Monday, March 3, 2014

“Tis Good, Lord, to Be Here” Matthew 17.1-9 Transfiguration Day ’14 A


1.             Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  On this day the readings from the Scriptures focus our hearts and minds on the great miracle of our Lord’s transfiguration, when Jesus allowed His disciples a glimpse of the glory that’s His eternally as the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. This glimpse of glory was important, for from the Mount of Transfiguration, the disciples went back down and Jesus set His face toward Jerusalem, where He would die on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for the forgiveness of your sins. The Lord appeared to Moses in the light of the burning bush (Ex. 3:1–14). Later Moses’ face would shine with the light of God’s glory when he came down from Mount Sinai (Ex. 34:29–35). At the Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus who is the Light of Light Himself (Matt. 17:1–9). Jesus’ glory as God shines in and through His human nature. By this epiphany, Jesus confirmed the prophetic word (2 Pet. 1:16–21), revealing that He’s the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. He manifested His majesty as the eternal Son of the Father, and He wonderfully foreshowed our adoption as sons. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we who have been baptized into Christ’s body are given a glimpse of the glory that we’ll share with Him in the resurrection on the Last Day.  The message is entitled, “Tis Good Lord, to Be Here,” and it’s taken from Matthew 17:1-9.
2.            How many of you watched the Winter Olympics on TV? Like many of you, I was caught up in the excitement of watching athletes from all over the world head for the snow-covered mountains of Russia to participate in the Winter Olympics. It was thrilling to watch them flying down the mountain on bobsleds, snowboards, and skis! Equally exciting was seeing the skaters spinning, jumping, dancing, and racing on the ice. Even if you aren't a big sports fan, you can share the excitement that the athletes feel as they represent their country and compete for a medal that proves that they are among the best in the world in their event.  Have you ever had an experience that was so wonderful that you didn't want to see it come to an end? I’m sure that most of the athletes felt that way about seeing the Olympics come to an end. After all, they worked for 4 years to make it to the Olympics and they wanted to enjoy the feeling as long as possible. And yet, it seems that it was over all too soon.  The thrill of a life-changing event and a feeling of sadness at seeing it come to an end is what some of Jesus' disciples felt in Matthew’s Gospel. It’s the story of an unforgettable experience on the mountain top with Jesus that leads us to say with the disciples, Tis Good, Lord, to be Here.
3.            Here’s what selected verses of Matthew 17:1-9 say, “After six 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 three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped 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 facedown 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.
4.            Well, we’ve all had experiences that are exciting like watching the Winter Olympics, where we say that it’s good to be here.  But, what do we do to prepare for coming down from the mountaintop experience?  For some people the wise way to prepare for joy or sorrow in this life is to take the road of the Stoics of ancient times. Cut yourself off from all of your emotions, be like Spock from Star Trek. Keep everyone and everything at a distance. Build a fortress around your soul. Don’t risk the price of wonder or heartache.  Moving into the season of Lent, the inevitability of the cross of Jesus weighs heavily upon us.  We know that we’re going to hear the stories from the Gospels that Jesus set His face toward Jerusalem to suffer, be mocked ridiculed, and ultimately die on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.  Yet, we would rather say with Peter in Matthew 17, tis good, Lord, to be here to bask in Your glory on the mount of transfiguration, not in the suffering and ugliness of the cross.
5.            But, there’s nothing we can do to change the fate of our Lord. We know the story of Christ’s passion all too well.  We also remember the story of Christ’s passion as we endure the stories of loss in our own lives. Our friends who are suffering from an illness, the child who is ill, the career that has fallen apart, the relationship that seems beyond the point of healing. The question before us is this: will we be ruled by stoicism and becoming numb to our own emotions, or will we risk the price of weeping and suffering, celebration and surprise when we know that our lives are redeemed by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, that our sins are forgiven in Him?

6.            Peter, James, and John accompany Jesus up the mountain after hearing the news of Jesus’ imminent death. It’s only human that in their minds they play out the next few days and weeks. They begin to look for alternatives, desperate for a second opinion, a way to stop time. They want to build a safe sanctuary away from the world, to be content in the moment, saving Jesus and themselves from the heartache to come.  Tis good Lord to be here to bask in Your glory, but, they can’t, nor can we, at least not while we’re still living in this sinful world.  So, God prepares us in the mountain top experiences of our lives to endure the world below, the world of the cross, the world that has the ability to break us and yet is never beyond God’s redemption.
7.            The transfiguration affirms Jesus’ divinity. On the other hand, it begins to give the disciples eyes to see God’s light in the chaos to come: death, loss, fear and resurrection from the dead. The transfiguration anticipates this challenge, inviting us to live in “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). As that light shines in our hearts, the incarnate God is made real in the every day and we are led to say, tis good Lord to be here.
8.            Through Jesus we can say tis good Lord to be here both on the mountain peaks and the low valleys of our lives.  Why?  Because your moment of transfiguration happened on the day of your Baptism, when you were clothed with Christ. That’s the day God looked at you and said: “This is my Child! This is the one I love and in whom I am delighted!” That your baptism is your transfiguration is also shown by the gift of the white garment. Many churches do actually clothe the newly baptized in a white robe. Your transfiguration robe! A confession that by Baptism into Jesus your life is headed for the everlasting glory He revealed on the mountain.
9.            But after the transfiguration comes the journey to the other Mount. The journey toward the death of Jesus on Mount Calvary. For the final glorification of our bodies doesn’t happen without death (except for that generation alive at our Lord’s second coming). Suffering and death with Jesus come first.  The glorification with Jesus comes afterward. But do you see how the promise of the glorification gives us the courage to face the deterioration of our bodies?
10.        In our more sane moments we know that we can do nothing to stop our bodies from falling apart. Not the best diet, not the best exercise program, not the finest clothes or the best makeup will be able to prevent the moment arriving when we can’t do some of the things we always took for granted before, because our bodies are simply giving out on us. But when we remember that these decaying bodies of ours have been marked by the Redeemer with the promise of sharing in His Resurrection glory, we can face our own deaths with a hope that can’t be quenched!  We can say tis good Lord to be here, because we know the glory that awaits us in heaven through Jesus’ cross and empty tomb.
11.        It’s just like St. Paul wrote: “So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen, but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal. For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens…. So we are always confident.” (2 Cor. 4:16-5:1,6)
12.        And as if the promise of our Father regarding Baptism weren’t enough, we have our Lord’s promise: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.” (Jn 6:54) As often as that Table is spread before us, Christ strengthens and sustains the inner nature, and comforts us with the promise of the resurrection for the outer nature. What more could we ask?  Transfiguration, the feast of a glory that will be yours and mine! Let us keep our eyes trained on the vision of that future that we may walk unafraid through the valley of death’s shadow, until we stand shining with Christ on the mountain top, singing all the way: O Father, with the Eternal Son and Holy Spirit, three in one, We pray Thee, bring us by Thy grace to see Thy glory face to face. Tis good, Lord, to be here. Amen!



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