His Ordinary Presence
February 6, 2000
read passage from Luke 9:20-36
story of winning a championship
- 1986-87 season
- previous year, we had been 16-14...not all that great
- now, we were at the gym of a Christian school in Shawnee, having won the first two rounds, and were in the finals, the state championship of Christian schools
- the team we played was tough, and the game was close all the way through
- the last few minutes were back and forth, one team leading, then the other
- we were down by a point as the clock wound down, and one of our guards hit a running one hander at the buzzer to win the game
- what a thrill! what an experience!!
-one of only a handful of times in my life I was part of a championship, and I remember the incredible feeling of each time vividly
Mountaintop Experiences
- we’ve all had them, both secular and spiritual
- the birth of a child
- wedding day
- winning something important
- graduation
- being born-again
- "experiencing" God’s manifest presence in some real, almost tangible way
- many of us have had these kinds of things happen through the years right here in this place
why do we call them mountaintop experiences?
- you feel like you’re on the top of the world
- even literal mountaintop experiences help
explain this:
- on a clear mountain day, you can see more
clearly from the top of a mountain than from
anywhere else - you feel like you can see
for miles and miles
- scripture also talks of mountain top experiences, both literally, as in the passage we just read, and figuratively
- Moses caught a glimpse of God’s presence on the mountain
- all Israel had mountaintop experiences as they saw the miracles of God in their deliverance
- John had a mountaintop experience which
resulted in the Book of Revelation
These kind of experiences are a wonderful
blessing from God
- I believe they are meant to be encouraging,
and sometimes life-altering
- I believe they are often part of God’s
purposes in changing us, shaping us, molding
us, teaching us
Yet, to look at this passage of scripture only as a story of a significant mountaintop experience in the life of Peter, James and John is to miss several key elements we can all learn from...
- The fact is, though these wonderful experiences can be an important part of our life in God, it’s His Ordinary Presence in our lives that this passage, when taken in its entire context, really emphasizes - that’s the title of this message:
His Ordinary Presence
- that’s not to say that this was any ordinary
experience at all
- this was Jesus, God made flesh, showing three live human beings a glimpse of His once and future glory
Matthew Henry noted about this passage that, when it was all said and done:
"Jesus alone remained with them, and not transfigured, but as he used to be (ordinary, human)...
Christ does not leave the soul when extraordinary joys and comforts leave it. Christ’s disciples have, and shall have, his ordinary presence with them always, even to the end of the world. Let us thank God for our daily bread, and not expect a continual feast this side of heaven"
We often see passages like this out of their entire context, and this is another reminder that to do this is to miss something important
- that’s why we began reading 8 verses before the actual account of the transfiguration, because what Jesus said there is important to our full understanding of what took place, as Luke says, eight days later
Look at Luke 9:20 -
We see Peter, speaking almost as a spokesperson for the disciples, proclaiming that Jesus is the Messiah
- What an amazing pronouncement!
- The disciples had just told Jesus that everybody else thinks he’s John the Baptist, or a prophet, but they had come to believe He was the Messiah, the anointed one
- what’s more interesting is how Jesus responded to this
- you might think He would commend them:
- hey, you guys are pretty sharp, and it’s
good to see you’ve been paying attention
- hey, you guys have figured it out, so now
you’re my inside circle and we’re going to turn
the world upside down for Christ
Instead, Jesus warned them
- first He warned them not to tell anyone what they’d come to believe
- and then, He started into this very low
moment, talking about suffering
- worse yet, not just Jesus’ suffering, but
theirs too!
Seems like an awful way to kill the moment,
huh?
- From the high moment of declaring His Messiahship
- to being told they must deny themselves,
cease to make themselves the object of their
own lives and actions
- but then, Jesus injects some hope at the end
of this discourse:
- he tells them what’s about to happen to three of them, only they don’t know it yet
- "I tell you the truth, some who are standing
here will not taste death before they see the
kingdom of God"
Now, there are two primary interpretations of this statement:
1. Jesus was predicting His transfiguration
2. Jesus was predicting the coming of the Holy
Spirit at Pentecost
Both were a foretaste of Kingdom glory
But the context, I believe, shows that Jesus
was speaking of what transpired just about a
week later:
- That’s because of that key, transitional
phrase in verse 28:
"about eight days after Jesus said this"
- I believe this clearly relates the account
of the transfiguration to all of what Jesus
had said in the previous several verses, and
especially to what he said about seeing the
kingdom of God
So let’s be sure to recognize the things that
immediately preceded the transfiguration of
Jesus:
Listen to the developments immediately preceding:
(1) he acknowledged the confession of his messiahship--and charged silence;
(2) he spoke clearly and courageously about his Passion, his coming suffering--and invited them to share;
(3) he promised the coming of the kingdom of God in his own ministry.
That brings us to the actual event itself
- let’s take note of some key elements as we begin with verse 28:
- they were up on a mountain to pray
- how many times do we see prayer preceding something important, or even something miraculous or glorious
Leonard Ravenhill says:
You could change the title of the Gospel according to St. Luke, to the Gospel of Prayer. It’s the
prayer life of Jesus. The other evangelists say that Jesus was in the Jordan and the Spirit descended on Him as a dove - Luke says it was "while He was praying" that the Spirit descended on Him. The other evangelists say that Jesus chose 12 disciples - Luke says it was after He spent "a night in prayer" that He chose 12 disciples. The other evangelists say that Jesus died on a cross - Luke says that even when He was dying "Jesus was praying" for those who persecuted Him. The other evangelists say Jesus went on a mount and He was transfigured - Luke says it was "while He was praying" that He was transfigured. There’s nothing more transfiguring than prayer.
The Scriptures say that the disciples went to bed, but Jesus went "to pray" - as was His custom. It was His custom to pray. Now Jesus was the Son of God - He was definitely anointed for His ministry. If Jesus needed all that time in prayer, don’t you and I need time in prayer? If Jesus needed it in every crisis, don’t you and I need it in every crisis?
Now, the other two gospel passages that relate
this story, Matthew and Mark, point out that
his appearance was "transformed"
or "transfigured"
- the word there is the same Greek word from which we get the word
metamorphosis - which means to change into
another form
- Luke uses a different phrase, saying his appearance changed, literally
"became different"
But we get the basic idea -
- Peter, James and John were seeing the
brightness of Jesus’ glory
- Luke says it was bright as a flash of lightning
- Mark says his clothes were "dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them"
- Matthew says "His face shone like the sun and his clothes were as white as light
Then, they see Moses and Elijah with Jesus
- just a few words on this:
Why Moses and Elijah?
- why not Abraham?
- why not David?
- why not any of a dozen other Old Testament heroes of the faith?
It’s significant that Moses and Elijah were
there because of what they represent
- when we read of Jesus or the disciples references to scripture, it’s often talked of as "the law and the prophets"
- Moses was the lawgiver, and thus represented the Law
- Elijah was the prophet who never died, but
who was taken to heaven in a fiery chariot
- together, they represented the law and the
prophets, the whole of scripture in that day -
Moses and Elijah represented the word of God before Jesus, whom scripture calls the Living Word, came
- and it’s also important to know what the law
and prophets point to:
- the Messiah, who now stood with them
Also important is what these three were
overheard talking about:
- Jesus "departure" (verse 31), which he was
about to bring to fulfillment
Seems like a funny way to talk about Jesus
soon-coming passion and death??
- "departure"?
- about to fulfill?
But in the context of the Law and the
Prophets, it’s not that odd to hear it put
this way:
Moses and the Prophets had spoken of it, now they speak of its fulfillment
- and they speak of it with the One who will
fulfill it
Jesus Himself
Interesting also to note in Lk.9:32 that as Jesus prayed, "Peter and those with him were "heavy with sleep"." They almost slept through the transfiguration! I used to worry if someone nodded off while I preached but now I realize that the disciples went to sleep on Jesus, Moses and Elijah!
Ten Best Things To Say If You Get Caught
Sleeping At Your Desk
10. "They told me at the blood bank this might happen."
9. "This is just a 15 minute power-nap like they raved about in that time management course you sent me to."
8. "Whew! Guess I left the top off the White-Out. You probably got here just in time!"
7. "I wasn’t sleeping! I was meditating on the mission statement and envisioning a new paradigm."
6. "I was testing my keyboard for drool resistance."
5. "I was doing a highly specific Yoga exercise to relieve work-related stress. Are you discriminatory toward people who practice Yoga?"
4. "Gee Why did you interrupt me? I had almost figured out a solution to our biggest problem."
3. " The coffee machine is broken..."
2. "Someone must’ve put decaf in the wrong pot..." And the #1 best thing to say if you get caught sleeping at your desk...
1. In Jesus name, Amen!
But Peter, James and John didn’t sleep through the Transfiguration
- that’s why we have this account, though I
find it interesting that the only gospel writer who was there, John, didn’t
include this story in his gospel
- however John did write in 1:14: "we have
seen His glory"
- only Peter referenced it directly, in 2
Peter 1 - which we’ll look at in a moment
one commentator noted:
I am not sure that I can explain why this is true, why Jesus would invite three men along, and yet none of them would give a personal account of the event. I think it is safe to say that Jesus did not capitalize upon or emphasize the spectacular. If He handled things as some religious leaders do, He would not only have had the twelve disciples along, but he would have had the radio, television, press, and a huge crowd of witnesses along with him as well. Jesus downplayed the spectacular, while we play it up. Perhaps we need to learn a lesson from our Lord, here.
But why would he play this miracle down? Further still, why did Jesus consistently play down the spectacular? I can think of one reason. The spectacular never really convinces or converts anyone. Throughout His earthly ministry Jesus was challenged to do something spectacular, in order to prove who He was. Even on the cross He was challenged to get Himself down off that cross. But had He done so, it would not have made any difference. Jesus, in the story of the rich man and Lazarus, said that even if one were to rise from the dead, he would not be believed if those same people had rejected the Old Testament scriptures (Luke 16:27-31). If, as Jesus had said to Peter, that flesh and blood do not convince men of His identity, but rather the Father, then no spectacular miracle (or any combination of them) can convert lost men. Thus, our Lord does not play up this miracle on the mount of transfiguration.
- but back in Luke, verse 32, after it notes
they were sleepy, it says that "when they were
fully awake, they saw his glory and the two
men standing with him."
This is important too.
- they saw it
- scripture is not just a bunch of stories....
- this "story" is an eyewitness account
Peter referred to it this way in 2 Peter 1:16
when he wrote: We did not follow cleverly
invented stories when we told you about the
power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but
we were eyewitnesses of His glory.
continuing vs. 17: For he received honor and
glory from God the Father when the voice came
to him from the majestic glory saying "this is
my Son, whom I love; with him I am well
pleased." We ourselves heard this voice that
came from heaven when we were with him on the
sacred mountain.
So, now, the disciples are wide awake, and we have Peter, who scripture says "did not know what he was saying" - offering to build three shelters
- here, this word shelters, which is
translated in the KJV as tabernacles,
means dwellings - a place to stay or live
But God had something else to say to them -
and he interrupted Peter, speaking from a
cloud that scared the disciples
- God had a point to all this beyond the mere manifestation of His glory in Jesus
- God said, in verse 35:
"This is my son, whom I have chosen...Listen to Him."
If there are any key words in this entire
passage, I think we’ve heard them here:
Listen to him!
Yes, the glory was awesome, yes this is a real, honest to goodness mountaintop experience, but where do we go from here?
Listen to Him!
Ray Stedman:
The lesson may be stated as a principle with these words: IF JESUS IS THE MESSIAH, THE CHRIST OF GOD, THEN MEN HAD BETTER LISTEN CAREFULLY TO HIM
The more men come to recognize the deity and the authority of Jesus, the more they become listeners and learners. The more they find silence appropriate in His presence. The lesson which God wanted Peter to learn is the same as that which the writer to the Hebrews is teaching:
Hebrews 1:1–3 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.
Now, just like we all do with these mountaintop experiences, Peter wanted to capture the moment, to preserve it, to make it last - to make it more than just a Kodak moment
That’s understandable....
- good things are enjoyable and we
don’t want them to end....
It is good for us to be here, said Peter
And it was! But not for the great experience of it all
Yes, that was a blessing, but it was gravy
- it was only a part of God’s purpose on
that mountaintop
- it wasn’t the meat, it was gravy, or it was
the dessert, the extra that makes it a great
experience but not the substance of what God
wanted to say, what He wanted to accomplish
When Moses saw God on the mountain, what he really saw was the afterglow, the residue, if you will, God’s back....
He didn’t really see God... it was just a hint
of His full glory
Our human tendency is to hang onto the afterglow and miss the fullness of His Ordinary Presence where we can really listen to Him
We see it a lot in the church today
- it’s as if the Holy Spirit has landed here
and nowhere else
- it’s almost implying that you can box and
move the Holy Spirit, the presence of God
- taken to its logical conclusion, it also says that the experience of God in certain places is such that if you’re not there, you’ve missed God
- understood that way, we can never, will
never, be satisfied with anything less than
that particular kind of experience of God
- that’s dangerous, because the reality of our
Christian existence is that what we have most
of the time is not His extraordinary presence
- most of life is not a mountaintop experience
- most of life is His Ordinary Presence
Let’s face it, the Christian life is one of plodding, day-to-day discipline
- does that discount joy? Does that deny
experience?
No!!!, or as Paul would say, may it never be!
- Who says His Ordinary Presence is any less special than His extraordinary Presence?
- for us to say things like "I don’t sense God there in that:
- worship, singing, preaching, service,
etc...."
is to deny the words of Jesus who said: I am with you always, and I will never leave you or forsake you
But while mountaintop experiences are great, we don’t live there on the mountain
We live in the valley
Thinking of this topic reminds me of Promise Keepers -
here’s a story of two men:
- one’s my brother, Jeff
- the other’s someone else most of you don’t know
Most of you know about Promise Keepers - a men’s movement that kind of peaked in the early-to-mid 1990s, but had a great impact on many segments of the church, in calling men to accountability, to fulfill their God-given roles as husbands, fathers and leaders in their churches and their communities
- I went to several Promise Keepers events -
and they were really good
- they were events
- in some ways, they were like a sporting
event, with lots of cheering, and cheerleading
My brother Jeff, who lives in Omaha, was greatly impacted by Promise Keepers
PK came around at a time when my brother was
really open to the Lord for the first time in
his life
- without going into all the details of his commitment to the Lord, let’s just say that PK was a genuine part of what God used to bring Jeff into a solid relationship with God
- but it didn’t end with these events.... in
fact it just began
- Jeff committed himself fully to the Lord, started listening to Him, connected in a strong way with a local church, began praying and reading the Word with regularity
- in short, it changed the way he approached his life
Now, the other guy was already in church, but when he went to Promise Keepers, it really charged him up
- for a while, it seemed to have a real impact
- but I remember a conversation with him I had once
- I came to realize he was living from experience to experience
- he would attend a rally or a meeting and get
right with God, but it would wear off - he was
no eveready bunny who just keeps going and going
- in fact, he had a dead battery that needed
constant recharging
- I believe it’s because the experience for him was just that,
an experience - not part of the process of
what God was doing in his life
- PK never resulted in any real, lasting
change for this guy -
and in fact, now he’s not walking with God at
all
Now, there are many reasons for this reality, but part of it was how he viewed the experience of God
- the experience never became a means to the ends God wanted to accomplish in his life
- the experience was an end in itself
He was like the Pharisees that Jesus chided for always "looking for a sign"
My brother learned from the experiences to do
what God told Peter, James and John about Jesus
Listen to Him
The other guy was so wrapped up in the charge he got from these experiences that he never learned to listen to anyone, let alone Jesus, the Living Word
That’s why God interrupted Peter when Peter said,
Let’s camp here - let’s stay here - let’s make
this experience last
The next thing that’s interesting is the reaction of Peter and the others at the appearance of the cloud - the Shekinah glory of God on that mountain
- they were afraid!
I think it’s very interesting that we have this idea that in the tangible, manifest presence of God, we should be shouting and dancing and jumping up and down, in ecstacy, or something else....
- I’m not knocking joyful worship, but I also
think it’s important we remember how people in
scripture responded when they knew beyond the
shadow of a doubt that they were in the
presence of God
- they were awed at least, and most were afraid
- we take this idea of the presence of God too
lightly, almost like any other nice experience
it isn’t like any other experience
- it’s the Maker of the Universe among us
It reminds me of something Jim Grinnell said in a message on worship several months ago - the presence of God makes him want to bow down in worship
If you were to chart the experience of the disciples in these pages, it would look like this:
____/\____
They’ve gone from the challenge to join Jesus in his sufferings, to the unimaginable heights of this mountaintop experience, and now back down again.
That’s why it’s important to note how this account of the transfiguration ends:
verse 36: "when the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone"
Charles Spurgeon preached a great sermon once on the transfiguration - let’s listen to some of the things he said:
The best thing after all for Peter, was not the excessive strain of the transfiguration, nor the delectable company of the two great spirits who appeared with Jesus, but the equally glorious, but less exciting society of "only Jesus." Depend on it, brethren, that ravishing and exciting experiences and transporting enjoyments, though they may be useful as occasional refreshments, would not be so good for every day, as that quiet but delightful ordinary fellowship with "Jesus alone," which ought to be the distinguishing mark of all Christian life. As the disciples ascended the mountain side with Jesus alone, and as they went back again to the multitude with only Jesus, they were in as good company as when they were on the mountain summit, Moses and Elijah being there also; and although Jesus Christ in his common ordinary attire might not so dazzle their eyes as when they saw his raiment bright as the light, and his face shining as the sun, yet he really was quite as glorious, and his company quite as beneficial. When they saw him in his everyday attire, his presence was quite as useful to them as when he robed himself in splendor. "Only Jesus," is after all upon the whole a better thing than Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. "Jesus alone," as the common Jesus, the Christ of every day, the man walking among men, communing in secret with his disciples, is a better thing for a continuance while we are in this body, than the sight even of Jesus himself in the excellence of his majesty.
Let me close with this story:
A little boy was out in his backyard, throwing a ball up in the air. An elderly passerby, not accustomed to such youthful delights, asked the boy what he was doing. He replied, "I am playing a game of catch with God. I throw the ball up in the air and he throws it back."
Now, I don’t know if God plays catch with little boys, but He created the laws that made it possible - it’s predictable, and true of our Christian lives - what goes up must come down - call it spiritual gravity, since our lives are not lived in the air but on the ground.
In other words, let’s learn to live and
delight in His ordinary Presence
