Not by Itself (Luke 9:28-36)
Rev. David French
02/27/22

The gospels are full of lessons that reveal the glory of Jesus’s through signs - water becomes wine, the lame walk, the blind see, the deaf hear, lepers are healed, and the Good News is preached. These all reveal the glory of God in what Jesus did. Today’s lesson reveals God’s glory in who Jesus is. Through the Transfiguration, we see the glory of God in Jesus’s very being. That He truly is the Son of God.

The Transfiguration of Jesus is that few moments when three of His disciples could see who Jesus really is. Jesus’s divinity transformed His humanity in the Transfiguration. He allowed those three disciples to actually see the divine glory that is hidden by His humanity, that is, His flesh. 

But the Transfiguration isn’t only about the glory of Jesus. Jesus and His three disciples are joined by Moses, representing the Law, and Elijah, representing the prophets, who also appear in glory. So, not only do the disciples get a glimpse of the glory of God, but they also see the glory God gives to those who die believing in Him. Finally, they hear God the Father speak about His Son.

Now, I’m not sure we can even imagine how tempting it must have been to want to stay on that mountain forever. Peter was certainly tempted. “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah” leave us a warning about a well-intended misunderstanding that Jesus battled against throughout His ministry. 

Certainly, Peter was neither the first nor the last to think of the excitement of a “mountaintop experience” as the ultimate goal of God’s relationship with us. The glory of the whole experience overwhelmingly excited him. He was ready to set up camp right then and there for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. He was full of enthusiasm. He was sincere. He was energized. He was dynamic. But, our lesson also revealed that he didn't know what he was talking about.

To be sure, the experience can be exciting, even seducing. Some have suggested that our culture has become so enticed with excitement that it’s now sought out in the church. That is, people seek out a church that is exciting because our judgment is based on the underlying principal of our own ideas about what’s “fun” or “boring” instead of God’s Word about what’s “right” or “wrong.”

The problem with excitement is that it is, by definition, short-lived. If Peter had put up the tents and Jesus, Moses, and Elijah did stay in them, that would have become the new normal. Peter would have gotten used to the glory of God being around all the time, and the next generation would have looked at those three tents and the glory they held to be pretty ordinary stuff. If you don’t think so, just read the history of Israel in the wilderness. It wasn’t long before they got bored with the manna from heaven. They got bored with the water from the rock. They got bored with the leaders God gave to them. The truth is, they got bored with God himself.

The lesson is that basing our relationship with God on feelings and excitement is like basing a marriage on feelings and excitement. At first, it is all new and lots of fun. But with time the routine of everyday life sets in, patterns develop, and roles establish. For those who build a marriage based on the thrill of the moment, nothing is more boring than routine; so when the thrill is gone, they start looking for their excitement somewhere else.

The mountaintop experience of the Transfiguration is important, but not on its own.  It’s only meaningful because of the other mountaintop experience, the one on Calvary. You see, we can’t understand the meaning or the glory of the Transfiguration until we understand the meaning or the shame of the cross.

When Moses and Elijah met Jesus on the mountain, they weren't interested in Jesus’s glory. They were interested in Jesus’s exodus. Look at the topic of conversation between Jesus, Moses, and Elijah: “Behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.” They spoke of His departure, literally His exodus, His suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension. These were the topics of their conversation.

The apostle John, who shared this glimpse of heaven with Peter and James that day, would several decades later have another vision of heaven while he was exiled on the prison island of Patmos. Listen to the praise of the heavenly hosts who John witnessed at that time. We read in the book of Revelation, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” (5:12) Jesus is, of course, the Lamb who was slain. John refers to Jesus as the Lamb more than two dozen times in the book of Revelation as well as referring to the church as the Bride of the Lamb. When John refers to Jesus Christ as the Lamb, he is calling attention to the blood Jesus shed on the cross of Calvary where He paid for the sin of the world.

So, am I saying that it’s somehow wrong to be excited about your faith? Of course not! I rejoice in the gift of faith God has worked in me every day. But still, not every day is a mountaintop experience. There are days when things are just bland or even depressing. The truth is, it’s on those days that the promise of God’s Word and sacraments are most comforting. We can find true solace in the steadfast love of God – knowing that He is Emanuel, that He really is always with us just like He said on the day of our baptisms, not because we feel it, but because He said spoke it. 

My friends, when we base our faith on our feelings, and we all have at one time or another; when we chase the shiny thing, we are taking responsibility for our faith. We are by word or deed telling God that the Holy Spirit doesn’t have quite enough power to create saving faith in us. He needs a little help from our positive thinking. The problem with that is, as we all know, our feelings change. They go up and down. One day we feel full of the Spirit. The next day we don’t feel Christian at all. Do we really want to stake our salvation on something as unreliable as our own human emotions? What happens if God calls us out of this world on a day when we’re not feeling especially Christian?

On the other hand, the hope that comes from the cross has staying power because it’s something that God has done for us, and God does not change. His love for us is the same today as it was yesterday and will be tomorrow. When our feelings betray us, we turn to the promise of His Word. When the excitement is gone, God remains. When we feel weak, we can appear before the altar and receive the strength of His sacrament. When we feel deeply spiritual, we can rejoice. And on the days we don’t feel like Christians, we can cling to the promise of His Word. We need never be afraid. Why? Because our faith is in God’s hands. Our faith is in the hands of the One who showed His glory on the Mountain of Transfiguration and purchased our glory on the mountain of the Cross. 

In His name, Amen.