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Summary

This sermon explores the profound meaning of faith, emphasizing that it is not about being right but about being transformed into the image of Jesus. It reflects on the story of the Transfiguration, where Jesus embodies the fulfillment of the law and the prophets, revealing God’s presence and inviting his followers to trust Him amidst fear and brokenness. Ultimately, the message calls believers to listen to Jesus, embrace His love, and live out the kingdom of heaven by loving God and neighbors wholeheartedly.

Transcript

THE WORLD IS BROKEN — BUT GOD IS HOLDING IT TOGETHER

Several months ago, I was having a conversation with someone that I am connected to, and the conversation was very heavy, and they were in a very difficult spot and feeling the weight of the world on their shoulders, as the saying goes. And in that moment, this song actually came to my mind, he's got the whole world in his hands. And I was reflecting on that, thinking about this situation and this moment.

And I think that for many of us, for most of us, probably actually, all of us. All of us would agree that the world around us is broken, right? In fact, I think that that's probably the one thing that anyone and everyone, no matter where you are from, no matter what your religious beliefs are, no matter what side of the political aisle you are from or what your culture is or your country of origin. I think that we all understand that the world is broken. It is not as it should be.

But in that, through this conversation, what I realized is that even in the brokenness, God is holding the world together. Even in the brokenness, God is holding the world together. And as bad as it may get, as difficult as our circumstances may be, whether it's the circumstances in our lives or in the world around us, that in the midst of it all, God in grace is holding the world together.

UNDERSTANDING THE WRATH OF GOD

We read a scripture earlier about a psalm that talked about the wrath of God. You know it's going to be a good day when a pastor gets up and says, let's talk about the wrath of God. This may not come as a surprise to you because I feel this way a lot when it comes to the church today in our faith, but I think that we have a misunderstanding of what that word means, the wrath of God. We tend to think of this in the same way that you and I might get angry and turn wrathful. Something goes on around us, a situation, a circumstance causes us frustration, and begins to boil up within us. Some people, it just is a quick boil. Some of us, it's a slow simmer into a boil. But we get to the point where we can't take it anymore, and it's just anger. Right? That is not God's way. God is not like us. We get angry. God does not get angry in that way.

And so the Bible, though, talks about God's wrath. So then what is God's wrath. And I would say that the wrath of God is actually the absence of God. The wrath of God is the absence of God, which is, to me, a terrifying thought. Picture here, uh, Fahrenheit 451, uh, walking dead for a modern, well, ish reference. Whatever your apocalyptic story of choice is. That's what I think of when I think of the absence of God.

One of the most prolific modern day ish writers, C.S. Lewis, modern being in the 1900s, early 1900s, he wrote this. We may ignore, talking about God's presence. We may ignore God's presence, but we can nowhere evade the presence of God. The world is crowded with him. God walks everywhere, incognito, and the incognito is not always hard to penetrate. The real labor is to remember, to attend. In fact, to come awake, still more, to remain awake.

If wrath, if the wrath of God is the absence of God. That's brought about when we seek to evade God, or we seek to live as if God is not near. And if that is, if the absence of God is the wrath of God, then beholding God, or being awake to God, or alive with God is the kingdom of heaven here on earth.

OUR FAITH IS ABOUT BEING FORMED, NOT BEING RIGHT

Our faith, our faith in God is not being right. I'm going to say that again. Our faith in God is not about being right. Our faith in God is not about choosing the right thing. Our faith in God is not about choosing the right thing. Our faith is about being formed into the image of Jesus. It's not about being right. It's about being formed into the image of Jesus.

And when we began to understand our faith in that way, the Holy Spirit moves in our lives, filling us with his spirit, leading us in the ways of the kingdom of heaven. And the last thing that we will care about is being right. The thing that will motivate us, and fuel us, is to live faithfully, according to the way of Jesus, which is what we have been talking about, and loving God, and loving our neighbor. That is what Jesus taught us. That is what we are called to do. Our faith is not about being right. It is about being formed. And I think that's something we need to really lean into in this current age.

THE TRANSFIGURATION OF JESUS — MATTHEW 17

And so today, with that in mind, we come to the story called The Transfiguration of Jesus, right? The transfiguration of Jesus. And we encounter this story of Jesus up on a mountain, and there are a few of his disciples with him, and they're joined by people from the way back, from Moses and Elijah. And I want to read this story and then talk about what kind of significance this might have for us in our life today.

But remember, we read it just a few minutes ago. This story is connected with a story in the Old Testament of Moses ascending the mountain to meet with God, and on that mountain, God gives his law to the people. And that Moses' face is radiated with the presence of God, so much so that he has to veil his face from the people. And so, with that in mind, we come to this story in Matthew chapter 17.

And I want to invite you today to help capture our attention. If you are able, to stand as we read the gospel here together. After 6 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. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then, there appeared before them, Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up 3 shelters, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah. 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. When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground, terrified. 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 instructed them, do not tell anyone what you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead. This is the word of the Lord. Amen. You may be seated.

WHAT THE TRANSFIGURATION MEANS FOR US

This is a bit of a strange encounter. And I will offer a shameless plug. We had a lively conversation this morning at 10 a.m. And one of the things that we are doing in our Sunday morning circles is looking at the text for the sermon. And so those of you who were able to be here at 10 a.m. have already had your mind kind of primed to this. And I would like to use that as a way of inviting you to come, not next Sunday, because if you're here at 10 a.m., you'll have to end up making coffee, because it won't be quite ready yet. We don't have Sunday morning circles at 10 a.m. But the Sunday and first Sunday in March, we will have it again. If you are able... I know that sometimes time constraints prevent that, but that's a good way for us to be together and connect with one another.

One of the reasons why we follow the lectionary here, most frequently, a journey, is because of the way that last week and today, line up with one another. The sacred calendar leads us through the story of the scriptures. Old Testament, New Testament and the Gospels. And the way that it leads us is as the story is told. A lot of churches will put together nice sermon packages, and those are good things to do, they can give you a good understanding of scripture and of what God might be calling us to. But when we follow the lectionary, the story sort of tells itself.

And last week, if you can remember, we read the scripture in Matthew chapter 5, where Jesus talked about his followers being salt and light, and then he says, I have not come to abolish the law and the prophets, I have come to fulfill the law and the prophets. Okay? So that's what Jesus said. We talked about that last week. This week, we read about Jesus and some of the disciples ascending up a mountain, and at this peak of this mountain, Jesus is joined by Moses and Elijah, his face is radiating. Eventually, Moses and Elijah disappear, and Jesus is left.

MOSES, ELIJAH, AND JESUS — THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS FULFILLED

And so we put these stories together with the story of Exodus that we read about Moses, what Peter proclaimed later on following the resurrection. And we learn a few things about this moment. First of all, Moses represents the law of God, right? If you can think back to when you watched Charlton Heston deliver the Ten Commandments. Moses represents the law, right? The law is the way in which the people know God and live according to the ways of God. Elijah represents the prophets. The prophets are the people who proclaimed by the power of the Holy Spirit, what it looked like for flesh and bone, you and I, the people around them, to follow in the ways of God.

And so Moses and Elijah represent the law and the prophets, and Jesus is there, and what happens, Moses and Elijah disappear, and Jesus is left as the fulfillment, the putting together in one of the law and the prophets in the body and person of Jesus. Jesus is the fulfillment of the law.

When Moses had a similar encounter, as Jesus did on the mountain. Moses had to veil his face because it was shining so brightly, the people were concerned about what in the world was taking place, and the holiness of God was unable to be beheld by the people, by regular people. They could not be in the presence of holy God before Jesus. Jesus has this experience. His face is radiating with the presence of God. And his disciples are trembling in fear, but Jesus walks over to them and touches them and says to them, do not be afraid.

DO NOT BE AFRAID — THE NEARNESS OF JESUS

All right? When Moses experienced the presence of God, the people could not be near him. He had to veil his face. Jesus is the fullness and the presence of God. And what does he do to his disciples who are afraid? He touches them. And he says, do not be afraid.

When I was in college, I attended a church in Piedmont, Oklahoma. Let me tell you, Piedmont, Oklahoma is the epicenter of the country. And when I was there, uh, they had an evangelist, um, his name escapes me right now. He was an older gentleman, and if Piedmont is the epicenter of country, this man was the saint of country. And a great person. I got to know him, very lovely, but definitely from the country. And whenever he would get excited in his sermon, he would say he would pause for a moment and he would say, if that don't stoke the wood, you're fire, you ain't got none. So I want to echo my friend. If that don't stoke the wood in your fire. There is a problem.

Jesus filled with the glory of God touches his disciples and says, do not be afraid. So many of us. And even more so, so many of our neighbors are captured or arrested with fear, fear of what tomorrow is going to bring. Fear of what is going to happen in the world around us, fear about upcoming doctor's appointment, fear about what my kid is going to endure the next week, fear is all around us. But Jesus comes to us. wraps his arm around us, and offers to us, do not be what? Afraid.

And our focus on widening circles, we have been seeking to create and flourish community with God, with one another and with our neighbors, particularly when it comes to God, we're talking about knowing God, but also being known by God. And that knowing and being known is about, learning to trust, learning to trust God, learning to trust Jesus, learning to trust the Holy Spirit's action in our lives. And I think for many of us today, if we could understand the nearness of God through the touch of Jesus in our lives, our trust would be ignited and expanded in ways that we have previously not known.

The difference between Moses, Elijah, and Jesus is that Jesus is God. Moses and Elijah are not. But even in Jesus' holiness, in his equality with God. What he desires is friendship. Friendship with you, friendship with me. This is what Jesus himself desires, is to be friends. Friends enjoy being together. Friends, encourage one another. They support one another. They stand with one another. Friends are there when you need them. Friends are, they don't have to wait for a phone call. They show up when you need somebody to show up. Friends' lives are enmeshed together. And that is what Jesus proclaims about his relationship with us and our relationship.

THE MOUNTAINTOP AND THE CROSS — N.T. WRIGHT

But this passage is more than just Jesus relating to his disciples. And I want to, in order for us to help capture the more that it is. I'm going to do something I don't normally do. I'm going to read a longer excerpt from a commentary because the commentator said it way better than I can. So I want to begin by reading this quote from NT Wright, who is a bishop in the Church of England.

Here is what he says. For the New Testament writers in general, in fact, humanity itself is a glorious thing. right? We need to rewind that and hear that because we don't always hear that in church. Humanity itself is a glorious thing. And Jesus, Jesus' perfect humanity provides the model for the glory which all his people will one day share. If you want to see Jesus' divinity, the early Christians would tell us, you must look, however surprisingly, at Jesus' suffering and shameful death. If that seems puzzling, it is a puzzle that the 1st Christians insisted that we should live with. Okay? So basically what he is saying to us here is, if we want to understand Jesus' divinity, we have to first wrestle with Jesus' suffering and shameful death.

And so there's an interesting part of this passage where this great things happen. Peter wants to build a shelter. The purpose for building a shelter is so that all the people can come to the mountain and see for themselves what has taken place. But Jesus says to them, do not tell anyone about this experience until I have been raised from the dead. So we understand that the completion of the law and the prophets is Jesus' death and resurrection. That is what we, as followers of him, put our faith in, his life, death, and resurrection, when the fulfillment of the law and the prophets is in Jesus. And so in order to understand this mountaintop experience, we have to understand the hill of Calvary where Jesus suffered.

And there's actually a lot of similarities between the two. I want to talk about a couple of them. First of all, on the mountain, Jesus is revealed in glory. on the cross, Jesus is revealed in shame. On the mountain, his clothes are shining. On the cross, his clothes are stripped away and gambled for. On the mountain, Jesus is flanked by Moses and Elijah, again, Israel's greatest heroes, representing the law and the prophets, on the cross, Jesus is flanked by 2 criminals, representing to us how low Israel had sunk in their rebellion against God. On the mountain, there's a bright cloud that overshadows the scene of what is transpiring. At the cross, darkness comes upon the world. On the mountain, Peter says, it is good for us to be here at the cross. Peter is nowhere to be found instead hiding in his shame. On the mountain, there's a voice from God saying, this is my son. At the cross, a pagan soldier cries out, we have killed the son of God.

You see, the glory of Jesus. is completely reversed from all other stories of glory. Jesus' glory isn't in him being exalted at the top, but in humility suffering the death. of a criminal. Humbling himself to death, even death on a cross.

And because we have been relying upon our favorite British theologians, I want to read the remainder of this excerpt from NT Wright and what he writes about this story, he says this, the mountaintop explains the hilltop and vice versa. Again, the hilltop being Calvary where Jesus was crucified. Perhaps we only understand either of them when we see it side by side with the other. Learn to see the glory and the cross, learn to see the cross in the glory. And you will have begun to bring together the laughter and the tears of the God who hides in the clouds, and the God who is to be known in the strange person of Jesus himself.

This story is, of course, about being surprised by the power, love and beauty of God. But the point of it is that we should learn to recognize that same power, love, and beauty within Jesus and listen for it in his voice. Not least when he tells us to take up the cross and to follow him.

Matthew, here as everywhere, highlights the parallel between Jesus and Moses. Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt, and then, before completing his task, He went up Mount Sinai to receive the law. When he went up again, after the Israelites had drastically broken the law, to pray for them and beg for God's mercy. Elijah too, met God in a special way on Mount Sinai. But Matthew's interest throughout the gospel is in the way in which Jesus is like Moses only more so. Towards the end of Moses' life, God promised to send the people a prophet just like him. in Deuteronomy 18, and gave them the command. You must listen to him. Now, as Moses once again meets God on the mountain. The voice from the cloud draws attention to Jesus, confirming what Peter had said in the previous chapter. Jesus isn't just a prophet. He is God's own son, the Messiah, and God is delighted with what he is doing. The word to the disciples then is just as much a word to us today. If you want to find the way the way of God, the way to the promised land, you must listen to him.

THE SIMPLE CALL — LISTEN TO HIM

In a world where there are so many competing voices pulling us apart, turning us against one another, filling us with fear, normalizing brokenness. Jesus, having endured the world's shame, invites us to trust, simply and holy, that in no matter what everyone else says, whether it be preacher or skeptic, that no matter what any author writes, no matter what any politician declares, that the way of the kingdom of heaven is so simple and clear, it can be summed up in, love the Lord, your God, with your heart, and soul, and might, and love your neighbor as yourself.

You see, Moses spoke great things about God. The prophets, Samuel, Elijah, on down the road, spoke great things about God. The New Testament writers from Acts to Revelation, spoke great things about God. But all of these things are to be understood in the teachings of Jesus. And if there is any teaching of any kind that leads us on a path other than the way of Jesus, and what Jesus summed up as loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself, then whatever that teaching is, it is not good, and it does not belong because Jesus is the word. Jesus is the authority, and we can trust him. That following him is the way in which the kingdom of heaven is alive, and us and alive end the world around us. May your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Our role is to listen.

CLOSING PRAYER

Would you pray with me, Jesus? Oftentimes, when Pastor types get up and say it's pretty simple, their only touching the complexity of life. Because though it may sound simple, it is complex in its application. But Lord, you invite us. To trust you. You are with us, not far from us. You invite us to encounter your spirit as we seek to wrestle with these competing voices that sometimes cause us fear or judgment or panic or frustration, and you invite us to hear your words, which in their place lead us to love, joy, and peace, and patience.

And so God, we pray that today in this moment, through the remainder of this week, that you would capture our attention with your words, with your voice, that anytime there is a competing narrative that begins to wrestle for our attention, that you, by the power of your spirit would remind us, that you are with us, that we do not have to be afraid, that we simply learn to love you and love our neighbor as ourselves. And we invite you to lead us in a way in which we are able to trust that, to trust you, to trust your teaching. We ask these things today, Jesus, in your name and for your sake. Amen.