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"Mountains, Mystery, & Ministry”
Exodus 24:12-18
Matt. 17:1-9
Delivered by the Rev. Russ Brandt
For the past several weeks I was worried that there wasn’t going to be a sermon today. Why? Because of the writers strike. Think of what your week would be like if you had to write a sermon every week. You would probably go on strike too. Twenty hours would be taken right out of the middle of it. I’m thankful I’m retired and yet I started this sermon three weeks ago and it still isn’t done.
A couple weeks ago a friend from down state sent me an E-mail. The e-mail was entitled, “Ramblings of a Retired Mind.” The writer said, he “…was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a whole lot more as they got older. Then, it dawned on me they were cramming for their finals. As for me, I’m just hoping God grades on the curve.”
Whether you know it or not, God doesn’t grade on a curve. We all get A’s. That’s the Good News from Jesus Christ in the N.T. The first hurdle or mountain we must cross is not the question, how do we get into heaven? Rather, since we are saved in Christ Jesus, the question is, How are we going to live out the rest of our life? How are we going to live out the Gospel in our life time?
With age, our mind seems to ramble and it forgets. So this morning think candy, M & M’s.--mountains, mystery, & ministry. Today, we’re celebrating the transfiguration of our Lord. I’m not preaching about how we can change our body that is, transfigure it by means of lotions, exercise, manicures, hair styles, or the latest in clothes styles. The transfiguration of our Lord has a much deeper meaning. Let’s take a look.
The text begins with, ”After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart.” Four guys went up a mountain. Which mountain, we don't know. The importance of a mountain is that it is the nearest point on earth closest to God.
In that day, the people believed God was in heaven located high above a flat earth. The abode of the dead was under the earth. The Jews believed everyone went there upon death. This means when we read the text, read it within the context of a three story universe: sheol below, a flat earth in the middle, and heaven above.
Human beings existing on a flat earth went up mountains to be close to God. This view is in contrast to our ever expanding universe. We have no three story enclosed universe. Our earth is somewhat round moving in orbit around the sun.
Being that our cosmology is very different from biblical times, where do we go to be close to God? Surely we don’t have to go up a mountain. Today we say God is everywhere meaning that God is right here, above all, in all, and through all as St. Paul says in Ephesians 4:6.
Jesus took Peter, James, and John up the mountain apart. The word apart is important. The Greek word hidi’an means to be alone, privately, to be by one’s self. Ministers of Word and Sacrament need that time apart from their congregation. Once they are out of town, let us not expect to call them back for an emergency. They need their time apart if they are going to remain effective over the long haul.
On top of the mountain the three disciples witnessed Jesus being transfigured where his clothes were filled with light. Also sunlight poured from his face. To be transfigured means to be changed in appearance, to be transformed. Now I have served for six years on the presbytery committee of Church Development and Transformation. I presently serve on the Synod committee of Church Development and Transformation.
What I have discovered in light of our continued drop in membership in the Presbyterian Church USA, 90% of the churches are in need of transformation but 85% of them resist being transformed. We value traditions. We like being in control. We don’t want anyone coming in here changing us.
Why is Matthew telling us this story? Because, he is telling us who Jesus is. Jesus is the new Moses. When Moses was on top of the mountain, the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud cover it for six days. Here is the foundational story for the transfiguration story in the Gospel of Matthew. We call the story in Matthew a midrash story based upon the Exodus’ story. Jesus is the new Moses and even more so.
What is midrash? Midrash was a way to take a transcendent experience such as talking with God and putting that experience into language of our time and space. Midrash is taking an experience of the past like Moses going up the mountain and then seeing it happening again but even more so.
The first story is Moses going up the mountain to receive the commandments from God. Matthew takes that story and like Moses who took three men up the mountain, Jesus takes three men up the mountain. The even more so part is Jesus himself being transfigured revealing to be God’s son, the living Word. The midrashic style of writing and interpretation is not concerned with historic accuracy. It’s concern is with meaning and understanding.
Matthew is telling us that Jesus Christ is the new Moses and more than Moses, he is God’s son. We are now on top of the Mt. The mystery begins. When Jesus was transfigured, the three disciples saw Moses and Elijah speaking to Jesus.
Keep in mind both Moses and Elijah’s deaths were mysterious. Moses had died alone and was buried by God. No one knew where his grave was. According to Jewish thought, that story says Moses had not died, but was taken directly into heaven. As for Elijah, a fiery chariot drawn by fiery horses came down from heaven and took Elijah directly into God’s presence.
While transfigured, Jesus was talking to Moses and Elijah. It was so grand and glorious Peter wanted to build three booth. If we were Jews we would have caught this reference immediately. Three booths is a reference to the Jewish celebration called feast of the Tabernacles. It is one of the five great Jewish festivals. This feast celebrated the days of old when the Israelites wondered for forty years in the wilderness with Moses. They lived in tents or booths. Moses himself went into a special booth where he talked with God. When he came out, he told the people what they talked about.
But wait! There’s more. A cloud came upon them just like the cloud came upon Moses and his three companions. God’s voice said, “This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” Now we have a midrash not only on the Exodus text but also on Jesus’ baptism. When Jesus was in the Jordan River being baptized by John, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased."
Remember, at this point in time, Jesus is a Jew. The disciples were Jews, not Christians. God said to Peter, James, and John, “Listen to him.” Why? Because the way of Jesus is very different from the way of obeying the O.T. laws. The Jews were called to obey God’s law in order to receive God’s blessings. But in Jesus this all gets changed. We can’t fulfill the law because the harder we try the more we fail.
The way of Jesus is us being transformed by God’s grace and love. We begin our Christian life with baptism. In baptism we are called God’s beloved, God’s children. We belong to God. We all get A’s. Salvation is a gift. Our life in Christ is a gift.
Christianity is a life that flows from the inside out not from outside in. It’s not our clothes, building, organ, hymn books, chairs, pulpit furniture, or whatever we buy to be part of this church. The Christian life is not about the outside stuff. It is about the stuff we can’t see with our eyes---our character, nature, inwardness.
The Apostle Paul says in II Cor. 4:18, “…we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
So it make no difference as to how we receive the bread and the cup. Christianity is not about receiving the bread and the cup in the pew or up front. When we receive the bread and the cup, we are receiving God’s presence in Christ Jesus. It is a transcendent moment in time. God is saying to us, “You are my beloved, take and eat and drink, take me into your life.”
Being in union with God and with one another is experiencing communion. Com means ‘with’ in English. The rest of the word is ‘union.’ Being with God and one another in union is communion. Christianity is not a purpose driven life in order to be somebody or become the perfect person.
Christianity is a life of being loved and transformed by God and that is something we don’t ever make happen. The unseen reality is being forgiven and forgiving, being loved and loving. In communion we become transformed. Living in communion is our ministry. In Christ we reach out and welcome all to live in Christ Jesus with us.