"Making Final Arrangements" Matt. 17.1-9, Transfiguration A, Feb. ‘20

1.         Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  The message from God’s Word this Sunday of the Transfiguration of our Lord is taken from Matthew 17:1-9 and is entitled, “Making Final Arrangements,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.  Let us pray:  Gracious Heavenly Father, the Christian church throughout the world is about to enter into the holy season of Lent. Before we journey with Your Son Jesus Christ into His passion, give us a glimpse of His glory. Give us, O Lord, some encouragement from the mountaintop as we walk through the valley of the shadow of this world's sorrows. Give us the strength that comes from tying our lives to eternal hope that is ours in the life, death and victorious resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord, in whose strong name we pray. Amen.

2.         When my mother in law died, I assisted my wife and her family to make arrangements for her burial and now we are doing that for her brother, who was just called home to heavenly rest. Those of you that have lost loved ones have made arrangements for their funerals in the midst of your sorrow. That's the role of family -- to make arrangements. But there are at least three people in the history of the human race whose family didn't make the arrangements. God did. Let me briefly share with you these three great stories. They can all be found in the Old Testament.

3.         The first is a story about a man named Enoch who lived before the days of Noah in the Old Testament. He lived a total of 365 years and we are told he walked with God. That's what Enoch was famous for. The Bible says he walked with God. That's not so unique by itself. After all, many people through the ages have walked with God.  But what makes Enoch unique is that the Bible says he didn't see death, but simply "God took him." It's almost like they were out walking one day and walked further than they had ever walked before. God said to Enoch, "You know, you're closer to My home than we are to yours. Why don't you just come home with Me?" And God took him home. "And Enoch was no more" the Bible says. God made the arrangements for his farewell. And just like that, Enoch was in heaven. You can read about it in Genesis 5 and Hebrews 11. 

4.         The second man God made final arrangements for was Elijah, the great prophet of God in the Old Testament who had been so faithful in his defense of the Lord. On one occasion on Mt. Carmel, he had a face off with 450 prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18). He called upon the Lord's mighty power and He defeated them all. How's that for odds?  450 to one. Only one had God on His side.  Shortly after that incident Elijah appointed his successor prophet Elisha. Elijah asked Elisha what last request he might have and Elisha asked for a double share of the spirit of Elijah. He wanted to be as bold for the Lord as his mentor. As they walked along, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind straight into heaven (2 Kings 2). Like Enoch, Elijah's earthly farewell and arrangements were handled by God. 

5.         The third Old Testament hero that has a special end is Moses -- the great deliverer of the nation of Israel.  You’ve probably seen the great Hollywood movie "The Ten Commandments" or the animated special "The Prince of Egypt." If you have, you know the story of this man of God. But when his life was near the end, the story takes an interesting turn. Moses and the people of Israel had wandered for 40 years in the wilderness and were finally camped at the edge of the long awaited promised land. But before they went, the Lord took Moses to the top of Mt. Nebo and let Moses see a glimpse of the land he had given his life for.
6.         The Lord wanted Moses to see it from a distance, but Moses was not going to cross the Jordan into that promised land. The Lord had a far better promised land in mind for Moses. So, the Bible tells us:  "And Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there on Mt. Nebo. The Lord buried him and to this day no one knows where his grave is." (Deut. 34:5-6) Moses was 120 years old.  God made the final arrangements for Enoch. God made the final arrangements for Elijah and He made the final arrangements for Moses. As a matter of fact, in the little book of Jude in the New Testament it says the Archangel Michael and the devil fought over Moses' body. You know full well who is going to win that fight. And so Christian tradition says Moses' body went straight to heaven and nobody will ever find his grave. 

7.         Now those are the three great stories I wanted to share with you. Three stories about how God made the final arrangements for Enoch, Elijah and Moses. I share these stories with you because they all lead to another great story.  In the New Testament, just before Jesus goes to Jerusalem for the last time to give His life for the sins of all humanity, Jesus goes up a mountain and takes three of His disciples, Peter, James and John. On that New Testament mountain, Jesus gives these three disciples a glimpse of His glory as He is transfigured. That is, His figure changed. It became brilliant with light and glory, and there standing with Jesus in glory was -- guess who? Elijah and Moses standing with Jesus. With Peter, James and John looking on, we are told, "Moses and Elijah spoke with Jesus about His departure which He was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem" (Luke 9:31). 

8.         God the Father was about to make arrangements for one more farewell-- His only Son's.  Throughout the Christian church, this coming week begins a season called Lent. It’s ushered in with traditional parties called Mardi Gras -- the world's perversion of an old European tradition called "Fat Tuesday" in which people would eat all the sumptuous foods around the house before Ash Wednesday and before their six weeks of self-denial and fasting began.  Since the Reformation, Lutheran Churches have always read this story of Jesus, Moses and Elijah transfigured on the mountain on the Sunday before Lent starts. Why? For a couple of important reasons. 

9.         First, the disciples were just about finished with their three-year training. They were soon to be on their own. They needed some encouragement for which was to come. That's why the Lord took Peter, James and John and gave them a glimpse of the "glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." That's the way Peter described his experience later when he wrote to the churches. 

10.       Before we go into the season of Lent, we, too, need a glimpse of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. These may be difficult days. They are for many of your neighbors and friends. There is loneliness, depression, and divorce, addiction, abuse, and anxiety. Aren't there times in all our lives when we wish we could go to the mountaintop and get a glimpse of the glory of our God in the face of Jesus Christ just to encourage us?  And the Lord is with us today. It is in the face of Jesus that we can be raised up by faith to get a glimpse of the glory of God. And for Peter, James and John, it was so wonderful on the mountain they wanted to just stay there. But Jesus would say to Peter, "No, we can't stay on this mountain. We must go down to the plain," and we are told, "Jesus set his face toward Jerusalem." 
11.       As Moses was taken to Mt. Nebo to see the Promised Land, Jesus from the Mount of Transfiguration saw your sin and mine. The Christian church observes a Lenten season because of sin. The great prophet Elijah, at one time, wanted to resign as God's prophet. He wasn't perfect. Moses couldn't go into the Promised Land because of his own lack of faith and sin. You, along with everyone, need a Savior from our sin.
12.       We need to come face to face with our failures, if we are ever to be set free. The Bible says, "If you say you have no sin, you deceive yourselves and the truth is not in you. But if you confess your sin, God is faithful and just and will forgive your sin" (1 John 1:8-9).  Before we get a glimpse of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, we need to face our greed and our selfishness; our immorality and bigotry; our lack of faithfulness to God and His Word; and His claim on our lives -- all of our lives. 

13.       But, so many in our land want nothing of Jesus in their lives. They want Jesus out of public places. They want any kind of moralistic judgement away from their freedom to choose. They want Christianity out of politics, out of schools, out of the media. Today's contemporary lifestyle has no room for Jesus -- not in the one night stands, couples living together before marriage, the gambling, immorality, drugs, revenge, gossip, excessive leisure, cheating, and the spiritual arrogance that seeks to find salvation in human achievement. We seek glory, all right, but not in the face of Jesus Christ.

14.       As Jesus looks down from the mount of His transfiguration, He sees nothing but the valley of our failures and just beyond that failure, He sees His cross. We are told He set His face toward Jerusalem to His cross -- there, willingly to take these sins of ours upon Himself. And that's what He and Moses and Elijah talked about that day-that day the Father made arrangements for the death of His Son. 

15.       Here is the Good News for you and me. No one can ever find the grave of Enoch. No one can ever find the grave of Elijah. No one can ever find the grave of Moses. More importantly, the grave of God's Son, Jesus can’t be found today, either. Why? Because it’s empty. The body of God's Son would see no decay. Why? Because He rose victoriously on the third day. The tomb in which they laid His body could not hold Him. He rose in glory and ascended into heaven -- there with Enoch and Moses and Elijah and all the faithful.

16.       But, I have more Good News: the Father has made some final arrangements. He has made them for you. That little glimpse of God's glory in the face of Jesus Christ is what's able to get us through the world's wilderness until we cross over into our "promised land." But until then, as Moses laid his hand on Joshua, and Elijah laid his hand on Elisha, so Jesus lays His hands on you which empowers you to move from this mountain down into the valley of the shadow of death, confident that the Lord walks with us. 

17.       And to this Good News I must call you all to simple child-like repentance, faith, and obedience. Repentance that enables us to change -- to turn around our lives of sin. Faith -- the wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit in our hearts that gives us the assurance of that which we hope for; the confidence in that which we do not see. And, obedience enables us to follow the will of the Lord in our life, and in so doing, we discover meaningful purpose. For us with repentance, unrepentance is impossible. With faith, unbelief is unbelievable, and with obedience, disobedience is unthinkable. Why? For we have seen the glory of God in the face of Jesus. We have been to the mountain of faith and we are encouraged and empowered for our journey through the wilderness. Mother Teresa once said, "You will never know that Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you've got." When your final arrangements are made, Jesus is all you'll need. Amen.  The peace of God that passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting.  Amen.