February 14, 2021
Hope Lutheran Church
Rev. Mary Erickson
Mark 9:2-9
Divine Coordinates
Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Outdoor activities have grown in popularity with the onslaught of COVID-19. One of those nature activities is geocaching. Geocaching is a game where someone has hidden a small treasure outside. Participants are given global coordinates that mark the spot. The coordinates will lead them to a public access spot, like a park or a trail. We’ve got several geocache spots here in Eau Claire.
Once the players arrive at the spot, they have to search for this hidden object. It’s typically small, like a jar or a small Rubbermaid container.
The cache contains small “treasures,” pencils or balls or small gizmos. The value of the treasure isn’t the point. The fun part is the search itself. The whole point is to enjoy the outdoors while searching for this hidden thing.
Searching is part of the human character. We search for opportunity. We search for deals. We do a lot of research before we buy a house: what school district is it in? What are the property taxes?
Searching can take on greater magnitude, too. We look for higher things. We search for truth. We seek meaning and purpose in our lives. And our greatest search, we search for a higher power. We scan our environs for the pathway that will lead to spiritual meaning and significance.
Today is Transfiguration Sunday. It’s the final Sunday in the season of Epiphany. The Epiphany season looks to shed light on the character and essence of Jesus. We see his miracles over nature, we hear of his power to heal. And the season ends with this most spectacular unveiling of Jesus’ essence.
Jesus climbs up a mountain along with the big three disciples: Peter, James and John. When they reach the peak, Jesus’ outward appearance dramatically changes. He becomes radiant and his clothes take on a dazzling appearance.
And then two visitors join him. They’re on the VIP list from scriptures: Moses and Elijah. They begin to converse with Jesus.
Moses and Elijah: two very significant figures. Together, they represent the Law and the Prophets, the Hebrew scriptures. Both men had close encounters with the divine presence of God on a mountaintop.
• Moses encountered God on the top of Mt. Sinai. There, God gave Moses the 10 commandments.
• Elijah also climbed Mt. Sinai. There he experienced the true presence of God in the still silence.
Both men also experienced unusual and divine deaths.
• After leading Israel through the wilderness, Moses had climbed the top of Mt. Nebo. From there, he could view across the Jordan River and into the Promised Land. He died there on the top of Mount Nebo and God buried his remains.
• Elijah was accompanied by a chariot of fire and ascended a whirlwind into heaven.
Jesus on a mountaintop with these two men. This experience shed a completely new light on Jesus! Peter and James and John had witnessed Jesus’ astonishing miracles. They’d seen his marvelous healings, even to the extent of raising the dead. They’d listened to his stirring proclamation. They had a growing sense of his magnitude. Peter had even gone so far as to state that Jesus was the longed-for Messiah of Israel.
This man, their friend and rabbi Jesus, was truly touched by the hand of God! But now, on this mountain top, they see something even greater. They witness the fullness of Jesus’ divine nature.
The three men are simply gob smacked. Peter dribbles on about constructing some shelters for Jesus and the two men of old. And then God moves in. A cloud descends over the mountaintop. A voice speaks to the three quaking men, “This is my son! Listen to him!” Suddenly, the cloud is gone. When it’s gone, so are Moses and Elijah, and Jesus is back to his normal appearance.
If someone had been on a spiritual quest, if someone had been searching for a divine encounter, this mountaintop vision would have hit the jackpot. That’s why it’s so bewildering when Jesus told the three friends to keep their mouths shut about it! “Don’t tell anyone,” he said, “Don’t say anything until after the Son of Man has risen from the dead.”
How puzzling that must have been. First of all, Jesus didn’t want his divine essence known. And secondly, there was that nagging comment again about his destiny to die! How did all of this add up? How could this one who was more than just human – someone who was divine – how is that he should have to die?
Peter, James and John must have thought they’d come to the end of their spiritual quest on that mountaintop. But Jesus says no. Encountering the divine Jesus was not enough. No, this elevated coordinate by itself is not enough! Another coordinate is necessary, too. We can’t find the destination of our spiritual quest with only this one coordinate from the holy mountaintop.
When searching for any location, two coordinates are needed. We can’t find the place we seek unless we have both longitude and latitude.
Jesus’ words tell us the same principle holds true in trying to seek him. By itself, the mountaintop experience of his dazzling divinity is not sufficient. If all we have is this singular moment to understand Jesus, it will miss the mark of who he is.
How is that? What if all we had to go on was this moment of his divine transfiguration? What would we have?
Jesus would be the pure divine in our midst. We would be left climbing the mountain into the thin, pure air. If the only coordinate we had was Jesus’ divinity, then we would be continually striving for perfection. Jesus’ dazzling appearance is intimidating. He’s aloof and transcendent. Each day would require a new hike up the holy mount of worthiness. And each night we would retreat into the valley of our imperfection. There, in our isolation, we would nurse the blisters of our unworthiness.
If we only had this one longitude, if we only looked upwards at Jesus’ untouchable holiness, he would not be Immanuel, God-with-us. To really grasp Jesus, his divinity alone is not enough. We need latitude. We need his critical intersection with our imperfect world. And that is only revealed at the cross.
Jesus is not just the God who remains on high and is untouchable. He is the Savior who comes down. He comes down from the mountain to the cross. And from the cross he descends to the grave. And then from the grave he descends unto Hell. Jesus comes down as far as we can go! Jesus the Savior comes to us. He comes to us where we are. HE seeks US out.
Both divine coordinates for Jesus are displayed in his cross and resurrection. Theologian G. K. Chesterton understood that the divine coordinates meet on the cross. He said, “The cross opens its arms to the four winds; it is a signpost for free travelers.”
The cross captures the two divine coordinates of Jesus’ identity. We see its vertical dimension. The cross’ longitude reveals that the glory and power of the divine has come to dwell with us. And the lateral crossbar reveals the breadth of that divine love. It spreads from shore to shore, from age to age. The divine love in Jesus spans to all of humanity.
Jesus the Savior’s actions on the cross bring into focus the deepest motivations of Jesus the Divine. Jesus the Divine doesn’t stay on the mountaintop that day in his resplendent glory. He comes down from the mountain. His footsteps will ultimately lead him to his cross. His steps lead him to be our Savior. And what draws him there is divine love. It’s because God so loved the world that Christ Jesus was born. It was always about love.
Coordinates are important. They reveal our place in the world. Knowing whose we are in Jesus shows us where we are in the universe. Our coordinates are determined by Jesus’ divine coordinates:
• You are beloved of God.
• You are one Christ died for.
• Your hope is anchored in Jesus’ victory even over death.
We know where we are because we have the North Star of Jesus’ divine coordinates. This realization opens up the map of our life. Grounded in this hope, we step forward in faith and mission.
