Last Sunday after the Epiphany
Transfiguration Sunday
Luke 9:28-36
"They Saw, He Saw"
28 ¶ Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.
29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his countenance was altered, and his raiment became dazzling white.
30 And behold, two men talked with him, Moses and Elijah,
31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem.
32 Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, and when they wakened they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.
33 And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is well that we are here; let us make three booths, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah" --not knowing what he said.
34 As he said this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.
35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!"
36 And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silence and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.RSV
Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen
"I heard a story recently about a terrible fire in a chemical plant. Several area fire departments responded to the blaze, and quite a crowd from the entire area gathered at a distance to watch. The media was there in helicopters and satellite remote trucks. The president of the company was among the crowd, and he was frantic. He gathered together the chiefs of all the fire departments and explained to them that in the midst of the inferno was a safe that contained all the company’s super-sensitive documents including the top-secret formulas for all their best-selling products. He pledged to give a $500,000 donation to the fire department that brought the blaze under control and saved all the super-sensitive documents in the safe.
The chiefs rallied their firemen and women, pulled out all the stops attempting to bring the blaze under control, but it wasn’t happening. The fire continued to rage. After quite some time the crowd heard another siren in the distance that kept growing louder. Before long this old beat up, dilapidated 1930’s style fire engine filled with a bunch of men in their 60’s and 70’s came roaring through the crowd, right past all the other fire departments. The truck didn’t even slow down as it burst through the front door of the plant and right into the middle of the blazing inferno. Everyone, firefighters, media members and the crowd just gasped thinking about what these guys did. However, before long the fire was under control and this group of aged firefighters stumbled out the front of the plant coughing. Everyone cheered their heroic effort. They saved the safe.
A few hours later in front of the gutted plant the president of the company handed the 82 year old chief a check for half a million dollars. In the press conference that followed, one reporter asked the chief what they planned to do with that incredible reward. He didn’t even hesitate. "These guys already told me they want to buy a new fire engine that has some brakes!"
I tell you that story for a couple of reasons. First of all, I thought it was funny. But more important, there is a lesson we need to learn in it. Every story, every situation, every incident has at least two levels to it. The first level is what happened, the facts of what occurred (Who, what, when, where and how). Though sometimes the bare facts are interesting if they are outrageous or off-beat, most often the bare facts of a scenario are that, pretty bare. What adds spice and interest to the facts of any situation is the motivation. It seems to me that why something happen is usually more interesting than what happened, even if what happened is a phenomenal event." 1
Something happened in our gospel lesson that was unusual, but the why of it happening is even more exciting.
Peter. James and John went with Jesus up to the mountain to pray. While they were praying, two figures appeared, Moses and Elijah. These two men talked with Jesus. about his departure, his crucification. Then a cloud came a voice which said, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!".
Then they went down the mountain and said nothing about the experience.
Peter, James and John saw, but what did they see.
First they saw that Jesus was connected to their past. They saw Moses and Elijah with Jesus. They saw Jesus talking with those who had led their people many years ago. They saw the continuation of that history in this man Jesus. And they might have heard what was to happen to Jesus as he set his face to Jerusalem. They saw in Jesus God who indeed became flesh.
A pastor says in the Augsburg sermon series the following ’’But not until God stepped into his own creation as a man, not until he came to be our brother, not until he suffered for the guilt of sin and died by crucifixion not until he broke the death grip and destroyed the force of hell had He revealed himself in all his love, compassion, mercy, pity, grace that satisfies our desperate need. I see and each of us makes this his own confession. I see my Lord not as a man who points the way, but as the God who is the Way, not as a good teacher who dropped in to teach some truth, but as the God who is the Truth not as revealer of a better life, but as the "God who is the life."
They saw Jesus as more than a teacher, but as one who would die for them on the cross.
They saw this moment and wanted to stay on the mountain. They understood what was happening beyond the sight of Jesus, Moses and Elijah. They wanted to stay in this glory.
They saw!
I remember when Wanda and I took a vacation out west and we traveled to Pike’s Peak. It was a steep and winding road that led up to the top of that mountain. There we parked the car, got out and went to the observation platform and looked out in all directions. It was truly a wondrous sight.
Then all of a sudden a storm blew in. The wind started to blow, the rain came and the lightening started to flash in the sky. The guide yelled for everyone to come inside, but I was so enthralled by the beauty of the storm, that I lingered. I did not want to leave that great majesty that was all around me. Then, in an instant, lightning flashed again, just a few feet from where I stood, and I hurried into the shelter, still drawn by the beauty outside, but weary of the storm and its ill effects.
That mountain top experience was glorious. I wanted to stay.
The mountain top experience for the disciples was glorious. They wanted to stay, to stay and worship what they saw and hear.
Many times we as Christians want that mountain top experience in our faith life. We want that glorious feeling of being with Christ. Some even demand it. Some even make those who do not feel that way feel guilty! We like the highs, we shun the lows.
Some Christians feel that if their life or those around them are not always glorious, something is wrong with their faith or the faith of those around them. This theology of glory says that if you are not healthy, wealthy, feeling good because of Jesus then something is wrong, either with you or your faith. If you are with Jesus everything is good, great, glorious.
But Jesus did not see it that way. After the experience on the mountain, what did he do? He went down the mountain and set his face for Jerusalem and the cross. Jesus knew that it is good to have those mountain top experiences, but the real work is in the valleys, in the depth of the human condition of sin and brokenness.
Jesus on that cross felt and experienced the human condition in all of it brutality. He knew the depth of suffering we human beings suffer, he knew the guilt, the anguish, the despair that comes with living life. He knew and felt it all on that cross and through the resurrection of Easter he conquered it all for us.
Jesus went to the mountain to be transfigured, but came down the mountain to be a Saviour. He calls to us to have a relationship with him, but then to come down into the human condition to minister to those around us with love and compassion.
A poem says it well:
The work of the world is as common as mud.
Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.
But the thing worth doing well done
has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.
Greek amphoras for wine and oil,
Hopi vases that hold corn are put into museums
But you know they were made to be used.
The pitcher cries for water to carry
and a person for work that is real. 2
The disciple saw the glory of Jesus. they saw and wanted to stay. But Jesus said no because He saw more than glory. Jesus saw the human condition. Jesus saw sin, He saw saw brokenness, He saw sorrow, He saw grief. He saw and wanted to help. So Jesus left the mountain and came to the valley of human sinfulness and conquered through his death and resurrection.
Jesus saw, He conquered.
Jesus wants us to come down from the mountain and work in the valley, too. He wants us to bring a measure of His grace into this world. He wants us to bring his faith into the lives of those around us.
A closing story from the late Pastor Valbracht’s book Exit Interstate O says this about our lives:
"I remember the unchurched husband of a woman in a former parish. He never attended church, but she was always there. She was a quiet, retiring woman, who took part in everything, but always in the background, always silently. Oh, there were many people who had talked to her husband urging church attendance and church membership. One day he finally came and eventually he united with the congregation. Some time later I had the occasion to ask him why? Who said the right thing to him? Who had finally convinced him?
’No one, ’he answered.’ It was my wife. she never said anything, but, I guess, over the years, she kind of lived me into it."’
She kind of lived me into it. That is the work of the valley living the way Jesus wants us to live.
Amen
Written by Pastor Tim Zingale February 12, 2007
1 from a sermon by Tim Bond found at SermonCentral
2 by Marge Piercy from Sermon Nuggets
