Transfiguration Sunday

This Sunday, the last Sunday of the Epiphany season, is traditionally Transfiguration Sunday. Its theme is to see Christ in His glory before we focus on the sacrifice He will pay for us. Next week we begin Lent where we will turn our attention to meditating on the awesome price Jesus paid for us because of His love for us. But today we rejoice and give glory as we see the divinity of Jesus revealed. We sing “alleluias” one more time and then put them away until Easter.

Our Text today calls us to shine with Christ’s love for the world. We are to let the message be heard that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. No longer are we to “veil” the message but we are to be “unveiled” to the world and let Jesus light shine.

Paul uses the example of Moses going up on the mountain to receive the commands of God and since he was in the presence of the holy his face literally glowed. Moses hid his face in a veil so as to not distract the people when he told them all God had revealed. But Paul says, now that we have Christ, we are to not veil ourselves but let the world see the light of Christ.

“Since we have such hope, we are very bold.” (2 Corinthians 3:12, ESV) We are to be bold because we know the hope we have in Christ. We can shine the love of Jesus and not veil ourselves. Be bold because we have a Gospel message that gives true hope to the world.

But often we are not bold. We see the shortcomings in our life and we feel inadequate to share Jesus. We feel that we are broken and not worthy of being God’s spokesman to the world. Paul says this to us, “But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.” (2 Corinthians 3:16, ESV) What Paul is saying is that God, in Christ, through the Holy Spirit has made us his people and has given us the message of hope. Sometimes I think we believe the light has to come form in us. But it can’t. The image of shining God’s love is more of that of the moon. We are like the moon that reflects the sun’s light. We are God’s people reflecting the light of the true Son of God.

Or maybe we get discouraged because the message is not heard, or at least appears to not be heard. Paul says this, “having this ministry by the mercy of God, we don’t lose heart.” (2 Corinthians 4:1, ESV) Two things Paul is stating here. First, it is God’s ministry of mercy – we are only the vessels by which God works in the world – or as Luther called it “the masks of God.” We are to shine, but not our light, God’s light. Second, we can take heart because even if we don’t see results we can know that God is working. God never lies and never breaks His promises. He said take heart because this is His ministry we are reflecting to the world. Reflect the love of Jesus and let the Spirit do the rest!

God’s light in Christ will overcome the world. His message is a message of victory and hope. We can be encouraged because we have a God who shows us mercy, who shines His light into the darkness of our lives. Let His light shine! “Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus.” (2 Corinthians 4:6, ESV)

In our Gospel lesson for today we get to see that Jesus is the divine Son of God. His glory is revealed to Peter, James, and John. And Peter says, “It is good for us to be here.” How wonderful those words are. He may have been confused on what was really happening – but He knew it was good. What hope that give to us, that being with Jesus, in all His glory, is GOOD! And it is good that we are here today because Jesus is here today. It is good for us to be here and hear the word of God to know again of His love and mercy for us. And to be inspired to shine that love to the world.

I am reminded of our baptism. It is a tradition in most Lutheran churches to give a candle to the family of the child or adult being baptized. It is a reminder that Jesus is the light of the world and now that light has entered that person’s life. But a candle is great too because it is something that is visible and seen, just as we are in the world when we shine the love of Jesus. You all probably know the song, “This Little Gospel Light of Mine.” What is the main idea of the song – let the light of Jesus be seen. Don’t let Satan blow it out, don’t hide it under a basket, and let it shine all around the neighborhood. Let the light of Christ shine.

Today we rejoice, we sing our alleluias one more time because we have hope in Jesus. When the world seems so dark, let Christ Shine. When we feel that we have failed, let Christ shine. When we feel like hiding our face, take off the veil and let Christ shine.

Today we rejoice but soon we turn our attention to Lent. We turn our focus to the awesome sacrifice Christ paid for us. He became sin for us and took on the wrath of God. He suffered and died on a cross in our place. He lived the perfect life but was scorned by many. He was stricken, smitten and afflicted for our sake. And this gives us pause. It can even bring us to tears and cause us to mourn. Our sin had to be atoned for and Jesus is the one who took it all for us.

But right now we are on the top of the mountain – the valley is before us, but we have a mountain top experience that Jesus not only will die, but He is the true God/Man who will rise again, will conquer death and will give us new life because of the Father’s mercy for us. We rejoice and we shine.

Let you light shine before men so that they may give glory to the one in whom you reflect – Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.