Today is a transition Sunday….it is the last Sunday in the season of Epiphany. On this day, in preparation for Lent, we always focus on one of the most mystical events of Jesus’ life – The Transfiguration.
Listen to how the story is recorded in Luke, chapter 9, verses 28 through 45:
Scripture: Luke 9:28-45
About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray.
As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.
Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus.
They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.
Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him.
As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.)
While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.
A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.”
When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen.
The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him.
A man in the crowd called out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child.
A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him.
I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not.”
“You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.”
Even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the impure spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father.
And they were all amazed at the greatness of God.
Here ends this reading of the word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God. AMen.
Let us pray…..
Message Transfiguration
Every once in a while, in the winter, overnight we have a big snowfall. When we peer outside our windows in the morning, the sun shines on the snow and everything looks dazzling. When we were kids, as we gazed at the snow, this would be the moment we would feel inspired to throw on our warmest coats and scarves and knit hats and snow boots and rush outside to play. The whiteness of the snow was gleaming and exciting and beaconed us to come outside and have fun.
The disciples who were with Jesus on top of the mountain were dazzled by the sight they witnessed on the day of Transfiguration. But, it wasn’t snow or scenery that amazed them…Jesus himself was transformed, transfigured, before their very eyes. Over the course of their lives together, they lived and worked alongside Jesus. They watched him eat. They watched him preach. They watched him heal others. They watched him sleep.
But, as they watched him on the mountain that day, they saw him transform before their eyes – this man who they knew as a man, was suddenly more than a man – he was radiating light, and was radiating the Holy Spirit of God. And, for a few moments, they could see that he was more than a mere mortal, more than a man.
After months of ministry together, the Transfiguration event was decisive….if they had any doubt about Jesus, at the Transfiguration, the disciples saw who Jesus really was = he was the Messiah…to bolster his identity, Moses, the embodiment of all Hebrew Law, and Elijah, the embodiment of all Jewish Prophecy, were present and having a talk with Jesus about his departure~Jesus’ journey to the Cross.
The Disciples, Simon Peter, James and John, felt a bit shocked and befuddled as they witnessed this mysterious event. They weren’t sure how to respond. Peter threw out the wild suggestion of making a few little houses for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah to dwell in – perhaps he thought other people would trek up the mountain and worship them there and bring them offerings.
Maybe Peter was just babbling without thinking through what he was saying…. 🙂
Whatever it was, Jesus didn’t have time to dawdle. The men climbed down the mountain and kept the story of the mystical events to themselves.
The next day, it was business as usual…Jesus cast a demon out of a young man who had seizures and convulsions. Jesus had work to do before his departure – he had sermons to preach, and teachings to communicate, and people to heal, and demons to cast out. Jesus also spent many hours communicating with his disciples and worked to prepare them to take on the mantle of leadership after Jesus transitioned from this life to the next.
We come to worship on Sunday mornings to experience the mystical, to have a brush with the holy. In a few minutes, we will symbolically gather around the communion table – together we will taste the bread of new life and drink the cup of compassion. We sing hymns together to praise God. We lift up our joys and concerns and join our voices in prayer together. In this space, we join with each other to worship our God and to receive and feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. We come here to have our spirits replenished, to feel refreshed and soothed by the love of God.
But, we don’t stay here all week. We can’t stay here all the time. We have work to do. We come together on Sunday morning to have our batteries re-charged and then we depart to go out into the world. We have work to do……..employment work, and caregiving, and housework, and faith work. Our work on behalf of God is not only crammed into a few hours on Sunday morning, but instead, we must incorporate our Chrisitan faith and our Christian worldview into all the other work we do ... .I am a Christian employee at my job. I am a Christian caring for my family. I am a Christian vacuuming my living room. I am a Christian when I talk to people at the Y, or greet the cashier at the grocery store, or meet other people on the sidewalk when we are walking our dogs, or when I drive my car in traffic. In everything we do, every action we take, every work we say, we must work to remember we are Jesus’ representatives on earth. We are called to share God’s love with other people. We are called to do all we can to lighten the burden for hurting people, for suffering people, for people in need.
As much as we want to sit and bask in the holy, to hold still and relax and let the Holy Spirit pour into us, it is our work as people of faith to get to work….we are called to live the command of the prophet Micha – to do the work the Lord requires of us: to act with justice, to love mercifully, and to walk humbly with our God.
So, let’s experience the holy here in this place, and then let us get to work living our faith out in the world. Amen.
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