A Greater Glory

Opening Prayer

Let’s open with prayer. If you have a prayer concern, just offer it up out loud in this space. It can be a situation, a need, a family member or friend. When I sense we are finished I will close out our prayer.

Ukraine

Beth

O God, who before the passion of your only ­begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain: Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Introduction

Finishing up our series for Epiphany, called The Hope of Glory, where we’ve been looking at how Jesus revealed his glory, and what his epiphany means for us. This Wednesday we enter the season of Lent where we give ourselves to greater fasting, prayer, and repentance as we make the journey with Jesus to the cross. I have a very special Ash Wednesday Service planned and hope you can make it.

I think it is a universal desire of all humans to be new and improved. We have areas of our lives that are not what we would like them to be, and we would like to see them transformed somehow. This past week while looking through Facebook I came across an add on my feed for a product called Fit After 50. It boasted a simple routine for older men like myself that would transform you into “a ripped grandpa”. All for the low one-time payment of $37.

Now this may be a great program to see some transformation of physical health - Lord knows I need it. But what about the transformation of the other parts of us? The parts that create separation between us and God or us and others? What about our parts that are still subject to fear, depression, loneliness, anger, jealousy, and lust? Is there hope for the transformation of those areas of our life?

I’ve called the message this morning A Greater Glory. This is part of the promise held out by the Transfiguration of Jesus. As we look at it - as we look at him - we see a glimpse of what he would be after his resurrection, and what we will be in our resurrection. We could say it this way; the Transfiguration is the culmination of the promise God makes to us in our baptism. That he will not leave us as we are, but that he will work inside of us by the Holy Spirit to bring us increasingly into alignment with his Son. And the hopeful news is that we don’t have to wait for this to begin, but it is already at work in us by the Spirit. As we look at our passage this morning, the big idea I want to impress upon you is that Jesus’ Transfiguration is God’s promise to you of your own transformation.

A surpassing glory

Luke is careful to show us in this event that Jesus is reenacting the events of Moses on Mt. Sinai after their release from Egypt in Exodus 34. We don’t have time to review the story in detail, but Luke gives several clues.

Both Moses and Jesus go up a mountain to speak with God. Moses receives God’s word written on tablets, Jesus is God’s eternal Word.

Both Moses and Jesus have their appearance altered. Moses’ was external to himself and temporary, Jesus’ alteration was the result of his own glory shining through.

Both Moses and Jesus accomplish an exodus. This is what “departure” means.

In both stories a cloud covers the mountain. This is always indication of God’s glory and presence being in a place. The cloud being a vehicle of the word vs. the cloud confirming the Word.

In all these allusions and comparisons, Luke is actually showing us that Jesus is a new and better way. This is why Peter’s suggestion of making three dwellings, or tents, was out of place. Peter probably thought he was being magnanimous by including Jesus with such august company; but Jesus is far superior to anyone else on that mountain. Peter wanted to elevate Jesus to be equal to the Law and the Prophets; Luke is showing us that something greater than the Law and Prophets is here. Luke answers the ultimate question of who Jesus is. Not just a miracle worker or prophet or holy man; he is the Divine Son of God. “Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”” (Luke 9:35, NRSV)

Luke, along with the other Gospel writers, consistently point out that the glory of Jesus surpasses all the glory that preceded him. Jesus is a new Adam, a new Moses, a new exodus, a new tabernacle, a new Israel, and a new covenant. Moses, the Law and Prophets, all that came before had a glory because it was from God, but Jesus is the greater glory. Moses was a candle; Jesus is the Sun.

Our coming glory

This all takes us to our passage in 2 Corinthians. Paul had been making a similar comparison to Moses and Jesus, that the previous and temporary glory of Moses is being set aside by the greater and permanent glory of Jesus. This brings us to the question I began with of how we can hope to be transformed.

What I want to draw your attention to is the effect of looking into the face of Jesus. Of beholding for ourselves the glory of who Jesus is. We are those who, by faith in Christ, have removed the veil that covers our eyes and look upon the Savior. To look intently upon his face and see the love and compassion and devotion of our God. And as we do, we too are transfigured. By keeping our eyes on Jesus, we are slowly transformed into his likeness. 2 Corinthians 3:18 “And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.”

I think we are often confused about how we become like Jesus. Is it through greater effort so that we earn God’s approval? Is it by getting better at managing our sin? Have you ever tried to NOT sin? Our human efforts to become righteous before God only shows that we still have a veil over our eyes. The great mystery of transformation is that it is the work of the Holy Spirit, from the inside out, as we fixate our eyes and our affections on Jesus.

The story of Jesus is one of moving from one glory to a greater glory. The glory of the first Adam, the image and likeness of God, moves to the greater glory of Jesus, the God-Man. The glory of the first exodus, which saved a nation, moves to a greater exodus that saves the world. The glory of the first temple, where God dwelled in a building, moves to the greater glory where God dwells in human form - God with us.

And by the work of the Spirit of God in us, we too are moving from the glory we possess now to a greater and greater glory. One that matches the glory of Jesus.

Will things ever get better? Will you ever get better? Jesus’ Transfiguration is God’s promise to you of your own transformation. The good news in this message is that you cannot come into the presence of Jesus and remain unchanged.

Come down off the mountain

Have you ever had a mountain top experience with God? Where God was so real and so close you just wanted to stay there forever? This is the temptation of transfiguration. When we have those moments of seeing Jesus for who he is, we don’t want to leave. We want to stay on the mountain and keep experiencing him. This is what Peter was attempting. But this isn’t how our transformation works. We have to come down the mountain and back into the dark valleys of life, because this is where greater glory leads us. This is where it led Jesus.

Luke 9:37–43 (NRSV)

On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. Just then a man from the crowd shouted, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son; he is my only child. Suddenly a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks. It convulses him until he foams at the mouth; it mauls him and will scarcely leave him. I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” Jesus answered, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” While he was coming, the demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. And all were astounded at the greatness of God.

Not focusing on their failure to cast out the demon, the greater point is that we can’t stay on the mountaintop with God. We have to come down into the places of pain. The glory of Jesus revealed in the transfiguration is the glory that we carry out into the world. By the power of the Spirit, we go to the demonized - whether literal or figurative - and we announce liberation in the name of Jesus. We come down off the mountain so that others can be astounded at the greatness of God.

Here’s the thing; we can’t say we’ve had a transfiguring experience with God if it does not lead us out in the work of healing, for this is what God is up to. Conversely, we cannot be sustained in this mission without coming again and again to be caught up in this cloud of glory, to see Jesus face to face. Held together, both the gazing and the going out, leads us to share fully in the transforming glory of Jesus.

This past week I wrote something in a moment of inspiration that I shared on Facebook. I’ll close by reading a slightly modified version of it.

Two men went up a mountain to talk with God. One came down radiating God’s glory, the other was the glory of God himself. The first man veiled his face to hide that the glory was departing, The second man has an unveiled glory that will never fade. Moses was a candle in the dark, and we enjoyed his light for a time. Jesus is the radiance of the noonday Sun, who enlightens us for all time. In Moses we see but a dim reflection; in Jesus we see the fullness of God. For Moses received the word of God, but Jesus is the Word of God. And as we gaze into his glorious face, we ourselves are transfigured. To him we must look, listen, and obey, for this is our hope of glory.

Amen.

Ministry time...

Communion

The Transfiguration reminds us that God is at work transforming us. Of creating a new and better you. It’s no Fit After 50 gimmick, but a deep inner life transformation by the Holy Spirit. As we come to the table, we in some mysterious way, feast upon the very life of Jesus himself, and we are transformed to greater and greater glory as a result.

Words of Institution

The Lord’s Prayer

Invitation

This is the table, not of the church, but of the Lord,

It is made ready for those who love God and for those who want to love Him more.

So come, you who have much faith and you who have little;

You who have been here often and you who have not been here long;

You who have tried to follow and you who have failed.  

Come, because it is the Lord who invites you.

It is His will that those who want Him should meet Him here.