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Sermon Archive - February 14, 1999
Pastor Danielson
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Matthew 17:1-9
"You gotta get a glory!"
Those are the only words I can recall from a gospel hymn I heard, years ago,
at "Prairie Avenue Baptist Church" on Chicago's far south side. It was during
my seminary years and, unfamiliar with Gospel hymns and Gospel choirs, I
thought I had heard incorrectly. Could it have been "You gotta get glory?" No,
they sang the same words over and over again:
"You gotta get a glory!"
On the Mount of the Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John got a glory in
their lives! No illusory dream, theirs, but a living spiritual vision to guide
them all through their lives. That brief moment on the Mount of the
Transfiguration gave them a glory to inspire their discipleship and ours!
Talk about your mountain top experiences! Wouldn't you like to stand on the
mountain where Jesus and the three disciples stood that glorious day? Emerson
and Ellen Bodell just returned from a year-end trip to the Mediterranean and
The Holy Land. They described to Sally and me some of the places they visited
and what it meant to actually stand and walk where Jesus and Moses and others
from New and Old Testaments stood and walked. Since our text doesn't bother to
name the mountain involved in the Transfiguration we will never know whether
Emerson and Ellen or any of our friends who have visited the Holy land were
ever there. Sorry about that!
I for one would love to know the exact historical location of the Mount of the
Transfiguration. Bible archeologists tell us that Mount Hermon and Mount Tabor
are the most likely sites. Helena, mother of Constantine, had a basilica built
on Tabor, and in the sixth century Peter got his wish when three churches were
built there. But the writer of Matthew doesn't consider the geographic
location worth pinning down. You see, it is not the place which makes
important what happened there; it is what happened there that makes the place
important.
My mother had a slightly different twist to the same message. As her children
would head off to college or even on a date, to help keep us on the straight
and narrow, she would say:
"Where you are is not as important as what you are doing there."
Now, the where you are could translate "chemistry class" and, the what you are
doing," "learning;" OR, they could translate "tavern" and "drinking."
Years later, I discovered that the Italian poet and scholar, Petrarch, said
the same thing. Of course my mother always added a phrase of her own:
"And, when in doubt don't go there."
The point is this. When one is in the midst of a "mountain top experience," it
is not the particular mountain that matters, it is the experience. If the
place was essential, Matthew would have named it.
On their particular nameless mountain top, Peter, James, and John see Jesus
Christ transfigured or transformed. They see their Master in a new and far
different light. Jesus' face shines like the sun, his clothes become dazzling
white, and he appears to be attended by "Moses the law giver" and "Elijah the
prophet."
The disciples' "spiritual eyes" are opened. They see Christ revealed in his
true glory. Next, from the cloud, comes a voice reaffirming that Jesus is
indeed the beloved Son of God with whom God is pleased and to whom God gives
authority.
The disciples respond to the vision and the voice in three ways. The first
response is reactive. Excited and caught-up in what he had seen and heard,
impetuous Peter offers to build three "dwellings" or tabernacles. Falling
victim to the geographical fallacy we spoke of earlier, his first thought is
to mark the place. The second response is pure emotion. After hearing the
voice of God, the disciples are overcome by fear. Jesus touches them and lets
them know that with him they have no need to fear God. The disciples' third
response is to go down from the mountain and obey Christ.
So may we all! Any one of us can have the same experience, the same vision,
the same responses, any place we are, so long as we are with Jesus. And then,
we must be prepared and willing to go down from our mountain of inspiration
and transformation and obey God.
What a great climax the Transfiguration is to the Season of Epiphany! Three
disciples experiencing this transforming epiphany of God in Christ! If you had
been there with a camcorder, could you have caught those images and sounds? I
think not. This is a spiritual experience. By definition, spirit cannot be
counted, weighed, measured, or registered on any instrument. Spirit speaks to
spirit. Was the experience "real"? Absolutely!
And, while we dare not base our "faith journeys" entirely on our "spiritual
highs" ---whether revealed to us through scripture or, by testimony of a
friend or, should we be so fortunate, by way of like experiences that are our
own--- neither should we minimize them. I happen to believe that "mountain top
faith experiences," while perhaps not essential to faith, can be moments of
grace that alert us to the mystery, the vision, and the power of God for the
long journey. In short ---they help! ---a lot!
Just weeks before my seminary class was to graduate, a professor we all
respected very much challenged us to be humble in our speaking and in our
doing no matter how inspired and transformed we might be at any given moment
of our ministries.
"What ever you do," Dr. Granskow said, "don't exaggerate any claim about how
much God may have changed or transformed you. Don't carry on and on about how
'tuned-in' you are to the mystery of it all. Remember your claims, no matter
how real they may be to you, are not evidence of anything until the hearers
feels free enough to have you lead them toward 'transfiguring moments' they
can claim as their own!"
General William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army has taught the world a
great deal about both transformation and humility. Once, when asked how he
viewed, personally, the growth of the organization he had formed and dedicated
his life to, Booth responded:
"God has had all there is of me. There are men with brighter minds, men with
greater opportunities; but, from the day that I got the poor of London in my
heart, I made up my mind that God would have all of William Booth there is.
Whatever power is in this movement is there because God has all the adoration
of my heart, all the purpose of my will, and all the influence of my life."
Frankly, year to year, it takes transforming experiences, in and around us
all, to move us even through the somber, trying days of Lent ahead. Only when
we can glimpse a glory of God along the way ---a brightness we can call our
very own--- can we feel empowered to walk step by step in the pathway of Jesus
toward and beyond the cross.
Those who do their best to choose appropriate hymns for our services of
worship outdid themselves this week. At the earlier hour we sang a Sermon hymn
a verse of which goes like this:
Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
And then, at the later hour, we have this verse from the closing hymn:
And faithful hearts are raised on high,
By this great vision's mystery,
For which in joyful strains we raise
The voice of prayer, the hymn of praise.
AMEN.
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