Text: Matthew 17:1-9
Theme: "Experiences"
The
Transfiguration of The Lord
March
2, 2014
FIRST
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Denton,
Texas
Rev.
Paul R. Dunklau
+In
the Name of Jesus+
After
six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by
themselves. 2 There
he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes
became as white as the light. 3 Just then there
appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
4 Peter said to Jesus,
“Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three
shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
5 While he was still
speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This
is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
6 When the disciples
heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. 7 But Jesus came and
touched them. “Get up,” he
said. “Don’t be afraid.” 8 When they looked
up, they saw no one except Jesus.
9 As they were coming
down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t
tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has
been raised from the dead.”
Tonight, the 86th Academy Awards program will be front and center
on American high-definition televisions.
Noteworthy actors and actresses, dressed to the nines, will be there to
experience it in person. The reporters
and paparazzi will tell us all the other stuff we need to know, I suppose. The award winners are people whose work we
experienced when we went to the movies. I'm sure it all
will be quite an experience.
It makes no difference if people are spiritual, religious, or
otherwise; many think, when you get right down to it, that life is the sum
total of the experiences they've
had. Somebody goes to see a show in Las
Vegas or Bronson, Missouri (to see Wayne Newton, or Jack Jones, or someone like
that), and they come back to say:
"It was an amazing experience!" Meanwhile, back in Denton, others have a hard
time trying to find a place to park at the DMV.
Then, to make matters worse, they have to sit and wait -- sometimes for
an hour or so -- to get their driver's license renewed. I've heard someone say "It's a horrible
experience."
Experiences, I have
noticed, are graded with adjectives.
I've just used two: an
"amazing" experience and a "horrible" experience. Of course, someone can have an
"awesome" experience, or a "painful experience", or an
"interesting" experience, or an "informative"
experience. This morning, leaving the
house at 5:30 AM, I had a "meteorological" experience which was also
a "chilling" experience.
While I'm at it, others can have a "religious" experience, or
a "spiritual" experience, or a "worship" experience. Yes, I know of churches that no longer call
it a service. They call it a
"worship experience."
"Which worship experiences will you be attending?" asks the
greeter with the "Ask Me" lanyard around his neck. "The 8:30 or the 11:00
o'clock?"
Today's selections from God's Word reports on yet a different kind of experience. To be sure, they were "incredible"
experiences and "astounding" experiences for those who
"experienced" them. There were differences, but both of them have this, at least, in
common: they were
"mountain-top" experiences as well.
From Exodus, we read:
"When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, and the
glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai."
Then this from Matthew's Gospel:
"After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the
brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them."
At Sinai, it was God and Moses one on one. It's roughly six chapters of God basically
telling Moses how the cow ate the cabbage and what he was supposed to do. He was up there, at the top of the mountain
and shrouded in clouds, for forty days and forty nights.
Fast-forward to Jesus and His transfiguration. Matthew reports that the face of Jesus
"shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the
light." Moses (yes, that's the
forty days and nights Moses of Mt. Sinai) and Elijah the prophet (both of them
were representatives of the Old Covenant:
the law and the prophets) were
talking with Jesus amid this supernatural experience. Ever had a supernatural experience?
Peter is all excited! Now
this is an experience worth having! This
is what it's all about. It's a good experience.
It's "good for us to be here," he exclaims in a bit of an
understatement. We need to do all we can to keep this
current, keep it going, keep up the good vibes; yes, let the good times roll
(French: Laissez les bons temps rouler) . "If you wish, I'll set up three tents --
one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." Lovely.
Fast-forward to the present.
The terrorists attacked with knives.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin sent his Russian troops into the Ukraine. Syrian refugees, thousands upon thousands,
still wait for essential services. A
family's future is changed, inalterably, due to cancer. Countless students at American universities:
will there be jobs for them after they graduate? And what about their student loans?
You're doggone right, Peter!
If you're having a good experience, then milk it for all it's
worth. Keep it current; keep it going;
keep up the good vibes; yes, let the good times roll. Ride that pony till it bucks you! Life is the sum total of the experiences you
have, and we could use a lot more good, amazing, awesome, and astounding
experiences. Make of life an endless
Mardi Gras. Or else we're left with what?
While Peter was getting ready to choreograph the whole shebang and
keep it going, he and his companions are swallowed up into a bright cloud of
their own. Then there comes a
voice: "This is my Son whom I love;
with Him I am well-pleased. Listen to
him."
At that moment, the good experience became a terrifying one. They fell facedown to the ground. They went from an amazing experience to a
fearful one in an instant. Isn't life
like that? You're trucking along just
fine, and then life pulls the rug right out from under you.
"Get up and don't be afraid," says Jesus. Then they -- Peter, James, and John -- look
up. There's no cloud. There are no dazzling bright lights. Moses and Elijah are nowhere to be seen. All of
that is gone. They see no one -- except Jesus.
Who was it that was there for them during the sum total of their
experiences? Who was it that would not
leave them or forsake them? Who, through
His death and resurrection, had their back forever? No one -- except Jesus.
Even after He withdrew His bodily presence and they could no
longer see Him, He sent His Holy Spirit -- the Spirit that was with them, and
with you, and with me.
It is that Spirit that draws us together on this chilly Sunday
morning. It is that Spirit that
nourishes us at this table. Our
experiences? They come and go, and they
can change in an instant. But the Spirit
of Jesus is always with us. Thanks be to
God.
Amen.
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