1.
Please pray
with me. May the words of my mouth and
the mediation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our
Redeemer. Amen. The message from God’s Word on this day that
we celebrate the Transfiguration of our Lord is taken from Deuteronomy 34:1-12
and is entitled, “Viewing Our Lives from
God’s Perspective,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.
As a visitor
on more than one occasion to the Sears Tower in Chicago, now I guess it’s
called Willis Tower, I’ve been there when the visibility was so clear you could
see for miles. But, I’ve also been there when the fog was so thick that the
visibility was next to nothing. No matter where we are in life, there are
things that happen that cloud how well we can see what God is doing in our
lives. The problems of life—health and medical issues, family troubles,
marriage strife, financial worries, the death of a loved one, and so on—can all
cloud our vision for what we think God is doing or what we think He isn’t doing
for us. During those times when there are cloudy conditions in life, we need to
be reminded of God’s promises once again. Even when we can’t see things
clearly, God’s promises still remain. As
Christians we begin to view our lives from God’s perspective through the faith
He’s given us.
3.
In our Gospel
lesson for today from Luke 9 we see that two great heroes of faith, Moses and
Elijah, appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. Moses is the great
prophet of Old Testament times, the great lawgiver of Israel. He spoke with God
face-to-face and heard both law and gospel from God’s mouth. The law God gave
Israel through Moses was the basis of Israel’s structure; all the sacrifices
outlined in the ceremonial law pointed to the coming Messiah, and the gospel
Moses spoke to God’s stiff-necked people brought hope and joy. Elijah was one
of the great prophets who kept reminding God’s people of God’s promise to save
them. Elijah also spoke with God on a mountaintop, where God reminded him that
he works through the still, small voice of the gospel. If Moses could’ve looked back on the history
of Israel from the Mount of Transfiguration, he would’ve seen the shattered
pieces of a people who had rebelled against their God and his law. It was as
though he was there to say to Jesus: “There
was nothing wrong with the law or your promises, but there was something wrong
with the people. They didn’t—they couldn’t—earn your love. Now, Lord, it’s all
up to you.”
4.
Elijah may
have had a word to offer too. He’d worked faithfully to turn the wayward people
of his day back to Yahweh the God of Israel. On Mount Carmel he’d called down
fire from heaven in a contest with the 450 prophets of Baal. For the moment it
seemed as though Elijah had achieved his purpose. “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God,” the people
exclaimed (1 Ki 18:39). But almost before the ashes had cooled, the people were
running back to their old idols again. It would take more than a Moses and more
than an Elijah to establish the kingdom both servants of the Lord had promised. So Elijah, like Moses, was there at the
transfiguration to say to Jesus: “We’re
leaving it all up to you, Lord. People are helpless. They are renegades. They
will never accomplish anything on their own. Only your power and love can
remake a world of sinners. We’re sorry this means you will have to go to the
cross for us. But we are thankful that you are willing to do it for our sakes.”
In response, a voice from heaven shattered the stillness and proclaimed: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am
well pleased. Listen to him!” (Mt 17:5).
5.
When
we view our lives from God’s perspective it
offers us a view of the goodness of God (in giving his people a good
land). Deuteronomy 34:1-3 says, “1Then Moses went
up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is
opposite Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan,
2all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as
the western sea, 3the Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho the
city of palm trees, as far as Zoar.” God
had a specific purpose in directing Moses to climb to the top of Mount Nebo.
The time of Moses’ service had come to an end. Only one thing was left. God
wanted Moses to see the Promised Land before he died. On Mount Nebo, Moses was in a position to
look ahead and to look back over his whole life and to see both the past and
future from God’s perspective. The fact that God didn’t permit Moses to lead
Israel into the Land of Promise was a reminder particularly of his sin at
Meribah. But, his opportunity to see the land from a distance was also a
reminder of God’s promise to his people and also a reminder of another leader,
one greater than Moses, whom God would provide as a Savior for all people (Dt
18:15; cf. Ge 49:10). From the heights
of Nebo, what a sight it must have been. And what emotions Moses must have
felt—an urge to accompany his people into the land promised to his fathers, but
if that wasn’t to be, then at least a chance to contemplate that grand moment
in history. In his mind Moses must have been comparing the past with the
future, the land of slavery in Egypt with this land of future freedom for God’s
people.
6.
When
we view our lives from God’s perspective as Christians it also offers us a view of God as promise-keeper. (v. 4) and
it offers us a view of ourselves in the mirror of God’s law. (vv. 4, 5) Deuteronomy 34:4-5 says, “4And the LORD said to him, “This is the land
of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your
offspring.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over
there.” 5So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according
to the word of the LORD.” God promised. That says it all. That tells
us what kind of God we have. He not only promised. He made an oath. He didn’t
do that because His word wasn’t good. He added the oath for the sake of His
people. His intent has always been to erase all doubts from our minds about His
intentions. After all those years in Egypt, it may have seemed to Israel as
though God had forgotten His promise or changed His mind. But He hadn’t. He
never does. On Mount Nebo Moses saw tangible evidence of that.
7.
On Mount
Nebo, not only does the gospel speak powerfully, but so does the law with all
its sternness. Moses understood very well why he was given an opportunity to
see the Promised Land with his eyes but not to walk on it with his feet. In his
mind’s eye, Moses also saw Kadesh and the rock he’d struck in anger at Meribah
(Nu 20:8, 11, 12). At this time he understood fully the consequences of his sin
in not obeying God’s command. He was about to die, not because of failing health,
but because of his sin.
8.
Despite
Moses’ sin notice that the text doesn’t say, “Moses died there.” It says, “Moses
the servant of the Lord died there.” When we view our lives from God’s perspective
it also offers us a view of faithful servanthood and Moses is an example of
that (v. 5a). Gravestones often include an epitaph. In Moses’ case his epitaph
is recorded in Scripture instead of on a gravestone. “The servant of the Lord.”
What a tribute! What a story those few words tell us. He lived for the Lord.
His name has gone down in history not because of what he accomplished, but
because of what God accomplished through him. Service made him who he was.
Service made him a memorable hero of faith (Heb 11:24–28).
9.
Viewing our
lives from God’s perspective offers us a view of a Christian perspective on
death. (vv. 5–7). Deuteronomy 34:6-8
says, “6and
[God] buried [Moses] in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but
no one knows the place of his burial to this day. 7Moses was 120 years old when
he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. 8And the people of
Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of
weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.” The text is careful to note that Moses
didn’t die of old age. He was old, but he wasn’t infirm. Yet his time had come.
Better yet, God’s time had come for Moses to end his service. Moses wasn’t in
control of his life. God was, and Moses knew that. As the people of God, we
know that too. And what a comfort that is. It gives us a whole new outlook on
life and death. But there’s more here. “[God] buried him,” we’re told. But that’s
not the end of the story. Burial never is. Moses appeared alive again in glory
on the Mount of Transfiguration. So the Lord reminded Peter, James, and John,
and reminds us, that he, “by the power
that enables him to bring everything under his control [including death], will
transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Php
3:21).
10.
Finally, when
we view our lives from God’s perspective it offers us a view of our merciful
Savior Jesus. (v. 10) Deuteronomy
34:10-11 says, “10And
there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew
face to face, 11none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the LORD
sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to
all his land.” These words from
Deuteronomy 34 bring to mind the words of Moses about himself in Deuteronomy
18:15. There Moses reveals that God had made him a type of the Messiah to come.
On the Mount of Transfiguration, God identified Jesus as the one whom Moses
prefigured when he said: “This is my Son,
whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” There are some
parallels between Moses, the type, and Christ, the real thing. Moses served as
God’s mediator and spokesman. He was the link between God and the people of
Israel. They heard what God had to say to them through Moses because as sinners
they couldn’t bear to hear directly the voice of a holy God. Thus Moses
foreshadowed what God intended to do for us in Christ. God sent Jesus, his own
Son, to be the link between us and Himself once and for all. God concealed His
glory in the person of our Brother Jesus so that we could see Him and listen to
Him without fear. In times past God spoke through Moses, “but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Heb 1:2).
Listen to him.
11.
Jesus is
alive for us today because He kept His promise. Right on the threshold of Lent,
we’ll soon be walking through some of the dark days of our Lord. Jesus’ words
to Peter were right, “The Son of Man must
suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes,
and be killed” (Lk 9:22). But that’s not the end of the story. “On the third day [he will] be raised”
(Lk 9:22). This is God’s promise, and God keeps His promises.
12.
When Moses
stood there on top of Mt. Nebo with the Lord, looking out over this vast
landscape, maybe the Lord was picturing in His mind the land of heaven, where
one day there will be people farther than the eye can see who will be assembled
around the throne of God, saying, “Worthy
are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power” (Rev
4:11). This day will come because God keeps his promise. He keeps his promise
that He “desires all people to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:4). God keeps His
promise that “If we confess our sins, he
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness” (1 Jn 1:9). God keeps His promises. In the announcement of
forgiveness, in the gift of salvation, in the hope of heaven, in the gift of
Jesus to you, God keeps His promises.
This is what it means to view our lives from God’s perspective. Amen.
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