Transfiguration Sunday - Listen here
Eyewitnesses of Majesty
Put yourself in Peter, James, and John’s shoes for a moment.
How do you even begin to talk about what they experienced on that high mountain
with Jesus? How does that conversation go? “Yeah, so we went up on this
mountain with Jesus and everything is, like, all normal and we’re talking about
normal stuff, and all of a sudden Jesus totally changed. Not his mood, but his
whole self! His clothes became bright white and there was light shining out of
him. And then it got really weird, because Moses and Elijah – who’ve been dead
for thousands of years – showed up and started talking with Jesus.”
Yeah, that sounds totally plausible. Happens all the time.
Right?
Perhaps you’ve experienced a similar kind of conversation
when you told people that you believe in Jesus. Maybe you’ve had that
conversation that says, “You know I kind of like a lot of the things that the
Bible says – like the stuff about loving others – but there is just so much
weird stuff in there that I can’t take it seriously. I mean, did you know there’s
a story in there about a time that Jesus, like, glowed in the dark or something
and talked to two dead guys? And don’t even get me started on the dude that got
swallowed by a whale!”
Maybe that’s why Peter says in his letter to the Church – to
us – “We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the
power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his
majesty.” It’s as if he’s saying, “Look, I know that some of this sounds pretty
weird – but we were there. We heard the voice from heaven, ‘This is my beloved
Son, with whom I am well pleased.’ We saw it all. The times Jesus healed
people, cast out demons, raised the dead, miraculously provided food. We saw
him raised from the dead. We heard what he taught, and that is what we are
sharing with you in this letter.”
And today as we gather, we join in passing down Peter’s
testimony and we share the apostles’ teaching. We, just like the apostles and
all those in between us, rely on the Holy Spirit to work through the Scriptures
– just as he carried people along to proclaim God’s message of sin and grace
back then – to carry us along and to proclaim God’s Law and Gospel to and
through us.
We do not follow cleverly devised myths. Our faith is a
historical faith. The events of it that are recorded for us take place in time
and in this world. We can go to the places the Bible speaks of. Much of the
history of the Bible can be corroborated through secular sources. However,
there are many things that simply must be accepted by faith. There are many
parts of what we believe that cannot be seen without faith.
So some might approach Jesus’ Transfiguration as one more
reason to not trust the Bible – it’s too weird. But we see here God’s beloved
Son preparing for the next step of his ministry – preparing for his crucifixion
and resurrection – revealed in a bit of his glory. He take to heart God’s
admonition – “Listen to him.” And we believe that Jesus has, in fact, been
raised from the dead.
We come here and we read words that were written thousands
of years ago as though our lives depend upon them – and they do! We experience
the work of the Holy Spirit as our lives are put into their place in
relationship to God – this is no time to compare ourselves to one another or to
others we stand in God’s presence, and we know that we are found wanting. Yet
we find that there is more to our relationship with God than a simple
comparison or a listing of good and bad. Jesus has reconciled us to God – he
has brought us into the Father’s presence and here – here we sit, stand, sing,
recite, and repeat the message that intellectually reminds us of that – but
also spiritually and really delivers God’s loving presence to us.
We come here and we gather around the altar and we eat and
drink bread and wine. Barely a taste of each. On the surface it might look like
a ceremony of fellowship or unity. But because of what God’s Word says we
believe and receive so much more. The bread is Christ’s body. The wine is his
blood. They deliver forgiveness to us. In that forgiveness we are united with
God. In our confession of faith – that we are receiving Jesus’ body and blood
for forgiveness of sins – we are united with one another.
Can I measure that? Can I quantify it? Can I devise some
kind of meter that measures the ratios of sin and grace that are in play here?
No. But the mystery of this event does not make it a myth. That this can only
be received by faith does not make it a myth. These are things God reveals
through his Word – that the Spirit of God teaches us through the Word.
Friends, I want to encourage you to celebrate the mystery of
the faith. There are many things in the Bible that the world will scoff at.
Creation, flood, miracles, even a super shiny Jesus on a mountain top. These
however are not the real mystery – the big miracle of the faith. The really big
mystery is this. That God loved sinful people so much that He decided to save
us. And even though saving us required the death of his own Son – he did it. Jesus
rescued us from sin and death by taking our sins upon himself and dying.
And now we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed –
the prophets promised the savior would come, and we believe he has in Jesus. So
we pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place – this Word that speaks
this message to us is a lamp to our feet and a light for our path as we live
and walk in Jesus’ forgiveness – until the day dawns and Christ returns.
Hear the Word of the Lord. Receive what he gives you. Be
carried along by the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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