Transfiguration to Transformation
Presence - Promises - Power - Possibilities - Purposes • Sermon • Submitted
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Transfiguration to Transformation
Luke 9:28-36
As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
(He did not know what he was saying.)
Luke 9:33
As I was driving from California to Florida and then back home last month, the Holy Spirit impressed upon my heart to teach on The Presence of God, The Promises of God, The Power of God, the Possibilities of God and the Purpose of God. As we drove the 5,600-mile trip, my wife and I prayed for you. Jac was not feeling very well, so I pictured the sanctuary, and where you sit, and then I prayed for you going row by row. We prayed for the many people who are a part of The Seed through our many ministries: KKLA, Emmaus, Credo and The Seed of Faith email which serves over 500 people weekly. As we drove, I just kept hearing to pray for you to understand your purpose here on earth.
During the past four weeks, we have jumped into the deep end of God’s Presence, God’s Promises, God’s Power, and God’s Possibilities. The fist week we looked Deuteronomy 31:8 when Moses told Joshua, “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” The second week we sang the song, “Standing on the Promises” and we studied the words Peter gave to the early church that was struggling under severe persecution. Listen again to 2 Peter 1:3-4 --- “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”
The third week we looked at incomparable power that has been given us through Christ. The power is presented to us in Paul’s prayer for the church in Ephesus. “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength …. “ (Ephesians 1:18-19) Last week, we learned that all things are possible to those who believe. We reflected on the father of the demon-possessed boy and his encounter with Christ. Listen again to the dialogue between Jesus and the father found in Mark 9:22-24: “Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
How would our lives change if we lived in The Presence, The Promises, The Power, and The Possibilities of God? This question leads us to last of the “5 P’s” that we will look at in this series. PURPOSE. Our “SO WHAT?” comes early today, “What is God’s purpose for my life?” “What is my purpose here on earth?” “Does my purpose change with the seasons of my life?”
Our Scripture for today is Luke 9:28-36. This is the Transfiguration message. Today is Transfiguration Sunday.
Let us listen for God’s Word to us. Before we come to the throne of Grace, let us come to The Lord in prayer. “Lord; God bring your word to life this morning. Let us enter into this story. Transfigure our heart of stone into a heart of love for you and for your people. Amen.”
Luke 9:28-36
About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. 29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. 30 Two men, Moses and Elijah, 31 appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. 32 Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. 33 As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.) 34 While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” 36 When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves, and told no one at that time what they had seen.[i]
FROM MOUNTAIN TOPS --- TO VALLEYS BELOW
Author and preacher Tony Campolo said that when his wife, Peggy, was at home fulltime with their children and someone would ask, "And what is it that you do, my dear?" she would respond, "I am socializing two Homo sapiens into the dominant values of the Judeo-Christian tradition in order that they might be instruments for the transformation of the social order into the kind of eschatological utopia that God willed from the beginning of creation."
Then Peggy would ask the other person, "And what do you do?"[ii]
Peter, James and John had been walking with Jesus for over two years. They had seen plenty of miracles. They had witnessed the greatness of God manifested in the calming of the storm, the feeding of the five thousand, the healing of the sick and the raising of the dead. The three of them were up on the mountain top and they saw Jesus transfigured into a glorious splendor, talking with Moses and Elijah. Can you put yourself into this story? You’ve walked up the mountain with Jesus in order to pray. As Jesus was praying, His face changed, and His clothes became as white as lightning. Then you see Moses and Elijah. They are described as appearing in glorious splendor as they talk with Jesus about His imminent departure from Jerusalem.
Did you catch the next part? Peter, James and John—and you and me, if we are a part of this story—are sleepy. We were all supposed to be praying but, as usual, we nod off during prayer time. And then, we wake up! We see the glory blazing all around us! Somehow, we recognize Moses and Elijah. Okay, I’ll give us a point for knowing Moses. He was the guy who was raised by Pharaoh’s daughter, who ends up demanding that Pharaoh “LET MY PEOPLE GO!” Then Moses takes a 40-year jaunt into the desert leading a million others to the Promise Land. My guess is that Moses has a set of tablets with him, a long white beard, and perhaps a walking stick. Elijah would a bit trickier for us to identify. How in the world would we know that other guy was Elijah? At any rate, Moses and Elijah from way, way long ago, are now leaving. And Peter blurts out, “This is awesome, Jesus! How about we build 3 tents? You, Moses and Elijah—you three guys stay right here…on this mountain. Good idea, huh?” And then a cloud envelopes them all. Have you ever driven up to Lake Arrowhead, or any other mountain top, and found you had to drive through the clouds? It’s something. It’s very hard to see anything when you are enveloped in a cloud. There we are. Can’t see a thing. But we can hear alright. And what we hear is a voice that tells us, “This is my son whom I have chosen. LISTEN TO HIM.”
Did you notice the first thing that Peter wanted to do? Pete wanted to stay on the mountain top. “Let’s build three huts and stay here awhile.” Don’t you find it funny that Peter only offered to build three huts? There were six men on the mountain!
The first point I’d like to make is that as much as we’d like to stay on the mountaintop, we can’t.
Here are a few biblical examples of this: in Exodus, Moses went up on Mount Sinai to talk with God. What a powerful mountaintop experience he had. Moses asked to see God’s glory and God responded by saying that no one can see my glory and live. Instead, God puts Moses in a cleft of a rock and passes by and Moses sees the backside of God. God then gave Moses the Ten Commandments. I am sure Moses couldn’t wait to get down the mountain to tell the people what happened! “I have seen the glory of God!” “I have two hand-carved tablets of stone with ten simple rules!” Moses is expecting the people to be overjoyed with his mountaintop experience. Instead, the people had made a golden calf to worship the calf. (Exodus 32) Moses returned from a powerful mountain-top experience only to crash into the valley of life.
The second example is found in 1 Kings 18-19. We are told of another powerful mountaintop experience. Elijah, one of the greatest of all the prophets, had just confronted all 450 false prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. While Elijah was on this mountaintop, God showed up in and brought fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice. The people of Israel turn back to God and all the false prophets are killed. So far, so good but now Jezebel, King Ahab’s wife, threatens Elijah. Jezebel says that she will do to Elijah what was done to her prophets. Fearing for his life, Elijah runs from the Mount Carmel mountaintop into the desert--where he lays down and wants to die. Yes, I’m afraid to say that after most mountaintop experiences there’s the valley of reality that we crash back into.
Today we are here in the Gospel of Luke, with Jesus, Moses and Elijah. Think about this for just a moment. Moses—has an experience with God on a mountaintop and so does Elijah. The three of them are discussing Jesus’ departure. Maybe Moses and Elijah were preparing Jesus for the reality check of the valley below. Perhaps Moses was reminding Jesus of what happened to him on the mountaintop and what followed in the valley: his people worshiped a golden cow! Maybe Elijah was reminding Jesus of how God came through in a powerful way for him up on Mt. Carmel—and how Jezebel ruined everything by chasing him into the valley of the desert. Maybe they were rehearsing the final days of Jesus in Jerusalem: an arrest, a trial, a crucifixion.
In our story, we are told that as soon as Jesus, Peter, James and John traveled down the mountain, a large crowd descended upon them. We are told the story of the father and his demon-possessed son. Last week, we looked at this passage and learned that all things are possible to those who believe.
Jesus has just experienced a powerful, mountain-top experience only to come crashing into the valley of real life below. I think our Gospel-writing friend, Dr. Luke, is trying to tell us a secret through this story: GET READY TO GET SMASHED, CRASHED, and BASHED after your exhilarating GOD MOMENTS on the MOUNTAIN TOP!
I have been on many spiritual retreats. I have had some powerful God moments of mountain highs only to come crashing back down into the valley of the reality of everyday life. It’s fun alright to spend time on the mountaintop. At the end of one of my retreat weekends, you are told, “You may have been changed this weekend but be aware: the world has not changed.” My wife this week sent me this picture from Toby Mac this week. “The God on the mountain is still the God in the valley.”
TRANSFIGURATION TO TRANSFORMATION
In our reading today from Luke we hear that as Jesus was praying his face was changed. However, both Mark and Matthew use a different verb to describe the scene. They both say that Jesus was transfigured right before Peter, James and John. The Greek word for “transfigured” or “changed” is “metamorphoo.” The exact word from which we get metamorphosis. What our Gospel writers are trying to tell us is that as Jesus was praying, his face was changed, transfigured and transformed right in front of Peter, James and John’s very eyes.
Tim Keller, a pastor and teacher, shared a story about a relative of his. “Some years ago, I had a relative who never would wear a seat belt. Every time I talked to him, he would get in the car, but wouldn't wear his seat belt. We all nagged him to no avail. Then one day he got in the car and put his seat belt on right away. We said, ‘What happened to you?’ He said, "A couple weeks ago, I went to see a friend of mine in the hospital. He was in a car crash, and he went through the windshield. He had over 200 stitches in his face. For some strange reason, ever since then, I've been having no problem buckling up.’ I asked him, "Well, did you get some new information? What changed you? Did you not know that people who don’t wear seatbelts often go through the windshield?’ Of course, I knew the answer to those questions: What happened was that an abstract proposition became connected to an actual sensory experience. As Jonathan Edwards used to say over and over again, it's only when you attach to some truth—that's when real life change occurs. Something has to become real to your heart. And then you will be changed.[iii]
So What?
In 2000 I met for lunch with a man I had met through Marriage Encounter. My wife and I were a presenting clergy couple for Marriage Encounter. We did a weekend in Ontario. The man and his wife attended and were blessed by the marriage encounter experience. After the weekend, he invited me to lunch because he had a question, he wanted to ask me. I arrived a little late because I had a memorial service that day. When we settled in to our lunch, the man asked me what brought me my greatest joy in ministry. I looked at him and without missing a beat I told him that my greatest joy is seeing someone’s life transformed by the love of Christ. The man smiled at me and said that he has met and asked many pastors why they went into ministry and why they did what they did. He told me he had some pastors look at him and tell then they didn’t know what gave them their greatest joy. Others said studying, reading, preaching, teaching and meeting people. He told me that I was the only pastor that answered so quickly and so confidently about my passion and joy. Transformation!
Today is Transfiguration Sunday. I have news for you. Jesus isn’t the only person who was changed that day on the mountain top. I’m pretty sure Peter, James and John were METAMORPHOOED, too. I’m pretty sure that their mountaintop experience with Jesus is what changed them and gave them the courage to face the battles in the valley below. I’m also sure that our own personal encounters with God have METAMORPHOOED us, too.
Our purpose in life, no matter what season we are in, is for the love and grace of Jesus to transform us so that when we encounter the real world, we will know that the God of our mountaintop is also the God of our valley.
Transformation. Like the caterpillar crawling into the chrysalis…there is moment that no one can pinpoint to…when that caterpillar is TRANSFORMED…metamorphooed….transfigured…into a brand new creation…a butterfly. This is our purpose: to let the grace of Christ change us into the person of God that we’ve been called to become.
Presence --- “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8
Promises --- “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” 2 Peter 1:3-4
Power --- “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength ….” Ephesians 1:18-19 Possibilities --- “Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” Mark 9:22-24
Purpose --- “As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, (transfigured -transformed) and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.” A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” Luke 9:29, 35
Let us listen to Jesus and be transformed!
Let us pray …
The Seed Christian Fellowship
Rancho Cucamonga, California 91701
www.theseedchristianfellowship.com
March 3, 2019
Pastor Dave Peters
[i] The Holy Bible: New International Version. (1984). (Lk 9:28–36). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
[ii] John Ortberg and Ruth Haley, An Ordinary Day with Jesus (Zondervan, 2001), p. 122; submitted by Dave Slagle, Lawrenceville, Georgia
[iii] Tim Keller, "Keller on Preaching to the Heart,"The Gospel Coalition (4-28-16)