Sermon
at All Saints Church, Whiteparish - Sunday 6 August 2017
Daniel
7:9-10;13-14; 2 Peter 1:16-19; Luke 9:28-36
Dear Lord, I pray that these words spoken next shall be your
words and shall be a blessing to all who hear them. Amen
I recently
attended a meeting of Anglican church
ministers as part of my ongoing training and development and we had a
discussion around how, as ministers, we should or could do mission, evangelise
the Glory of knowing Christ to people who were not Christians or seemed to have
little or no interest in searching further into the mystery of Christian
spirituality. In a world and political
climate where, increasingly, it is becoming harder and harder to preach the
gospel outside of the traditional church environment we need to get the message
of the Good News across in ways where people do not feel they are being
proselytised – where they can feel comfortable in hearing the gospel.
One of the
contributors to the meeting, a lady pastoral assistant, said that she had been
in a work environment and without saying much at all, simply actively looking
and listening intently to the various working colleagues at an office meeting
had been approached afterwards by one of those colleagues who asked her “You’re a Christian aren’t you”? to
which the lady replied “Yes, but how do
you know, I’ve never made a habit of telling anyone at work”. The enquirer replied “There is something about your face and demeanour, a gentleness and
kindness and a glow in your face and eyes which I can’t really explain – but I
wish I had some of it!”.
For me,
that encapsulated everything about how, we as Christians can be seen by all
those we encounter in our daily lives – having something which others want.
In our
bible readings today we read of the Transfiguration of Jesus. That moment when Jesus revealed himself in
all his glory as the Son of Man to those few special disciples who were
privileged enough to witness it – Peter, John and James – his chief
disciples. Ordinary men themselves.
It is
interesting and important to note that the passage begins with Jesus going up
to the top of a mountain to pray and reminds us of the importance of prayer in
our daily lives – it should be as natural and necessary as breathing but it
doesn’t necessarily mean using long and special words. We should simply recognise, honour and
communicate with our Creator. Mountain
tops are great places to do this as we can look over Creation into the far
distance and for this reason I love going to the Lake District. However, the importance of this passage is
that whilst he was praying the appearance of his face and clothes became
dazzling white and Moses and Elijah appeared talking to them.
For those
of the Jewish Faith, Moses and Elijah are both regarded as the greatest
prophets and you will recall that Elijah was taken up to Heaven in a whirlwind
(2 Kings 2:11) and was expected one day to return and Moses, we learn in
Exodus 34:29-35, when he came
down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets containing the Ten Commandments, had
the skin of his face glowing because he had been talking to God such that the
Israelites were frightened to come near him.
He had to resort to putting a veil over his face such was the effect his
shining skin had on them. Thus, the Transfiguration of Christ is a tangible
sign to his Jewish followers that here is the Son of God, the one prophesised
by Moses and Elijah – who bears the glory of God, who shines like Moses and who
shall ascend back into Heaven like Elijah. Both Moses and Elijah had
mountaintop experiences and here is the greatest one of all.
Peter, ever
the impulsive and pragmatic disciple wants to capture the moment. He wants it to last for ever – to build three
shelters or tents – one for each of Jesus, Moses and Elijah where, in
accordance with Middle-Eastern culture they would have to stay until their
hosts wished them to leave and dismantled the tents. This marvellous experience could, in Peter’s
thinking, go on for ever. Marvellous no doubt it was, and an immense privilege
for those who saw it – an affirmation of Jesus Christ as the incarnated Son of
God – but it couldn’t last forever.
The Greek
word used in the bible for “Transfiguration” is probably more closely
translated as “Metamorphos” from
which we get the word “metamorphosis” meaning to change. Christ’s appearance
“changed” for those brief moments described in Luke’s gospel. In those moments Christ is shown to be God
himself and the words of the Father come down to the witnesses – “This is my Son, my Chosen, listen to him!” This is an affirmation and a revelation – the
disciples have already gone out on a limb, leaving their families and
occupations to follow this itinerant preacher and healer but now they find
themselves in the presence of God just as did Moses and Elijah.
Few of us
are, or will be, privileged enough to have such a close intimate experience as
this of God – as quite a few of my atheist friends say “how can anyone believe
in a non-existent person such as God unless you see or experience Him
yourself?” In saying this I feel sure
they mean having the same or similar experience to that of Peter, John and
James – a mind blowing almost fairy tale like one; but God is to be found and
experienced in our every day lives. As
we read, Jesus and the disciples had to return back down the mountainside –
their mountaintop experience had to end but it transformed them into better and
more informed disciples. As we later
read in Peter’s Epistle (one of the three disciple who witnessed the
Transfiguration) which formed our Second Reading today (2 Peter 1:16-19)
:
“For 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
the honour and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by
theMajestic Glory, saying ‘This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I
am well pleased’.
We heard that voice
ourselves come from heaven while we were on the Holy Mountain. So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will
do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the
day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”
Peter, the same impetuous
disciple on the mountain with Jesus realises and recognises the importance of
the message and uses his eyewitness account to add veracity to his later
preaching and evangelism principally to the Jewish non-believers. He came back
down from this wonderful experience to continue his humdrum life following
Jesus around with the others amongst some of the poorest and oppressed in
Judea.
So how do we obtain that mountaintop
experience to enable us to come down from the mountaintop to evangelise our
Faith to others? Well like Jesus we need
to go up to the mountaintop and pray.
That is where the whole Transfiguration story began – “Jesus went up the mountain to pray”. As you will hear next week when you
listen to the Old Testament reading of Elijah’s mountaintop encounter with God
at 1 Kings 19:11-18, such encounter can be
a still small voice of calm after the wind, earthquake and fire. God’s small
voice speaking to us in a calm and peaceful place can be as transforming as the
greatest show of Glory from the Heavens – but it is necessary for us to listen
very carefully for that voice. It is
likely to be heard just as much after during our everyday “down the mountain”
experiences as when we are at our corporate devotions on a Sunday.
I recently preached on the life of Etty Hillesum, a Jew
who ended her life (or rather had it ended) in Auschwitz in 1944. She had
earlier converted to Christianity not through attending church or any other
form of organised Christian event or ceremonies or house group but by learning
the art of meditative prayer through her counsellor. She heard God’s voice
through extended prayer – allowing room for God to enter into her very self and
in her own words was able to ensure that God was given room to be with her in
the Jewish Transportation Camp in Holland and later in Auschwitz; room to
ensure that God was able to be amongst the great evil and suffering. For where Etty was, so was God. A remarkable lady whose life I recommend you
to read. My sermon on her can be found
as Sermon No. 98 on my ministry website. The story of her life is told in
Patrick Woodhouse’s book “A Life
Transformed”. It could be titled “A Life Transfigured”.
The Transfiguration in the bible is a narrative about a
particular amazing event at a particular amazing time – but for me it’s also
about what happened afterwards and its meaning for us, as Jesus’s disciples
today. Peter sums it up well :
“You will do well to be
attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and
the morning star rises in your hearts.”
Amen
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