Matthew 17: 1-9 the Transfiguration Sermon by: Dwight R. MacPherson Upper Valley Anglican Fellowship - February 2, 2008 Let us pray: O Lord, we pray, speak in this place this afternoon, in the calming of our minds and in the longing of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts that we form. Speak, O Lord, for your servants listen. In today's Bible reading we hear about a transfiguration of Jesus, a new way to see Jesus. Luke 9:18 tells us that Jesus has just asked the disciples how people identify him and how they are seeing him. They report that people see Jesus in many different ways. People on the street are reported as seeing Jesus as John the Baptist and Elijah and more. Matthew 16:16 tells us that Peter leads the disciples in seeing Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One of GOD. And again in Matthew 16: verses 17-19 And Jesus answered him…. This positive view of Jesus is adjusted as Jesus goes on to talk about his death. Peter chastises Jesus for such negative talk, but Mark 8:33 …. Jesus says those famous words, "Get behind me Satan…." As Jesus goes up a mountain he takes three disciples Peter, James and John along with him. They were given a foretaste of upcoming attractions. There they see Jesus in a new light. Jesus is now more than simply Jesus of the moment. He is more than a good teacher and healer. Jesus is connected with all the past. Today, if we allow our imaginations to sweep us up the mountain for few moments, we may experience just an inkling of visionary magic. But beware. If you try to understand this story with your mind, you will most certainly be disappointed. It is only if you try to see it with your soul, that you may find your heart strangely warmed. In this pivotal story in the gospels we are midway through the story - halfway between the birth and the death - teetering between the baptism and the resurrection. We all, as midlife, midpoint travelers are still trying to find Jesus. Up until now this Jesus story hasn't been all that hard to swallow. We recently celebrated Christmas the birth of the baby Jesus, Epiphany, John acclamation of the coming of the Messiah, the baptism of Jesus, Jesus as teacher and preacher, as a moral example, even as a healer, Jesus has inspired us, but he hasn't yet mystified us. Until today - when we hit a brick wall of the supernatural. Luke 9:29 tells us that all of a sudden the earthy Jesus with his dusty feet and tired eyes becomes the almost eerie, ghostly Jesus - robe glowing and face shining - a glistening window into pure, unadulterated divinity. Understand my brothers and sisters, this isn't just a "thin place" where hints of the holy trickle into the ordinary. This is a ripping and annihilation of the barrier between God and us - and God comes flooding into our midst. All people who see visions and dream dreams and are swept into the clear presence of God. We too are experiencing a splendid preview of Jesus radiant in divine glory, his mortal nature brilliantly, though only momentarily transfigured; a incredible preview of his divinity and perfectly pure, shining in glory like the very sun or that bright star that led us to Bethlehem. In other words a sneak preview, of Easter, the triumphant climax of the grand love story between God and humanity. Now back to the mountain; Peter, for one, thinks that is a raw kind of deal. This is the big picture he's been waiting to see. He's viewed enough of the healings and documentaries featuring Jesus the teacher. And Peter's recent confrontation with Jesus over the master's depressing talk about rejection and suffering and dying is still fresh on his mind. His soul still stings from his master's words "Get behind me, Satan, for you are not on the side of God but of mortals." Peter wants no more of that kind of talk, no more of that kind of picture. He wants some action, big, bold, and spectacular. This vision on the mountain, with Jesus, Moses and Elijah in celestial conversation, is more like it…this is it! This is what he had hoped for ever since he dropped his fisherman's nets and hitched his wagon to the master's rising star.  So now Peter thinks, "Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory" will soon become "Mine is the kingdom and the power and the glory" if only these giants of the faith Jesus, Moses and Elijah will let him hang out with them. So naturally he offers to build three booths, three dwellings (also referred to as a tabernacle)-- it's a way to prolong the mountain top moment or experience if you will, to forget the main feature that is about to be played out and jump ahead to the coming attraction he and the others are here previewing.  While I was studying today’s lessons something occurred to me, perhaps this story suggests an appropriate name for a church or mission. But then I thought, I have not heard of to many churches or mission being named “Transfiguration Church." Definitely not by the name “Three Booths Church?” How often do our churches or fellowships seek to seize or freeze the moment by setting up booths? Those typical moments of glory and inspiration in the life of a congregation or fellowship, through sharing of a testimony, a study or educational program (like Alpha), a special service of liturgy and music, (or perhaps today’s hymns, music, readings and fellowship) a inspirational story or witness: These can indeed be “GLORY” moments! We must always be careful and be respectful of others glory experiences, actions or witness moments that may have carried them in their faith and pilgrimage of the past…if we are not careful we can collect some bruises as a result of running headlong into booths that may have been erected along the way. Let us not be guilty of building road blocks that takes our eyes and focus off the “true light” in Jesus! We must be open to new ideas, new beginnings, and new ministries that Jesus is calling each of us. Let us not build booths which can become like coffins, obstacles or major stumbling blocks. I know that our instincts, like those of Peter, make us go for the glory and the familiar, and revel in it and hope those glorious moments and spiritual highs will go on forever and then be disappointed when these glory moments and times pass-- as inevitably it must -- to make way for God's new things, new beginnings and blessings. A NEW DAY IS DAWNING and it is DAWNING for you and me and for this new Anglican mission! We pray that we will know a moment of glory when we see it, and when we see one, we must use it to bear witness to the love and grace of our Lord and Savior NOT just to seize it and freeze it. Yesterday is frozen in time, today is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it! Let us not be tempted to become a religious museum, private fellowships, with energies diverted and devoted to the institutionalization of the past, especially moments of glory past. But to declare God’s love and saving grace! God has so designed the universe that time marches on and we pray that we grow is His Grace, which is sufficient. Moments of glory will fade. Exciting previews of coming attractions do end and the real story we came to see does unfolds. Are you ready? Are you ready for the rest of the story? God has done this, not only out of divine necessity, but out of divine mercy and compassion. Constant overjoyed stimulation, like constant conflict, can and does lead to emotional burnout. As with Jesus, Peter, James and John on the mountaintop, what goes up must come down. All of which brings us back to those six men on the mountain, and the voice from the cloud. This particular preview of God's coming attraction is in fact related to the main feature that is about to unfold. God's voice from the cloud confirms it. For when that voice declares, "This is my son; listen to him," Jesus' disciples, then and now, do well to obey. Listen to him. What is he saying? Are we listening? I pray we are! I pray that I am! Jesus just got finished talking about how he must be rejected and suffer and die. That's what we need to listen to. The glory will come. The Transfiguration is but a preview. But first we must come to the main attraction. This has only been a prelude towards the ultimate story “The Greatest Story Ever Told”.   The main attraction: a fitting description, for when Jesus spoke of his crucifixion, he said, "When I am lifted up, I will draw all people to myself." He is speaking to you and me! “How Great Thou Art!” That's the main attraction: the cross of Christ, though it is hard to understand, though it is hard for our Lord to bear. How obedient to the divine command, "Listen to him," we focus on that cross of Calvary this coming season of Lent, and we must attend carefully to the story that unfolds. The empty tomb of Easter is for now a coming attraction, and the Transfiguration is the preview. Jesus has literally to go through Hell before that picture opens, and with it, the graves of all God's beloved daughters and sons. My dear brothers, sister and friends, in the long run, it is not the dazzling moments of transfiguration that connect us to God. It is the slow plodding - through the daily trenches of faithfulness and prayer that truly connect us to God. Our gospel story today ends with a very human Jesus - the glow completely gone. Once more he stands alone, his feet still dusty, his eyes still tired. Gently he touches the disciples as he touches each one of us today, now, at this moment and as He encouraged them and encourages us to rise up! The Greek word here is "resurrection." Yes, Jesus gently resurrects the disciples and all of us this side of the grave, so that they and we can travel with him down into the valley - down into the reality of the way things really are. Jesus resurrects us this side of the grave, so that together with God's low, steady wattage simmering quietly within us, we can turn our faces toward Jerusalem and take in God’s gift to each one of us so that individually and together we can do the mission that needs to be done. “Then Sings My Soul…”  

Matthew 17: 1-9 the TransfigurationSermon by: Dwight R. MacPherson

Upper Valley Anglican Fellowship - February 2, 2008

Let us pray: O Lord, we pray, speak in this place this afternoon, in the calming of our minds and in the longing of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts that we form. Speak, O Lord, for your servants listen.

In today's Bible reading we hear about a transfiguration of Jesus, a new way to see Jesus. Luke 9:18 tells us that Jesus has just asked the disciples how people identify him and how they are seeing him. They report that people see Jesus in many different ways. People on the street are reported as seeing Jesus as John the Baptist and Elijah and more. Matthew 16:16 tells us that Peter leads the disciples in seeing Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One of GOD. And again in Matthew 16: verses 17-19 And Jesus answered him….

This positive view of Jesus is adjusted as Jesus goes on to talk about his death. Peter chastises Jesus for such negative talk, but Mark 8:33 …. Jesus says those famous words, "Get behind me Satan…."

As Jesus goes up a mountain he takes three disciples Peter, James and John along with him. They were given a foretaste of upcoming attractions. There they see Jesus in a new light. Jesus is now more than simply Jesus of the moment. He is more than a good teacher and healer. Jesus is connected with all the past.

Today, if we allow our imaginations to sweep us up the mountain for few moments, we may experience just an inkling of visionary magic. But beware. If you try to understand this story with your mind, you will most certainly be disappointed. It is only if you try to see it with your soul, that you may find your heart strangely warmed. In this pivotal story in the gospels we are midway through the story - halfway between the birth and the death - teetering between the baptism and the resurrection. We all, as midlife, midpoint travelers are still trying to find Jesus. Up until now this Jesus story hasn't been all that hard to swallow. We recently celebrated Christmas the birth of the baby Jesus, Epiphany, John acclamation of the coming of the Messiah, the baptism of Jesus, Jesus as teacher and preacher, as a moral example, even as a healer, Jesus has inspired us, but he hasn't yet mystified us. Until today - when we hit a brick wall of the supernatural. Luke 9:29 tells us that all of a sudden the earthy Jesus with his dusty feet and tired eyes becomes the almost eerie, ghostly Jesus - robe glowing and face shining - a glistening window into pure, unadulterated divinity. Understand my brothers and sisters, this isn't just a "thin place" where hints of the holy trickle into the ordinary. This is a ripping and annihilation of the barrier between God and us - and God comes flooding into our midst. All people who see visions and dream dreams and are swept into the clear presence of God. We too are experiencing a splendid preview of Jesus radiant in divine glory, his mortal nature brilliantly, though only momentarily transfigured; a incredible preview of his divinity and perfectly pure, shining in glory like the very sun or that bright star that led us to Bethlehem. In other words a sneak preview, of Easter, the triumphant climax of the grand love story between God and humanity.

Now back to the mountain; Peter, for one, thinks that is a raw kind of deal. This is the big picture he's been waiting to see. He's viewed enough of the healings and documentaries featuring Jesus the teacher. And Peter's recent confrontation with Jesus over the master's depressing talk about rejection and suffering and dying is still fresh on his mind. His soul still stings from his master's words "Get behind me, Satan, for you are not on the side of God but of mortals." Peter wants no more of that kind of talk, no more of that kind of picture. He wants some action, big, bold, and spectacular. This vision on the mountain, with Jesus, Moses and Elijah in celestial conversation, is more like it…this is it! This is what he had hoped for ever since he dropped his fisherman's nets and hitched his wagon to the master's rising star.

So now Peter thinks, "Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory" will soon become "Mine is the kingdom and the power and the glory" if only these giants of the faith Jesus, Moses and Elijah will let him hang out with them. So naturally he offers to build three booths, three dwellings (also referred to as a tabernacle)-- it's a way to prolong the mountain top moment or experience if you will, to forget the main feature that is about to be played out and jump ahead to the coming attraction he and the others are here previewing.

While I was studying today’s lessons something occurred to me, perhaps this story suggests an appropriate name for a church or mission. But then I thought, I have not heard of to many churches or mission being named “Transfiguration Church." Definitely not by the name “Three Booths Church?”

How often do our churches or fellowships seek to seize or freeze the moment by setting up booths? Those typical moments of glory and inspiration in the life of a congregation or fellowship, through sharing of a testimony, a study or educational program (like Alpha), a special service of liturgy and music, (or perhaps today’s hymns, music, readings and fellowship) a inspirational story or witness: These can indeed be “GLORY” moments! We must always be careful and be respectful of others glory experiences, actions or witness moments that may have carried them in their faith and pilgrimage of the past…if we are not careful we can collect some bruises as a result of running headlong into booths that may have been erected along the way. Let us not be guilty of building road blocks that takes our eyes and focus off the “true light” in Jesus! We must be open to new ideas, new beginnings, and new ministries that Jesus is calling each of us. Let us not build booths which can become like coffins, obstacles or major stumbling blocks. I know that our instincts, like those of Peter, make us go for the glory and the familiar, and revel in it and hope those glorious moments and spiritual highs will go on forever and then be disappointed when these glory moments and times pass-- as inevitably it must -- to make way for God's new things, new beginnings and blessings. A NEW DAY IS DAWNING and it is DAWNING for you and me and for this new Anglican mission! We pray that we will know a moment of glory when we see it, and when we see one, we must use it to bear witness to the love and grace of our Lord and Savior NOT just to seize it and freeze it. Yesterday is frozen in time, today is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it! Let us not be tempted to become a religious museum, private fellowships, with energies diverted and devoted to the institutionalization of the past, especially moments of glory past. But to declare God’s love and saving grace! God has so designed the universe that time marches on and we pray that we grow is His Grace, which is sufficient. Moments of glory will fade. Exciting previews of coming attractions do end and the real story we came to see does unfolds. Are you ready? Are you ready for the rest of the story?

God has done this, not only out of divine necessity, but out of divine mercy and compassion. Constant overjoyed stimulation, like constant conflict, can and does lead to emotional burnout. As with Jesus, Peter, James and John on the mountaintop, what goes up must come down. All of which brings us back to those six men on the mountain, and the voice from the cloud. This particular preview of God's coming attraction is in fact related to the main feature that is about to unfold. God's voice from the cloud confirms it. For when that voice declares, "This is my son; listen to him," Jesus' disciples, then and now, do well to obey. Listen to him. What is he saying? Are we listening? I pray we are! I pray that I am! Jesus just got finished talking about how he must be rejected and suffer and die. That's what we need to listen to. The glory will come. The Transfiguration is but a preview. But first we must come to the main attraction. This has only been a prelude towards the ultimate story “The Greatest Story Ever Told”.

The main attraction: a fitting description, for when Jesus spoke of his crucifixion, he said, "When I am lifted up, I will draw all people to myself." He is speaking to you and me! “How Great Thou Art!” That's the main attraction: the cross of Christ, though it is hard to understand, though it is hard for our Lord to bear. How obedient to the divine command, "Listen to him," we focus on that cross of Calvary this coming season of Lent, and we must attend carefully to the story that unfolds. The empty tomb of Easter is for now a coming attraction, and the Transfiguration is the preview. Jesus has literally to go through Hell before that picture opens, and with it, the graves of all God's beloved daughters and sons.

My dear brothers, sister and friends, in the long run, it is not the dazzling moments of transfiguration that connect us to God. It is the slow plodding - through the daily trenches of faithfulness and prayer that truly connect us to God. Our gospel story today ends with a very human Jesus - the glow completely gone. Once more he stands alone, his feet still dusty, his eyes still tired. Gently he touches the disciples as he touches each one of us today, now, at this moment and as He encouraged them and encourages us to rise up! The Greek word here is "resurrection." Yes, Jesus gently resurrects the disciples and all of us this side of the grave, so that they and we can travel with him down into the valley - down into the reality of the way things really are. Jesus resurrects us this side of the grave, so that together with God's low, steady wattage simmering quietly within us, we can turn our faces toward Jerusalem and take in God’s gift to each one of us so that individually and together we can do the mission that needs to be done. “Then Sings My Soul…”