Transfiguration Sunday

[00:00:01] Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. [00:00:14] Why was Jesus shining on the mountain? [00:00:19] It was a glorious experience. [00:00:24] Makes me think, what would it feel like to be shining on a mountain? [00:00:29] Would I feel important? You know, Jesus doesn't need to feel that way. [00:00:37] He also doesn't need to be told by the Father that he's his beloved Son and His Chosen one. He knows that. [00:00:49] So why is he shining on the mountain? [00:00:53] It's for our sake. [00:00:56] And here in the hymn points out, this is not just to show Jesus glory, but to show the glory that would be given to us through Jesus. [00:01:09] In verse three, with shining face and bright array Christ deigns to manifest today what glory shall be theirs above who joy in God. With perfect love he's manifesting the glory that belongs to those who, well, who look to God in faith, the glory to be received by faith in Jesus Christ. Now that's pretty cool. So you see Jesus, remember Jesus baptism not too long ago, at the beginning of, of Epiphany, in Jesus baptism, you see Jesus baptized and the Holy Spirit descending on him in the form of a dove and God saying, this is my beloved Son. You see yourself there in Jesus. Remember that? Well, it's the same thing with his transfiguration by God's grace. You know, I don't belong up on the mountain shining by something that I could earn or achieve myself. [00:02:17] Although sometimes I'd like to. [00:02:22] I mean, we all want to be honored or loved or cherished by those around us. [00:02:30] We all want to, I don't know, make a difference. I mean, some people are more private than others, right? Some people would like to sit on a throne and other people would like to maybe just have people think well of them, that kind of thing, right? But earthly honor, it's. Well, it's kind of a big deal. [00:02:49] Nobody likes to be despised by everybody. [00:02:53] So it's a common human aim to, let's say, be shining on the mountaintop. [00:03:02] And that's actually where Jesus says we'll be, but in a different way than we might think about normally thinking in earthly terms. [00:03:14] We might think of it as like, well, if I just work hard and keep focused and then I'll be able to achieve what I want to achieve, and then I will be shining on the mountaintop. I'll have the fulfillment of my goals, let's say, and I'll make it. [00:03:36] But this one is not one where you just scope out the goal. You say, like, this is what I Want, how do I get there? And then you get there. [00:03:46] That's not the kind of journey we're undertaking by faith in Jesus. That's not how you receive the prize, say, not quite. [00:03:58] It's by faith. [00:04:00] I mean, yes, we see the goal, I guess, but we don't see the path to get there. The path to get there is not one that we mark out for ourselves. [00:04:11] It's not one that we choose based on the way it looks. It's one that we. Well, that we travel by faith and we walk by faith, not by sight. So that's why I'm saying we don't mark out the path. We can't see where we're headed. This is one of following Jesus wherever he leads. And earlier in chapter nine, not much earlier. I mean, just right there before the transfiguration, Jesus says that he's going to be crucified, that he's going to be killed, and on the third day rise. Now, I don't think he says crucified. You could check on it. It seems pretty explicit. [00:04:53] But maybe he probably does, because then he says. Then he says, if you want to follow me, then you have to deny yourself. [00:05:02] Take up your cross daily and follow me. He uses the word cross, so he probably says, crucified, check on me and raise your hand and I'll call on you. [00:05:17] So I guess in that sense, Jesus points out the path. Here's what it's going to look like. Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me daily. [00:05:29] But it's still one of following him. It's like, okay, so we're on a journey, and we're on a journey with Jesus. [00:05:35] That's what it looks like. But as far as the details, the specifics, it's like, okay, what mountains do I need to climb to get there? What do I need to overcome? [00:05:46] Well, you know, it's more like there are going to be challenges endure, right? Abide in Jesus word. Hang out in his shadow. [00:06:03] Follow him wherever he leads. Just look to Jesus. Just hold Jesus in front of your eyes no matter what. And be conformed to his image in his suffering. It comes through suffering. [00:06:19] Now, Peter, Peter's up there on the mountain with Jesus. Jesus is shining and it's glorious. He's got Moses and Elijah with him on the mountain. And Peter says, lord, it's good that we're here. Like, we made it. You know, here we are, this mountaintop experience. [00:06:41] But Luke writes that Peter didn't know what he was talking about. [00:06:48] Maybe Peter should really be thinking, boy, I'M out of place. Like, this is not where I belong in this glorious setting. [00:06:59] Not yet. [00:07:01] It's going to be good that he's there with Jesus, united with him in his death and resurrection. But Peter's not committed to dying with Christ yet. [00:07:11] He's not ready to take up his cross and follow him. In fact, when Jesus does get to that point, when he gets to Jerusalem and he's arrested, Peter's scared, scared stiff. And he's not going to be recognized as one who. Well, he doesn't want to be recognized as one who was with Jesus because he wants to avoid death and the cross. He's not taking up his cross, not until after the resurrection. And then he literally does, right? Tradition, which is pretty accurate, says that he was crucified at the end of his life. Peter ended up being crucified, but wanted to be crucified upside down because he didn't feel worthy of dying in the same way as Christ. And so he did that. So he literally ended up taking up his cross. Peter's not ready for that. Now, just in a few paragraphs, the disciples are going to argue about who's the greatest again, like trying to get on that mountain and be shiny, grab attention and be glorious. [00:08:21] I was telling the kids on Wednesday in chapel, I think in Aladdin, when he goes down into the cave and finds the lamp, it's up there shining, it's got light on it and it's up high. [00:08:38] That's what it means to be on the mountain. And shining means to be glorious, lift it up, to be an object of attention. You can think in terms of the highest priority. What's the highest thing? It's Jesus Christ, who has all power and authority in heaven and on earth given to him by God. Jesus. [00:08:57] Who's in the highest place? Jesus. [00:09:00] But he lifts us up with him. [00:09:05] But again, this isn't something that we can just go and get. It's something that's received by faith. And even Jesus models this. Jesus, who didn't count equality with God, a thing to be grasped, even though he was in the form of God. He could, but he humbled himself and took the form of a servant. [00:09:29] He walked by faith and not by sight. [00:09:32] Praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. Like, if there's any other way, Take this cup from me. [00:09:39] The road ahead does not look fun and I don't want to travel it. But your will be done, not mine. See, he's walking by faith, which means listening to God, and in our case, listening to Christ. The Son of God. [00:09:57] Peter's up there on the mountain and he thinks, this is great. This is the way things should be. But he's still thinking in an earthly way, just like he's going to show by arguing about who's the greatest. He's still thinking about in an earthly way, about glory and how glory is attained. [00:10:19] So then God teaches them, the cloud rolls in and suddenly he's not so confident anymore. [00:10:26] He and James and John are terrified when the cloud covers them. And now they can no longer see. See, they thought they saw things clearly. Okay, this is the way things should be. [00:10:38] But then they can't see anymore. [00:10:42] All they can do is listen. [00:10:45] And that's what the daily struggle of the Christian life is all about. It's about not seeing. It's about listening, walking by faith, not by sight. See, it's not just about not seeing. It's also about hearing. [00:11:02] It's about listening to God's word, to the word of the one we're following. It's like a game of Marco Polo. Maybe, maybe not. Maybe that doesn't work so well. [00:11:14] But following Christ wherever he leads, in the darkness, like. Like we can't see. [00:11:20] And that's how the struggle usually feels, isn't it? Like when you're struggling with a crisis in life, like bad health or bad health for a loved one, or when things seem to be falling apart, or let's say individually, like when things seem chaotic and you can't handle your thoughts. Like your thoughts are all coming unglued and. And your mind can't handle what's going on or whatever. Like it feels like darkness, feels like confusion. [00:11:52] It's unsettling. [00:11:54] Well, that's what it looks like to not see, to not be able to control, to not be able to just see it and get it, attain it like you want. [00:12:07] That's what it looks like for Jesus going to the cross. Everything's coming unglued and he's going to die. [00:12:13] But he does it by faith. Your will be done, not my will. He's looking to his Heavenly Father. And in the absence of visible, obvious victory, he's trusting in his Father. [00:12:27] And that's what it's like for us, taking up our cross daily and following Jesus. [00:12:35] We can't see the meaning or the purpose all the time. We can't necessarily see how this is going to turn out. Well, we just hold Jesus in front of our eyes and look to him and he gives us strength. Hold Jesus in front of your eyes up on the mountaintop and Then also up on the cross, see him in his glory, this glory that doesn't look like glory to the world. Not from an earthly standpoint does it look like Jesus is glorified in his crucifixion. [00:13:11] But in his crucifixion you see Jesus single minded, single mindedly looking to God in faith and pouring himself out in love for God and for us. [00:13:29] And then you see Jesus exalted, raised from the dead and given everything, winning the victory despite the ultimate appearance of weakness. [00:13:43] Hold Jesus in front of your eyes in his victory. [00:13:47] And that's what we have. [00:13:49] We're about to start Lent. Lent starts this Wednesday with Ash Wednesday, all right? And so here we are on the mountaintop, but on Wednesday we're going to be in ashes, in dust and ashes, in the lowest place, in the complete absence of glory. [00:14:09] But that's our road and that's Jesus road. He comes down the mountain and he sets his face toward Jerusalem and then he goes to be crucified. [00:14:19] That's what we're doing here in Lent and Lent is an opportunity to spend time with Jesus in the wilderness. [00:14:27] The beautiful thing is Jesus isn't like, but you got to go through the wilderness first. See on the other side, it's like, let's go through the wilderness together. Take up your cross and follow me carrying my cross. [00:14:43] And then we'll have victory together. [00:14:46] You come along with me and everything's going to be alright. [00:14:51] So this Lent, our theme is not much different than last year's theme because it's just what Lent is, okay? But last year we kept saying, we kept repeating 40 days in the wilderness with Jesus. I think, I think that's what it was. Well, now we're. This is 40 days praying with Jesus. [00:15:12] 40 days praying with Jesus, you could say in the wilderness. And so the Wednesday services, like the themes are going to be based on the petitions of the Lord's Prayer, because after all, he taught us that prayer, which is pretty cool. He taught us how to pray and then we get to pray with him. [00:15:37] So we're going to meditate on prayer. We're going to pray with Jesus throughout Lent. And this is our journey through the wilderness, through suffering, taking up our cross. And so we're going to give up alleluias in the hymns, unless I mess up. And then you can just mute it yourself. [00:16:02] We're going to give up alleluias, this expression of joy and praise the Lord. [00:16:09] But you might give up something else. You might fast. We talk about fasting too. And Kind of how that might work. You might give up sleep. That's an ancient practice. [00:16:23] But our discipline, our discipline, praying in the wilderness with Jesus, it's about, well, learning to walk by faith and not by sight. [00:16:34] Learning to. [00:16:39] Well, to get. To give up seeing. It's like if you're gonna. If you're gonna go without food, like, well, but I want food and my body is asking for food. But I'm gonna walk by faith, not by sight. It's like a turn away from attending to my needs to attending to God's word. Maybe that's the best way to look at it. Right? [00:17:00] Yeah. So we can talk more about that. But here we go on our wilderness journey, following Jesus, taking up our cross daily. And what's on the other side? [00:17:12] Victory in Jesus. What's on the other side? The celebration of his resurrection from the dead and victory over all of our enemies, including death. [00:17:24] And. And there Jesus promises we will be with him on the mountaintop, shining by his grace. It's hard to believe. I mean, you know, we believe it. We confess it in the creed, right? But it is incredible that God would grant us this. We who abandon him, abandoned his word. [00:17:52] That he would come to us through Jesus and draw our attention to Himself once again and feed us and make us strong in Jesus. That we would get to pray with Jesus and that he would so fix our attention on God, that we would receive from him everything. [00:18:14] Thank God. In Jesus name, amen.