February 7, 2016
Transfiguration
2 Corinthians 3:12 - 4:2
Luke 9: 28-36
(prayer)
Almost forty years ago,
during (I think) the second or third season of Saturday Night Live, Steve Martin and Bill Murray
did a short skit where they looked into the camera (as if they had spotted
something out of the TV audience's point of view) and asked themselves over and
over:
"What the [heck] is that?"
//
There is confusion and
curiosity.
It is human nature to want
to understand as much about our surroundings as possible. The sum total of human knowledge continues to
grow because we are always wondering...
What
is that?
Why
is this?
What
is next?
What
will happen if...?
//
//
People who had experienced
Jesus in their live were starting to wonder "who" he truly was. Some had met him, heard him speak, witnessed
hearings. They were sharing their
experiences with friends and neighbours and various rumours were going around
wondering who this Jesus is.
Some thought he might be
the reincarnation of (the recently killed) John the Baptist. Others openly wondered if he was the prophet
Elijah (or one of the other ancient prophets) returned to earth.
This is what his disciples
told Jesus when he asked "Who do people say that I am?" They relayed the common rumours.
But when Jesus asked, but
"Who do you say that I
am?", it was Peter who blurted out "You are God's Messiah!" Jesus made it clear to them that he didn't
want them to be spreading that rumour.
Jesus did not call himself Messiah.
Instead, he often spoke about himself in the third person, using the
moniker Son of Man.
According to the New
Testament, Jesus followed up Peter' declaration that Jesus was the Messiah, but
saying that "the Son of Man must
undergo great suffering, be rejected, be killed and (on the third day) be
raised."
Jesus told his disciples
that anyone wanting to follow him will have to be prepared to go down that same
path.
Some of the gospel writers
tell us that - at least - Peter was having trouble reconciling his view of
Jesus as the victorious Messiah with what Jesus described as this suffering Son
of Man.
Jesus is said to have told
Peter the he was focusing too much on human things and needed to set his mind
on divine things. I suspect that must
have been asking himself What does that
mean?
//
That is what leads up to
our reading from Luke today (a story we can also find in the gospels of Matthew
and Mark as well).
About a week after the
discussions about Messiah, the Son of Man and the Cost of Discipleship, Jesus, Peter, James and John retreat to a
mountaintop to pray.
//
These disciples witness a
dramatic physical change in Jesus' appearance: his face changes and his clothes
transform to a dazzling white. It is an
amazing experience.
Then Peter, James and John
realize that others have joined Jesus.
Without introduction, the disciples seem to instinctably know that those
talking with Jesus are Moses and Elijah - the giver of the Law and the first of
the great prophets.
Although Peter, James and
John were tired, they didn't want this glorious sight to end. Peter was already to set up tents for the
heavenly guests, when the mountaintop was shrouded in clouds. Out of the mist, the disciples heard an
authoritative voice proclaiming: "This
is my son, my chosen. Listen to him."
Then (as suddenly as it had
begun) the vision was gone. Jesus
appeared normal again, Elijah and Moses were gone and the voice was silent.
All of the gospel accounts
make a point to say that the disciples didn't talk with the others about their
experiences on the mountain. They kept
their thoughts and feelings (about seeing Jesus transfigured before their eyes)
to themselves.
They had to be asking
themselves: What the [heck] was that?
//
In the end, at most, it was
just a brief glimpse of the Glory of
God.
//
Faith is like that.
We are seldom blessed with
more than brief glimpses. We build our
faith on those glimpses.
If they lasted longer, the
impact would no longer be called faith... the meaning would be obvious.
Glimpses invite us to
wonder and ponder; to struggle as we reflect on what we have seen and heard and
felt in our fleeting experiences with the Holy.
//
//
We are nearing the end of
the season after Epiphany. Next Sunday,
we will be within the season of Lent.
The pre-Easter season of
Lent is a time set aside within the calendar of the church year for us to do
some helpful reflecting on the nature of our faith.
Over these next two months,
each of us is invited to be mindful of the times we have felt our God close:
when we have experienced (in the words our United Church Creed - which we will
say together later in the service), that "We Are Not Alone".
//
The story of Jesus'
transfiguration is an appropriate place for us to start that inner
conversation.
We can ask ourselves: how does being a follower of Jesus change
me? What impact do the glimpses of faith
(I have known) have on how I relate to the world? What difference is all of this making?
Lent is certainly a time of
inner reflection. But it is not
necessarily a time to keep silent.
Unlike the three disciples
coming down the mountain, the identity of who we are as a Community of Faith is worthy of our reflection as well.
We can do some of that
after church today. Yes, a
congregation's annual general meeting has some regular agenda items. We will talk about who we will entrust with
the governance of the Church Council for the coming year. We will guide them in their work by approving
a budget. I have been to way too many AGMs (in this church and
others) that finances and nominations dominate the discussion.
I am hopeful that, today,
we will embrace the opportunities to be in conversation with each other on how
the Spirit of God is allowed to move in our midst.
Part of the value of church is in its ability to be a forum
for the sharing of hopes and dreams for the work of God, the ministry of Jesus,
that we can do in our part of Leduc County.
//
I will leave it there.
//
The next parts of this
message has to picked up by the meditations of our hearts and minds. Let us strive to be the church... together.
//
Let us pray:
Wonderful God, we long to glimpse your
glory and to know your grace. May we
shine the light of your compassion to the world. AMEN.
*** offering ***
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