Transfiguration of Our Lord
Exodus 34:29-35
Psalm 99
2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2
Luke 9:28-43a
Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
grace and peace to you
from the one whose glory is revealed through prayer. Amen
We have come a long way in our time after Epiphany,
the season where who Jesus is
is revealed.
After the magi came following the star
we traveled to the banks of the Jordan River
where Jesus was baptized
and after he was baptized and was praying
we heard how the heavens opened
and the Spirit descended in the form of a dove
and a voice from heaven was heard saying
“You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
From there we heard how Jesus’ glory was revealed
at the wedding at Cana with the water turning into wine,
Jesus preached his first sermon in his home synagogue
revealing himself as the fulfillment of scripture
and he received his first sermon feedback
when the scripture he preached
moved from comforting to provoking
as he included those outside the covenant in the promises of God,
enraging his listeners so much
that they tried to throw him off of a cliff.
From there Jesus moved to calling disciples,
revealing that he works in ways contrary to the world,
in ways that humans know won’t work,
and in the process transforms resistance into faith.
And all along the way
Jesus has been teaching and healing
and crowds have begun to follow him
until at a level place
Jesus gathers the disciples around him
to teach the great reversal of the kingdom of God
blessed are the poor and hungry,
those who mourn and are persecuted for the sake of the gospel
but woe to the rich and full,
the laughing with good reputations,
and when the crowd looks at him askance
he doubles down
telling them that the way to live right now
is to love your enemies,
and do good to those who curse you,
to above all be merciful
because God is merciful,
in essence to begin living out the way of God right now
even though the world will push back
because it doesn’t understand
how someone could love without expecting anything in return,
doesn’t understand love for the sake of love.
And word about Jesus keeps spreading,
and Jesus keeps taking time to pray
and “Once when Jesus was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say that I am?" They answered, "John the Baptist; but others, Elijah; and still others, that one of the ancient prophets has arisen." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered, "The Messiah of God."
And Jesus goes on to tell them
what that will mean saying,
"The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised."
And he follows it up with the teaching on discipleship
where those who wish to follow him
must deny themselves
take up their cross and follow him.
Jesus has increasingly revealed more and more about himself
to the point where he has laid it all out there for the disciples,
though it is questionable that they understand what he has taught them,
and now eight days later,
eight days after Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Messiah
and Jesus’ passion prediction,
eight days where I’m sure the disciples were in a tizzy over what Jesus said,
after those eight days
Jesus takes Peter and John and James up a mountain to pray.
Jesus prays a lot,
and especially in the gospel of Luke
we find Jesus praying right before big moments of revelation,
his baptism,
Peter’s confession,
and now here on the mountain,
an auspicious setting if there ever was one,
both of the great prophets Moses and Elijah
had encounters with God on mountains
and sure enough as Jesus is praying
his appearance changes
and the disciples with him
see him talking to Moses and Elijah
the two figures who were supposed to return before the final judgment,
and they are talking with Jesus
about what he is about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
There should be no doubt in the minds of the disciples now
that Jesus is something special,
the one for whom they have been waiting.
And the disciples almost miss it.
Luke tells us that “Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory…”
Since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory.
Sometimes that’s all it takes
Staying awake
Sometimes we look around at the world,
at our lives,
and we ask: where is God?
Or perhaps we long for a mountain top revelation
of the magnitude of the transfiguration
Jesus appearing before us,
but even as we are asking and longing
we are rushing from one thing to the next
or we are weighed down with sleep
and I wonder how many times we have missed God
because we did not pause to pray,
we did not create a space for revelation,
or perhaps we simply fell asleep.
It’s amazing how little it takes for Peter, and John and James,
they travel up a mountain to pray with Jesus,
and they stay awake,
and because they stay awake
they see Jesus’ glory.
Now of course these disciples are not perfect,
even after all the times praying with Jesus,
long prayer sessions,
even after Jesus has taught them to pray
in the words of the Lord’s Prayer,
these disciples will go with Jesus to the Mount of Olives
on the day we call Good Friday,
and there at the most important moment
they will fall asleep.
But for now they witness Jesus’ glory,
and when Peter tries to hold on to it too tightly
they are overshadowed by a cloud
and the voice of God speaks to them
“This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”
and awed or perplexed they don’t say anything about this until much later.
Prayer is the setting of revelation
but sometimes it takes us quite a while to understand
just what has been revealed in that moment.
Prayer is not just speaking,
it is listening,
creating space to hear the words of God.
Prayer is common,
prayer is extraordinary.
Prayer is important
That’s why this Lent
our theme is “Whenever you pray”
we will be thinking about
and practicing prayer,
listening to God,
creating space for God to show up,
and hopefully we will stay awake
and we too will see God’s glory. Amen
Comments