TRANSFIGURATION
March 6, 2011
Rev. Barry W. Szymanski, J.D.
Minister of Pastoral Care
First Congregational Church of Wauwatosa

SCRIPTURE

2 Peter 1:16-21 Eyewitnesses of Christ’s Glory

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’ We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain. So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

Matthew 17:1-9

Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. Then 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.’ While 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!’ When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Get up and do not be afraid.’ And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. As 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.’

SERMON

The letter read this morning was written by Peter, the same Peter who was afraid for his life, denying Jesus while the soldiers were beating Jesus after Jesus was arrested. Let's look at the beginning of his letter. The Apostle Peter introduced his second letter to his fellow Christians with these words: "Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith as precious as ours through the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ:" Then he continued with these words, which may sound familiar to you, because they are the basis of the blessing with which I end worship services: "May grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord."

Then, just 13 verses later, Peter tells us, just as he told his readers some 2,000 years ago, about the power and the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. There were people then, just as there are many people now, who think that stories of Jesus are just clever stories that someone had made up. These people base their thoughts on their perception that God is not with us. If God were with us, God could not allow - so much evil; so many wars; crime, poverty, suffering and turmoil. These people wonder and ask, 'How could a good God allow this; and how could you, Peter, preach that Jesus is coming back to us?' 'In fact,' they ask, 'was Jesus really the Son of God, or even a prophet?'

Peter wrote this letter to respond to them. What he wrote was an astounding statement of what he witnessed, for he said that he, James and James’ brother, John, “ . . . with [their] [our] own eyes [we] saw [Jesus] [his] true greatness.

"Jesus was resplendent with light from God the Father as the voice of Majestic Glory spoke:" [Message] the voice announced: "This is my own dear Son," We were there with Jesus on the holy mountain and heard this voice speak from heaven." [CEV] Peter wrote that he, James and John, “ . . . couldn't be more sure of what [they] [we] saw and heard — God's glory, God's voice." Peter wrote, "The prophetic Word was confirmed to [them] [us]. Peter added that his readers would do well to keep focusing on the prophetic word.

He added that the prophetic word is the one light that all of us will have in a dark time as we wait for daybreak and daylight, and then the rising of the Morning Star, which is Christ. Note that Peter says that the Morning Star, Jesus, will rise in our hearts. He wrote that the prophecies of Scripture resulted when the Holy Spirit prompted men and women to speak God's Word.

Peter tells us that “The prophets did not think these things up on their own, but they were guided by the Spirit of God." What did Peter and James and James' brother John, experience that astounding day? We learn of it in Matthew's Gospel. Only the four of them climbed up onto that high mountain. Jesus, Peter, James and John.

There the three apostles saw the glory of Jesus. Jesus' “ . . . appearance changed . . . right before their eyes." [Message] Jesus' “ . . . face was shining like the sun, and his clothes became white as light." [CEV] Can you imagine anyone's reaction to this? They saw Sunlight pour from the face of their friend and companion, Jesus, and they saw that "Jesus' clothes were filled with light." Right after this “ . . . they realized that Moses and Elijah were also there [and] in deep conversation with . . ." Jesus. Matthew's Gospel reports that Peter probably because he did not know what else to do or say, and felt he had to say something, - interrupted them, - declared that this was a great moment, - proclaimed that it was good for them to be there, and - offered to build three shelters like tents, or huts, one for Jesus, one for Elijah, and one for Moses.

While Peter was prattling on and on, a cloud with light radiating from it surrounded them, like a mist, and a voice talking about Jesus, said, "This is my own dear Son, and I am pleased with him. Listen to what he says!" [CEV] The three apostles did what you and I would do: they were scared and they went to the ground probably shaking! Speak of wobbling knees! The next they knew was that Jesus came over to them and touched them, and said to them "Don't be afraid. When they opened their eyes and looked around all they saw was Jesus, only Jesus.

[Then,] Coming down the mountain, Jesus swore them to secrecy. "Don't breathe a word of what you've seen. [However,] After the Son of Man is raised from the dead, you are free to talk."

This is one remarkable story. It is also told in Mark's Gospel. The word transfigured is like a metamorphosis. Jesus was radiant! What they experienced on that mountain was a visionary transformation of Jesus, -- the Son of Man, and the Son of God. The transfigurement was an act of God.

Yet, even then, Peter's limited understanding was that Jesus was only a great prophet, just like Moses, and just like Elijah. But Peter did comprehend that each of them, Jesus, Elijah, and Moses, was misunderstood by the people, yet vindicated by God. No matter what the people thought of these three, God held them blameless – each was justified in God's eyes.

The heavenly voice commanded that the disciples listen to Jesus – Note: there is no mention of listening to Elijah or Moses! The new Covenant was coming! There is another point made in this story which I find important to caregivers, and we are all caregivers, even right now, to the people we are sitting next to, perhaps even holding hands with, and that is that the human Jesus touched the apostles!

While John and James and Peter were terrified beyond belief, Jesus touched them. The importance of bodily touch by a person, a caregiver, a lover – someone who loves, is significant in this story. The four of them then came down the mountain - to reality, - to the everyday world, - to suffering, - to continue the mission of Jesus.

With perception, be aware of the words of Jesus when he called what happened to the apostles " . . . a vision . . ." Was their experience a joint dream? or a shared subjective experience? or objective reality? Was it evidence that demonstrated God's power? And God's mystery? Or was it so ethereal, so elusive and vague, as to be un-real and forgotten? Was it a dream? A hallucination? Mountain mushrooms? Or a revelation? A prophecy? Was the apparition a disclosure of who Jesus really was to them? Was the vision enough of something they could rely on at that time?

Or was it only truly understood by Peter and John and James after the resurrection? Certainly, if Peter correctly cherished what he experienced, could he have denied Jesus while the soldiers were torturing Jesus? If we were in John's, James and Peter's shoes, would we have been terrified? would we know what to say, or do? Would we, like Peter, would talk nonsense about building a hut for each of them, when we hear the voice of God would there be little else for us to do but fall to the ground? Would we not have understood that Jesus was to greatly suffer, and die like a criminal; and would we have clung to Jesus' words that we experienced, 'a vision!’?

In his later years, Peter wrote his letter that we “ . . . will do well to be attentive . . . as to a lamp shining in a dark [room] [place], until the day dawns and the morning star rises in [our] [your] hearts."

Our prayer this morning is that we pay special attention to what is disclosed to us by God, and that we realize that Jesus, the morning star, is ready to rise in our hearts. Let us not neglect God's word, or God's world, or Jesus' revelation; Let us not be satisfied with artificial light and say that it is enough for us to see with man-made illumination. That is not real. God desires to be the shining light within our hearts; God is truth. God is real.

Yet, when we are confronted with the mystery, the ambiguity, yes, the un-real-ness of the Transfiguration, we want to explain it away. We want to apply science to it. But it happened. Somehow, someway, it occurred. Mark and Matthew and Peter wrote about it. Some in the world may dismiss it; and some may disregard it, but it is there for us to read and to pray over.

Anthony Esolen, who is a professor of English at Providence College in Rhode Island, wrote this: "When we pray with a full heart we place ourselves in the dangerous presence of the beloved; we seek his face. His is a beauty beyond comprehension. We cannot take it for granted, precisely because it is infinitely beyond us, and we do not deserve it. God's love beckons. He seeks far more than the entanglements that [we generally] . . . fear. He wants us to be entirely his own, heart and soul and mind and strength, that we may have life in abundance.

It is good then to feel that racing of the pulse -- a foretaste of the peace that passes understanding, because it is like the carefree song of children playing, because it is blessed with the wild joy of God!" Peter, in writing his second epistle, was of the same blissful state of mind and soul, as he prays that God's grace, and God's peace will be multiplied in each of us, and that we grow and flourish in the knowledge of God and of Jesus, our Lord.