Transfiguration Sunday 2 Peter 1:16-21; Matthew 17:1-9

February 10, 2002 Beth Ernest

Jesus’ disciples led amazing lives. They were taken from their ordinary lives as fishermen, and plain old country folk to lives filled with miracles, healings, and crowds of adoring fans surrounding their master. They heard their leader Jesus win debates with the great religious minds of the day. Their own faith had grown as Jesus opened scripture to them. But now Jesus starts saying some odd things. He tells his disciples that he will have to go to Jerusalem and suffer, be killed, and be raised on the third day (Matthew 16: 21). Such news puts a damper on the good time and spiritual high the disciples were enjoying. They cannot not believe this. Peter even rebukes Jesus. "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you" (v. 22). Jesus says he will return with the angels in glory and that they will see this.

Six days later, Peter, along with two other key disciples, James and John, are chosen by Jesus to accompany him on a hike up a mountain. Going up a mountain, that is, getting closer to heaven, was and perhaps still is a good way to commune with God. And so, James, Peter, and John ascend the mountain together with their master.

And a good thing the disciples are together, for what they see there terrifies them. Jesus starts to glow! Now you have to remember that Stephen Spielberg had not been born yet. People weren’t used to seeing other people glow or morph or transmogrify or any of the other things you can see in the movies these days. The disciples weren’t standing there saying, "Cool! how is he doing that?" "It’s with mirrors, right?" No, they weren’t saying that because they did not have our cynicism, or our sense that human imitations of glory count for entertainment. They knew a miracle when they saw it.

But this amazing show doesn’t stop there. Jesus is joined by two great worthies of the faith—no less than Moses and Elijah! Seeing these great men no doubt conjures up all kinds of thoughts for these good Jewish boys who know their Bible. Thoughts of the Law and the Prophets, and thoughts of Judgment, as Elijah was to return before the final judgment. Peter, James, and John are standing there quaking in their boots wondering what is going on here! Has the end come?

A cloud descends over the mountaintop and the voice of God speaks as it did at the baptism of Jesus, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" (Matt 17:5b) Now the disciples hit the ground they are so terrified, but Jesus comforts them. "Do not be afraid."

Suddenly they are alone—Moses and Elijah have left. And Jesus says, "Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead" (v. 9). Imagine that! Jesus has just been glowing with Moses and Elijah and now he’s talking about dying and being raised. Jesus has been giving his disciples a preview of that resurrection glory. As the old hymn Blessed Assurance says, "oh, what a foretaste of glory divine," But strangely the disciples are told not to tell anyone about what they have seen until Jesus is raised. They have been eyewitnesses of his majesty. How can they be silent?

Many years after Jesus had indeed been crucified, dead, buried, and raised; many years after the disciples have preached this good news boldly, many years after they have founded churches; many years after Peter has become one of the two main apostles, this aging Peter speaks about his mountaintop experience in a pastoral letter to the church. The church has now spread throughout the Roman empire and it faces many new challenges. Peter is trying to help the church stay faithful to the gospel and reject the false teachings that are circulating. To do this, Peter recalls what he witnessed with his own eyes—the majesty of Jesus Christ. The voice of God coming from a cloud, proclaiming Jesus to be his Son. The hidden, incomprehensible glory of the crucified Christ. The shining glory of the risen Christ. This is the gospel to which he must be faithful; this is the gospel he must call others to be faithful to.

The very fact that you and I are here in this room 2000 years later tells us that the church in every age has likewise witnessed to what they knew to be true: Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and Jesus Christ is risen in glory from the dead. The story has not died—it has spread through out the world, from generation to generation, from people to people. The story continues to give life, new life, purpose and hope. And as on that day on the mountain, Jesus continues to call people out to come away with him, and lead them on a journey of discovery. Jesus continues to reveal who he is as the Son of God. Jesus continues to comfort and reassure all who see the glory but don’t quite understand it, and Jesus continues to commission all who have seen the glory of the risen Christ, to tell others.

I think one of the key parts of this story is that Jesus chooses three disciples to go with him. Jesus has chosen 12 disciples in all, sent out followers two by two, and now he chooses three men to follow him to the mountain. I believe this says something about how we are to discover the faith. There is something about discovering God in the fellowship of others that is rich and meaningful and good.

I may have told the regular attendees here about a project I once undertook many years ago. I asked the people of my church at the time if they had ever experienced a vision of God, or a personal experience of God. About five people came to my office in the next week. Each one told a different story—a vision, an experience of light, a feeling of warmth and great peace, a voice. It was clear in each case that God was revealing himself. It was also clear that one of the results of each revelation was to lead the people deeper into Christian community. Rather than leading away to a private faith experience, each person became more involved in the Christian church and more willing to discover their faith with others. When we experience God’s glory, we are led toward, not away from, the fellowship of the faithful. Indeed, the church is where we are very likely to see God’s glory revealed to us.

The role of the church is to be that place where Christians gather to celebrate Christ, and seekers are drawn to find Christ. It is a group thing—it is not about you, it is not about me, it is about us discovering the love and power and joy of Jesus Christ. The body we call the church is where we can see with our own eyes how Jesus Christ continues to work in the world, through the lives of ordinary people, who are willing to follow their master’s leading. Concord Covenant desires to be a place where people share their lives and share their faith through study, prayer, over a cup of coffee, in a heart-to-heart talk, or in practical ways, like fixing a meal or fixing a computer, or caring for each other’s children. Jesus calls us to seek him through the fellowship of the church.

The story of Jesus’ transfiguration also has something to say about Jesus leading us. Notice he leads the disciples up the mountain. No doubt it was a long, rocky climb. Perhaps it was hot and dusty. The place where you and I meet God just might be at the end of a long, rocky climb. Life has many of those difficult chapters and we may think that we have been abandoned by God. What a difference if we are aware that Jesus is leading us; and may just come to us in ways we did not think possible.

Jesus leads the disciples to the place where they will witness God’s glory, even if it does scare the living daylights out of them. But the leading doesn’t stop there—Jesus leads them back down the mountain. He leads them down to where they live, eat, sleep, and earn their daily bread. He is, again, with them all the way. In fact, he is returning from a place of glory to suffer and die for them. It is not just on the mountaintop that God is our God—God is the God of the plains and the valleys. Holy days and ordinary days. High points and low points. Some of you may know this old hymn,

"All the way my Savior leads me, what have I to ask beside?

Can I doubt his tender mercy, who through life has been my guide?"

That hymn and over 1,000 others were written by Fanny J. Crosby, a woman who was blinded as an infant due to physician error, never learned to write, and lost her only child soon after it was born. Her life did have mountaintops, and lots and lots and lots of valleys. Though she could not see, she was able to be an eyewitness to God’s glory, for his glory was revealed to her despite her hardship and handicaps. Jesus Christ was so real to her that she had to tell others, and she did this through her music and writing.

Which brings us to Jesus’ last words to the disciples in the story of his transfiguration. Once Jesus has been raised from the dead, that is, once his glory has become complete, the disciples are to tell others. Still today, this is the job and commission of the church. We are to tell others about Jesus Christ, to spread the joy of his presence, to share the good news of forgiveness and to point to his power to change lives. That is why we at Concord Covenant have been running ads on the radio and meeting with news reporters and passing out fliers, we really do want to tell others about Jesus Christ. We want to share what we have witnessed with those who already know him, and with people who don’t. We want to offer our community as a place where people can see and experience what God has done and can do.

As believers in Jesus Christ, and as members of the Church universal, we remain rooted in the past, standing in the present and looking to the future—for we believe that some day we shall see fully what we cannot see in total here on this earth. For the years that remain to us here, we have committed this congregation to follow Jesus Christ as a fellowship of believers who long for the mountaintop but live most days in the valleys. Whosover will, may come, and join that journey, and be welcome.

Amen.