Our World is in Need of a Transfiguration of Jesus

The sun and clouds over Jerusalem.

Transfiguration, Year B – 15 February 2015

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas

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When I was going into ninth grade, a good friend of mine from middle school moved across the country. I had known him for several years, and I knew that we went to different types of churches, but I had no idea how different, until, one day, I got a letter from him. I no longer have the letter, so I don’t remember how long it was, exactly, but what I do remember is this: he told me – in no uncertain terms – that I was going to hell because I was an Episcopalian. And then he spent several paragraphs explaining just why that was.

And he was serious.

Is it any wonder that I spent the next few months desperately searching for God – not knowing if God even loved me at all?

My view of Jesus had been transfigured – it had been changed – and not for the better.

Over the course of that school year, it was my church family at the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany in Houston who began to love me back into the presence of God. Then, the next summer, I was at a youth event, and was talking with a priest about my spiritual struggles. As we walked side by side, he said to me, “Kathi, God is as close to you right now as I am.” I can’t explain how, exactly, but somehow, I knew that what he was saying was right, and that God was right there with me.

My view of Jesus had been transfigured – it had been changed – yet again.

I share these experiences with you because I think that we all have moments where our view of Jesus is transfigured – sometimes in very deep, meaningful, or even painful ways.

For Peter, James, and John, this transfiguration of Jesus from today’s gospel lesson happens on a high mountain, with Jesus changing right before their very eyes. Jesus is transfigured before them – his clothes are dazzling white – and then Moses and Elijah show up, too – the great lawgiver and prophet, standing there, conversing with Jesus.

Peter, in his nervousness, wants to DO something, so he offers to build shelters for them. But before he can even begin, God sends a cloud over them, and speaks to them: “This is my Son, the beloved. Listen to him!”

And then – it is all gone.

Jesus is transfigured to show them God’s glory, certainly, but also to give these three a different view of Jesus. The transfiguration of Jesus is followed by his instructions not to say anything to anyone – and so, he doesn’t want them to raise an army for him; he doesn’t want earthly glory at all. He wants for the three disciples to dwell with what has just happened – after all, they have just heard the voice of God.

At this point in Mark, the disciples are – quite simply – still trying to figure out what kind of Messiah Jesus is. They really want a politically-strong messiah – someone to save them from their Roman oppressors. They are waiting for Jesus to rise up and take up his power and save them from tyranny. What they get in Jesus is quite different than that.

Six days before this transfiguration, Jesus tells a crowd of his disciples that they must deny themselves and take up their crosses to follow him. He talks openly about his own death and resurrection – conversations that, in and of themselves, are difficult to understand and accept. The disciples believe he is the Messiah – the one anointed by God to come and rescue God’s people – then why does he keep talking about his own death on a cross?

Jesus’ transfiguration gives Peter, James, and John a connecting point between earth and heaven. Jesus’ focus is on the kingdom of heaven – not on an earthly kingdom at all. The transfiguration shows Peter, James, and John that their focus should also be the kingdom of heaven, and that Jesus is the one sent by God to bring that kingdom of heaven to earth.

Their view of Jesus is transfigured – it is changed.

It will take some time for this new viewpoint to take hold of these three. For the rest of Jesus’ earthly ministry, through his death, and even after his resurrection, the disciples are still trying to work this all out. They continue to stumble along in doubt and with questions, but God uses them, eventually, to spread the story of Jesus crucified and risen throughout the known world.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the impression of Jesus that the Church gives to others, which is part of what got me reflecting upon what impression of Jesus people have given to me throughout my life. I’ve come to the conclusion that our world is in need of a transfiguration of Jesus.

I think about people who have been told time and time again that they are going to hell. I think about the people that I know who are so angry at or disappointed in Jesus – not because of anything that Jesus has done to them, it turns out. They are angry at and disappointed in Jesus because of how the followers of Jesus have behaved. The world needs a transfiguration of Jesus – desperately – because there are quite a few people out there who are under the impression that God doesn’t love them at all.

This past week, we had something new happen. A family who’s been asking for prayers in the Bunny Box time and time again reached out to us via phone call, and then reached out to me via email. The family didn’t ask for anything. They weren’t trying to angle for money or anything else. They simply wanted to say “thank you” for our prayers for their family, and to say that the prayers were doing good.

And so, if you feel sometimes like you are stumbling along in doubt and with questions, that’s OK. I certainly feel that way sometimes, and that’s OK too. God is using us, anyway. God is using us to bring about a transfiguration of Jesus in this world.

Let us continue to be open to God’s working among us: each of us, individually; all of us, as a congregation; and also within our families, friendships, and other relationships.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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