Sermon Tone Analysis

Scripture Reading

17 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became bright as light.

3 Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.

4 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will set up three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5 While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear.

7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.”

8 And when they raised their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

Kids to Knowing Place

Introduction: Cry Night

Last weekend I was away leading worship at a Youth Retreat at Pine Springs camp, something I’ve been doing for a whole bunch of years.

In fact, this worship leadership has exposed me to something that actually kind of bothers me…especially when someone gave it a name.

I was leading worship for a week long mission trip, and they told me that Thursday night, the night before we came home, was “Cry night.”

The leaders of this retreat said that the night before everyone goes home, they expect the teenagers to break out in to tears after the teaching, and especially during worship.

Sure enough, it went exactly as they predicted it would.

But then I came to discover that it was true of just about every retreat I lead worship for.

When the retreat ends on Friday, Cry night is Thursday.

When the retreat ends on Sunday, Cry night is Saturday.

And then I was shocked to learn a little while ago that when I did a two night retreat, just a Friday and a Saturday, wouldn’t you know it: Friday night became cry night!

Now, there are worship leaders and teachers out there who have in my career exploited this.

They try their best to pick emotional songs and give more emotional than usual teachings.

And I just need to get this out of the way up front, exploiting someone’s emotions in the name of Jesus is never cool.

But I think at it’s purest, there is something interesting going on here.

I think these teenagers have had a vital encounter with Jesus, far away from home and their normal every day lives, and it left a mark on them.

So much so that the thought of going home is…well, difficult!

Scripture Breakdown

Six Days Later…Peter’s declaration

Our passage today starts with the phrase “Six days later.”

Quick tip: When you are studying scripture and see something like that, go back and see what happened just before it.

The original texts of our Scriptures did not have these verse and chapter markings, they were meant to flow as one coherent thought.

Right before this in Matthew’s Gospel we have Peter making a bold proclamation about Jesus:

You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God

And then, in classic Peter fashion, he screws it up three seconds later.

Jesus says that he’s going to be killed, but then rise on the third day.

Peter says “No way!

That can’t possibly happen to you!”

To which Jesus responds “Get behind me Satan.”

Things were going so well there for Peter for a second.

Then Jesus has a teaching for the disciples, that picking up their cross is the way of the Kingdom.

That’s probably a good sermon for another day.

But he ends that teaching by saying “There are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”

…Six days later...

Something happened

Jesus takes his “inner circle” of disciples, Peter James and John up a mountain by themselves.

And then as is often the case with an experience of Christ, something that is hard to explain happens.

Jesus is “transfigured.”

The greek is Metamorphase, which really just means to change.

Jesus is changed, something is different.

And it’s bright!

There are special effects!

And Moses and Elijah are snowing up!

We need to be clear, though they might not be this supernatural, we have experiences of the Divine all the time.

Maybe you’ve been in the depths of a conversation with a good friend, and you realize that something has changed.

Maybe you have had an experience of nature, like staying up all night watching a thunder storm.

Or maybe you’ve had an experience where the memory of someone from your past has come on strong, and brought you a sense of relief.

Whatever the case may be, we are having experiences of the Divine all the time, all around us.

Which is important, because I don’t think this story is about the experience from Jesus’ perspective.

I think this story is about the experience from Peter’s.

Peter’s response: Let’s just live here!

We can break Peter’s response down to two parts:

This is a really good thing!

And you know what?

He’s right!?

Any time we have an experience of the Divine, it’s worth celebrating!

Whether it’s a tremendous moment like this with pyrotechnics or a small whisper in our hearts it’s a very good thing when we catch ourselves aware of what Jesus is up to in our lives.

All the way back in Genesis, God has been showing us what the difference is between good and not good, and encouraging us to point it out for ourselves.

This moment, right here that Peter finds himself in, it’s a good thing.

And then, in classic Peter fashion, he screws it up like three seconds later.

The only thing better than a good thing is a good thing that lasts forever!

Let’s build tents!

Let’s stay here.

This is a magical moment, and I want it to keep on going.

The only thing better than a good thing is a good thing that lasts forever!

Peter is so overwhelmed by what he’s experiencing, he doesn’t want to come back down that mountain.

He doesn’t want to go back to whatever life was like before this.

He doesn’t want to go back to the hum drums.

He doesn’t want to go back to itinerant preaching.

He wants to stay here, in this good place, and in fact he wants to live there forever.

Can’t we just stay here?

God’s Response:

Now at this point, God feels the need to weigh in on the situation, and he has two reminders for the boys.

Baptism Reminder

This voice from a cloud says exactly what the voice from the cloud said at Jesus’ baptism.

This is my Son, the Beloved.

With him I am well pleased.

This is a reminder back to what Peter’s declaration was just six days ago.

This is the Son of God.

This is the Messiah.

This is the one who is going to save us.

But apparently, it’s not enough to know this alone, because the voice adds one more piece to the puzzle.

Listen To Him

Apparently, it’s not enough.

Apparently, it’s not enough to just know that Jesus is the Messiah.

Apparently, it’s not enough to have our theology worked out.

Apparently, it’s not enough to have mystical experiences of the divine.

It would seem that we have an added step: we need to listen to Jesus.

And I get the sense that it’s not listen to him in the same way that one listens to music or a good podcast.

I get the sense that it’s “listen to him” the way that an exhausted mother says it to her twins...

It’s the kind of “Listen to him” that sort of indicates they haven’t been doing that lately...

It’s the kind of “Listen to him” that means there are actions that ought to follow.

It’s the kind of “Listen to him” that means change needs to come.