The Transfiguration of Our Lord
The last Sunday in Epiphany
Matthew 17:1-9
’Transformers"
"And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain apart. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is well that we are here; if you wish, I will make three booths here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah." He was still speaking, when lo, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces, and were filled with awe. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Rise, and have no fear." And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, "Tell no one the vision, until the Son of man is raised from the dead."" Matthew 17:1-9, RSV.
Grace and Peace to you from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the transforming Christ. Amen
Our gospel lesson this morning is the familiar story of Jesus going up upon the mountain and taking the disciples, Peter, James, and John with him. Then that marvelous thing happens, Jesus is transformed, changed.
And we call this Transfiguration Sunday. That is a strange word. We in this business of religion do have some strange words.
I should like to list some of them for you.
Pulpit
lectern
nave
narthex
Baptismal font
altar
These words which we use to describe things in our church give to them a special name which separates them from the mundane things around them. It makes this place and these things special.1
So too does that word Transfiguration. It is a name which makes this Sunday in the church year special, a day set aside because on this day something special happened to Jesus.
The season of Epiphany is called the season of light. The light of Christ coming into this world. This season began with the Baptism of Jesus and now ends with the Transfiguration. Both of these Sundays remind us and reminded Jesus who exactly he was.
And this Sunday reinforces for these disciple who Jesus is.
God used this transforming event to show Jesus he was indeed the son of God and it showed the disciples that Jesus came from their past with Moses and Elijah being there. And God’s voice at the end of the transformation telling the disciples to listen to Jesus was the final event that showed who Jesus actually is.
When my son, Anthony, was younger, his favorite toys were Transformers. There was more to these innocent-looking little toys than met the eye. Often packaged as trucks or cars, a few deft movements would transform them into grotesque monsters or powerful super heroes. Whenever my son would receive a new Transformer, he would sit mesmerized by it, moving each movable part until a new figure emerged. A Transformer was really a toy within a toy.
And this Sunday really shows us who Jesus is.
Jesus was a man born on this earth, but today we see His full glory, His transformed glory as he sits and talks with Moses and Elijah.
And this day showed the disciples exactly who Jesus was. God used their past history as a lesson. He showed the disciples that Jesus was linked to their past, but also through His commanding voice says: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him."
This statement showed the disciple exactly who Jesus was. This was God’s son and God was pleased with what Jesus was doing.
And God made it clear to the disciples that what Jesus was saying to them was important, they were to listen to Jesus, period.
In this appearance to the disciples of Moses, Elijah and the voice of God was telling these disciple who Jesus is. He was answering the question which must of been on the minds of the disciples since their call to follow Him.
Who is this guy?
In the following story the star witness did not show up.
A man was arraigned for murder in Los Angeles about 60 years ago. It was a difficult case with a lot of circumstantial evidence.
The man’s defense lawyer, however, thought of an ingenious ploy. In his summing up speech, he said:
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, you must find my client not guilty of murder - if there is the slightest doubt in your minds that he is not the murderer.
And now I have one final witness. "The true murderer is about to walk through the door."
All eyes swung towards the door but no one came in.
The lawyer continued: "You see, Ladies and Gentlemen, there is doubt in your minds, otherwise you would not have looked towards the door."
The jury retired to deliberate and came back five hours later with a "Guilty" verdict.
The lawyer was beside himself and before the judge could pass sentence he sprang up and said "But I proved that you had a doubt about my client’s guilt. How can you possibly find him guilty?"
An old wizened man in the jury stood up and said: "As everyone looked towards the door, I watched your client. His eyes did not turn towards the door.
He did not look towards the door because he knew no one was coming through. Because he himself was the guilty one."2
But God had the star witness walk through the door of the disciples lives and God left no doubt whatsoever who this fellow Jesus is. The son of God, period.
Peter understood that this was a great moment. He was brave enough to walk over where Jesus was talking to Moses and Elijah and asked Jesus if he could build 3 booths, or monuments to mark this great occasion.
Peter wanted to stay on the mountain top and live in the glory of this moment. Peter wanted to stay on this mountain experience. He wanted to live in the "rocky mountain high" as John Denver might sing.
Peter might of been like the lady in the following:
" A few years ago a housewife in New Mexico was frying tortillas on her stove. One of them burned, and it just so happened that the burn formed the shape of a face. She decided that the image was the face of Jesus.
She took it to her priest and asked him, "Do you think it looks like Jesus?" He thought that it looked like Jesus, too. And he blessed it. He had never blessed a tortilla before, but he blessed that tortilla.
She took it home and put it in a little box, surrounded with white cotton so that it would look like it was floating on a cloud. Then she and her husband built an altar and began to pray before it. The news spread, and soon thousands of people were coming to see and pray before this burned tortilla.? 3
Peter wanted to stay and worship. He wanted to stay in that personal moment and glory in it. He wanted to worship the moment like the people wanted to worship the tortilla in the shape of Jesus.
But God had other plans. God told them to listen to His son and then everything was back to normal, or as normal as it could be after seeing Moses and Elijah and hearing the voice of God.
Jesus then told the disciples they should go down off the mountain. They should return to the world below and do what?
They should take what they saw and heard and use to to transform the lives of people in the real world. Because the word Transfiguration literally means to transform, to change.
This is a changing Sunday. Jesus was changed and now we are to be changed, made anew by the love and forgiveness of Jesus’ grace and mercy.
The message of the gospel and the message of this day that through Christ we are all changed, made new, made glorified by the cross of Christ and the power of the Easter Resurrection.
It is like the butterfly in the following:
Two butterflies - colorful and majestic monarchs - sat side by side on a tree limb. Beside them was the ruptured cocoon from which they’d just emerged. "Come fly with me," said the one.
"Caterpillars can’t fly,"said the other.
"But we’re not caterpillars anymore," said the first, flexing his new wings, stretching then their full span till they looked like magnificently crafted stained glass windows. "Those caterpillar days are gone forever."
"Don’t be silly," said the other. "We were born caterpillars and we’ll always be caterpillars. That’s the way it is."
"Well, then, why did the Maker see fit to give us there wings?" said the one.
The other butterfly thought for a moment and then replied,"I don’t know. Some sort of cruel joke, I suppose. He did the same thing to the ostrich, you know."
"Nonsense!" said the first. "Look at all the other butterflies. They’re flying. What do you say to that?"
The second butterfly looked out over the meadow and said, "They’re not flying. they’re just being blown about by the wind. Stupid of them,too. Can’t they see it’s dangerous? Easy prey for hungry birds and, when they land, mischievous children as well. I’ll stick to crawling and climbing, thank you very much. It may be slow, but it’s safe and sure."
"it may be slow and safe and sure but it’s.....well, it’s unnatural. Butterflies fly!!! That’s the way the maker made us. That’s our role, our function, our fit: to dance on the wings of the air; to play tag with dandelions seeds; to soar; to dart; to float; to light on a single blade of grass to the delight of all who see;to inspire awe and wonder; to fascinate; to add a note of grace to this world’s dreary song." 4
To add a note of grace to this world’s dreary song is what the message of Christ is all about. It is that message that was instilled in those 3 disciples that day. It was that message that carried them on their journey with Christ. It was that message that saw them through the horror of the crucifixion. It was that message that led them to the glorious resurrection on that first Easter morning.
The message of the Transfiguration is we are all to be changed, transformed by the glory of Christ in our lives.
A closing story tells it well:
I know a young girl, who, one summer was invited to go to a Christian camp.
When she returned to our church she was a completely different person.
Here face shown with the glory of Christ...you couldn’t help but see it!
She was so excited about Jesus that she started reading the Bible every chance she got.
She had tasted the goodness of the Lord, and she hungered for more and more.
Over time, she came to know the Bible better than many people who have Master Degrees on the subject.
What she had been told about Jesus all her life had been confirmed at that summer camp, and she brought many new people with her to church....her enthusiasm for the Lord was contagious!
Her entire countenance had changed, and through what she had experienced, others too had their faith confirmed.
I have lost contact with her, but last I heard she had become a missionary...and I’m sure God is continuing to use her in mighty ways. 5
To add a note of grace to this world’s dreary song is the message we take with us from this transforming Sunday.
Amen
1this idea came form a sermon by James Jerpseth which was found on SermonCentral
2 from a sermon by Martin Dale which was found on SermonCentral
3 from a sermon by Melvin Newland which was found on SermonCentral
4 by Mark Radecke in "In Chrst: A New Creation"
5 from Reverend Kenneth Emerson Sauer, Pastor of Parkview United Methodist Church,Newport News, VA was found on SermonCentral
