God’s Voice Breaks Through So We Stop Building Shrines And Start Loving Our Neighbors

We trace the Transfiguration from stunning vision to practical calling, challenging our urge to build shrines and instead to follow Jesus down the mountain into real need. Baptismal identity, rebuke of evil, and the cross redefine glory as love that serves.

Transcript

The Gospel Is Read

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Holy Gospel according to Matthew, the 17th chapter. Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John, led them up a high mountain by themselves. And Jesus was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became bright as light. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with him. Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, we will set up three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. While Peter was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, This is my son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him. When the disciples heard this, they fell on the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, Get up and do not be afraid. When they raised their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. They were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead. The gospel of the Lord. Please be seated. So I've saved up a really big sermon for you. Now I I uh I'm happy to be here. I told the bishop, I'm not preaching around on Sunday, so I get to worship here just like you. It's just great. But I said, if the bishop, I said, if somebody calls in sick on Saturday night, I'll go and say something Sunday morning. And sometimes I get used, but most Sundays I'm here, thank you, thankfully. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God. Amen. If ever there were a new uh New Testament scene ripe for a major Hollywood movie, the transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain would come to mind. Here are the big three. Moses, leader of the people of God out of slavery in Egypt to the promised land, Elijah, prophet of God, who stood alone, almost alone, against King Ahab and Queen Jezebel and the 400 priests of Baal, and Jesus, Savior of the world, to the eyes of Christendom, standing with his closest disciples. And they're on a mountaintop when God's voice is heard from a glistening cloud. This is my son, the beloved. With him I am well pleased. Listen to him. In the face of God, Peter, James, and John faint dead away. And Jesus touched, revives them, and Jesus says the words familiar to us from the Christmas angels. Do not be afraid. And the disciples get up and look around, and Jesus is alone. What happened? What are we to make of this? Perhaps you two are beginning to see why, for all its potential of special effects and glorious mystery, it's often not pictured in film versions of Jesus' life. We do not know what to make of this experience. It's too heavenly to make sense to us. There's too much background to develop for the average moviegoer, let alone the average Christian. But when I look for a thread to unite the stories of these three prophets of God, I'm tempted to look at the location on the mountain or at the voice of God. Wasn't Elijah carried up into heaven on a chariot? But let's look at what Matthew has been telling us. Chapter 16, Jesus and his band of followers are on a retreat. Jesus asked what the word is on the street. What are people saying about him? A variety of answers are given. Elijah, John the Baptist. Then Peter chimes in with his great confession. You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. And Jesus commends Peter. He calls his confession the cornerstone of the church. It appears to Jesus that great progress has been made. These followers will be able to carry out God's ministry no matter what befalls Jesus, their leader. So Jesus decides to share with them what he has learned about his own future. In his conversations with God, Jesus has learned the rest of the story. Jesus attempts to share the prophecy with his disciples. He will be condemned to death, suffer, and after three days rise to a new life. And who's the first to rebuke Jesus? Good old Peter, the one with the rock solid confession. It's as if Jesus is saying, What is a pastor to do? Get behind me, Peter. Remember that you are a follower on this mission, not the leader. I'm telling you what will be. God's will is not open to talking points. End of discussion. By the way, if any of you want to become my follower, take up your own cross and follow me. Or what comes to me also comes to those who follow me. Son of man is to come with angels of glory of his father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. So a week later, there they are climbing the mountain of transfiguration. Now, what's the parallel with Moses, Elijah, and for that matter, us? Well, friends, it has to do with the concept of rebuke or stumbling block. The root of the Greek is to take offense. Moses may have spent a week on the mountain waiting for God to give the people the Ten Commandments, but that didn't mean that the people were willing to submit to God's law. How many times did they melt down their jewelry and make an idol shaped like a golden calf? They took offense at Moses and God. Elijah did stand up to the king and queen and the 400 prophets of Baal. He was God's agent to tell the people about the drought and their unfaith that their unfaithfulness had caused. Elijah's God lit the ceremonial fire with lightning when the priests of Baal failed the same task. But Elijah also had to flee into a neighboring country as the result of his prophecy. So offended was everyone by God's judgment. And here's our beloved Savior, whose death we little understand even today with the eyes of faith and countless lives of saints to guide us. And his main confessor, Peter, has rebuked Jesus' prophecy of his own death. A mountaintop experience is arranged. If you will not submit to my will to keep Jesus as your personal guide and teacher, then hear what God has to say about this, up close and personal. See what others, see the others whose stories you disciples have cut your teeth on, Moses and Elijah? Weren't they also rebuked? Didn't their followers turn tail and run at the first hint of trouble? This is my son. Don't rebuke him. Listen to him, God said. The Lord Almighty come down and make a vision. You try to make an important point and no one listens. You raise your voice and still no one response. You drop your voice and folks only then begin to notice. What's she whispering about? And you might even hear yourself say, For God's sake, listen to what I'm saying. Transfiguration of Jesus on the mountaintop doesn't make an impression on us. Perhaps because we're not accustomed to listening to what God has to say to our lives. We've managed to figure out our little corner of life. For the most part, we can best barely hang on by our wits or brute strength. Our culture tells us to keep matters of faith quiet to ourselves, and we end up with a faith that can sit inside a phone booth. What's a phone booth, Pastor? Our faith is privatized and so marginalized it can hardly matter at all. We wonder aloud about its relevance. No. We don't need another voice telling us what to do. Thank you. Moses and Elijah are not our superheroes. We stand with the disciples most days when we are at our best, declaring our need for a personal savior and guide. The rest of creation can go hang, including the nut who lives next door. Let's build some kind of personal shrine to preserve this special moment. If we've seen the glory, at least we'll have a place to come back to where life has scope and meaning and importance. We'll always remember this place. Help us preserve the glory, Lord. We have seen your purpose for us. Let's live here in the safety of our experience. Be with me, Lord Jesus, I ask you to pray. To stay close by me forever and love me, I pray. Bless all the dear children and your tender care and fit us for heaven to live with you there, because life on earth doesn't make any sense to us if you're not by our side. And Jesus says, Whoa, let's get back to work here. Where we find ourselves, in ministry, in this life. As soon as they come down the mountain, Jesus asks to cure a boy with epilepsy for whom his disciples could not cure. How much longer must I put up with this faithless and perverse generation, he asks. Not two-pointed. Bring the boy to me, and Jesus rebuked the demon. And it came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly. Notice the emphasis. Followers of Jesus rebuke the demon, not God. We have witnesses to Christ's glory. It was Peter, James, and John who saw the demonstration. God confirmed Jesus' sonship on that mountain. We know who he is. Although his closest disciples wanted to selfishly hold on to his glory, restrict Jesus' presence to their scope and vision of how life should be. Jesus' true glory was revealed not at the Transfiguration Mountain glory, but at Calvary, when Jesus emptied himself and accepted God's will for his life. Jesus wasn't out to save his own neck or sacrifice himself for some noble cause. God had a plan to defeat death itself. The same death we honor when we despair and think we can handle life on our own terms. Jesus submitted his will to God's plan for creation. As a result, death was defeated. And Jesus, in his new dimension of the Spirit, is no longer limited to long ago in Palestine. Because of this, we too can call upon him in times of trouble. The Holy Spirit will not leave us comfortless. God's proclamation at the transfiguration or glorification of Jesus was the same as that recorded at his baptism. This is my son with whom I am well pleased. The same baptism you and I share. You also receive the proclamation of God at your baptism. You are co-heir to the promise of God in Jesus. You don't need a warm and fuzzy Jesus. Like a teddy bear for your true inner self, you need to listen to the empowering word of God. When God called you God's own child. You need not hang on to life with only a thread of hope and a prayer that life might not get worse. Listen, God has called you. You're God's beloved. You're given to the viewpoint of the King of the universe, your brother Jesus Christ. Jesus revealed to us God's true nature. God is a loving God who asks us to listen to God's loving proclamation and love our neighbors in turn. At the end of time, Jesus will be back to repay us for all that we have done. Can we rejoice in that word of promise? Can we accept the responsibility of faith as a great gift to help us sort through all the obstacles of life? Or are we set on being a stumbling block? The words of Jesus spoken to his hometown, blessed are they who take no offense at me. Receive the good news of the word proclaimed this morning. Come and receive the fruits of salvation at the fellowship of the altar. Accept Christ's way, God's will, and the Spirit's guidance that we all might be a beacon of hope in a troubled world. For we know that God's glory is not ours to control in this life. True glory belongs to God. When we, like Jesus, occupy ourselves with the suffering of this world, we will be doing ministry in Jesus' name, and that is sufficient. Amen.