 
With it’s black ashes and dark purple colors.
The color of shadow. 
But before that, in this last Sunday of Epiphany, 
we get a story of how Peter, and James and John
were led to where they could see their friend and teacher from a new perspective,
with a different lens. 
Jesus didn’t become someone different up on that mountain,
But they saw him differently.
What was truth was revealed.
They had known Jesus as a human man,
But now they could see him also as divine.
Can we do the same?
See from a different perspective, with a new lens.
Look at those around us and see both their humanity and their divinity?
Look at the world around us 
And see the way the ideology, systems, institutions, policies, doctrine and even words
That we thought were normal or neutral, are in fact tools of oppression?
Can we let the Spirit overshadow us,
Speak to us,
And reveal what is – instead of what we thought was or should be?
Then let that new vision transfigure us as well?
Transfigure us for the healing of the world.
On this last Sunday of Epiphany,
A season that began with a star showing the way,
Something that can only be seen in the darkness of night.
On this last Sunday of Epiphany
We get another story not of light versus darkness,
But of light AND darkness.
And God within it all.
And once that is seen, it cannot be unseen.
Amen.

"Change" – Tracy Chapman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bukXKdzyGEY

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
I did notice that it is Valentines Day.
That can be both a lovely for many people.
For others it can be very difficult.
And in these days of social distancing, it may be especially hard.
But at it's core - Valentines Day is about love.
So as we begin our time of prayer,
I invite you to take a moment and bring to mind an experience of love from your life.
Maybe romantic love, may be family, maybe a beloved friend of companion, maybe a place where you feel or felt loved.
And to share one word that evokes that experience of love by typing it in Nearby Chat.

And now let us give thanks for the gift of this day
and pray for the life of the world.
If you have a prayer of joy or concern that you wish to lift to God, 
and have supported by the energy of those gathered here, type it in Nearby Chat at this time.
As people share their prayers in text
please read them prayerfully
and hold this space as sacred and safe
to open our hearts to God.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayers.


Lord hear our prayers.
Those voiced here today.
Those spoken only in the depths of our hearts.
Those for which we have no words.
We lift them all to you, O Lord,
with faith in your boundless love and grace.
Amen.

PRAYER RESPONSE
It’s In Every One of Us – David Pomeranz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd1QnNBZQ2A

WORDS FOR THE JOURNEY
"Second Sight" – David Whyte
Sometimes, you need the ocean light, 
and colours you’ve never seen before
painted through an evening sky.
Sometimes you need your God 
to be a simple invitation
not a telling word of wisdom.
Sometimes you need only the first shyness 
that comes from being shown things
far beyond your understanding,
so that you can fly and become free
by being still and by being still here.
And then there are times you want to be 
brought to ground by touch 
and touch alone.
To know those arms around you
and to make your home in the world 
just by being wanted. 
To see eyes looking back at you,
as eyes should see you at last,
seeing you, as you always wanted to be seen,
seeing you, as you yourself 
had always wanted to see the world


BLESSING FOR THE JOURNEY
Our worship is over
our ministry to the world is just beginning
the world is waiting
for you to claim your inner authority
and use it to help heal the world.
Go in peace.
Come again in hope.
Amen.

MUSIC FOR THE JOURNEY
"That’s Just the Way it Is" – Bruce Hornsby, The Range
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOeKidp-iWo