Change

Introduction * Today is Transfiguration Sunday. We've just read the story of Jesus transforming on the mountaintop in Luke. In a lot of ways this is a story of change. And not just the obvious one. * While on the mountaintop, Jesus transfigures, transforms, the Greek word is (metamorphoó) from which we get metamorphosis - or change. * Change is a constant in life. we can choose to change, or change can be forced upon us. Sometimes change is easy, sometimes it is the most difficult thing we have ever faced in our life. * Sometimes, as we've seen, the world changes, when something we cannot even see, takes over the world, and forces everyone to wear a mask, and practice social distancing, for fear of death. Who? * Jesus takes three of his disciples to the top of Mount Tabor. * James, John, and Peter. * My first thought when reading this story, is, "why these three?". * When I think about it, makes sense to take along Peter and John, as both will become leaders in the new Christian church. * But why James? Yes he is the brother of John, the other "Son of Thunder". * He was also one of the first to join Jesus. But soon after the church is getting started in 44AD, he is beheaded by Herod Agrippa. * As far as we know, there is no "Gospel according to James", so he could never tell this story to us. Who is James? * So, as I was writing that sentence, "There is no Gospel according to James", I thought, wrong, there is a New Testament book called James. Granted, it is not a Gospel, its an Epistle, a letter. * After falling into a research black-hole, James the author of the book/letter of James is not the James in this story. I'll try not to pull you into that black hole, but, there is James the Brother of John, Son of Zebedee. He is sometimes referred to as "James the Greater". And, there is James, the Lesser, Also called James the little, James, the brother of Jude. James the Brother of Jesus. James the son of Alpheus. Trust me, it got really complex, and confusing. In almost everything I read, it boils down to there being two men named James in the New Testament. 1. James the Greater, is the Brother of John, and went up the mountain with Jesus in this story, and 2. James the lessor, who was the bishop of Jerusalem, and wrote the New Testament book of James. * I had another question along the way. o Is it important that both Peter and John were the two who went to the tomb on Easter morning? o But then, why was James not involved? * After all that, I still don't have an answer for "why James?" Parallels * This story is also told in the Gospels of Mark, and Matthew. * All three versions tell the same story. Unlike other stories told in three different gospels, these three versions generally agree on the "who, what, and where". * Peter, who was an eyewitness, tells this story in the Gospel of Mark. * Matthew, who was not there, tells the story. * John, also an eyewitness, does not tell the story, at least, not directly. * Somebody, we do not know who, relayed the story to Luke, to be included in his Gospel. The Story At any rate, the four men climb to the top of Mount Tabor. There, as they are praying, Jesus is transformed. Mark and Luke describe his face changing, and Matthew describes Jesus' face shining as bright as the sun. His clothes too are changed, white as light, dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly bleach could ever make them. * I also note that it was Jesus' appearance that changed. Not who Jesus is. Jesus, being both God and man, simply revealed the God-side of himself in that moment. * This is not really like what happened to Moses on Mount Sinai when he met with God to receive the Ten commandments in Exodus 34. However, Moses did not change, he was shining from being so close to God. * Moses? Oh yeah, Moses is up there on the mountain with Jesus. And Elijah too. * Jesus, Moses and Elijah are talking on the mountaintop. o Sounds like a setup for a bad joke. * I've always wanted to have a transcript of that conversation. * Here's where the story diverges a bit in the three telling's. o Luke reports that the three fell asleep. o Mark and Matthew repot that they were frightened. * According to Luke, when they wake up, Peter is confused and offers to make three shelters. * Then a cloud descends * God speaks to the disciples, tells them that Jesus is indeed his Son. And they should listen to him. * Then, they leave the mountain. Again, the telling's diverge, o Mark and Matthew have Jesus telling them to not talk about what they saw until later. o Luke doesn't have Jesus tell them to keep the story to themselves, but they end up not telling the story until later. Baptism * I was raised in a Christian home, but when I moved out on my own, I left my Christian faith. I didn't turn heathen or anything, but Church, and God were unimportant to me. * When I was older, and maybe more mature, I once again felt pulled back to God and Christianity. * Even though I had been baptized as a child, I wanted to be baptized as an adult. * Technically, I didn't "need" to be baptized, but at the time it felt right, and important. * I had changed and wanted something physical. * I'll tell you all a little secret. I've never told anyone this, but in my heart, I hoped that when I came up from the water, I wanted clouds to descend, and a voice from heaven to proclaim that "Ken had been baptized". * Sadly, it was nothing like that. * When I came up from the water, I was wet. No voices, no doves, angels, nothing like that at all. * But I knew, that I had already made the change. To return to Christian values. Change * How did this event change the lives of the eyewitnesses? * They had been told by Jesus not to mention it, but I would guess, that it had to have some impact on them. * Even though these three disciples didn't tell the other disciples what happened on the mountain top that day, they did write about it. * The Apostle John refers to it in Chapter 1, verse 14: "And the word became flesh and dwelt among us and WE HAVE SEEN his glory" -John 1:14 * And Peter tells about it in his second letter; * "For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." * 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain." -2 Peter 1:16-18 NLT * The story must have been told widely amongst the disciples after Jesus' resurrection and ascension. * The apostle Paul, who was a Pharisee named Saul at this time, later wrote about how our heavenly existence would be like Jesus on the mountaintop in both his letters to the church in Corinth. o 1 Corinthians 15:42-49 o 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 Consultation * I have spent almost all of my professional life in the world of Information Technology, IT. Early on, I was an "operations" guy. It was my job to ensure the Information Technology infrastructure my employers deployed for the use of their company operated as it should, and helping users get the most out of the technology in order to get their jobs done. * After a while of that, I transitioned into consulting. I traveled around the country, talking to companies, to help them figure out the best way to move forward as technology changed. * As part of a team, we would meet with representatives in the company to determine how things worked for them now, and how they want things to work in the future. My job, and the job of the team I was part of, was to build a plan, based on products, technologies and procedures to move the company's technology from "as-is" into the "to-Be". * Later I moved into mostly selling products. I am a technical guy, so I would be the "expert" that understood how my products worked, what you could and could not do with the products I represented. Even though I was a "hardware" pusher, the same concept of as-is (how you use your technology today), and the "to-be" (how my product would help you be better, faster, cheaper), was in play. * I tell you all of that, because whether I was essentially selling Ideas, as a "pure" consultant, or if I was selling products, if the company chose to implement my suggestions, it forced them to change. To move from here to there, was change. A lot of my time after the presentations, discussions and purchase orders, was helping the customer with changing how they operated. Change Management * There is an entire field of practice, called "change management". * This is a formal process designed typically for large changes. * Making change to how a company operates can be very challenging. * Change can be difficult on large scale. * Our tendency is to want things to stay the same. * I was once asked this question: o Why are park benches always painted green? o The answer is, nobody knows, we've just always done it that way. * Change is not easy. * What God asks of us is not always the easy thing. Repent * Throughout the old testament, God desires his people to change their ways. * There are over 100 verses in the bible about changing your ways, to be more like God wants us to be. * People tended to fall back into the wrong way of doing things, because it is easier, or less painful. Summary * As I said initially, This is a story of change. But, not necessarily the obvious change. * I believe it changed James, John and Peter profoundly. * I believe it shaped the early church, and also profoundly changed history. * Change can be massive; change can be minor. Change is not always easy. * Following Jesus requires change. * We are called to be more like Jesus, every day. * If you're like me, there was nothing particularly spectacular about the day you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior. * Thankfully, when we decide to follow Jesus, we are endowed with the Holy Spirit to help us through our changes. * The Holy Spirit might be that little voice in your head, that little tug on your heart telling you to do the right thing. * And then to do the next right thing. * Think about how, as a Christian, you can change someone else's life, by doing the next right thing. * Change can be as simple as doing the next right thing. Again, and again. Change Luke 9:28-36 February 14th, 2021 2