"Confronting the Mystery"
Sermon Presented February 3,
2008
Transfiguration Sunday
Matthew 17:1-9
In the mid-eighties, Meg was attending Hebrew University in Jerusalem when she was awakened at 3:00 AM to see her bedroom door open and a figure of the Grim Reaper enter the room and sit at the foot of her bed. She sat up and ordered it to leave and it left by another door.
The next day she was relating the experience to a friend who came by the room - stating that a man entered her room, sat on her bed and then left when she ordered him to leave. Immediately Meg's roommate jumped into the conversation with "It wasn't a man but a woman and she sat on my bed, not yours!"
The next night, at exactly the same time, the door opened, the light flicked on, and then the other door opened and closed. The girls were too frightened to even turn off the light. The next day Meg moved into another room with friends and her roommate went home to Brazil.
In Israel, war clouds were rising and a few weeks later the UN ordered all foreigners to leave immediately. Meg tried to leave but was stuck in the airport for several days before gaining a seat on a departing plane. The night she left, a bomb was dropped a couple of blocks from her dorm. Then she knew the significance of her vision.
In my first year of seminary, I also had a vision - the only one of my life. Early one morning - during a time of prayer - I saw a pink piglet that I understood I had brought into my home as a baby - literally destroy my living room because it had diarrhea. My entire living room - furniture, carpet and walls were trashed. I knew I had to get rid of the pig, but I couldn't bear to do it. Then in my mind's eye, I heard: "When you name the pig, you can get rid of it." By the end of the day I knew the pig's name was Anger and that I had to get rid of it. Until that point, I denied that I was an angry person because I was unaware of it.
In our text this morning, we are looking at Matthew's account of Jesus' transfiguration in the presence of three of his disciples. The word transfiguration is synonymous with metamorphosis - a term used to explain the abrupt change occurring in a butterfly or frog after birth. For the disciples, they saw the transformation of Jesus right before their eyes in the form of vision. Hear Matthew's description of the event in the 17th chapter - verses 1-9.
Let me begin by saying that visions are not the ordinary way by which we confront the Holy - by which we receive messages from God. Each encounter with God is tailor-made to our needs, and visions come when we can't get the message any other way. When we understand that we are in God's presence, God's message is more profound.
In my first year of seminary, the psychologist who interpreted the MMPI - a test designed to determine a person's psychological profile - told me that the test showed I was an angry person. I denied it emphatically and was angry with him for his incompetent evaluation. I told him that when I was angry - and I saw all of my anger over injustice issues - I did something to correct the injustice. I explained how I was working diligently to see that women were accepted equally with men as ministers and that churches were prepared to protect their children from pedophiles. I didn't understand that I had shoved my anger since childhood and it was dangerously close to erupting. I needed an extreme measure to get my attention - thus the vision!
I've mentioned three visions - one mine, one Meg's and her roommates, and the third, the one Jesus' disciples saw on the mountain. All three visions provided new understandings that were needed. God is mystery and comes to us in different ways and forms. God seldom comes via vision, but God does speak frequently through a neighbor, friend, family member, novel, history, newspaper, biography, television, the Bible, dream or life experience - anything that triggers our minds and hearts to respond in loving compassion toward another, in self-understanding or as a warning of impending danger.
God is mystery - and we aren't capable of or supposed to figure out the Holy. Our understanding of God should be open to change as we mature in the faith and in life experiences. When I hear someone say "God said it; I believe it; and that settles it!" I cringe because that statement could have easily come from my lips earlier in my life. When we try to put God in the box of our own experience, we miss expressions of God that have not previously been ours.
How do we respond when we confront the mysteries of life? Do we pay attention or do we disregard the message? Meg's roommate heeded the warning immediately and went home. Meg waited until she was ordered to leave by the United Nations and almost didn't get out in time. I heeded the message of my vision and recognized my anger, but 17 years later I continue to work on anger issues. The disciples heeded - Peter even wanted to build a monument to Jesus, Moses and Elijah - but Jesus told them that the time was not right to share the vision. Once we experience the mystery of God, we sense a need to respond. Sometimes we respond affirmatively and other times negatively.
What do the disciples see on the mountain? They see Jesus change in appearance before their eyes. His face shines brightly and his clothing becomes dazzling white. Then he is joined by Moses and Elijah.
Shaken by the vision, Peter blurts out that he wants to build a monument to Moses, Elijah and Jesus on this very spot to commemorate the experience. But while he is speaking, God interrupts with the message that they are in the presence of God's beloved Son and that they should listen to him. When they hear this, the disciples fall to the ground and cover their heads.
Jesus touches them gently and tells them there's nothing to be afraid of. When they look up, Jesus is alone. On the way down the mountain, Jesus orders them to keep this a secret until after he is raised from the dead.
When the disciples confront the Holy, they are awed and afraid. Jesus' words and touch vanquish their fear. Then Jesus orders them to keep silent about the experience. They don't fully understand what has taken place and if they don't understand, how can they explain it. Later - after God raises Jesus from the dead - they are free to talk about it. Because three of them were present, they can at least discuss it among themselves as they grapple with the mystery. They only begin to understand who Jesus is after the resurrection. The meaning of the vision is now beyond their comprehension, but important for future understanding.
A person who relates a supernatural experience is vulnerable and subject to ridicule because the telling can be misunderstood. The meaning is often oblique. It wasn't until after the bombing that Meg began to understand the meaning of her vision. It wasn't until after Jesus' death and resurrection that the disciples understood what they had seen and heard. When they understood, they could talk about it.
Why did God allow the disciples to see the vision? What did it mean to them? First, they needed a sign. They needed to know they weren't fools to continue to follow Jesus. Six days earlier, when Jesus told them he must die, nothing was as they envisioned it when they chose to follow him. They needed assurance that Jesus was the Messiah, the Beloved Son of God. But then they received this warning: "Don't tell anyone about it because you aren't ready to tell it and others aren't ready to hear it. At the right time, you can share the vision."
The vision serves to encourage the disciples at a time when things appear bleak and hopeless. Those who witnessed it can encourage one another as they discuss it among themselves. They can affirm the authority of Jesus as God's beloved son. God gives them a word of who Jesus is to sustain their faith.
The disciples see a vision of life in another world, but they can't stay in that world. Jesus calls them back to the present where they will follow him to his death and bring hope for a better life in the future. Jesus doesn't call them to sit around contemplating another existence. He calls them - and us - to follow him in the here and now - to live in the Kingdom where God reigns - present and future.
We are dual citizens of the Kingdom of God and the state of Wisconsin, and we need to live our lives in touch with both worlds. We aren't to be so heavenly that we are of no earthly good, but we do need to allow God's kingdom to take priority in our lives. The disciples couldn't stay on the mountain building monuments but had to go down the mountain to heal the sick, feed the hungry, bind the wounds, and listen to the lonely. There is a time and a place for everything and we are to follow Jesus as we live in the here and now.
On this Transfiguration Sunday, I invite you to listen to the transforming God. I invite you to allow God to transform you - to make you in the image of Jesus. This is what we are called to do - and to be!
