We live in the greatest country in the world. There are lots of things we do better than other countries. And there are some things about our country that are kind of unique. Americans seem to love conspiracy theories.
Think of rumors about a CIA conspiracy to kill President Kennedy; Concerns about fluoride in our drinking water. The popularity of the television shows such as The X-Files, The Da Vinci Code and the television show “24.” All revolve around the belief that powerful people or organizations are secretly manipulating historical events.
Most of this “conspiracy” stuff is simply crazy-talk… but still we find ourselves drawn to it. There is something inside us that tries to make sense of tragic or shocking events. How often do we try to pin blame on a mysterious group of people conspiring to do us harm.
MOVE
We Americans think of ourselves as common men and women — you know, “We the people of the Unites States” — and perhaps as such, we tend to become distrustful and even disdainful of powerful elites.
When something goes wrong, we look for a conspiracy theory to reveal the secrets of the powerful to everyday folks. Shankar Vedantam of The Washington Post (June 5, 2006), makes the point that nothing ever happens by accident in the world of conspiracy theories. Instead, “the hidden hand of the puppeteer is everywhere.”
MOVE
Its one thing to see a hidden hand in the assassination of JFK. It’s another thing to see a hidden hand in the story of the transfiguration. In today’s passage we’re told of something really strange happening. If you’re Peter, James and John, you can’t make up this stuff. This is even more bizarre than catching a boatload of fish on the left side than the right side of the boat. God has arranged a shocking event — one that terrifies but also glorifies.
It’s a divine conspiracy, you could say. Collusion. Collaboration.
The story begins as Jesus takes Peter, James and John up a mountain to pray. Suddenly, God changes the appearance of Jesus’ face, and makes his clothes dazzling white. Moses and Elijah appear in glory, and they speak of Jesus’ departure (Luke) which he is about to accomplish in Jerusalem. Then a cloud comes and envelops them all, and the disciples are terrified. The voice of God thunders, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” And as quickly as the stunning scene starts, it ends. Jesus is alone, and we see the disciples left in bewildered silence.
MOVE
Now, you may be wondering how I can call this a conspiracy. I call it a conspiracy because it involves a true powerful force. The Lord God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. God intervenes in human affairs and manipulates a historical event. He turns mountaintop prayer retreat into an awe-inspiring announcement confirming Jesus as God’s Chosen One, his Messiah, His Beloved Son. Look at the story again, and we can see the hidden hand of God everywhere.
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However, I bet you have a problem with my word choice. The word “conspiracy” carries a ton of heavy, negative baggage these days. Yet, the word is really the right word in this case. The word “conspire” literally means “breathing together.”
If you do research on the word Conspire… here is what you will discover. Conspire Etymology:Middle English, from Anglo-French conspirer, from Latin conspirare to be in harmony, conspire, from com- + spirare to breathe Date: 14th century
When powerful people plan together secretly, they are “breathing together.” The same kind of thing happens in a huddle. The players come together and discuss a plan to advance toward the goal line. They are breathing the same air.
When we say yes to Jesus, in the same way, God works with us, to breathe with us…to advance His will. We get to “breathe together” with God. God’s ruah — the Hebrew word meaning breath, spirit or wind — It fills us with life, inspiration and power, and it gives us the ability to press on with God’s plan into the world. God does not do God’s work alone.
MOVE
Let’s go back to the mountaintop. Let’s look in as Jesus is on the mountaintop, breathing together with God…. Moses and Elijah, breathing together with God.
Peter, John and James — confused by what they are seeing, but beginning to breathe together with God… but at the time it’s may be more like a gasping than smooth, easy breathing. Can you imagine the experience?????
Now let’s think about this event in this way …Whenever people breathe together with God, they become part of a divine “conspiracy.” Remember.. powerful people…who is more powerful than God the Father, Jesus, God the son, Moses and Elijah?
MOVE
So what does this mean for us today? It means we are invited into the Lord’s conspiracy, challenged to be part of a network of Christian cells or huddles if you will, operating all over the world. Within these huddles, we breathe with one another, and must importantly, we breathe with God. We allow God’s breath — God’s ruah — to fill us with life, to inspire us, and to give us the power to push forward His divine agenda.
MOVE
To understand of the specifics of God’s plan, we have to go back to that original meeting on the mountaintop. There, the conspiracy is hatched, and the plan begins to unfold. What do see, what can we learn from this scripture?
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We can learn about Prayer. At the beginning, Jesus is praying. This is the absolutely best way to begin the process of breathing with God. We must follow Jesus’ example. Prayer settles us down and opens us up — it allows us to shed our ambitions and to immerse ourselves in the desires of the Lord. Prayer doesn’t change God’s mind, it changes our hearts. Prayer is not about asking for things and then getting what we want — instead, it is about asking for God’s presence and then getting what we need. Even if God does not bring you the answer you want, God “will bring you himself. And maybe at the secret heart of all our prayers isn’t that what we are really praying for?”
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Everything looks different!. Suddenly, Christ’s appearance changes. His face is transformed, and his clothes become dazzling white. This is a sign of his intimacy with God, the face of Jesus becomes radiant — Matthew says it “shone like the sun” (Matthew 17:2). Jesus shines like Moses coming down off Mount Sinai, with a face so bright that the people are afraid to come near him (Exodus 34:29-30).
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When we start breathing with God, our appearance changes. It was true for Moses. It was true for Jesus. And it’s true for us. When we are in a divine conspiracy, we look, sound, and act like a different person. We offer our enemies a smile. We speak the truth to our neighbors. We live in love, as Christ loved us. We act in ways that are kind and tenderhearted, forgiving others as Christ has forgiven us. (Ephesians 4:25-32). We begin to live a transfigured life, a life that is transformed by true intimacy with God.
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This scripture teaches us about Discipline and self-denial. Moses and Elijah appear. They talk about God’s plan for Jesus — they focus on Christ’s departure, “which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem” (Luke 9: 30-31). This is a hard topic. It involves Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection. But it is an essential topic.
These are the most important events of God’s divine conspiracy. Jesus is resolute; he set his face toward the cross. Through his death on the cross, Jesus brings us forgiveness of our sins, and through his resurrection on Easter morning gives us the gift of new life.
Moses, Elijah and Jesus “conspiring” together — breathing together — in this world-changing plan. Peter, frightened and confused, wants to build three dwellings to capture the glory of the moment. None-the-less, Jesus knows the divine conspiracy cannot be arrested on the mountaintop. It must move relentlessly toward the cross.
Jesus actions and determination make known that to follow him, to “breathe” with him, requires self-denial; the death of selfish desire and the birth of Godly desire.
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There is also an invitation to "Followship" in this story. In reading and believing the scripture we too, in a very real sense, are witnesses with Peter, James and John and we can’t be the same. We are compelled to pick up our cross and follow Jesus.
Think about this. As Peter is speaking, God’s voice thunders out of the cloud, affirming the identity of Jesus. “This is my Son,” says the Lord God Almighty, “my Chosen; listen to him!” God again confirms Jesus is his unique son, his chosen servant, the one through whom God is working out his conspiracy of salvation. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life — the Savior who comes to reconcile the world to God… and we are all within the cloud….
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Many in our culture downplay the uniqueness of Jesus. There are many would have us believe Jesus is just one of many wise and compassionate spiritual leaders who have had a positive impact on the world.
We cannot allow ourselves to fall into the trap of “truthiness” — a term coined by comedian Stephen Colbert. Truthiness refers to something known intuitively, instinctively or “from the gut,” without regard to evidence, logic or intellectual examination. Truthiness is found in a sweet and sentimental understanding of Jesus, one that perceives him as kind, gentle, meek and mild. This grasp is intuitive and instinctive, and it has some merit to it — but it ignores a piece of crucial evidence.
Study the transfiguration. Examine it. Breathe it in, deeply.
This event reveals Jesus at the exalted Lord, the Chosen One of God, a messianic King with power to change the course of history. Jesus IS King of kings- Lord of lords — that’s the truth about Jesus, not the truthiness.
MOVE
And then… the voice of God stops speaking… the disciples look and discover Jesus is suddenly left alone with them. Mark tells us “they kept the matter to themselves”. That really isn’t a surprise. What would be our reaction if we had actually been there, on the mountain with the disciples, with Jesus, with Moses and Elijah?
The disciples had been stunned by this experience. They received an unfiltered blast of the power of their divine Master, and it took them some time to recover; to recover from the shock of being drawn into a divine conspiracy. It took a resurrection.
For us, however, the story is different. Because of the divine gift of God’s Word, because we have said yes to Jesus….we know what it means to breathe with God. We’ve seen the evidence and we’ve had time to get used to the fact… Jesus is Lord. We’ve begun to understand the significance of his suffering, death and resurrection. We know that God’s conspiracy has begun and we know it continues to impact human lives and change the course of history.
Take a deep breath now, for only one question remains for you to answer: “Are you breathing with God?”
CONSIDER THIS EXERCISE.....
• Pastor Donald L Burggraf writes that “years ago, a teacher on stress management guided a group into using the ‘Jesus Prayer’ as a relaxation technique. As we breathed in we thought the words, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God …’ and as we exhaled we thought, ‘… have mercy on me a sinner.’ I found that breathing in this way for 15 minutes a day had the remarkable effect of slowing things down, letting go of worries and putting them into the hands of God. Teaching this to the congregation for a minute or two as the assembly ‘breathes together’ can lead to a transformation for peace.”
