Seeing the Glory - Luke 9:28-36 (Transfiguration C)

     I know we’ve been in dealing with the Corinthian church for the last month or so, and there was a possibility of continuing that through Paul’s second letter, but… given that we are pushing into Lent later this week, maybe it’s time to get back to the gospels. I set the theme of “Love Never Ends” and this is the last week for that series, and it may seem that this is a strange scripture to end on, but hopefully I can tie it up nicely. The theme throughout our scriptures in the series has been about how community matters - people matter - and that we individuals are part of a whole. Even last week with Willie preaching, his focus was on how the scouts (Boy, Girl & Cub) were another venue, like church, for teaching our young ones how to live in a community, and what kind of rules we should follow. It might even be fitting that the last sermon in our series would be something about how love is consistent and unchanging; that God’s love is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. But that wouldn’t fit our scripture today, now would it?

Well - our scripture today is all about change. We have two stories that, on their face, don’t really seem to go together. The first scene on the mountaintop, with Jesus lit up in glory, with Moses and Elijah - what a holy moment to witness! And then the second scene, where they’ve come down the mountain, the following day - still kind of dumbfounded what happened, and yet, here they are back into the crowds and doing the work of healing. 

Later this week, we will begin the Lenten season with Ash Wednesday, but today - we are here on Transfiguration Sunday with this pronouncement of God’s great triumph… but why? We know what’s going to happen over the next six to eight weeks, the people of God and Jerusalem, are going to reject their Messiah… and he ends up on the cross. I know we are not there yet, but why is this Sunday important? We remember God’s holiness and Jesus’ divinity before the events of the passion story so that we can be affirmed that this is something that he can handle. That we can be strengthened, knowing in our faith that God can do impossible things, and even unite those people who will reject him in witness to His glory and wonder. 

In the scripture right before the opening, which was hinted at, “in the eight days previous to [this]”… what is THIS? So - chronologically and contextually speaking, Jesus and the disciples had just fed the five thousand, and then after that, Peter affirms Jesus’ divinity by answering the question, “Who do you say that I am?” Then with a quick look into the future by Jesus foreshadowing his own death and resurrection. So - that’s what’s happened. It’s been a busy month for our crew… so Jesus wants to get away. Let’s take a retreat up the mountain for a minute. He only wants to take his executive committee, if you will, so again from our reading - Peter, James and John are going up the mountain with Jesus. 

This is where it all gets weird. Up until now, even with the praying, everything has been normal. But THEN - Jesus’ face lit up - and not just in the super-happy way, but actually illuminated, and his clothes! I can’t imagine what it would have been like to be on that mountaintop, but not only this happened, but then Moses and Elijah showed up! Literally! 

As much as I want to question how they knew it was Moses and Elijah, they are sure that it is these two guys talking with Jesus. This is God revealing to the disciples, and they're there more as backup singers to the main event. Moses represented the Law, how God brought change to an exiled people and rescued them. Elijah representing the Prophets that came after, telling the story of the Israelites as they continued to struggle, many of the prophets were rejected by their own people. Both of whom brought hope and the words of the Lord to the people of God. Moses and Elijah both died mysteriously, according to scriptures, and they also both had their own mountaintop experiences. Moses, as you remember from Exodus, met with God to receive the Ten Commandments, just to be rejected by his own people. And Elijah, from the book of 1 Kings, when he is escaping judgment from the authorities of his people, happens to stumble upon God, who brings him back to task. 

We can sometimes get so wrapped up in trying to explain things, that we can miss the point. Like I said in the beginning, sometimes we just don't get it. What we don't get is that we want everything to turn into a lesson, a way of transforming us. But this week, we need to take a step back and realize not everything is about us. Peter, James and John are blessed with witnessing Jesus in his true most glorified form. They GOT TO SEE THE GLORY OF THE COMING OF THE LORD! We sing songs, we pray about this very thing, but when it's right in front of us, do we take time to witness, to be in the moment? Luke here thankfully tells the story as best he can, so that we have the account to share in the glory of the Lord coming to the disciples as it did. 

But in the second half of our reading today, it's like the disciples weren't changed at all, unlike what happened with Jesus. They were able to go up on the mountain with him, witness the amazement of the Transfiguration, wanting to even build a shrine or monument to this very experience, but by the time they get back down the mountain, all seemed lost? No wonder Jesus gets so upset, although it's not really clear who is rebuking. It could be the three who went up with him, having forgotten what they witnessed the day before - all the glory the Lord had shown to them. It could the rest of the disciples - again, they were only a week or so away from the feeding of the five thousand, how too could they have forgotten?

We can get caught up in our mountaintop moments - the ones that stop you in your tracks, whether it's a sunrise, sunset, a clear revelation of grace, but it's completely human in between those moments to realize we have become lost in our own heads with all that's happening around us - our work demands, our children, our spouse, even the state of our world affects us, and you find yourself hoping for a miracle. We fall asleep just like the disciples did on the mountaintop, or to create a memory, a physical reminder that this very thing happened right now. But those reminders only work for those who witnessed.

If we want God to come now, even in such chaotic times, we need to be able to share what the glory of God has been in our life. Share our mountaintop experiences. Explain the significance of our shrines so people don't see just another concrete marker that they can't connect to. When God is real to you, it's not just about you - we have to praise the connection, and to share our witness. 

But also - to see the glory in the coming of the Lord, we need to seek it. We can't find what we aren't looking for. As much as God comes to us where we are, God is in the most ordinary of places too - he is not reserved for the mountaintop. The boy who needed healing is a child of God, just as much as each of you are. He is in the faces of the people you meet everyday. As I've said before, you will never look into the eyes of anyone whom God does not love. 

This week is to serve as a pivotal point in Jesus' life - the turn from being Jesus, and his journey to Jerusalem and the walk to Calvary. This week is just as monumental in his story as his baptism, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. This is the story of how God showed up for his creation, in their world, in our own form. We should celebrate and praise the Lord for who He is, the journey he has taken, to show how each of us has been transformed, how this community has been transformed by our presence. But not only looking at what has happened in the past, since God is of our past, present, and future. I challenge you to reflect on this, and think of how we can continue to transform our church, our community, and those who we are connected to, without being stuck in the moment of being on top of the mountain, but getting work done in the valleys too. 

Later this week, we will come back to this space for a very different reason, so let us leave with our heads full of the glory of God, seeing the possibility of transformation every day. Start with praising the Lord for every opportunity you come across, whether in nature, in relationships, or even within yourself. Every now and then, we come across something that inspires us for greater depth of love, of grace. It may be found at the top of a mountain, but maybe not. If we step into that love, which transforms us to love at a deeper level, transforming not only ourselves, but those who are around us. We can find a love that never ends. 

Thank you, and amen.