Transfiguration Sunday, Sermon Manuscript

Photo by Christian Begeman, Faith United Lutheran Church

I'm very behind on posting to the blog this week but it's been a hectic week, to say the least.  Monday I did a service at Shady Oaks, Tuesday was the Church Council Meeting and Baptism Class, Wednesday was the Ash Wednesday Service, and yesterday was the Soup Supper.  That along with all the other things that came up filled my week to the brim so much that today and tomorrow I'm still working on things that I haven't been able to get to.

I haven't had time to upload and edit the video of the sermon so I'll have to add that later, but for now you'll find the transcript below.

It was a very short sermon, as we had the Men's groups fundraiser (a Baked Potato Bar) immediately after service and I knew we were going to go over if I didn't truncate the sermon as much as I could.  BTW, the Baked Potato Bar was not only extremely delicious, it was a hugely successful fundraiser!

Thank you to all who helped with that Fundraiser and also those that helped with last night's Soup Supper, which was also tremendously successful!  You are all a blessing!

Be a blessing to someone today!!

In His Love,
Roy

Sermon - Transfiguration Sunday, 2018
The verses that we are looking at this morning come on the heels of the questioning of the Apostles by Jesus as to who do they think he is.  Peter answers that he is the Messiah and Jesus rebukes him, telling the Disciples to not tell anyone that he is the Messiah.  Next, Jesus foretells of his death and Peter pulls Jesus aside and to show that turnaround is fair-play, he rebukes Jesus... to which Jesus rebukes Peter in return telling him “get behind me satan”.  A whole lot of rebuking going on here, and it's important to realize that Jesus isn't calling Peter what we understand to be the “Devil” but rather he is proclaiming that Peter is in this moment his adversary.  Satan means adversary or opposition, Peter is opposing the mission of Christ.  So, remember to not freak out when you read verse 33 in the 8th Chapter of Mark.

So, Jesus has a mission, a date with destiny if you will... but it's not yet time to talk about it... well, not openly anyway.

Today is 'Transfiguration Sunday', it's the Sunday prior to Ash Wednesday which is, of course, the beginning of the season of Lent.  Lent, the 'Holiest' of all seasons on the Christian Calendar; we're closing in on the final countdown as they say.

As it is 'Transfiguration Sunday' we are of course in one of the Synoptic Gospels and this year the Lectionary has us looking at the version of the Transfiguration as it is found in Mark's Gospel, so if you'll all turn to the 9th Chapter of Mark we'll be looking at verses 2 through 10.

Mark 9:2-10  New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
2 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 5 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” 8 Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.
9 As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean.

I have seen these verses compared to the story of Christ's baptism in the Gospel of Mark.  Obviously, there are parallels as in both passages Jesus is identified as God's beloved son.  It has been stated that whereas in the baptism the revelation is apparently given only to Jesus himself, here the revelation is to the entire world.  That really isn't fair, as the revelation here is only made to the inner-circle of the Disciples, James, John, and Peter, and these three are sternly warned not to discuss it until Jesus has risen again.  The Greek word in verse 9 translated simply as 'ordered' is diastelló (dee-as-tel'-lom-ahee) and it implies a very stern air to this instruction.  It has within it's meaning a command, a commission, an admonishment, and a prohibition.  Strong's Greek Concordance states it as giving an “explicit command that is unambiguously clear”; it's not just a casual request, it bears much more weight than that.

But none-the-less, the circle of those who are in the 'know' as to Jesus being the beloved son of God is widening.

Other commentators focus on the transfiguration as proof of Christ's deity.  The only problem with this is that in Luke's telling of the story both Moses and Elijah are also shown in 'Glory'.  If we think that the transfiguration itself reveals Christ as deity we then also elevate both Moses and Elijah to equality with God the Father, let us, therefore, realize that it is God's proclamation of “this is my beloved Son” that truly signals the preeminence of Jesus as the Christ.


The inclusion in this vision or scene of Moses and Elijah would have been enormously significant for any Jewish individual hearing this story.  Here we have the bringer of the Law and Judaism's greatest prophet conversing with Jesus.  Even before God identifies that Jesus is the beloved Son, we know he is of elevated stature as he is portrayed here as conversing with Moses and Elijah.  That in and of itself is as they say “a big deal”.

Last year when I preached over the 'Transfiguration', I focused upon the verses where Peter wants to construct dwellings for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah.  The word here translated as dwelling means 'tent' and it is the same word used in talking about the tabernacle.  Peter is all caught up in the excitement of these two great figures of Jewish heritage being there with Jesus and he wants to stay right there and bask in the moment... wanting desperately to remain in this magnificent, but terrifying moment.  I talked last year about how we want to build tabernacles referring to physical structures and how we as a church very much are wrapped up in the physicality of building dwellings much like Peter.

Today I want to revisit that metaphor of remaining in the glory of the transfiguration but I want to come at it from a different angle.  Here in this 'idyllic' story of the transformation of not only Jesus but Moses and Elijah, this story so very reminiscent of the story of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments.  We have a story where Peter and the Disciples want to remain in the moment... basking in this glorious, unbelievable, idyllic, terrifying... moment.

Perhaps the only time we might be able to understand the transformation that is going on in the transfiguration is if we reflect back upon our own Baptism or perhaps the moment we first realized that we accepted Christ as our Savior.  That moment that we first accepted Christ into our heart.

Another moment that might serve as an illustration for those of us that are married would perhaps be that moment... if we can remember back that far... that moment when we first fell in love with our spouse.  That crazy hyper-sense of mind that again idyllic state.  That terrifying and joy-filled place where we wanted to stay... if we could only stay right there in that “perfect” place.  But, that's not how love works... there's a grittiness to love, you go forward from those early giddy moments and into the reality of life... marriage, raising children, paying bills, etc, etc, etc.  Like it or not we've got to get on with the task of a truly genuine lifetime relationship with all its ups and all its downs.  And just as we can't remain in the idyllic moment of first love, we can't remain in that perfect state of being baptized... which is really actually a good thing because you can't hold your breath for longer than four minutes anyway... I have reassured both William and Stephanie who are considering being baptized this year on Easter that I wouldn't hold them under for more than five minutes...

Just as Jesus, Peter, James, and John did not stay on that mountain, we have to come out of the baptistery and get to work... the work that God has given to us... “Listening to Jesus”.

The story that immediately follows the transfiguration is the story of the Disciples being unable to heal the boy with seizures.  In that story, we find one of my favorite exchanges of Jesus with one of those who have come to be healed.  That's the conversation found between Christ and the boy's father:


Mark 9:23-24 (NRSV)
23 Jesus said to him, “If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out(h), “I believe; help my unbelief!”  

(h) with tears

God has commanded us to “Listen to Christ”... it seems like such an easy thing to ask... but we struggle with it daily, hour by hour... minute by minute.  We struggle to listen and to obey...

Lord just as the father of the boy with seizures cried out and in some manuscripts, it says “he cried out with tears”... just as he cried out for you to help him in his unbelief... Lord, we cry out... help us to listen... when we just can't seem to do so.

Let us pray...

Mark 9:2-10 - New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
The Transfiguration
2 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 5 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” 8 Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them anymore, but only Jesus.

9 As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean.