This sermon was found in digital form on a 3.5 inch floppy disk. It is from February 13, 1994. The movie “Back to the Future” is mentioned.
The sermon is listed as being for Transfiguration Sunday, Year B which is the last Sunday before Lent.
Dear friends in Christ, grace & peace…
Mountaintops are interesting places. You may have pictures of some of these high places from your travels. People climb mountains to get a better view of things, much more than you can see in the valley. When you are at the top of the mountain, you gain a larger vision of much more than just the place where you are. Mountaintops seem made for a moment (or an hour) of gaining new perspective. Then, after we’ve taken our photos and breathed the fresh air, it is time to hike or drive back down into the valley.
Moses went to the mountain top to talk with God and there he received the 10 commandments, a specific vision of what life lived in covenant with God was all about. Things became clearer for Moses on the mountain, but he didn’t stay there. He had do call people into that covenant relationship.
Martin Luther King, Jr. preached: “I’ve been to the mountain top…” and shared a vision of justice and peace for all of God’s children. He brought that vision down in to the valley to share with others.
The visit of Jesus, Peter, James and John also was about a clearer view of things. It wasn’t just about a better view of the geography; it was about a clearer view of Jesus and what was to come.
How would it change your life if you could see into the future? For most of us, it would change us drastically. Several years ago there was a film entitled Back to the Future (on video tape now). It is a hilarious look at a teenager who invents a time machine…and goes back to the ancient 1950’s to meet his own parents as teenagers. It is a fun picture, but more important, in it we see that knowing the future compels the young man to work toward its fulfillment. He has a vested interest in seeing that the young couple do finally get together, these people who will become his parents.
We who witness the transfiguration of Jesus, his appearance in glory, are a little like the boy with the time machine. God’s word has given us a glimpse of the future. We know that one day Christ will appear in glory. We know that this is God’s beloved Son, that we are to listen to him. We can not be the same, knowing what is to come. We are not just looking into any future, but into God’s future for us. When we behold the brilliance of God’s presence, called the Shekinah, we are changed too. We cannot hear the voice of God without becoming different from who we were.
I once had a parishioner who had a serious heart attack. He had to make some adjustments in his lifestyle, and in the meantime continued to work and to be very involved in the life of the church. When I mentioned how busy and full his life had continued to be, he said one thing: “Pastor, it has made a lot of difference to me to know that in a few short years, I will be dead.” He meant it. What most of us think of as a remote possibility, this fellow faced as a reality. He had been very sick, had undergone surgery, and in that process had looked death in the face. It changed the rest of his life dramatically. When we have seen the future, we can never be the same. So it was that day when Peter, James & John saw the dazzling appearance of Christ in glory.
For some of us, this vision of the power of God in Christ is more than we can handle. Sometimes fear makes us speak too soon. Peter was like that; he was terrified. Nervously, he suggests building some booths for God to dwell in. He thought the future had come, and the world was ending. Nervous Peter puts his foot in his mouth; he talks too much. The voice from the cloud says: “This is my beloved Son…listen to him.”
We also need to hear that voice as we look into God’s future for us. We can panic like Peter and end up saying and doing things just as dumb as he did. Or we can take time to listen to God’s beloved Son…and in those words of Jesus be able to confront our fears about the present and the future. There are those who say: “I’ll face tomorrow then it comes.” We don’t have to say that anymore. We see God’s tomorrow in Jesus Christ…we don’t have to just wait to see what tomorrow will bring. We know that tomorrow will be in God’s control, God’s hands. “We know not what the future holds, but we know Who holds the future.” That future we have seen is “good news”, just as Mark describes it. And that good news is to be shared with others. Ash Wednesday begins a walk with our Lord through his teachings, and through the story of the cross. As we listen once more to this story of Christ, we wonder at it, we may feel sad about parts of that story….but we can never forget that it is good news. Although this way leads to a cross, it also leads to power and glory and victory revealed in Christ.
Tomorrow we celebrate the patron saint of lovers, and it has become a time when we show that love in special ways. It is important to say “I love you” every day…but there is a part of us that needs to show that love in concrete ways: a box of candy, some flowers, a special favor or a card. For us as disciples of Jesus, it is not enough for us to say the good news, we are called to live the future we have seen now, knowing that all our days are in God’s hands. Like the lover who offers a gift, we offer ourselves to claim that future of God’s power and glory today. All that we do looks forward to that time when the power and majesty and beauty of Christ will be obvious, not only to us, but to the whole world.
May God, who holds the future, grant us the peace that passes all understanding, and may God keep us one in Christ Jesus. Amen.