Scripture: Matthew 17:1-9
A Transfiguration Sunday sermon (preached the week Lent begins) using Matthew 17:1-9 to press the question ‘Who is Jesus?’ rather than ‘What does Jesus do for me?’ The preacher argues the Transfiguration reveals Christ as fully God and fully human, that Moses and Elijah came for their own sake to worship him, and that Peter’s wish to build shrines and stay misses the call to descend into the valley toward the cross. The deepest Christian question is not what you believe but whom you follow, guarding against idolatry and false saviors. Mountaintop experiences are valid but must be held within God’s larger call; God still gives signs of presence to sustain us through the valley. Sufjan Stevens’ song ‘The Transfiguration’ frames the message and closes worship.
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February 11, 2024
The Transfiguration
Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and brought them to the top of a very high mountain. He was transformed in front of them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light. Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Jesus. Peter reacted to all of this by saying to Jesus, “Lord, it’s good that we’re here. If you want, I’ll make three shrines: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, look, a bright cloud overshadowed them. A voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son whom I dearly love. I am very pleased with him. Listen to him!” Hearing this, the disciples fell on their faces, filled with awe. But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Don’t tell anybody about the vision until the Human One is raised from the dead.” - Matthew 17:1-19
Who is Jesus? This is always the question that comes to me when I read the story of the Transfiguration. This moment in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, was not very important to me or my faith for a long time. It really wasn’t until the Sufjan Stevens song, the Transfiguration, came out, that I started thinking about this moment in the life of Jesus. The early church spent a lot of time on the Transfiguration. Protestants, not as much. What is lost when we don’t pay attention to the transfiguration is this question of who was Jesus? Oftentimes, Jesus is instrumentalized into what he does for me. What does Jesus do for me? It is the theological version of “what have you done for me lately?” which many of us fall prey to with God even when we have the best of intentions. If you do this, Jesus will do that and you’re golden. Pray this way, you’ve got a friend in Jesus. Do these things, Jesus will do these other things for you.
The word made flesh does not offer us a quid pro quo. Salvation does not include a contract with closing documents. Contracts and title agents mark our world with its lack of trust. Jesus offers something different. We see this with the transfiguration.
Lent starts this week. The last thing Jesus does before he turns his face to Jerusalem and walks to that city is to take some disciples up to the mountain to pray. Then the identity of Christ is revealed to them. This ‘who’ of Christ. That he is God and human. Fully, not partially. Now, there have been hints at this earlier, in the gospels, but the transfiguration lays it out in the open and this matters so deeply for our faith. If God did not become man in Jesus Christ, then none of it really matters. We can’t be saved. The kingdom of heaven isn’t here. Mercy is a waste of time. Let’s eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.
Jesus takes his disciples and goes up to a mountain and prays. During that time, a great brilliance shines over him. In Greek, it is a whiteness of a woolen cloth that has been combed thousands of times. A great brilliance. And there’s a vision of Moses and Elijah present, as well. Why were they there? It seems kind of excessive. We need to linger on this moment. We have this great revealing of God and Jesus Christ fully, not just the humble carpenter’s son, but a brilliant vision of the presence of God, and then Moses and Elijah are there also. I think Moses and Elijah are there not for the sake of Peter and John, but for their own sake. So that they too can see Jesus Christ, that this prophet is the God man. Maybe they also had to see him to believe him. So they, too, could worship him.
We rarely reflect on the desires of the patriarchs after they passed. Scripture is not explicit on this point, but I think it is important for us to remember that Elijah and Moses were not simply dramatic illustrations. They weren’t holograms. They were there on the mountain for a reason. I think they wanted to be there because what was taking place turned all of created history.
Peter misses the point as we have often missed the point of this day. Peter wants to build a house and stay up there. This is the preeminent mountaintop experience. It is transformational. They have encountered the living God and they want to stay in that moment forever. It is the walk to Emmaus moment. It is conversion at its fullest. They want to stay there. Peter wants to stay there, but Jesus rebukes him. They have to go back down the mountain. They have to go into the valley of sorrow that leads to the cross. There’s a great distance between transfiguration and resurrection, but the identity of Jesus is the same. Christ is God for us. Do we live any differently knowing who Jesus really is,? That God in God’s fullness became flesh in Jesus Christ. Does that change anything?
Peter, the eager disciple wanted to build a house and yet, soon enough, he was denying Jesus three times. Does it change anything? The deepest question of the Christian faith is not what you believe, but who do you follow? Make sure you’re following the right person. This is where the great challenge of idolatry comes in. There’s lots of people who say they can save you. How do you know you’re following the right one? There’s lots of religions that say they can save you or say there is no salvation or say anything like that. There’s lots of people who say God is dead. Who say follow yourself. There are lots of influencers and celebrities who want to sell you on the right trick to living. Some of these paths lead up what feels like a mountain, but they do not lead back down. Christ reveals himself, offers a spiritual experience of overflowing praise, but then shows us a path to follow of humility, sacrifice, and service.
“The entire life of a good Christian is in fact an exercise of holy desire. You do not yet see what you long for, but the very act of desiring prepares you, so that when he comes you may see and be utterly satisfied.” He comes like a brilliant, transformative light. He comes like the poor and broken of the earth. We must be ready for both visions. Jesus brings us up the mountain and then Jesus sends us back down.
The disciples followed Jesus up the mountain. They saw a great sight and they heard a great sound. The fact that Peter goes on to deny Jesus does not negate his experience of God. On the mountain, they have this experience that is overflowing, that cannot be contained. They see who they are following. They see God with us.
Jesus tells them not to share what happened until after resurrection, which is how it comes to us. It shows us how Christ is revealed by a sign and by a voice. This sign, the lamb of God, offers us peace by showing us that God is here for us. It offers us encouragement as we go back down the mountain.
God shows us signs in our life of God’s presence. They may not be as brilliantly bright as the transfiguration, but they are there. In order to see them, we have to look for them. God is here for you. You are good enough. There is a valley still to cross, but God is here for you.
Our closing Praise Song is The Transfiguration by Sufjan Stevens. You won’t find it on Christian Radio. Sufjan was one of the biggest Indy artists when I was in seminary. His album about the state of Illinois, “Come on Feel the Illinoise”, won the pitchfork album of the year in 2005, which was the height of hipstersdom. That album includes a song called Casimir Pulaski Day which is about a girlfriend dying of cancer and the struggle of faith in the midst of suffering. It was such a complex and interesting song which dealt with hope and faith and love in complex ways that I had to find everything this guy had written. One of his early albums was called Seven Swans that was inspired by a spiritual experience but had this song on the transfiguration.
As I said in the beginning of my sermon, this song changed my own view of this passage of scripture. The moment is vital for what happens next. When we skip over the mountain, we make the depth of the valley of the shadow of death shallower.
The mountain top prepares for the valley. The mountaintop prepares for the cross.
Some of us have been called to the mountain top. Some of us have experienced God in that direct way. Your faith is valid whether you’ve been to the mountaintop or not because your faith is about Jesus, not about your own experiences. God uses our experiences as tools to draw us closer, but they can easily be misunderstood, just like they were for Peter. We need to put our experiences of God within the context of God’s call on us and God’s purpose for us.
God shows us the mountain. God shows us that we are loved and forgiven. God shows us that we are worthy. God shows us God’s power. And then we are sent down the mountain, and we need to remember who God is because the valley will have challenges. There will be struggles. There will be doubts, but God sent us down and God is with us even in the darkness.
The Transfiguration song ends with the heavenly chorus singing praises together. This is the main part for us to sing together. We may not be on a mountain anymore. But we need to be ready to look for a sign. We need to be ready to listen for a voice. God is revealing God’s love for you. Look for the sign. Receive the blessing. Even in going down the mountain towards lent and towards the cross, you are not alone. God is with you. Thanks be to god.
Let us pray,
Great God of dazzling beauty and overshadowing majesty, in Jesus Christ, your beloved Son, we glimpse the image of your glory. Teach us to listen to him so that we may hear your voice and follow your holy way; in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.