INTRODUCTION
A young went out to buy his first car. Not having a lot of money to spend he went to a local used-car lot. There he found a 1967 Red Mustang in what appeared to be mint condition. He was told by the salesman that the car had been owned by an elderly woman who only drove the car on Sundays to church. Having fallen in love with the car he bought in on the spot. The next day while out driving smoke began billowing out from under the hood and the temperature gage spiked into the red. Taking the car to a local garage he was told the car had some major engine problems and would cost him almost a thousand dollars to have it fixed. When he called the salesman at the used-car lot he was told that all sales were final. Standing there with phone in hand all the young man could think of was a ditty of advise his mother used to tell him. “When the would gives you lemons Tommy, turn them into lemonade.” The young man then realized that he was now the proud owner of a life-time supply of lemonade.
WHEN LIFE TURNS SOUR
Have you ever felt that life has a habit of handing you lemons? You started out on thisjourney with high hopes, grand dreams, with what you thought were realistic expectations, about how life is suppose to turn out. But then one event after another reveal themselves as lemons clothed in peach fur. High hopes turn into low expectations. Grand dreams begin toborder on becoming nightmares. And you end up with an overwhelming sense of dread. The feeling that at any moment now the other shoe is about to drop. Have you ever felt that way? If so, then welcome to the feeling of Lent. In Lent the road of life leads to a hill called Calvary. Our faith that things will get better, is replaced by the sight of things turning horribly wrong. In this season of Lent all of our dreams, our hopes, our expectations, are dashed to the ground and trampled upon by the feet of human sin and rebellion. You see, God had promise through the prophet Elijah that one day God would send a Messiah to redeem the world from sin. A Messiah known as the Christ. Whom Peter had just confessed was this man Jesus. That Christ in whom we all have placed all of our hopes, dreams and expectations for a new day, a better life. This Christ, sent for God above, has come not to bring in a kingdom but has come to die. Are you disappointed? Were you hoping for words of cheer. Were you expecting a time of celebration, a time of rejoicing? Then welcome to the club. So were those who followed Jesus, most especially those who had chosen to become His disciples. They committed themselves to this Jesus in the hope that He was the promised Messiah the one who had come to usher in a New Kingdom in Israel. Peter, John and James are about to get the shock of their lives as Jesus reveals that there is more to the son of God then any of them could have ever imagined.
"Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his countenance was altered, and his raiment became dazzling white. And behold, two men talked with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem."
Moses the patriarch of the Jewish faith. Elijah, the fore-father of all prophets. Clearly these three disciples were participating in a meeting of the big guns in the history of Israel. Not wanting this moment to pass Peter calls out to Jesus saying, “Master, it is well that we are here; let us make three booths, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah” Now so you clearly understand what is taking place you need to understand what Peter is trying to do here. Peter is brown nosing it with Jesus. That’s right, he’s trying to get in good with the Christ. He does this by complementing Jesus with the biggest compliment possible. To anyone who is a faithful Jew Moses is the number one saint above all other saints. It was Moses who had led the Israelite people out of slavery in Egypt to a life of freedom in the promised land. It was Moses who had given them the ten commandments on Mount Sinai directly from the hand of God Himself. Elijah, on the other hand was one of the first prophets send by God to call the nation of Israel to repentance from their sins and to declare the mercy that God would offer. And so for Peter what greater compliment could he give to Jesus than to treat the Christ on par with these two great men of the faith. “let us make three booths, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” To see Jesus as equal with Moses and Elijah. Now that’s a compliment, Isn’t it?
"As he said this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ’This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’ 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."
CONCLUSION
Excuse me Peter! But what are you looking at? I know the appearance of Moses and Elijah is a big thing. But are you blind? I mean, didn’t you see how Jesus’ countenance was altered. Where were you looking When His raiment became dazzling white? I guess Peter is the prime example of how what you see is what you get. But the heavenly Father isn’t going to let Peter miss the point of this mountain top excursion. Out of the cloud God speaks, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” Not Moses, not Elijah. Jesus. The appearance of his countenance was altered and his raiment became dazzling white. I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t happen too often to me. Who is this man? We all have our opinions. There are things we all believe about Jesus. But that’s what we believe. But what happens whenwhat we believe doesn’t even come close to touching the truth? One day a young man was looking through the classifies in search of a used car when he came upon an ad for a brand new Jaguar being sold for only $50. Surely he thought this was typo, but calling the number listed he was assured that $50 was correct. The next day he went by to see the car and to his amazement found the automobile to be in superb condition. Asking the woman why she was selling a $150,000 car for only $50.00 the woman said, “A year ago my husband began to go through a mid-life crisis. That’s when he bought this car. About a month ago he ran off with his 23 year old secretary. A week ago he called to say he was running short on cash and asked me to sell his Jag and send him the money. So that’s exactly what I’m was doing.”
You and I, we are a cautious bunch of people. Oh, we know we’re not suppose to look a gift horse in the mouth. But then again, if something is too good to be true. Well, you know whatI mean. But when it comes to Jesus, there’s just something about that man. There’s more to him than meets the eye. We can’t quite put our finger on it, but we know there is something different. So let me ask you, what do you see when you look at Jesus. Do you see His glory or does your set beliefs get in your way of seeing what’s right there in front of you. We all have expectations for God, we all have hopes for who this Jesus is to be. ButChrist did not come to not satisfy our expectations, he came to fulfill God’s will. And sometimes, even most times, those two things do not match, and we miss seeing the
wonder of who Christ really is. Are you willing to give up your high hopes? Are you willing to
let go of what you want and need from God, to take hold of the hopes and dreams of God?
Are you willing to be disappointed? Are you willing to look beyond what you know for sure?
Are you willing to let go of your iron clad ideologies, to see something different, something
more than you could possibly have antisipated? The apostle Paul said, that we all see in a
mirror dimly but that one day we will see Him face to face. And finally on that day what we
see will be what we get.
“Where shall I stand
If not upon the rock?
To whom shall I turn
If not to my redeemer?
No better place to look,
than into the face of God.
No surer foundation
than the cornerstone of Christ.”