February 19, 2023 Sermon
Sermon title: "The Transfiguration"
Scripture: Matthew 17:1-9
(Other lectionary suggestions include Exodus 24:12-18, Psalm 99, and II Peter 1:16-21.)
Matthew 17:1-9
The Transfiguration
1Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. 2And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. 3Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4Then Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 5While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" 6When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. 7But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Get up and do not be afraid." 8And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. 9As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."
The sermon title is "The Transfiguration", and it comes at a good time, I think: Lent is upon us, beginning this Wednesday, which happens to be Ash Wednesday. Lent is a time to re-evaluate our lives, and the story we heard today about Jesus on the mountaintop comes to remind us of just who Jesus is. As you may have heard before, Moses and Elijah, here meeting Jesus on the mountain, represent the Law and the Prophets. Elsewhere in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus is asked what the Greatest Commandment is, and he mentions not one but TWO: Love the Lord your God with all your might and soul and strength, and the SECOND one was "like unto it", said Jesus: Love your neighbor as yourself. And then Jesus says, "On these two commandments hang all the Law and the prophets." Well, Matthew may be saying that this encounter between Moses (the Law) and Elijah (the Prophets) is exactly who Jesus is: the One in whom all the Law and the Prophets meet.
Another point, and it may be accidental, as far as Matthew is concerned, but look! Moses - who lived around 1400 B.C. or so, or maybe 1200 B.C. - and Elijah, who lived later, around the 8th century B.C. - are ALIVE! Eternal life, anyone? Again, Eternal life may not have been Matthew's main point, but Jesus doesn't DIG UP Moses and Elijah up on that mountaintop! They are ALIVE, and they speak with Jesus! Think about THAT the next time you wonder about your faith. Eternal life is real, and it is so real to Matthew's understanding of things that it's almost assumed. Eternal life, Matthew? Of course! Ho-hum!
When I told Harlane about this sermon and the Scripture, she offered that the whiteness of Jesus's clothes may signify purity and holiness. That's a good point. In Luke's account of this story, Moses and Elijah are dressed in white, also.
I think Peter almost provides "comic relief" for this strange story. He offers to build dwellings or booths for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. But it really isn't funny, because he might be trying to hold on to this heavenly vision and experience all for himself. Lutheran minister Jim Page in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, says this: "Peter wanted to stay where he was comfortable and everything was good. In him we see a truth about all of us in that we want God to cater to us, our goals, our ideals, our beliefs. Let's be honest: at the depths of our souls we want the best for us: our families, our lifestyle, our bank account, our political party, our school." This minister, Jim Page, can even imagine Peter saying to Jesus, "Let's just stay here. Why go back down into the mix of a hurting world? Do we have to?" With Jesus choosing to leave that mountaintop experience, he was showing his three favorite disciples "what it is he came to do. Not to stay where everything is comfortable and good, but to show up in the lives of others to serve and share God's love." Peter may have had his weaknesses, but he did follow Jesus back down into reality.
A few sermons ago I mentioned the "genius" of Matthew's writing, and if "genius" is too strong a word, how about the "literary ability" of this writer? Keep in mind the WHOLE story of Jesus, Matthew seems to be saying. In what we heard today, Jesus is in glory on the mountaintop between Moses and Elijah. At the end of his life, he'll be on a hilltop outside of Jerusalem, crucified between two thieves. Here on the mountaintop, his clothes are gleaming white; when he is crucified, those clothes will be stripped off of him, and Roman soldiers will gamble for them at the foot of the cross. In today's Scripture, there is a bright cloud; when Jesus is crucified, there is a darkness over all the land. In today's reading, Peter blurts out how wonderful everything is! But in Jerusalem he will deny he ever knew Jesus. In today's lesson, the voice of God says, "This is my Beloved Son; listen to him!" When Jesus dies in Jerusalem, it is a pagan soldier who declares, as if surprised, "Truly this was God's son."
There is a hymn, "In the Cross of Christ I glory, towering o'er the wrecks of time." The early church insisted that believers see the glory in the suffering, and that's hard to do. Matthew is perhaps suggesting that the mountaintop explains the hilltop - and vice-versa. Suffering in glory and glory in suffering - part of the Christian proclamation, and perhaps a good place for us to start our Lenten meditation. It starts this Wednesday, you know! Amen.
Pastor Skip
