Transfiguration Sunday 3/6/11
Transfiguration Sunday
3/6/11
Text: Matthew 17:1-9
Title: Listening to God
In our Gospel reading for today Saint Matthew describes a wondrous event on a mountain top. We don’t know why Jesus chose to only take Peter, James, and John, but we do know that what they had experienced no one had ever experienced before. They saw Moses, and Elijah talking with Jesus and heard the voice of God say, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.”
You would have thought that when they heard God speak that they would have been lifted up instead of driven to the ground. You would think that, but, as Saint Matthew tells us they were afraid, so afraid, that they fell to the ground.
You would think that an experience like this might serve as just the thing to transform a person from the inside out. Matthew describes this scene in such a way that we would think all doubts would vanish, all fears would fade away, all resistance to God’s summons would evaporate. You would think that all of the doubts and questions the three disciples might have had found answers in that scene on the mountain.
That is what you would think; after all Jesus is the message of Old Testament Scriptures. Moses and Elijah were with him. Jesus was a manifestation of God’s presence. His face shone and his clothes turned white. God’s voice sounded from the cloud. “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!” Surely, from that day forward they would bear courageous, humble witness to Jesus’ ministry in the world.
You would think that they would have gotten it, except that they didn’t. Despite having seen and heard things that should have melted away their fears and insecurities, all three disciples flunked the salt-and-light test. You know, the one where Jesus said that those that believe in him are the salt and light of the earth.
Shortly after this incident, James and John let ambition get away from them. In Mark’s gospel, the two brothers themselves ask Jesus for permission to sit on his right and left when he comes in his glory. Jesus rebukes them. Having Jesus choose them as inner-circle disciples, seeing as much of God’s presence as anyone in scripture, hearing God’s voice, knowing that everything came together in Jesus; all of this was not enough for them. They still felt an urge for recognition, for status, for elevation above the other disciples that the Transfiguration had not satisfied.
What is the problem? Simply put they did not get it. That is why they fell down in fear when God spoke from the cloud. But then a most wonderful thing happened. Jesus walked over, as they lay there trembling in fear and touched them, as he said, “Rise and have no fear.” What wonderful words for them, yet, as we all know they continued to live lives of fear.
We know about Peter, of course, the great disciple of Jesus. We would expect great things from Peter, but that is not what Saint Matthew wrote down. He tells us that even after Peter was warned that he would deny Christ, you would not have done it, but he did in the courtyard three times he denied that he knew Jesus, the one he swore allegiance to just a couple of weeks earlier. It just doesn’t make sense. He saw Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. He saw Jesus transformed into a heavenly image. He heard God’s very voice. He should have had the courage to stand up before unbelievers even in the face of danger?
Now that I have pointed out the spiritual faults of the disciples for not living the lives that we think they should have lived we need to take a look at our own lives. Oh, we are not quaking in our sandals as they were that day, but deep down inside of us, in that place where we bury our fears we live in fear. We fear the things that happened in the past that might have consequences today or tomorrow. We fear today with all of its problems, we fear tomorrow since we don’t know what it will bring, we fear that we are not going to be liked, and most of all we fear that someone will find out we are afraid, that our faith is not as strong as we say.
God’s human creation did not start out that way, for God created them to live in a trusting relationship with him. There was no room for fear, for God provided all that was needed for each day. Trust ruled the day until Adam and Eve put their trust in the words of Satan instead of God. We all know what happened after that don’t we? The wonderful right side up world of God turned upside down.
We who proclaim our love of God, who confess our Christian faith in the Apostles Creed every Sunday live in fear when we shouldn’t, for every Sunday as we come together to worship our God we hear “Rise and have no fear.” through the words of the Absolution, the Holy Word of God, and his Holy Supper.
What is the problem then? Why is it that we still live in fear? Just like the disciples that day and Jesus followers through the centuries have lived in fear we live in fear because we just can’t get rid of thinking that we must have at least some small part to play in our salvation. And as long as we think that way we will live in fear because we are not fully trusting in God.
Saint Matthew in recording the Transfiguration points us beyond the weakness of our human flesh to the power Jesus the Christ unleashed in his life, ministry, death and resurrection. God gets it right, even if Christians don’t, for the Transfiguration points us toward the resurrection. God raised Jesus from the dead. He did what he said he would do, even if we can’t let that message sink in far enough to overcome every weakness.
The most wonderful news is that even while we are fearful we are also holy; set apart to continue the work of Jesus on this earth. We are holy not because we are good enough, for even those who believe that their lives are God pleasing know deep down that they are not living entirely God pleasing lives.
We are holy because of Jesus’ birth, life, and death on our behalf. It is in our sinfulness, our weaknesses, our lives of fear that God’s power shines. God’s grace, his free gift of salvation, for not just our souls but our bodies also, heals our betrayals and lapses. The glory of God that transfigured Jesus can transform us. Let us open ourselves to the transforming power of God. Let us cling to the power of God shown on the mountain, so that, as our faith in God increases we will be less and fearful, so we become all that God wants us to be. Amen.
3/6/11
Text: Matthew 17:1-9
Title: Listening to God
In our Gospel reading for today Saint Matthew describes a wondrous event on a mountain top. We don’t know why Jesus chose to only take Peter, James, and John, but we do know that what they had experienced no one had ever experienced before. They saw Moses, and Elijah talking with Jesus and heard the voice of God say, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.”
You would have thought that when they heard God speak that they would have been lifted up instead of driven to the ground. You would think that, but, as Saint Matthew tells us they were afraid, so afraid, that they fell to the ground.
You would think that an experience like this might serve as just the thing to transform a person from the inside out. Matthew describes this scene in such a way that we would think all doubts would vanish, all fears would fade away, all resistance to God’s summons would evaporate. You would think that all of the doubts and questions the three disciples might have had found answers in that scene on the mountain.
That is what you would think; after all Jesus is the message of Old Testament Scriptures. Moses and Elijah were with him. Jesus was a manifestation of God’s presence. His face shone and his clothes turned white. God’s voice sounded from the cloud. “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!” Surely, from that day forward they would bear courageous, humble witness to Jesus’ ministry in the world.
You would think that they would have gotten it, except that they didn’t. Despite having seen and heard things that should have melted away their fears and insecurities, all three disciples flunked the salt-and-light test. You know, the one where Jesus said that those that believe in him are the salt and light of the earth.
Shortly after this incident, James and John let ambition get away from them. In Mark’s gospel, the two brothers themselves ask Jesus for permission to sit on his right and left when he comes in his glory. Jesus rebukes them. Having Jesus choose them as inner-circle disciples, seeing as much of God’s presence as anyone in scripture, hearing God’s voice, knowing that everything came together in Jesus; all of this was not enough for them. They still felt an urge for recognition, for status, for elevation above the other disciples that the Transfiguration had not satisfied.
What is the problem? Simply put they did not get it. That is why they fell down in fear when God spoke from the cloud. But then a most wonderful thing happened. Jesus walked over, as they lay there trembling in fear and touched them, as he said, “Rise and have no fear.” What wonderful words for them, yet, as we all know they continued to live lives of fear.
We know about Peter, of course, the great disciple of Jesus. We would expect great things from Peter, but that is not what Saint Matthew wrote down. He tells us that even after Peter was warned that he would deny Christ, you would not have done it, but he did in the courtyard three times he denied that he knew Jesus, the one he swore allegiance to just a couple of weeks earlier. It just doesn’t make sense. He saw Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. He saw Jesus transformed into a heavenly image. He heard God’s very voice. He should have had the courage to stand up before unbelievers even in the face of danger?
Now that I have pointed out the spiritual faults of the disciples for not living the lives that we think they should have lived we need to take a look at our own lives. Oh, we are not quaking in our sandals as they were that day, but deep down inside of us, in that place where we bury our fears we live in fear. We fear the things that happened in the past that might have consequences today or tomorrow. We fear today with all of its problems, we fear tomorrow since we don’t know what it will bring, we fear that we are not going to be liked, and most of all we fear that someone will find out we are afraid, that our faith is not as strong as we say.
God’s human creation did not start out that way, for God created them to live in a trusting relationship with him. There was no room for fear, for God provided all that was needed for each day. Trust ruled the day until Adam and Eve put their trust in the words of Satan instead of God. We all know what happened after that don’t we? The wonderful right side up world of God turned upside down.
We who proclaim our love of God, who confess our Christian faith in the Apostles Creed every Sunday live in fear when we shouldn’t, for every Sunday as we come together to worship our God we hear “Rise and have no fear.” through the words of the Absolution, the Holy Word of God, and his Holy Supper.
What is the problem then? Why is it that we still live in fear? Just like the disciples that day and Jesus followers through the centuries have lived in fear we live in fear because we just can’t get rid of thinking that we must have at least some small part to play in our salvation. And as long as we think that way we will live in fear because we are not fully trusting in God.
Saint Matthew in recording the Transfiguration points us beyond the weakness of our human flesh to the power Jesus the Christ unleashed in his life, ministry, death and resurrection. God gets it right, even if Christians don’t, for the Transfiguration points us toward the resurrection. God raised Jesus from the dead. He did what he said he would do, even if we can’t let that message sink in far enough to overcome every weakness.
The most wonderful news is that even while we are fearful we are also holy; set apart to continue the work of Jesus on this earth. We are holy not because we are good enough, for even those who believe that their lives are God pleasing know deep down that they are not living entirely God pleasing lives.
We are holy because of Jesus’ birth, life, and death on our behalf. It is in our sinfulness, our weaknesses, our lives of fear that God’s power shines. God’s grace, his free gift of salvation, for not just our souls but our bodies also, heals our betrayals and lapses. The glory of God that transfigured Jesus can transform us. Let us open ourselves to the transforming power of God. Let us cling to the power of God shown on the mountain, so that, as our faith in God increases we will be less and fearful, so we become all that God wants us to be. Amen.
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 1:16 PM
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