Transfiguration, 02/19/2012

Sermon on Mark 9:2-9, by Andrew Smith

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, ³and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. ⁴And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. ⁵And Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah." ⁶For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. ⁷And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is my beloved Son; listen to him." ⁸And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only. ⁹And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

The season of Epiphany is not long enough. There could be as many as 8 Sundays but this year we only had 6. The story of the revealing of Jesus Christ, the Son of God began back in Advent with the announcement of Isaiah and was then confirmed by a voice from heaven at Jesus' baptism. Each week we heard and saw the coming of the kingdom of God in the power and authority of Jesus to teach and heal and cast out demons. The demons knew He was the holy one of God. But they were forbidden to speak of it as was the leper last week.

But now we jump ahead to day on which there is no doubt who Jesus is. Mark tells us that Jesus was "transfigured before them, ³and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them." And with an account like that we are no longer just on any high mountain but in the minds of believers Daniel chapter 7 comes to mind, "As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire." Daniel chapter 10 has something similar. "⁶His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude." These images of the Son of Man in Daniel are visions of a prophet about the one who would come. As Jesus stands there on this high mountain in Galilee, there is no doubt now who he is.

Mark's Gospel throughout this entire Epiphany season has been building and growing, showing every week another aspect of Jesus' Messianic identity and authority as the Son of God. At the end of this progressive revelation stands the clear portrayal of Jesus as the Son of God with a voice coming from an OT like cloud declaring Jesus to be his beloved Son. How much clearer can you get? There will be only one other voice announcing Jesus as the Son of God and that will be the centurion's as he watches how Jesus dies on the cross and then announces, "Surely this man was the Son of God."

The transfiguration of our Lord stands in the middle of these two great progressions, the progressive revelation of Jesus' identity and the progressive focus on the suffering and cross of Jesus throughout the season of Lent. Today is a glorious day in the church year. On a day like today we are tempted to stay and build our tents and be with the Lord and avoid that which we are assured will come next, the suffering and pain that come with following Jesus and bearing our cross. This is what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus.

I am convinced that Jesus called each of us to a life of discipleship and perhaps more than ever, that life looks out of step with most of what goes on in the wider society. Think about the ideas that shape us, not just the ideas but the ideas behind those ideas. Just think about the ideas we accept with little or no criticism. Life should be enjoyable. That sounds like a great idea, right? But there is much in life that is simple not enjoyable, whether it scrubbing toilets or enduring the suffering that goes along with disease. Those things are not enjoyable. We may be able to find meaning and purpose in them but they are not fun. A fellow by the name of Neil Postman wrote a book some time ago, Amusing Ourselves to Death. Just from the title, I think you can pick up a good chuck of what he was trying to say. Life is not all about our being amused or entertained. In fact, it can't be. So just think about those kinds of ideas that many accept in the church uncritically. The church should be "attractional." Yes, they actually use that word. Sunday morning should be engaging and entertaining. Think I'm making this up? Go into some of these auditoriums and see that they are indeed that. No pews, individual theater seats. There are very few if any windows, all attention is on the stage up front. They call it a stage. I think there are forces at work both outside and from within the Lutheran church today that would reduce the role of pastor to something akin to entertainer in chief or even cruise director rather than shepherd. Think about that. Don't believe me? Talk to folks who don't go to church. Talk to some folks who do go to church but prefer to go to churches where they are entertained because they don't like it when things get a little too close for comfort in the sermon, I believe the phrase around these parts is "stepping on toes." Following after Jesus means following Him on the way to the cross to the tomb and then out the door again to resurrection. The way of the cross means we don't do all those things our friends do because perhaps all those things are not God-pleasing and we steer away from the crazy partying or the gossiping. It means our Sunday mornings are booked if we want to honor the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. It means we stand up for the weak in our society, the unborn and the elderly, because we recognize we are not our own to do with what we will. Among other things, it means, maybe, that we look at the things we buy and the things we eat and the ways we are entertained and how we raise our children that might be different from non-believers. To be a disciple today is to be out of step with the wider society.

Those differences become even more heightened starting Wednesday. Want to freak your non-churched friends out or your friends that go to the entertainment churches? Go over to their house late Wednesday night with the ashes still on your forehead. Unless they used to be Catholic, they will think it absolutely Old Testament that you have just participated in a rite that reminds you that you are dust and to dust you shall return. It's just too morbid, they'll say. It is the way of the cross. It is the way of Jesus.

To be a disciple, even in the Lutheran church is to be distinctly counter-cultural. That's always difficult and even upsetting for people. Most folks like to go with the flow and not make waves. Dear friends in Christ, when we come down off this mountain today, after basking in the glory of our transfigured Lord, we re-enter our broken world that is too cynical to even receive this message of Good News. Our lives in the midst of the brokenness all around us are the testimonies of what we have seen and heard on this mountain. Do we have all the answers to all of life's mysteries? Sometimes we act and talk like we do. But we don't. Living amidst the ambiguity of life is also a testimony of a life of faith and a life of discipleship. But for disciples of Jesus, the promise of the kingdom is not a matter of control or security, but of the persuasive power of the promise of God that in Jesus we meet and follow one who goes to suffering and death and resurrection and then calls all of us who wait for his return to live in watchful confidence that the kingdom has already come among us in power. Epiphany is not long enough. We never seem to have too much time basking in the glow of our glorious Lord. The way of the cross lies ahead of us. But we follow that way because we know that way leads not just to the cross and grave but out of it to resurrection glory. This is the way of Jesus. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus. Amen.

The Rev. Andrew Smith
Hickory, North Carolina, USA
E-Mail: smithad19+prediger@gmail.com

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