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The Transfiguration of our Lord, 02/07/2016
Sermon on Luke 9:28-36, by Walter W. Harms
28 Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. 30 And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure,[a]which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33 And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. 34 As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One;[b]listen to him!” 36 And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.
Our Moment of VIEWING THE Transfiguration
This event in the Gospel reading for today, the Transfiguration of Jesus poses all kinds of questions. What is the meaning of this event? Why did it take place? Why were Moses and Elijah there?
There is no doubt that this was important for Jesus. He was totally human but he also knew what his mission in this world was about. He came out of the love of his Father for all human beings. They were pitiful creatures, doomed to misery in this world and final and eternal separation of all that God gives to humans in the world to come. God despised the futile attempts of humans to find meaning in this world by themselves. They stumble from one fallacy of faith to another and find nothing that lasts.
God has several traits that we need to consider. One is his desire for absolute loyalty to him by humans. Another is, what I would call, his unexplainable devotion and care for all humans. He wanted both to damn us and to save us. This mission to save was given to his one and only beloved Son, Jesus.
We human beings stand with open mouths when we think of God and are not in the least sense able to figure him out. Every time God showed up in the record of his appearance in Holy Scripture, people were frightened and needed and wanted to hide. That was true from the time of his creation of Adam and Eve to his giving of his holy Law to the people of Israel at Mt. Sinai.
On top of that, we miserable people who rather constantly and inevitably want our way and not what was good for us or for others needed to be pretty totally cleaned up, if there was any possibility of us ever standing in the presence of the Holy God. Our filth of transgressions, misbehaviors, disobediences and plain evil in thought, word, and actions needed to be made right, corrected, wiped away, paid for, if you will.
Jesus came into this world, as a real human, so that we would not be frightened and put off. He came to fight the results of evil as we witness in all his miracles, even raising persons back to life after they died. But, what happens to all humans—death, had to happen to him, so that once and for all time and for all people, we could be in the presence of the God who created us, loved us with a compassion we cannot grasp. And he had to forget about what we have done to others and ourselves.
The time to complete his mission in this world had come. It was not something he would look forward to any more that we look forward to suffering, pain and life slipping away. He needed to be assured that he could and would make it thru all that was to come—arrest, the desertion of his followers, lies told about him, mockery, beatings, condemnation as a criminal, crucifixion, and then desertion by his Father and the coldness of death and entombment.
Here on this mountain he again received by his change in appearance that he was not only God’s beloved Son, but that the world should listen to him.
And with him were Moses and Elijah talking about his departure or exodus. You will remember that Moses was reluctant to confront the king of Egypt, the Pharaoh with the ultimatum that he should free the people, called the Israelites and let them leave. He was old, 80 years old. He was not an eloquent speaker, so God gave him his brother Aaron as his spokesman. And the people, while wanting to leave and go to some promised land far away were as loyal to God as we are. They soon felt the God who had led them miraculously through the Red Sea was inadequate for their needs and desires. They bitched and complained about everything. God was ready to kill them off when Moses reminded him that they were his people, not Moses’.
Now Jesus faced the same journey. He had been in Egypt as a child. Now he had to lead his people, all of us, to the Promised Land. It was going to be tough for him. Remember how he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane that his Father might remove this exodus from him? Moses was there to assure him that God would be with him all the way.
Elijah, the great OT man of God, faced a world where the king and his wife, Jezebel fostered a god that appealed to all the gross desires of mankind, of which we are not immune. By the power of God he waged war against this evil and these evil people. He had to run for his life before he was caught and murdered. God was there with him all the way and gave him a glorious trip at the end in a chariot of fire and a whirlwind.
These two were there to tell Jesus that the exodus was the only way to free people from all the snares, allurements and disasters that the world provides so generously to them.
And then the voice of the Father himself. This alone would have been enough for Jesus to be steady in the road he would have to travel when he left the mountain. And there was the added promise that people should listen to him as the only hope and anchor in the lifetime spent in this world.
Jesus had taken with him the inner circle of his followers, Peter, James and John. They witnessed this event. They wanted to stay there in that wonderful atmosphere. But as it is recorded, Peter had no idea what he was talking about. They were left with Jesus all by himself and the journey ahead to Jerusalem. That is the journey we will symbolically again begin this coming Wednesday as we enter the season of Lent in our churches.
Our journey, individually and as a group united by God the Holy Spirit into this body of believers will not find our passage through this world any easier that our Lord Jesus did.
We are often worse than that band of persons led out of Egypt. We face what often seems like insurmountable obstacles to any kind of peace and joy. We are lured by more temptations than the people of Elijah’s time faced and often succumb to them as well.
Who should we listen to? Who should guide us through his morass we call life? Who can we grasp and hold on to in the turbulence that swirls around us?
So we are here today. Disturbed, frustrated, come to find peace. And here it is! We kneel to receive the transfigured Jesus into our very bodies. This is the body sacrificed for us. This is the blood that ran from the wounds in hands and feet and side. This is the Son of God, the beloved Son of God we receive. As Peter, it would be wonderful to stay here, cleansed, pure, and wanting nothing more.
But God sends us down this mountain of worship and Sacrament into the world. We are to tell of what we had seen and heard. We are to go with the absolute assurance that God is with us and with all. We are to listen to Jesus who is the Word, who is God who was made man for us and for our redemption. Then we are to speak of him to others.
I don’t know why you particularly came here this day. Perhaps habit, perhaps to see friends, perhaps to socialize a bit in a world where talking to people who will listen is becoming more and more rare. Perhaps it is simply to listen to Jesus again and have this transfiguration, this miracle happen to you again.
We need this time to listen to Jesus, to speak to him, to hear again and again what he has done for us and is still doing. We need to receive each and every week the Word who is Jesus because the distance of our journey can often seem solitary with purpose and without hope and too long.
Here for a moment we are transfigured. We are pure, we are clean, we are absolutely loved and cared for, we have the joy of being saved from life, from death, and the grave.
Who would want to miss that every week?