Transformers
(based on Matthew 17:1-9)
How many of you have read the poem called
Footprints in the Sand about the person who had a dream that they were walking
along the beach with God (raise hands)? So,
I read this a cartoon version of it the other day, the first part of it had God
with his arm around the person saying, “Where you see one set of footprints is
where I carried you . . . ” much like the poem, and then the next line read, “
. . . that long groove you see there is where I dragged you kicking and
screaming.” Sometimes that is so very
true, isn’t it?
We know today’s story from Matthew, we
read it every year just before the beginning of Lent. Each of the gospels includes it. Today, we read from the account in Matthew who
wrote; “Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother
John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves.” The first time I really studied this text was
in 1987, when I prepared my first candidating sermon for two small churches in
Ohio. My first reaction to this story was
a very simple curiosity: why did Jesus only pick these three disciples and no
one else? Perhaps this comes out of my
grade school experience of always being picked last, but here nine of Jesus’ disciples
weren’t picked at all. It makes you
wonder.
Scholars have long believed that Jesus chose
Peter, James, and John because these three individuals were his core group of
leaders, or the inner circle who would eventually hold very prominent roles in
the ministry after Christ’s death and resurrection. As one commentator affirms, “Peter would take
the lead in establishing the church; James would be the recognized leader of
the church in Jerusalem; and John would receive the final revelation.” Witnessing the event on the mount helped to
prepare each of them for the responsibilities that where to come. I suppose it is important to note that Christ
brought with him three of the disciples, as it was established in
that culture that the account of “two or three witnesses” was necessary for a
testimony to be deemed credible.
Matthew continues, “And he was transfigured
before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling
white.” In other words, the glory of
Christ’s inner Divine nature was revealed to them at that time. The word transfigured or transformed
is the same as metamorphoses – to change (meta-) form (morph).” The account carries on, “Suddenly there
appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him”. They also appeared in glory and were speaking
to him.
Peter’s quick response to what is going on
around him without fully thinking things through, which is exhibited throughout
the Gospels, surfaces in this story as well. According to the account, “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.” As Matthew writes, “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 voice had spoken, Jesus was
found alone.” This divine voice
interrupts Peter, and not only declares Christ to be God’s “Son, the Beloved”
but also establishes his importance over Moses and Elijah, as it instructs,
“Listen to him.” Peter’s response made
Moses, Elijah, and Jesus equals in suggesting that dwellings be built for all
three of them. But the Heavenly voice corrected
Peter, by telling the disciples that this Jesus was God’s own son and that they
needed to listen to him.
Although my first curiosity about this story
was about who Jesus brought with him to the mountain, the focus of this story
is obviously Christ. The focus of our worship here at church is Christ. We are not called to gather together on Sunday
because of the allure of socializing – our time spent together, or because of good
music that we participate in or listen to, or even the food that we share sometimes.
We might have those here, but we differ
from ordinary social clubs and gatherings because of our faith in Jesus Christ
– the focus of today’s story. We are
called to gather together as a worshiping, praying community. We gather not just because of Christ’s moving
and profound teachings about how to live in the world, but also and primarily
to worship our God together as one Body.
Often in the larger church it seems that people
have divided into two different camps where you either are focused on the
“social gospel” and the works of justice, mercy, and compassion or the camp
that is focused solely on putting on sort of a concert or show of worship. However, I think we can seek both—to hold both
together in a profound call to service of the needy, lowly, and marginalized,
as an expression of following Christ as our Lord and Savior and to focus our
worship as an outpouring of our love of God and God’s profound transformation
in our own lives.
The same Jesus who commanded us to clothe the
naked, feed the hungry, visit the lonely and those in prison is the same Jesus
who, transforms or is transfigured before his inner circle of friends, Peter,
James, and John, who performs miracles and heals the sick. The same Jesus who responded to his disciples
bickering about who would be the greatest in heaven knelt down and washed their
feet is the very same Jesus, who, when asked if he is the long awaited for
Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One, replied with the risky words, “I am”.
This divine Christ said, come unto me and I
will give you rest….drawing people to himself. He also said to his disciples to go out and heal
the sick, sending them out. He said,
believe in God, believe also in Me: drawing people to himself. And then he says to go and love your enemies:
sending forth. This drawing near and
sending out is the rhythm of the life of the Church. We draw near Christ on Sunday and commissioned
at the end of every service to go forth in the name of Christ to do the work of
the Gospel.
The Gospel in its entirety only makes sense if
we are willing to step into the absurdity of a world in which God can, would,
and did become human– fully and completely. Let us with Peter affirm, “You are the Christ,
the Son of the living God.” In Mark’s Gospel, immediately following the
Transfiguration Jesus heals a young boy, and the boy’s father declares, “I
believe, but help my unbelief!” Merge
Peter’s acclamation of faith and this father’s honest confession, and in many
ways you have a good summary of the faith of the disciples, who gave up
everything to follow Jesus, but were shaken deeply by circumstances along the
journey, doubting, arguing, and frequently just totally not getting it. It’s not unlike many of us today. “You are the
Christ, the Son of the living God”… “I believe, but help my unbelief!”
And it is in this journey of faith and doubt,
of being pulled into Christ and being sent out into the world that we are also
transformed, transfigured and go through our own metamorphosis like Christ and
as Moses and Elijah appeared to Peter, James, and John. Our inner Holy Light is there to shine and
show the way of God.
My prayer for us is that we might bring our
doubts before Christ, laying them before him as an offering…and also go to the
mountaintop with him, into that vulnerable place where he is revealed for who
he truly is—both fully God and fully human. Indeed, I believe that place is right here in
our worship as we seek to surrender to God our fears, our anxieties, our
insecurities, and in return to receive the blessings, healings, and miracles of
God in our lives.
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