Transfiguration

Matthew 17:1-9

Transfiguration Sunday

March 2, 2014

Have you ever seen the movie

The Miracle of our Lady of Fatima?

It was made in the 1950’s

It’s a true story set back in 1917 of some farm

children who saw visions of the virgin Mary

their parents didn’t believe them, the town didn’t believe them

And the movie was mostly about that struggle.

But the virgin Mary told them there would be a miracle

on October 13^th, so everyone in the town came out.

It was raining and suddenly the clouds cleared

and the sun flashed on everyone in a bright dazzling white

and everyone’s clothes were dry and they all knelt down.

And that was it, the credits rolled.

I remember watching that movie as a child and thinking

there had to be more to that story.

Did the whole town just believe,

did they end up doing wonderful things,

did they grow closer together,

did they make the three children their spiritual leaders?

I felt a little disappointed.

But that’s what Hollywood likes.

The magical, miracle ending, happily ever after.

Transfiguration would probably be the way that

Hollywood would end the story of Jesus.

The disciples have been following him,

the authorities are chasing after them,

they are unsure, they don’t know whether to

believe if Jesus is the son of God or just another prophet.

Then they go up on the top of the mountain,

innocently ready to pray with Jesus.

And Jesus glows with a lot of back light,

and he is speaking to the ghostly images of Elijah and Moses.

It is everything these disciples could have hoped for.

It is proof of Jesus divinity, proof that he stands in line

with the greatest of prophets, proof that he is God in flesh.

This is what the disciples need.

The music swells and then they hear God’s own voice

booming over the orchestration

(Richard Burton or Morgan Freeman maybe)

“This is my son, my Chosen.”

And then the credits roll.

And It would be a great ending.

It would be the great ending of any spiritual quest.

They had finally found the certainty, the answer,

Finally, the end.

Peter wants the movie to end this way.

He is so moved by the experience on the mountain

that he would like to remain there forever.

He says, “Jesus, let me build three dwelling places here

right here on the mountain,

so that we can hold on to this moment, live it.

So that we can worship this experience.”

And that’s often we want out of our religious quests too, right?

That mountain top experience.

The moment when we can be free from doubt,

Fully certain of God’s presence and love.

Buddhists call it Nirvana.

And isn’t this what we go to church for?

Always striving towards certainty and personal peace.

But our life doesn’t end like a Hollywood movie.

Life goes on after Happily Ever After

and it’s not always so easy, or positive, or happy.

We always end up coming down from the mountain top.

And Jesus doesn’t stay up on the mountain top either.

We know the story doesn’t end here.

In each gospel that this Transfiguration story is in,

Jesus always walks down the mountain,

he always encounters another demon,

always finds out that his disciples can’t cure the boy.

After the assurance and the glory

there are always more sick, more tired, more oppressed, more lepers

more confusing parables, more misinterpretation by the disciples,

more fear and denial, more hiding behind locked doors,

and of course there is that cross.

The moment of glory is not the end of the story.

It’s never the end of the story in the bible.

·         The parting of the Red Sea is followed by

being lost for 40 years in the wilderness.

·         The dove descending on Jesus is always followed by

time in the desert facing temptation.

·         Transfiguration is always followed by crucifixion.

·         Even the story of Easter is followed by the creation

of this thing we call Church –

not always an institution of peace, clarity and blissful assurance.

And in that Transfiguration scene,

That convincing voice of God said, “This is my son, listen to him.”

We’re supposed to listen when Jesus says, “blessed are the poor.

Reconcile with your brother and sister,

love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you.

Forgive. Love one another. Take up your cross.”

Basically, go down the mountain and do the hard work

of following Jesus.

In my internship,

I worked with a man who had a very tough past.

it was filled with drugs and arrests and gangs and violence.

Then he joined the community where I was working

and his life became considerably tamer and more consistent.

He was converted by seeing a vision of his beloved

deceased grandmother telling him that he needs to turn

his life around and go back to church.

He would tell us about it.

And that might sound like the happy Hollywood

end to a dramatic life. But Greg didn’t see it that way.

We were in a small group together and while he was sharing

he would often say in frustration:

“this was all a whole lot easier before Jesus.

This was better before I cared.

If I was having a bad hair day, I would just walk up to someone

and punch them.  Now I have to think about their feelings,

about their family and their children and their mother.”

Isn’t that our experience too?

Believing isn’t the end, it’s just the beginning.

It’s new life, where we find the difficult and the wonderful,

and the wonderful inside the difficult.

So there are no Hollywood, fairy tale endings.

Peter and James and John have to go back down the mountain.

They follow Jesus and Jesus has decided not to stay up there.

Jesus is down on the bottom of the mountain.

Because Jesus has decided to stay with us.