Pastor Mack's Ramblings

Below is a sermon I preached at First Lutheran Church on Transfiguration Sunday, February 19, 2023. The gospel for the day was Matthew 17:1-9 Grace, peace, and mercy be to you from God our creator, redeemer, and sustainer.     We are on the tail end of Epiphany, a season that has been focused and celebrating the various manifestations of Jesus in his ministry, there is healing and teaching, there is a constant revealing of who Jesus is, there’s taking note of who God is in Christ and what it means for the world. Today we witness, experience, ponder a manifestation of Jesus that is different, we see Jesus in full radiance, we witness his Transfiguration, his coming out.    Transfiguration is not the same as transformation, transfiguration is a complete change of form or appearance, in Jesus' case, he went from the drab of generic clothing and likely wild hair to dazzling white, something that no one would ever be able to match even with all the bleach in the world. This transfigurat

  I am Mack, a young adult who is following God’s call to ordained ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Originally from Colorado, I did my undergrad at Midland University in Fremont, NE, and found a home in the Nebraska Synod. During my senior year of college, I came out as transgender and began the journey of living authentically me. After college, I headed to Dubuque, IA to attend Wartburg Theological Seminary. It was an exciting time as I was for the first time living fully as a male and getting to be involved in a worship-centered community. I graduated from Wartburg in May of 2018 and spent the next year waiting for my first call. At the end of May, a call from Grace Place Campus Ministry at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL was extended to me and I graciously accepted. I began my ministry there on August 1, 2019, and was ordained in the ELCA on September 7, 2019, at Holy Love Lutheran Church in Aurora, CO. In August of 2022, I was invited to joi