this vision could transform the church

Transfiguration of the Lord

            Our task to understand today’s gospel lesson is met with some mystery.  Before we can begin to unpack its meaning, we have to go back to the previous chapter.  We have to listen in to an argument Peter had with Jesus.  Peter didn’t want Jesus to suffer and die on the cross.  No friend of Jesus would wish such a horrible thing.  And yet, Peter, wanting to protect Jesus from suffering and death, would also have kept him from fulfilling his mission, a mission Peter as yet doesn’t comprehend.  As Jesus speaks of the events that await him—his suffering, his death, and his resurrection—Peter takes his Master aside, as if Jesus needed some correcting in his thinking.  Peter begins to rebuke him like a scolding parent.  “God forbid it, Lord!” he dares to say.  “This must never happen to you.”  At this, Jesus turns to Peter, looks him in the eyes, and says, “Get behind me, Satan!  You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”  If we are to understand today’s gospel lesson, we have to put it in its context, as Matthew has.  The story we have to understand today begins with Peter not seeing things straight.

            Now we can come up the mountain.  We can trace the footsteps of Peter, James, and John.  We walk behind them as they follow their Master, just the four of them.  Suddenly, like a great spotlight coming on, Jesus is bathed in light.  No, wait!  It’s more like he is the light.  You’ve seen those little glow sticks that kids swing around in the dark, the thing itself being the source of light.  What we see is something like that.  Jesus is aglow.  The light is intense.  There is no white that matches this light.  It is dazzling.  You are forced to cover your eyes.  Sunglasses are of no use, so bright is the glow.  And then, as if produced by movie special effects, Moses and Elijah suddenly pop into the scene, as if the entire history of Israel’s law and the prophets were now associating with Jesus.  Peter is moved by reverence, so he wants to preserve and proclaim the wonder of this event by making three booths, one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to document this event!  People could be brought to this spot, shown those three booths, and be given the story.  Those thoughts run through your mind as suddenly a bright cloud moves overhead.  It is a sign of the presence of God, and you know something is about to happen.  A voice from the cloud thunders:  “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”  Wait!  You’ve heard those words before.  It was at Jesus’ baptism.  A voice out of heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”  It’s like God had to say these words all over again for someone’s benefit.  At this, the three disciples fall to the ground.  Even at your distance, you’re biting the dust, too.  You watch Jesus approach his disciples with love.  He touches them, and says to them, “Get up and do not be afraid.”  And with that word of comfort, the vision is over.  It’s only Jesus they see.

            Now, we gather back here.  We seek to understand what we have just seen.  Do we see clearly who Jesus is?  No.  Not entirely.  There’s not enough information to give us the entire picture.  We haven’t seen all we need to see to understand this vision.  This much we know.  Jesus is the Son of God.  God’s own voice has attested to that.  We see that Jesus stands in the line of the great leaders of Israel, for he stood with Moses and Elijah.  And the voice from the cloud said, ‘. . . listen to him!”  Jesus’ words have the greatest authority.  “. . . listen to him!”   Still, there’s not enough here to understand the vision of Jesus we have just seen.  We need to see more to know what Jesus will be all about.

            Change scene.  It is Passover.  This is a room where Jesus and his disciples are together at table.  During the meal, Jesus takes a loaf of wheel-shaped bread.  He blesses it with thanksgiving, he breaks it, and he gives it to his disciples with these instructions:  “Take, eat; this is my body.”  The meaning is not yet clear, but his disciples obey him and eat the bread.  Then Jesus lifts up a cup from the table.  He gives thanks to God for it and he passes it along to his disciples with these words:  “Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”  And it becomes clearer.  This meal points to what is about to happen and what that event will mean.  Change scene.  It is later that night.  This is a place called Gethsemane.  Jesus is praying, and his appearance shows that he is deeply troubled.  “My Father,” he says, “if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.”  Change scene.  This is a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull.  There are three occupied crosses.  Jesus is on the center one.  People are shouting at him, making fun of him.  Even the religious leaders.  “He saved others; he cannot save himself.  He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him.  He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants to; for he said, ‘I am God’s Son.’”  Even the other two on their crosses chime in with abuse of their own.  Change scene.  This is a mountain in Galilee.  The disciples are here, seeing the risen Lord Jesus, worshiping him, even though some doubt even what they now see.  Jesus comes to them and says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.  And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

            Now we have a more complete picture.  The vision comes together with greater meaning.  Jesus is the Son of God.  God’s own presence is experienced in the life of Jesus.  God’s reconciling purpose is shown in the death and resurrection of Jesus.  The glory of Jesus that we witnessed on the mount of Transfiguration foreshadowed the glory of the risen Lord Jesus, who was obedient to God to the point of dying on the cross.  We are to listen to him.  Peter, who would have prevented Jesus from completing his mission all the way to the cross, must listen to him.  We, who would seek a safe discipleship without any cross bearing, must listen to him.  The crucified and risen Jesus, is the Son of God.  What he said and did has God’s own approval.  “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”  When the vision is over, he is the only one we see, the only one who speaks with authority.

            That’s enough to transform the church!  With this vision glorious, we march behind the Son of God who went to the cross for God’s reconciling purpose.  Imagine if we saw our common life as being about the same work Jesus did.  Imagine if we became partners in God’s reconciling activity.  At our session retreat last year, I offered several initiatives to be considered by the session.  One of them was this:  Establish a “sister congregation” relationship with a racial-ethnic church in Lancaster.  The session adopted all of the initiatives, including this one.  They first sent Elder Rosa Finsley and me out to meet with Pastor Nelson Johnson and another representative from Harmony Christian Church to discuss what such a “sister congregation” relationship might look like.  Rosa and I reported back to the session and they adopted the concept.  Why would a Presbyterian congregation want to associate with a multicultural congregation, whose theology and worship practices are not like ours?  Why?  In order to listen to the Son of God who commanded us to love neighbors.  Neighbors come as red, yellow, black, and white.  Neighbors worship like us, but some do not.  Our church aims to be a beacon of friendship in our city, a beacon that invites people to love one another and accept and fellowship with one another.  Pastor Johnson and I had lunch this past week to work on a first event we can have together.  We’re aiming at having a joint fellowship meal.  His church and our congregation will both prepare and host this meal.  And we will begin to meet new friends, fellow Christians from a “sister congregation.”  You see what’s happening.  Listening to the Son of God, we have become partners in God’s own reconciling activity.