Transfiguration Sunday
Last month we started the new
year by
celebrating the Epiphany−the
manifestation of God. We saw how the three kings represents all the
people of
earth through the sons of Noah and how they came to serve not only the
prophesized king of
Mark 1:10
10 As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.
11 And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."
With this the ministry of Christ began. But what an amazing sight it must have been and how those words of God must have rung in the ears of all that heard. “This is my Son” Would you not want to follow this Jesus. This is truly were he takes on his role as Christ. But we all know that immediately after this great revelation of who Jesus was he was sent in the desert to suffer the temptation. For 40 day he fasted and was tempted but remained perfect and free of sin(selfishness) I want you to remember this as we speak today on the last week of the Epiphany a day usually referred to as Transfiguration Sunday. One this day we remember Jesus on the mountain shining in all his glory with Moses and Elijah standing with him. And Peter James and John are left looking dumbfounded and in awe. This is the day we remember who Christ is in all His Glory. Not only that, it is a day we see ourselves in the future for we too are to be transformed, transfigured in the great resurrection.
2 Corinthians 3:18
18
And we, who with unveiled faces
all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness
with
ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Rev 3
3
Remember, therefore, what you
have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake
up, I will
come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to
you.
4
Yet you have a few people in
5
He who overcomes will, like them,
be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of
life, but
will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.
6
He who has an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit says to the churches.
We spoke of this as well in the last sermon as we talked about the Mirror of Erised; a magic mirror that is said to show us that which our deepest desire for ourselves. We asked ourselves what we would see? Has this stuck with you have you been asking yourself what you want to see?, what you should see, and what you think you might actually see? We studied through the story of the young rich man who asked Jesus how to get to heaven. And the response of Jesus was simple
If
you want to
be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give to the poor and
you will
have treasure in Heaven, then come follow me.
We read elsewhere in the bible it says
I
am the way
the truth and the life, only through me can you be save, only through
me can
you enter heaven.
Again
it
brings us all back to today transfiguration Sunday. To set the stage
just
before today’s passage was one we looked at last year as we approached
Easter.
It reminded us that no matter what happens to us that we are secure in
the resurrection,
we are secure in Faith And no matter what if we believe through faith
in Christ
that like him we to will rise again.
Mark
8:27-9:1
On
the way he
asked them, "Who do people say I am?"
28 They replied, "Some say John the
Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets."
29 "But what about you?" he asked.
"Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the
Christ."
30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about
him.
31 He then
began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be
rejected
by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must
be
killed and after three days rise again.
32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took
him aside and began to rebuke him.
33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his
disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God,
but the things of men."
34 Then he called the crowd to him along with
his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny
himself and take up his cross and follow me.
35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose
it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.
36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole
world, yet forfeit his soul?
37 Or what can a man give in exchange for his
soul?
38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in
this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed
of him
when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
9:1 And he said to them, "I tell you the
truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see
the
kingdom of God come with power."
But
as I start
this transfiguration Sunday I would like to share the words of a man of
great
faith that also climbed many mountains and walked through the valley of
the
shadow death.
Maybe you’ll recognize the voice.
Cue
Audio
As many of you are aware these are the last
public words spoken by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the night before
he was
martyred in
In today's Gospel lesson, Peter, James and
John literally travel to the mountaintop with Jesus. (A little bible
study
note: whenever Jesus climbs a mountain something really important is
about to
happen). The same is true in this story. While standing there with
Jesus on the
mountaintop Peter, James, and John see with their own eyes the glory of
the
coming of the Lord. Mark writes, "And Jesus was transfigured before
them,
and his cloths became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could
bleach
them. And, suddenly there appeared to them Elijah with Moses who were
talking
with Jesus." What an incredible scene! Peter and James and John see
Jesus
in all his resurrection glory. They see an image of the kingdom of
heaven on
earth. Like Dr. King, they see the promise land. So Peter makes a
sensible
suggestion, he says to Jesus, "Teacher, it is good for us to be here;
let
us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for
Elijah."
Indeed, it must have been good to be there. I feel certain the three
disciples
thought that God's reign had begun and Jesus' mission fulfilled. They
had seen
Jesus heal the sick, cast our demons, proclaim the coming of the
kingdom of
heaven, and now they had seen Jesus infused with all his divine glory.
It was
time to set up shop, build a home, live out the rest of eternity in the
presence of God's great glory revealed in His transfigured son Jesus
Christ.
Indeed, it must have been good to be there.
"Get
behind me, Satan!" he said. "You
do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
He who has an ear, let
him hear what the Spirit says
Did they not hear it did they
not remember
the words at the river
"You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."
Before Peter can finish asking Jesus about
building the dwelling places a cloud overshadowed them and a voice from
heaven,
the voice of God Almighty, proclaimed, "This is my son, the beloved;
listen to him!" Then, Jesus appears before the disciples no longer
transfigured. Moses and Elijah were gone, and they descend the
mountain. It
must have been good to be on that mountaintop with Jesus. But, here is
the
sermon I want to preach. No matter how much Peter and James and John
wanted to
stay on top of that mountain in the in the presence of the Glory of the
Lord,
they had to come down. Jesus and the disciples had to come down the
mountain in
order to fulfill their missions and so do we.
Jesus after the baptism went into the desert. Jesus after the transfiguration went to be a sacrifice for our sins
He then began to teach them that the Son of Man
must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests
and
teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days
rise
again.
Martin Luther King Junior was assassinated the next day
We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."
Have you been to the mountaintop? Have you seen the glory of the Lord? Have you seen the promised land? If so let it be our strength our happiness for after the mountain will come a valley.
There will be valleys Jesys warns us
Matthew 10:22
All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Luke 21 :16-19
16 You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death.
17 All men will hate you because of me.
18 But not a hair of your head will perish.
19 By standing firm you will gain life.
But
it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop.
And I
don't mind.
At the Jordan God said to Christ
"You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."
On the Mountain God said to us
"This is
my son, the beloved; listen to him!"
It is as
simple as that.
If
you want to
be perfect, come follow me.
Listen to him
and follow him
John 10 3-5
3 The watchman opens the
gate for him, and the
sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads
them out.
4 When he has brought out
all his own, he goes
on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.
5 But they will never follow
a stranger; in
fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a
stranger's
voice."
14 This was now the third
time Jesus appeared to
his disciples after he was raised from the dead.
15 When they had finished
eating, Jesus said to
Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than
these?" "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love
you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
16 Again Jesus said, "Simon
son of John, do
you truly love me?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love
you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."
17 The third time he said to
him, "Simon son
of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the
third
time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you
know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep.
18 I tell you the truth,
when you were younger
you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old
you will
stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you
where you
do not want to go."
19 Jesus said this to
indicate the kind of death
by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!"
20 Peter turned and saw that
the disciple whom
Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back
against
Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is going to betray
you?")
21 When Peter saw him, he
asked, "Lord,
what about him?"
22 Jesus answered, "If I
want him to remain
alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me."
Luke 24
46 He told them, "This is
what is written:
The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,
47 and repentance and
forgiveness of sins will
be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at
The final
words in the gospels are to go out and spread the gospel.
"This is
my son, the beloved; listen to him!"
Let us pray