Transfiguration Sunday “Transfigured to be God’s Presence in the World” March 2, 2025
Let us pray…
Gracious God, we come before You seeking Your wisdom and guidance. As we enter into this time of worship, we ask that You lead us in Your truth. Open our hearts to receive Your word and guide us by Your Spirit. May our worship be pleasing to You and transformative for us. Amen.
Our scripture for today is found in Mark 9:2-9 (NRSVUE) which says:
2 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became dazzling bright, such as no one on earth could brighten them.
4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 5 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us set up three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
6 He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” 8 Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them anymore, but only Jesus.
We read in the text today about Jesus and three of His closest friends, Peter, James and John having a prayer meeting on the mountaintop.
These common men, who just a mere few years earlier were getting up every day and simply praying for a good catch of fish, stand on the top of a mountain and see their leader joined by dead, yet famous, ancestors of the faith.
They already have begun to realize that Jesus is something of a legend, but this seals it, and they are terrified. They felt the fear and left their professions anyway to follow Jesus. And now perhaps they can see that this is not your ordinary life they’re mixed up in.
And what about the appearance of Moses and Elijah on that mountain top. Moses was the first leader of God’s people, who led the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses’s face shone with the glory of God after he came down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments.
And then there was Elijah, a prophet who departed this earth in a flaming chariot. Elijah’s coming back to earth before the Messiah’s arrival was prophesied in the book of Malachi.
They were there to symbolize Jesus’s role as the successor to them, and the Transfiguration is a moment when Jesus’s divine nature is confirmed, and he is shown to be the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. It’s also a glimpse of his coming Kingdom.
Jesus took Peter, James, and John up the mountain with him and as he prayed a change came over him. His facial expression changed and his clothes turned as white as white could be. What an experience this must have been for Jesus’ three friends.
What an eye opener! They probably had experienced mountaintops before but not like this! I’m sure that not only did Jesus have a transformation that day, but I suspect His three friends did as well. There is no way that they could have been in the heavenly presence of our savior and not have transformed or experienced change in their life.
The Transfiguration of Jesus can be interpreted as a demonstration of Jesus’ divinity and a glimpse of his glory. It can also be seen as a call to follow Jesus and share his glory with others.
What it means today is that we need to embrace life challenges. Jesus embraced life’s complexity, including suffering, questions and crises.
We can remember who we are. We are God’s beloved children. We need to merge our timeline with God’s. God makes a choice to show us the face of Jesus.
And we need to realize that there is more to life than what we see. The disciples witnessed that life is made up of more than what their eyes could see.
Our faith grows in stages. Spiritual experiences should inform everyday life as we listen to Jesus for his words are for us. And when we put aside preconceived notions – we put our hope in Jesus.
Think about it, anyone who has been in the presence of Jesus in some way, shape, form or fashion has been transformed. When we bow before the savior, we are all transformed, not only do we change the look on our faces as Jesus did, we experience a change in attitude and we experience a change in our lives that others see.
We get a smile on our face a spring in our step, we begin to develop a new attitude, and it shows and the people we come in contact with us see it, and most of the time want some of it. Sometimes it’s a slow subtle change and sometimes it’s BAM!!!
Many of you know what I’m talking about, we have all seen people that have been changed people who have been transformed by walking up that mountain with Jesus Christ. We see them but it’s hard to believe that it’s them. It’s like when you see the schoolyard bully at your 20th class reunion, and he has done a 180 and is now the nicest guy in town.
When we walk with Christ, when we put our trust in Jesus, we change, we transform. We get opportunities to go to the mountaintop!
We all have times in our lives that are mountaintop experiences, our baptisms, our first child, getting married, sometimes we have them at spiritual retreats. All of these things can transform us, all of these can change our lives and shape us and mold us into someone better.
See you can’t have a mountaintop experience with Jesus without others being able to see the change. You can’t go up the mountain with Jesus and be transformed without others seeing the results.
Peter wanted to build three temples. He wanted to give equal status to Moses and Elias. Don’t we do that at times? We try and take the credit for our mountaintop experience. We try and say hard work or money got us there, that we are self-made.
God came down with a cloud and when the disciples looked there was no one there but Jesus. We don’t get there on our own or by anything we do, Jesus takes us there.
But that’s what we need to see – we can’t go up that mountain alone and expect to change; we can’t do it on our own. To truly be transformed to truly have a transfiguration from the natural to the supernatural, to transform from the worldly to the spiritual, to go from the sinful to the righteous, to go from the unforgiving to the forgiving and forgiven we must go there with the King, we must go there with the Risen Savior, Jesus Christ. We can’t do it by ourselves we must travel with Jesus.
I’m reminded of the story of the preacher who moved to his new Church. This church didn’t have a lawnmower, so he was looking for someone to either mow the lawn or sell him a used lawnmower.
One day he saw a young man going by pushing a lawnmower. So the preacher asked him, “Hey, looking for a job?” The young man said, “Sure.” It turned out that he was mowing yards and trying to earn enough money to buy a bicycle.
This preacher was kind of young and didn’t mind mowing the yard so he told the young man, “Look, I’ve got a 10 speed bicycle that I never ride any more. What do you say we trade the bicycle for the lawnmower?”
Well, the young man was ecstatic. They swapped and the young man took off on the bicycle. He rode around the block and came back to see the preacher standing in the same place wiping sweat off his brow. The preacher waved the boy over and said, “Hey, I’ve pulled on the rope a half a dozen times and this lawn mower just won’t start.”
The young man said, “Preacher, I hate to tell you this but it’s a special kind of lawnmower. You have to cuss it to get it to start.”
The preacher looked at him and said, “Well, I’ve been in the ministry so long I don’t think I can remember how to cuss.”
The young man grinned and said, “Pull on the rope some more and it’ll come back to you.”
Let me tell you something, while we are on that mountain we can’t forget the valley. We can’t forget where God has delivered us from. I hate to tell you this, but you can’t stay on the mountaintop all the time. We all want to stay there, we all want to be there all the time but we can’t.
We want to stay there because we feel so close to God. We like it on the mountain because we feel closer to Jesus. But let me tell you something. Jesus is there in the valley to. Jesus is with you in the valley of pain, suffering, and Jesus is with you in the valley of fear.
Last week’s sermon talked about fear and fear is obviously present in today’s story. Mark directs our attention to the fear of Peter, James and John–especially bold Peter, who chattered incessantly about tents in his fear. Perhaps James and John were stunned into silence during this incredible event!
We all handle fear differently. Some of us stuff it down deep and never try to show that we have it. Some of us hide. Some of us fight. Some of us try to reframe our fear into something positive. Fear is a deep and instinctive human emotion necessary for our survival. Fear keeps us alive! But too much of anything becomes a bad thing.
Sometimes we give fear power over us by being afraid of things that haven’t happened yet. Fear and insecurity drives some of the worst behaviors we can find in our churches. Fear can end a church’s story. Fear of scarcity can squash creativity and innovation. Fear of our neighbor can insulate our churches–keeping them from a vital role of being a part of their neighborhood.
And we can remember that even when we are afraid and stunned into silence, or we find ourselves terrified which brings out the worst in us–that no matter what, God is with us; we are not alone.
Knowing the simple truth of God’s abiding presence with us is how we can move beyond our fear into the calling God has for us.
Christians are called to strive towards their own spiritual transfiguration, mirroring Jesus’ transformation by living a life dedicated to God. When we walk with Christ, when we put our trust in Jesus, we change, we transform. We become transfigured to be God’s Presence in the World.
Let us pray…
Peace-loving God, you bring us hope and healing in the midst of our conflicted lives. At times we struggle to follow you because we are so fearful of leaving behind the familiar and the comfortable. But you promise to be with us always, just as you have been for every generation. Show us how our lives may be transfigured by your presence, that the radiance of Jesus would shine through to the dark places of our world. Today we pray that we would be transfigured to be your presence in the world. In Christ we pray. Amen.
Holy Communion (In-person service)
Benediction:
May God bless you with hearts ready to listen to Christ’s voice that calls us from the mountaintop.
Just as Peter, James, and John witnessed the radiant presence of Christ, may you, be transformed by God’s love and grace and may your actions reflect the love and truth Jesus embodies. Go now into the world transformed and renewed. Amen.
