Transfiguration Sunday

This is the rough text of a sermon preached at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Atlanta, Georgia on the 7th of February, 2016, Transfiguration Sunday.  The Gospel reading for the day was Luke 9:28-43.   Please note that these are not exact transcriptions and that there may be some spelling and grammatical errors

Today is called ‘Transfiguration Sunday’ because the traditional way that the word in greek is translated is ‘transfigured’, but it can just as easily be understood as meaning changed or transformed.  And I can’t lie, when I think about the word transform, my mind immediately goes to old Transformers toys.  What’s interesting about it, is that on the outside, they appeared to be one thing, a car, a truck, a boom box, etc, but then they were changed, they got transformed and their true identity appeared, their real self became apparent. 

And think that’s a lot of what the text today is talking about.  It’s telling us about transformation, it’s telling us about changed, it’s telling us about being recognized for what and who we truly are.  And I think the question for us to consider is to what are being transformed and for what reason are we being transformed.

I have to admit that the Transfiguration as an event seems kind of odd.  It has a very mystical and supernatural feel to it, but I think it speak some kind of truth to us.  In this experience we have the full glory of Jesus revealed to Peter, James and John, and it is awe inspiring and glorious.  Peter is ready to just stay on the mountaintop, to constantly revel in the glory of the revealed Jesus. 

And I think that deep down, we are all just like Peter.  Deep down we all desire the experiences of glory.  We all long for those ‘mountaintop moments’ for those times when everything seems great.  When you feel like the pressures of reality have been pushed aside and you don’t have any worries and you can just be in the moment. 

And I think that more than just being the type of mountaintop moment that we desire, this Gospel reading tells us about the Jesus that we desire.  We desire the Jesus of glory, of power, we desire the God who feels like the conquering hero.  We want the Jesus who, to quote a pastor friend, ‘is lit up like the Las Vegas Strip.’  We want the glitz and the glamour.

But the reality is that the Jesus revealed on the mountain is not the Jesus that we get.  We get the Jesus who continues on the way to Jerusalem.  We get the Jesus who is betrayed, tried and convicted.  We get the Jesus who is beaten, humiliated, and murdered on the cross.  We may think we want the Jesus who is wholly divine, but we get the Jesus who is also fully human.

But we also get the Jesus who is fully present with us through all things and who fully understands both our joys and our sorrows.  We get the Jesus who may understand our mountaintop moments, but we also get the Jesus who understands what it is to be in the depths of despair.

And that’s an important thing because it reminds us that, like Jesus, we aren’t called to stay on the mountain, we aren’t called to revel in glory.  Jesus’ revelatory transformation is not for Jesus’ own personal glory.  The act of the transformation, the transfiguration, is done for our sake, so that we would understand the oneness of the Father and the Son.  Jesus does not have power for his own sake.  Jesus has power for the sake of others.  And so Jesus doesn’t stay on top of the mountain, but Jesus leads the disciples back down the mountain.  Jesus leads them back into the crowds, Jesus leads them back into the midst of the pain of the world.

So rather than seeking experiences of glory, the disciples are reminded that they are called to seek out those in need and to be present with them.  I tend to think that this was probably challenging for the disciples because I know it’s challenging for me.  I mean, mountaintop moments are pretty great.  It feels great to experience those moments.  And I think that we search for moments of glory more than just in our own lives.  I think we seek out those moments of glory in our own church.  I mean, we want the big, fancy church, with all the nice gold adornments, and the fancy altarware, the nice robes.  We want a rich church, lots of programs that make us feel good.  We want worldly success and riches.   We want a church of glory.

But again, we don’t get a church of glory.  We get Jesus on the cross.  We get a savior who forsakes glory and instead suffers on our behalf.  A savior who takes on sin so that sin and death might be ended.  A savior who forsakes glory and instead chooses us.

We get the savior who came back down the mountain to heal a child.  Jesus and the disciples came back down to carry out the gospel and to be with those in need.

And that tells us about who we are called to be.  That tells us about what we are called to do.  We are not called into glory, but we are called into servanthood.  If we are part of Christ’s church we should not be seeking personal power and glory, but we should be seeking to serve.  And that doesn’t always happen.  We can look around see brokenness and see the pain that happens when people seek to help themselves and not help others. 

But we know that we are transformed through our baptism not for ourselves, but we are transformed for God and for each other. 

So I think about where we are as a church, I think about where Emmanuel is now and where we are capable of going.  I think about the uncertainty that many of us feel and the sense of agitation that is present on many of our hearts.  And I get it, I understand.  We have concerns about where we are right now and where we are going.  But if we keep our focus on how we use the gifts with which we have been blessed and how we can use them to serve others, I promise you that this church will become a light that will attract other to it.  It will see growth.   If we reject the desire to be a church of glory and instead embrace the call to be a servant church, we will see growth.

We are stepping forward into an uncertain future.  We are stepping forward despite concerns about budgets, despite concerns about programs, and for some of us, we are stepping forward despite concerns about our very future. 

And while we may be uncertain about some things, there are some things which I am very certain about. 

First, I am certain that God is not done with us here at Emmanuel.  We still have a lot of work that we are called to be part of as God’s kingdom continues to be made manifest.  There are still people in need of hearing the good news of Christ.  There are people who still need to hear that they are beloved children of God.

Second, we are not, as Martin Luther reminds us, we are not theologians of glory.  We are theologians of the cross.  We recognize that it is at the cross where we truly are closest to God and we recognize that our calling is not to look for own personal betterment, our calling is not to create our own personal fiefdoms, but our calling is break down those empires that oppress and our calling is be alongside those who are in need, even those in need are our fellow congregation members or students who are concerned about their future.  These are the people we are called to serve too.  Servanthood can reach inside the doors of this church as well as outside.  Where there is suffering or need, the church is called to be there.

We are being transformed.  We are being transformed as individuals and as a congregation.  We are not being transformed for glory or to sew division amongst us, but we are being transformed so that can come together in love, so that we can support each other.  God has called each and every person to be part of God’s work in this world, to follow the path of Jesus and to make ourselves servants to all and through our baptism our old self has perished and we have been resurrected as children of God.  As we go out, let us cast aside our egos, our desires, our pride and let us instead walk humbly along the path that Jesus walked. 

And we know that though the path is challenging, we know that being transformed into the people of God is not easy, but we also know that just like Jesus walked with the disciples back down the mountain and out into the crowds, so too does Jesus  walk with us during this time of transition, guiding us along the way.  And because of that constant presence and that enduring love for us, we can truly say, thanks be to God.  Amen.