Happy Transfiguration Sunday!. This coming week starts the special season of Lent, leading up to Easter. We’ll commemorate Ash Wednesday at 5:30 on Wednesday 3/2, before Bible Study. Food Pantry will be open on Tuesday 5:30 to 7 pm as usual. Welcome to church!
Father in Heaven, creator of all that is good and right in life, Lord today we humbly thank you for all of your good in our world, and ask your forgiveness when we have not included you in our thoughts and prayers. Please teach us to be more like you Father, and to grow stronger in your love each day. Amen!
Message; God’s Transfiguration, Our Transformation!
Transfiguration Sunday, marks for us the close of Epiphany. Epiphany being that time each year after Christmas, when the Christian Church realizes that God has come to be with us in human history with the Nativity of Christ. And a realization that God is alive and exist in our world today. Yes this week many Christians, will transition from Epiphany to Lent (the time of reflection and preparation for the Passion Week of Easter, what many Christians use to reconnect to their Faithwalk), and it all hinges for many with Transfiguration Sunday.
Today across the planet, Christians in various Denominations of our Faith are celebrating, observing, and participating in Transfiguration Sunday. In our Church we observe this Sunday as a reminder of who God is, what we are not, and how a future in our Lord is possible. Dogma is not the driver for our participation, but a recognition of the importance of the day for our friends in other Churches, and the rich instruction provided by our Lord on the occasion of His Transfiguration.
It is why we have changed the color that we use to drape our Cross to White this morning. In order to celebrate the purity of the moment for so many in the various Christian Faithwalks around the earth today. This indeed is a deeply moving reference point of a day for many a Christian believer. For us, because we are a Bible based Church, today is an excellent opportunity for us to reflect on God’s Transfiguration, and our Transformation in this thing we call a Faithwalk.
So, the first of many questions that come to mind when reflecting on our subject this morning would be; What’s the difference between Transfiguration, and Transformation? I will give you some of my ideas on this concept this morning, but again, these are my thoughts on the subject. You are tasked with the heavy burden of thinking for yourself, through prayer, study, and reflection!
For a basic definition, that I believe is thoughtful, and a beginning for deeper reflection, but a great first step in what one Theologian believes. Here is what I pulled off of the; Banner of Truth Website. It is a quote from Hywel R. Jones, Professor Emeritus of Practical Theology Westminster Seminary California;
“There is a distinction between God and Man which will never be obliterated but preserved for ever – even in the glorified Christ in whom they are joined. But communion between the God-Man and his believing people will result in each Christian being fully conformed to the perfect humanity of Christ while retaining his or her own individuality. It will not result in a faceless absorption into the divine but face to face communion with the triune God for ever.”
Not Gospel, and speculation is always a dangerous occupation in Church, so as we begin to look at the deeper things of our faith, suffice to say we will be continually challenged, shocked, and surprised by the future through eternity, God has planned for you and I. Professor Jones is dissecting for us his idea of the difference between transfiguration (an outward change in someone or something), and transformation (the inward change in something or someone), by explaining how we are different from God (obviously).
Professor Jones completes this line of thought with;
‘The transfiguration of Christ shows how the divine can penetrate the human without destroying it. The transformation of the believer shows how the human can become conformed to the divine without its ceasing to be human. This is the ultimate metamorphosis that is compatible with Christian truth.’
In a general way, I agree and is a great place to begin our reflection of God’s splendor. We have that very majesty taking place in today’s Call to Worship reading from the Torah (God’s Instruction). Reading again from Exodus 34:29-35;
29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai.
33 When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.
So, was Moses Transfigured or Transformed? Again, my thought, you get to think for yourself. I would say both. And really what is missing so far in our discussion is a third concept, and that is the Glory, the Radiance of God in the mix. Moses has experienced the back end of God’s essence, and has lived. God has protected Moses from His devastatingly majestic self. Moses has experienced not only a change or transformation of his inner-self so to speak, but a noticeable change in his appearance. He now radiates some of the Glory of the Lord.
The veil that Mosses will use, I believe is symbolic of how he has been used as a middle man by the children of Israel, going back to the first Israel-God encounter back in Exodus 20:18-19;
18 When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance 19 and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”
My thought, God has wanted a real one on one relationship with each of us from the very beginning, and we human beings keep opting for the middle man and a veil for a false sense of protection. When the Lord stands ready to be our protection in all arrays of life, even our own battle with sin!
A couple of ideas for your consideration this morning:
- Moses has obviously grown in the Lord, resulting in a real transformation in his own life.
- Israel has been transformed in it’s walk in and with the Lord through the ministering of Moses as a middle man, and;
- We are transformed when we read God’s scripture with His Holy Spirit aiding our understanding
In a general way we could look at the fact that God does transfigure when making Himself available to our ability to recognize Him. This is the case when the Lord appears in a pillar of majesty to lead Israel, and when he visits upon Moses and Israel in a Great Cloud at Sini.
We have yet another passage this morning in today’s Message Reading that depicts the Transfiguration of God. Reading again from Luke 9:29-43;
28 About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. 29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. 30 Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. 31 They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. 32 Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. 33 As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.)
*Side Bar: Thank you Peter for making the rest of us feel better about our own struggles in life! Peter gives me hope, because we get to see how God forgives us in our struggles to understand life first hand, without a veil or a middleman as a buffer from our Lord.
I agree with many a theologian who speculate that Moses represents God’s Law, or instruction of the Old Covenant, and Elijah represents the Lord’s Prophets of the Old Covenant of the Old Testament, with Jesus reflecting, showing, radiating, His fulfillment of the Prophets and Law of God’s scripture, word, and love. Continuing with verse 34;
34 While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” 36 When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen.
**Side Bare Again; Many Christians believe and I too, that this is yet another place in scripture where we have Father (voice from Heaven), Son (Jesus), and Holy Spirit (Cloud), all in the same place at the same time. A theophany or “a visible manifestation to humankind of God” When God lets us be in contact with Him. This is such a Holy/scared event, that perhaps the Disciples felt it important to remain silent for a while as they reflected on what just happened. But God will not be restrained if He chooses to radiate His Glory and majesty in the world. Continuing with verse 37;
37 The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him. 38 A man in the crowd called out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. 39 A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him. 40 I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not.”
41 “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.”
42 Even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the impure spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father. 43 And they were all amazed at the greatness of God.
Were the disciples looking inward and thus retarding their growth in the Spirit? I don’t know. We can’t know another’s heart. Like all of the Lord’s gifts of the Spirit, if we choose not to use them, we lose them. Once given the charge to help others, when we don’t we no longer hold that charge on our end. The saying, once a pastor always a pastor, or once a teacher always a teacher, is bunk. Job title means nothing to God. Effort, tenacity, and availability, are everything in the battle we face with our sin, ego, lust, and fears.
When we look outward, we are available to do the Lord’s bidding, and when we look inward as individuals or as a Church, we are of no use to our Lord and His agenda for a better world. We die in the vine and we deserve to. Because we are of no use to our Lord. God’s grace is for sharing. God’s Good News is for our neighbors. The Lord’s love is for all of God’s creation and not intended for me to judge away His elegance in our world.
Today on Transfiguration Sunday, my hope is that you take away the following thoughts for you to ponder and reflect upon when you have some time alone;
- Transfiguration happens when God lets us interact with Him and he gives us something physical to reference.
- It also happens as a result of transformation within us.
- When people are filled with God’s grace, majesty, hope, and glory, we begin to reflect Him the source of radiance.
- Transformation happens when we are saved by accepting, then diving into God’s, love, grace, and hope.
- It become apparent, when we pour ourselves out into the people God places in our lives.
- Transformation goes from inside outward and serves as a blessing to others.
- Glory and radiance from God are the background symphony of majesty that builds into a crescendo of hope in our world of chaos and strife.
- It was echoed in Moses to God’s children in the wilderness.
- Radiated from Christ to all who accepts His invitation
- Reflected by you when you reach beyond and outside your comfort zone to others in need of your love, concern, prayers, efforts, hopes, and witness.
This week I hope you find comfort as you ponder your place in this world, and prepare yourself for the beginning of a time of reflection. This is the timeframe that many Christians refers to as Lent. From Ash Wednesday to Easter when many reflect on our Faithwalk, where we can do better, and work on our relationships, with the Lord, and other people.
May you experience God’s Transfiguration in your own walk, seek His Transformation in your own heart, and radiate His Glory in your life!
Amen!
Benediction; 2 Corinthians 3:17-4:1
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplatethe Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit…
4 1Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.
Amen!