1<\/sup>Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. 2<\/sup>And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. 3<\/sup>Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4<\/sup>Then Peter said to Jesus, \u201cLord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.\u201d 5<\/sup>While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, \u201cThis is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!\u201d 6<\/sup>When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. 7<\/sup>But Jesus came and touched them, saying, \u201cGet up and do not be afraid.\u201d 8<\/sup>And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son +, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well every now and then on a Saturday morning I\u2019ll try and take a hike up the Sleeping Giant Mountain in Hamden.\u00a0 Those of you who have done the hike at some point know there\u2019s a lot of people you meet going up the mountain, and especially in the morning they\u2019re usually quiet, maybe trying to forget the workweek or the night before or get away from it all and clear their heads, and it\u2019s a tough hike in places, so occasionally you see someone reach their hand out to pull someone up over a stone or up a sharp hill.\u00a0 You wind around and around the Giant\u2019s head to go up, and it\u2019s cool and dark in the shadow of the mountain until finally you reach the top, where you can walk up into the little Castle that was built up there in the 1930\u2019s, and from the top of it you can see Forever: up to Middletown, down to downtown New Haven, across the Sound to Long Island, the sun that was hidden from view on your way up is now massive and blazing right over your head, you just want to stay up and bask in the brightness and take in the view forever.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Today on this Transfiguration Sunday, Jesus takes his inner circle of disciples to the top of their Sleeping Giant, Mount Tabor. Jesus has just told them that he must be crucified and die, and that the disciples too must carry their cross, that they will suffer because of obedience to him, that their faith will lead to struggle and to darkness before it leads to the light.\u00a0 And so I think they too must have been trying to clear their heads, to forget about what they had heard and about what might be right around the corner as they made their way up the mountain today.\u00a0 And as they reached the peak, about 1000\u2019 higher than the Sleeping Giant, there a view met them they did not expect.\u00a0 For we\u2019re told that Jesus was transfigured before them, \u201cAlleluia Jesus shone like the Sun,\u201d his face beaming, his clothes dazzling white.\u00a0 For a moment the curtain is parted, and they see Jesus\u2019 raw glory, the glory he had from eternity with his Father, the glory of the Father\u2019s only-begotten Son, shining like the nuclear fusion of the sun itself, the center of the universe radiating uncreated truth and love and compassion bright enough to blind them, it overwhelmed them, and as if that wasn\u2019t enough they looked around and saw Moses, long dead, and Elijah long gone, just chatting with Jesus, a kind of heavenly coffee klatch.\u00a0 Sometimes you get a glimpse of past, present, and future all brought together; a snapshot of a grandparent, child, and grandchild all together; sometimes you see everything unified and where everything is going, and here the disciples saw Moses who never made it to the promised land, and they saw Elijah who lonely and despairing battled for God\u2019s honor, and the Lord of Old and New, the Lord over our every failure shining in their midst, and they know, no matter what happens now the future is bright, you can see all the way to Easter Morning now.\u00a0 And we know that no matter what has been or will be, God\u2019s light and life and love in Jesus Christ will be the last word for us all.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And this feels so good, that Peter decides to interrupt this heavenly conversation, he buts in to Jesus speaking with the Old Testament, \u201cUh, Lord it is good for us to be here, why don\u2019t we make three booths, three dwellings, one for Moses, and one for Elijah, and one for you too?\u201d\u00a0 Peter has plans, his plans, like we all do, plans for how we want our life to be; plans for how things should turn out, so why worry about carrying our Cross, why worry about Good Friday when we can just stay up here and relax and get tan in the light of glory?!<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But while Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed him, shining but dark at the same time, foreboding but with rays of hope, blotting him out and shining on him together and from the cloud came the voice of the Father:<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThis is my Beloved Son, with him I am well pleased, Listen to Him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And they fell to the ground, and were overcome with fear.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Maybe they were overcome with fear, because they had heard God speak with their own little ears.\u00a0 Maybe they were overcome with fear because of the darkness that covered them, that threatened to blot them out, to erase them as if they had never been. Maybe they were overcome with fear because in that moment they recognized their littleness, they saw their sins, their failures, their guilt in the plain light of day.\u00a0 Maybe they were overcome with fear because of their own plans, that they dared dictate to God how it would all work out, and what he needed to do.\u00a0 Maybe they knew how easy it is for us to listen to everything else in life: to listen to our plans, to listen to our fears, to listen to what other people say, to listen to the little voice in our head as opposed to: \u201cThis is my beloved Son, listen to Him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 They fell to the ground and were overcome by fear.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But Jesus came, and touched them, saying \u201cGet up, and do not be afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jesus reaches down to all those overcome by fear, Jesus reaches down to you, and says, \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid.\u201d\u00a0 Don\u2019t be afraid, of your past or of the future, for in the Light of the Transfiguration we see the light of Christ shine on all that we have been, and all that will be, shining and transfiguring and healing what was and what will be.\u00a0 Don’t be afraid, for when you listen to him this is what you hear, \u201cYou are my son, You are my child, You are my beloved with whom I am well pleased.\u201d\u00a0 Don\u2019t be afraid, for he comes to you to reach out his hand, to you who are in fear, to you who have stumbled, he comes again today to reach down to you, to extend his hand to raise you up, to set you on a high rock where you can stand on solid ground, and where you can hear his voice and not be afraid, where you can look back on your past and look towards your future and know that it is all safely in his hands.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cTell no one about this,\u201d Jesus says, \u201cuntil I have been raised from the dead.\u201d\u00a0 Jesus raises you up high, because he goes down low.\u00a0 He raises you up, because he himself will go down the mountain, to his Cross.\u00a0 And there on the little hill of Golgotha, on Calvary, he will lower himself and stretch out his hands, even unto death, he will descend into hell itself, so that you can be raised up high, up out of fear, up from the darkness, up out of death, into his light, into his love, and into the confidence that comes from knowing you are his beloved, and so have nothing to fear.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Today we stand on the mountaintop, and are taken by the hand as we hear, \u201cGet up, and don\u2019t be afraid.\u201d\u00a0 We are raised this morning, not to stay at the top, but in order to follow him back down the mountain to serve, to care of our neighbors, to reflect the light of his love to all we meet.\u00a0 For the Cross is coming, Lent begins in just three days\u2019 time, and he must die down on the Cross to raise us up to life, and in carrying our Cross we will in many little ways die daily to ourselves, so that we can help raise up our neighbors and all who need us.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But for now, we kneel before him one last time on the mountaintop, for now we get one last glimpse of his shining in glory, and as he is put into our hands this morning in bread and in wine, his body and blood, he takes you by the hand, saying, \u201cMy beloved son, my beloved child, Get up, Arise, and Do not be afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n And the Peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, Amen.<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n The Rev. Dr. Ryan Mills<\/p>\n New Haven, Connecticut<\/p>\n Pastor@TrinityLutheranNH.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Transfiguration of Our Lord | February 19, 2023 |\u00a0Matthew 17:1-9 | The Rev. Dr. Ryan D. Mills | 1Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. 2And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16923,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,157,108,110,667,3,109,212],"tags":[],"beitragende":[],"predigtform":[],"predigtreihe":[],"bibelstelle":[],"class_list":["post-16978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-matthaeus","category-beitragende","category-current","category-engl","category-kapitel-17-chapter-17-matthaeus","category-nt","category-predigten","category-ryan-mills"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16978"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16979,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16978\/revisions\/16979"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16978"},{"taxonomy":"beitragende","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/beitragende?post=16978"},{"taxonomy":"predigtform","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtform?post=16978"},{"taxonomy":"predigtreihe","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtreihe?post=16978"},{"taxonomy":"bibelstelle","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bibelstelle?post=16978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n9<\/sup>As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, \u201cTell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead\u201d (NRSV).<\/p>\n