Mark 9:2-9

Last Sunday After Epiphany | February 11, 2024 | Mark 9:2-9 | Andrew F. Weisner |

2 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 5 Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ 6 He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!’ 8 Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus. 9 As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

Homily

Many of us like to look at photo albums… or, these days, folks can scroll back and look at many series of posts on Facebook, or some other such means, and see series of photographs taken over many months. And, especially in the case of children and young people, in photographs over the course of several months, we see them grow and change. And we, who have seen it, are all aware that we see this process of growth and change in the lives – and, of course, in the photos – of our little children and young people, but we see it also in, e.g., pets, in kitties and puppies. When they are little, we see them grow and gradually change, too… sometimes, it seems, right before our eyes they change, it happens so fast!

Then there comes a time when the growth and change seems to “level off” a bit; it seems that the change in our children and young teen-agers is not quite so rapid; and so it seems to continue – i.e., rather slowly – when they reach young adulthood. Yet, nonetheless, gradual change is occurring! Sometimes, again, for example, in a series of photographs, a change in a person shows-up more dramatically than we actually see it from day-to-day, month-to-month. In fact, we don’t see these developments – I think we can’t – see growth and change from day-to-day, when we see people frequently. However, we should be aware: the changes are there! The changes, going on within us and upon us, are indeed happening.

At some point, we may stop and wonder: What is the goal – what shall be the end-point – or our growth and change and maturation? In the case of our children, the “end-point,” the “goal,” is when they are adults (whenever that is), and our hope that they be “good adults” (what does that mean: maybe “good, responsible citizens” [?]). But what is the end-point, the goal, or our growth and change and maturation after we are adults, when we are still in the process of growth and change?

The theme for today, today’s festival, offers a response to that very question. What’s the point – and what will be the end result – of our growing and changing? To be like Jesus! St. Paul wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 3: “All of us,” he writes, “are being transformed from one degree of glory to another; this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.” And the word St. Paul uses for “transformed” is the same word used in today’s gospel-reading describing Jesus’ transfiguration. This “transformation” that St. Paul mentions is a process that is begun in our baptism: when the Spirit of the resurrected, living Christ is given to us, and begins work in us, for us, and for the world.

Jesus’ transfiguration on the mountain, witnessed by Peter, James, and John, was a foreshadowing (a glimpse ahead of time) of what shall be for us all. We shall be changed, and not just “on the outside,” in appearance, but (it seems, by scriptural references) on the inside as well.

St. Paul writes that „we shall not die, but shall be changed: in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,“ our mortal bodies shall put on the immortal, our perishable natures shall put on the imperishable; and we shall be changed.

Later, in his first New Testament letter, St. John writes, “Dear Friends: we are already God’s children; what we shall be in the future has not yet been revealed, but we are well aware that, when Christ appears, we shall be like him, [and] we shall see him as he really is.” This unity and oneness with Christ that we shall share, that we do already share, having been (St. Paul writes) “united with Christ in baptism,” must certainly somehow include growing with him in holiness of life. “Be perfect,” Jesus exhorts us in the Sermon on the Mount. As we grow with him and in him, as we are changed, as we, ourselves, are “transfigured,” we grow also closer in his kindness – by the power of God’s love changing us, working within us.

We do not know all the details of how and what these developments and our own personal – or collective – changes shall be; but we know that God is directing it, and for us, it is going to be good… for “all things,” St. Paul writes, “work out for good, for those who love the Lord and are called according to his purposes.”

We are being changed. We, ourselves, now, are being transfigured – maybe not as dramatically as Jesus on the mountain top with Peter, James and John, but we are, indeed, being changed – from one degree of glory to another, by God’s leading. It is a process begun in baptism, and continues every day of our lives. Sometimes, by our own volition, we move backward with the process; but always, God is moving us forward. And today God has inspired and guided us to be here, to be with each other, which is part of the changing process, changing us toward another degree of glory; and God brings us here to encounter and receive the presence of Christ who meets us in bread and wine … and thus we are changed, another step in our own transfiguration.

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

The Rev. Andrew F. Weisner, Ph.D.
North American Lutheran Church
Antioch Lutheran Church, Dallas, NC, USA
For Sunday, February 11, A.D. 2024 – Transfiguration