The Transfiguration Year A 8/6/2023
Exodus 34:29-35; Psalm 99; 2 Peter 1:13-21; Luke 9:28-36
Rev. Mark A. Lafler
Have you ever read a book or watched a movie and it had an impact on your life?
I mean the kind of movie that when you wake up the next day…
it’s still in your thoughts and you think about it for a few days…
your perspective on life changes some…
your life is altered by it… somehow… it’s just on your mind.
I don’t watch a lot of movies, but I like movies that impact me like this.
Years ago, I saw Saving Private Ryan and the movie gripped me…
I thought about it for days… my perspective changed…
my understanding grew…
A few years back I read the novel The Giver.
A book that makes you think about life and purpose.
Certain things in life change us… transform us… make us think.
Well, speaking of change and transformation…
today we celebrate the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus…
The word transfiguration means:
“a complete change of form or appearance into a more beautiful or spiritual state.”
Now, Fifteen hundred years before Christ…
God called Moses to the mountaintop…
And he stood in the holy presence of the Lord…
And when he came down the mountain and returned to his people
His face shined so brightly that people stepped back in fear!
He covered his face with a veil…
Moses was transfigured!
Fast-forward about eight hundred years to the Prophet Elijah
God performed many miracles through him:
Raising the dead…
Bringing fire down from the sky…
Flying up to heaven… alive… in a whirlwind
They also wondered…
Was Elijah the Messiah?
Then we fast-forward about another eight hundred years or so
And we come to today’s gospel story: The Transfiguration
Jesus climbed the mountain to pray, taking Peter, John, and James along.
While he prayed…
His face changed and his clothes became blinding white.
Just like Moses…
But wait… there’s more!
Two men were talking with Jesus: Moses! and Elijah!
Also blinding white and radiant…
It was glorious.
And they spoke to one another about what was next for Jesus…
his death and resurrection…
Transfigured!
And this time… there were witnesses!
Granted the disciples fell asleep almost immediately…
But they were there…
They saw it with their own eyes…
Overwhelmed…
Peter blurted out this crazy idea about making dwellings for the three of them…
and in that moment…
a light-radiant cloud surrounded them.
Buried in the cloud, they became deeply aware of God.
They heard God’s voice:
This is my Son, the Chosen! Listen to him.
When the sound of the voice died away, they saw Jesus there alone.
They were speechless.
And they continued speechless…
And said nothing to anyone of what they had seen.
How could they?
Who would have believed it?
Understood it?
During the invasion of Russia,
The French leader, Napoleon was separated from his troops…
Spotted by Cossacks, he ran for his life…
into a fur shop – Save me!
The shop keeper pointed to a pile of furs in the corner
Napoleon climbed under them
As the shop keeper piled on more pelts
The Russian Cossacks burst in
Where is he?
They searched everywhere…
Thrusting swords into the furs…
But no Napoleon…
After they left, Napoleon climbed from the heap, unharmed.
The shopkeeper asked:
Excuse me for asking this question of such a great man,
but what was it like to be under the furs,
knowing that the next moment could surely be your last?
How dare you ask such a question of the Emperor Napoleon?
Stammered Napoleon.
And as his guards came, he ordered them to blindfold and execute his savior.
He could see nothing, but felt the icy brick wall against his back…
He heard soldiers shuffling… rifles loading…
Then Napoleon’s order
Ready… Aim…
Tears streamed down the shopkeeper’s face…
And the blindfold was snatched off…
Napoleon just inches from his face…
his breath hot…
Napoleon said:
Now you know the answer to your question.
How can you describe a near death experience?
You can’t.
It has to be… experienced.
Somethings in life must be experienced…
And this is what happened to Moses, to the disciples…
When you spend time with God…
When you gaze into his face…
When you feel his touch on your life…
It is transforming.
Truly experiencing God’s grace and majesty and beauty is transforming in one’s life.
We experience God’s transforming power when are lives are transformed from unbelieving…
to believing…
At our conversion…
Our salvation.
God’s transforming power is present in our baptism…
As we become buried with Christ Jesus in his death…
And we also share with Jesus in his resurrection…
Becoming reborn by the Holy Spirit.
Perhaps we have felt this transforming power when we receive communion.
As you make your way to the altar…
Opening your hands to receive the bread and drink the wine…
And suddenly a flood of emotions come over you…
Waves of God’s grace washing over you…
When we truly experience God’s grace…
God’s transforming love…
We are moved…
Time seems to stand still for a moment…
Life is changed.
Peter never forgot that moment on the Mountain when Christ was transfigured before his eyes…
About 50 years after the Transfiguration
Just before his death
Peter wrote:
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.
Eyewitness testimony!
It happened!
Peter…
and James…
and John…
all experienced it.
On top of the mountain…
God appeared…
and God spoke…
Peter went on to say…
We couldn’t be more sure of what we saw and heard…
God’s glory…
God’s voice…
The prophetic Word was confirmed to us.
You’ll do well to keep focusing on it.
It’s the one light you have in a dark time as you wait for daybreak
and the rising of the Morning Star in your hearts.
The main thing to keep in mind here
is that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of private opinion.
And why?
Because it’s not something concocted in the human heart.
Prophecy resulted when the Holy Spirit prompted men and women
to speak God’s Word.
You see… that’s the why?
Why the Transfiguration happened!
To reveal the true nature of God…
To show God’s power and Majesty in extraordinary ways…
So that we will come to know how deeply God the Father
Loves his Son Jesus…
And how deeply he loves us!
For if he didn’t…
The Transfiguration would mean nothing.
God wasn’t just showing off…
God was revealing himself…
Bringing Peter and James and John into his heart…
So they could invite others…
so they could invite us.
The whole transfiguration story…
That began with Moses on the mountain…
And continued with Jesus on the mountain…
Doesn’t end there…
It ends in the valley.
After Moses mountain-top experience…
He returned to the people…
His face radiating…
And gave the people the Ten Commandments…
The Law that would carry them forward to the Promised Land…
That changed their hearts…
and minds…
and souls.
Remember… Psalm 99 that we heard today…
Proclaim the greatness of the Lord our God
and worship him upon his holy hill;
for the Lord our God is the Holy One.
But after the hill…
after the mountain…
return to the valley.
Go back to the people…
with God.
In fact…
Here’s what happened right after the Transfiguration:
When they came down off the mountain the next day,
a big crowd was there to meet them.
A man called from out of the crowd,
“Please, please, Teacher, take a look at my son. He’s my only child.
Often a spirit seizes him. Suddenly he’s screaming,
thrown into convulsions, his mouth foaming.
And then it beats him black-and-blue before it leaves.
I asked your disciples to deliver him but they couldn’t.”
They were right back in the world…
Right back where they were needed…
Jesus said, “Bring your son here.”
The demon slammed him to the ground and threw him into convulsions.
Jesus stepped in, ordered the vile spirit gone, healed the boy,
and handed him back to his father.
They all shook their heads in wonder, astonished at God’s greatness,
God’s majestic greatness.
You see…
God brings us to the mountain
so that we can share his love in the valleys.
He doesn’t bring us to the mountain to stay there…
No… he fills us there so that we can give up ourselves in the valleys.
We experience his glory…
so we can share his glory.
We are transformed by his grace…
so that we can witness the transforming grace of Jesus Christ to the world around us.
I pray, today that we don’t just experience Jesus in worship,
in the readings,
in the prayers,
at the table…
but that we take him with us to the people outside of these walls.
Who need to hear of his love…
his beautiful love.
Worship God today…
With all of who you are…
Be filled up by His Spirit and Sacrament and Word.
And as we become strengthened today…
May we share that loving strength with those around us.
God brings us to the mountain
so that we can share his love in the valleys.
Amen.