Sermon: Transfiguration of Our Lord, "How Good, Lord, You Are Here"

How Good, Lord, You Are Here
Transfiguration of Our Lord (NL3)
February 10, 2013
Luke 9.28-45

Last week I mentioned that Cindy and I saw the movie, Les Miserables, based on the book by Victor Hugo. Set during the French Revolution, it is a story of grace, transformation and redemption. I also mentioned that it was a very powerful movie with a stirring ending. What I didn’t say is that I was so moved by what I experienced I left the movie virtually speechless. About the only thing I could say was, “Wow,” and it was a muted one at that. There have not been many times in my life that I have had this kind of experience. Participating in the birth of our daughters was probably the most profound.  And there have been times when I have been awed by the beauty of creation, such as seeing the Badlands in South Dakota and the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.

So, I wonder if this is how Peter, John, and James felt as they came down the mountain with Jesus. They went up on the mountain with Jesus to pray and were stunned when Jesus was transfigured before them, somehow recognizing two of the most revered Old Testament figures, Moses and Elijah. However, Peter being Peter and not knowing what to say, says it anyway. He offers to build three tents, presumably to prolong the experience. Yet, even Peter is rendered speechless as a cloud settles over them and a voice from heaven commands that Jesus is the Chosen One of God, the one to be listened to.

I’ve mentioned before that I left the church after Confirmation, entering my agnostic phase where I doubted the existence of God. However, in May of 1978 after being invited back to church and much soul searching, I rededicated my life to Christ, believing the answers to my questions would be found in the church, not outside of it. One of the reasons I remember it so vividly was that after I did this, nothing happened! There was no choir of angels singing and surely no voice from heaven declaring me to be chosen or beloved. In fact, I can say that I have not had the same reaction of Peter, John, and James very often in my life, to be overwhelmed by God’s presence. I have not had anything close to what other Christians describe as a mountaintop experience.

Whenever I hear about other people’s mountaintop experiences of God, a sadness and wistfulness settles over me. I wonder if I’m a defective Christian or if God just ignores me. I don’t think this is helped by those Christian groups that place a huge emphasis on experiences in the life of faith. When I was in the business world, I had an employee, Rick, who was a member of a Pentecostal church that emphasized speaking in other tongues as evidence of the Holy Spirit’s presence. Rick would imply that I was not really a Christian because I hadn’t received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

We had some interesting conversations because I knew enough about God’s grace to not buy into the necessity of what he claimed I needed to experience. I appreciated Rick’s passion, but I have come to realize that God works in many ways in our lives, more often quietly than not. God is not always in the storm or the wind or the lighting, but often in the sound of sheer silence or still, small voice, as it says in 2 Kings. In fact, one of my most profound experiences of God’s presence was hearing, but not hearing, this voice at an ordination service “saying” to me, “You need to be doing that,” meaning that I should become a pastor. And several years later, I was blown away by an aunt who, out of the blue, offered to help subsidize seminary for me and my family should I do so. More importantly, I have experienced God in, with, and through you, the Body of Christ in quiet, but deeply profound ways.

I think the most important part of our scripture today is not Jesus’ transfiguration, nor is it the healing of the demon-possessed boy, nor Jesus’ “passion prediction,” as important as these things are. The most important part is not even the speechlessness of Peter, James, and John. I think the most important thing is God’s command to us that we are to listen to his Son, Jesus. Listening involves stopping our mouths along with the rest of ourselves and to pay attention to what God is up to in our world. Hearing Jesus’ voice will be especially important as we come down the mountain and join with Jesus on the road to Jerusalem, because he will ask us to leave behind our ideas about what it means to follow him. For Jesus is the Chosen of God; listen to him. Amen.