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The Lord’s Glory

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“The Lord’s Glory!”

Exodus 24:12-18 (24:16) – February 19, 2023

            Sometimes, I run into people who seem to have a permanent rain cloud over their heads. Do you know that sort of person? Instead of positivity, they exude negativity. I think of these people as Eeyore, the sad, gray donkey who is a friend of Winnie the Pooh’s and Piglet’s. Their view of life is always sad and negative. Now, think of people who are exactly the opposite, who exude positivity, kindness and light. The exact opposite of an Eeyore! Many people are often drawn to their positivity and good spirit.

            In our Scripture reading from Exodus today, we see Moses getting ready to go up on the top of the mountain to meet with the Lord. All of the people of Israel are scared to death. The huge crowd of people see the lightning, hear the thunder, and watch the great clouds cover the mountain. I suspect there was strong wind and great sounds of commotion, too.  

            God gave Moses a command, for him to come up to the top of the mountain and to meet with the Lord. Perhaps we focus more on the positive, on Moses going up to see God on the cloud-covered mountain top than on the negative, on the frightened people of Israel cowering below. I know that this chapter in Exodus is right at the beginning of Israel’s wilderness journey. However, the way the people of Israel begin to act here is the way they continue to act for the next forty years. These griping and disgruntled people act like Eeyores! Always negative, always sad and despairing, always with a permanent rain cloud over their heads!

            Our Gospel reading for today is from Matthew 17, and features a similar story of the glory of God coming down to rest on a mountain top. Listen to the first few verses: “17 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.”

            These three disciples could not believe their eyes! Similar to the people in the Exodus reading, they were shocked, amazed, and afraid. However, these three disciples did not remain this way, unlike Israel. The people of Israel had a negative attitude, for a long, long time! Forty years, and even longer! At least the frightened disciples had the wonderful, positive example of Jesus, especially with this marvelous transfiguration on the mountain top!

            This Gospel event is one of the huge events in our Lord Jesus’s three-year ministry. The Transfiguration is a true mountain-top experience. Think about countless artists’ paintings, icons and representations of Jesus’s Transfiguration, throughout the centuries. Many if not most of them concentrate on the blazing, heavenly glory of the changed and revealed Jesus, God’s Son. And, that is absolutely what is going on! However, there is so much more that happens here.

“While Jesus was praying [on the mountain top], the appearance of His face changed. It was not merely the external appearance that was changed. The light which transfigured Him completely was shining from inside. The transfiguration was not the throwing away of the mask of humanity. It was not ceasing to be human. It was the human Jesus who was transfigured. The face that was radiant and shone was the human face of the human Jesus.” [1]

            What was the reaction of the three disciples watching, of Peter, James and John? Complete amazement, and even some babbling from Peter about putting up three booths or little altars to the transfigured Jesus, to Moses and to Elijah. Further, I am wondering what was the continuing reaction of the people of Israel in Exodus?

As Moses came down from the mountain top, his face was brightly shining from the inside out, from his encounter with God’s glory.

We have already discussed how the people of Israel were always looking at things from the worst point of view. Just like Eeyore, with a fearful or gloomy or negative way of looking at things. Typical of that gloomy expectation, Israel was so scared of seeing Moses – a man just like any of them – with a shiny face, they all insisted that Moses wear a veil, covering his face.

            I wonder: are you and I afraid, overwhelmed to see our Lord Jesus all transfigured? All glorious, as He was on the mountain? Are we scared to look into His shiny face? Are we perhaps like Eeyore? Everything and everyone has a gloomy cast, or a tarnished lining to it? Are we always expecting the worst, even if we are on the mountain top with Jesus?

            “When all is over — when Moses and Elijah are gone, the voice [from heaven] is quiet, Jesus’ face and clothing have returned to normal, and the disciples are left in holy awe — all that is left is Jesus. Whatever all these signs and symbols may have meant, the disciples are once again with their Lord, their teacher, their friend.” [2]

             I suspect many may be missing what is important here. Instead of being troubled by surface, shiny appearances, we find we are always in the presence of Jesus. Plus, Jesus gives us a future, coming attraction for all of us here. “Transfiguration is not magic but the destiny of all creation in Christ – to be transformed and filled with the divine light.” [3]

We have the opportunity to listen to Him, as the voice from heaven told us. As you and I go through Lent during these next weeks and journey with Jesus to the cross, we will have the opportunity to listen again to stories of Jesus, stories about love and about the Good News of God reaching out to each one of us. Whether we are under a permanent rain cloud, as sad and difficult Eeyores, or positive and looking on the bright side, we all see Jesus. Jesus remains, reaching out to each of us, all of us, in help, healing and love. Alleluia, amen.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/worship/weekly-worship/monthly/february-2023/19-february-transfiguration-sunday

[2] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/transfiguration-of-our-lord/commentary-on-matthew-171-9

[3] https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/worship/weekly-worship/monthly/february-2023/19-february-transfiguration-sunday

Terrified!

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Matthew 17:1-9 – February 26, 2017

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“Terrified!”

When my children were young, I would always read them a bedtime story, every night. That was part of our process of going to bed. Sometimes I’d read chapters from books like Winnie the Pooh or the Wizard of Oz, and sometimes storybooks or fairy tales from the library. Some of the stories would have some really scary things in them! A little like the Gospel reading from Matthew, today, where the three disciples were terrified on top of the mountain! There are certain things that scare us almost to death. But, I am getting ahead of myself.

In many of the stories we know, some people often like to find a character they can relate to. A sympathetic character, or one who displays some qualities each of us might have. Who hasn’t been frightened, like Piglet, or puzzled, like Pooh Bear, or excited, like Tigger? In today’s Gospel reading, we have several characters. Is it possible to find some similarity in one of these characters, some characteristic that each of us might share, or be able to relate to?

In today’s Gospel reading, we have Jesus, and we have Peter, James, and his brother John. Jesus takes them up a trail on a mountain, up to the top. There, they have a stunning, supernatural encounter.

That day does not start that way. That day was probably like many other days among Jesus and His group of followers. Hectic, a bit crowded, perhaps even some people already waiting in line to see the Rabbi, have some prayer, even hoping for a healing. Unknown to everyone else, Jesus slips away with the three disciples.

Remember how we often choose a character from a story and try to relate to them, or find some similarity with a characteristic of theirs? I thought one of the commentators on this Gospel passage had some excellent points. Alyce McKenzie said: “If you know what it is like to be tired, to have people seeking you out for what you can do for them, and other people criticizing you and working against you, if you have ever been filled with dread at what lies ahead, you have a little something in common with Jesus. If you know what it’s like to feel those things as a direct result of serving God, then you have even more in common with Jesus.” [1]

While this little group is climbing the mountain, I suspect these three disciples are a bit proud that their Rabbi Jesus has singled them out, amidst all of the other disciples and followers. Wouldn’t you be proud? Perhaps, even congratulating yourself that you are a confidant of Jesus?

After the four people reach the mountaintop, something happens. Now, remember, Peter, James and John are not used to watching television or movies. They do not know anything about fancy costumes that look like they come from outer space, or special effects with light and fireworks, or super sound systems like we have in the United States, today.

Just imagine people like Peter, James and John, having no concept of any of these modern things. Next, I invite you to close your eyes. Try to put yourself in the company of the three disciples, on top of the mountain, in your mind. Are you there? “There was Jesus, transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.”

I can think of at least a dozen supernatural encounters—right off the top of my head—in both the Old and the New Testaments. You know, where people come face to face with angels, or hear the voice of God, or see the burning bush. Here on top of the mountain, these three disciples already knew that Jesus was a man from God. Only a few days before, Peter had even testified to that fact that Jesus was the Messiah, the promised One of God.

In all of these supernatural encounters throughout the Bible, angels always say “Don’t be afraid!” to whomever they meet. I bet when the angels break in to the everyday, ordinary world, that must be the scariest thing those people have ever seen! Even though Peter, James and John had walked with Jesus, learned from Jesus, and lived with Jesus for many months, by this time, I suspect they are scared at the events that are happening!

We have Jesus—transfigured, or literally translated from Greek, metamorphoomai, the verb “to undergo a metamorphosis.” We are not quite sure exactly how Jesus looked, except that we are told He glowed with a glory reserved for angels, for things from heaven. It’s as if a switch were flipped, and Jesus was lit from the inside with bright, white super-sunshine.

Is it any wonder that Peter started babbling, and said the first thing that came into his head? “Um, Lord, it is good that we are here. Look, look, I’ll put up three booths, or tents, so we can worship You and Moses and Elijah right here!” Good old foot-in-mouth Peter. Sure to speak before he thinks, letting his mouth run away with him. (Does that sound like anyone you know? Is that a situation in this story that you especially relate to?)

The bright and shining Jesus was talking to Elijah and Moses. Remember Moses, and how he had led the people of Israel for forty years around the wilderness? Yes, “Moses, who had seen God face to face on Mt. Sinai, the Mount of Revelation, and whose face had shone.” Dr. Alyce McKenzie tells us “that Moses hadn’t wanted to be a prophet in the first place and had made excuses to God to get out of it. (If you know what it’s like to make excuses to God, you have a little something in common with Moses.)“ [2]

But, wait! There’s even more! “5 While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!” If you thought the appearance of Jesus in radiant form wasn’t enough, imagine the stentorian voice of God booming all around! This is it. Right here.

Can you imagine Peter, James and John even more afraid than they were before? Absolutely terrified? They fall on their faces at this heavenly voice. It isn’t even a sound system, with squawking speakers all around, but instead the resounding voice of God from heaven.

And then—everything supernatural goes away. It’s all over. Only Jesus remains, in His normal, everyday clothes.

I can tell you how Peter remembered this awesome, terrifying experience, several decades later. He writes to his fellow believers in a letter, “18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.” But then, Peter couldn’t stay on the mountaintop forever, worshiping the Lord. Peter—and James, and John—needed to come down into the real world, into the mundane, every day. And, do the real, sometimes difficult, work of God’s kingdom.

Remember what I said about characters in a story, and about us finding some similarity in one of these characters, some characteristic that each of us might share, or be able to relate to?

Whether we are up on the mountain today, with the bright shining, heavenly Jesus, or down on the earth in a sad or difficult place, the love of Jesus shines in our hearts. Jesus remains.

He is with us, just as He promised. Not “maybe,” not “I wish so, or “I hope so.” But, Jesus promises to be right by our sides, always, through thick and thin, through good times and bad. “In Him we behold what we want to become. In us Jesus lives as a presence that empowers us to become what God would have us become.” [3]

And for that, we can surely say “alleluia, amen!”

[1] http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Finding-Ourselves-in-the-Story-Alyce-McKenzie-02-25-2011

[2] http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Finding-Ourselves-in-the-Story-Alyce-McKenzie-02-25-2011

[3] http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Finding-Ourselves-in-the-Story-Alyce-McKenzie-02-25-2011

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my regular blog for 2017: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and my other blog,  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!)