Transfiguration - Rabbi, it is good for us to be here
Lord, into your Peace we are called and I pray that only truth is proclaimed and only truth heard - Amen
I don’t know about you but I am strangely attracted to ‘make over shows’
And there are so many to chose from
TLC or ‘Home and Garden’ seem to be networks devoted to that TV genre
Shows like ‘while you were out’
Or ‘trading spaces’
Or ‘what not to wear’
Or ‘flip this house’
Are very popular and some weekends they even having ‘marathon days’ where there are numerous back to back episodes
We have our share of ‘Canadian content’ as well
From ‘Holmes on homes’
To ‘Diva on a dime’
If you have never seen any of these TV shows they are Home improvement or personal appearance improvement
Often times they involve friends or family who get in on the action to help
or to surprise someone that they care about by outing them on national TV about some aspect that they don’t love about their appearance or their choices in home décor
and the show is focused upon experts and a camera crew coming for a short time to help in whatever area is lacking
My favorite with out a doubt is “Extreme Make-over - Home edition’
And I will tell you why later
All of these shows have caught my attention many times
So… I have wondered what it is that makes them so appealing
Why are they relevant to so many people?
Part of it, I believe, is that they tap into the ‘American Dream’ and its cousin the ‘Canadian Dream’
The dream of making something out life
With hard work and the right knowledge and attitude - anything is possible
Well if you were to boil that down a little further I think that what we are really talking about is: “Hope”
Belief in a better thing - better way of life in the future
…That is certainly one aspect
Another part of it is that in most of them are on a budget and generally not too large a budget
The projects are attainable
We can easily see ourselves making something better with not too much invested maybe a little knowledge, time and elbow grease
And we too can do it
Still another reason that they are popular is that they show a lot of ideas
The home improvement versions walk you through what they are doing
And the personal appearance ones show you a lot of straight forward practical tips
We can get in on the action and we can often learn a great deal
Or at least get the feeling that ‘we too’ can do
A popular home improvement store that sponsors a few of these shows has based their very motto on this value
“you can do it, we can help”
There is still one reason that I believe tops them all
One reason that is the greatest attraction above all of these rational explanations
It is the same reason why many of us like to cheer for the underdog
That reason is “transformation”…
In all of these shows ‘something’ or ‘place’ or ‘person’ is transformed
This is extremely emotionally binding factor
It captures: Hopes - Fears - Ideals
- lost or hidden or suppressed desires
- in many cases a hearts longing
Transformation or Transfiguration - is what our Gospel passage from Mark is all about
And it is also what our Baptisms today are about
The passage is Mark declaring who Jesus really is
Mark’s whole Gospel is about revealing - in stages - who Jesus is
It starts out with
“The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
The ‘good news’ or ‘gospel’ was a term that was reserved only for the Caesar of the day
‘Jesus’ - is mentioned to indicate his Humanness
And ‘Christ’ to explain that he is the Messiah, the one that the Jews have been waiting for
And the ‘Son of God’ to make sure you know exactly who he is and on what authority
So our reading today is a climatic moment in Mark gospel explanation of who Jesus is
The passage today starts out with “six days later”…later from what
Well, most scholars conclude it is from Jesus’ revealing that he will die on the cross and Peter’s declaration that Jesus is the Messiah
And Jesus is transfigured before them
With Cloths so white that no one on earth could bleach them
Clearly to show His divinity
And there appeared to them Elijah and Moses
Talking with Jesus
The writer of the Pentateuch - the Law
And the greatest prophet
“Talking” - talking to show that they are physically there
The Law and Prophets represented and yet after God spoke from the cloud
That “This is my Son, the beloved, listen to Him!”
‘Only Jesus’ remained
Something for ‘supersessionists’ to think about
Only Jesus - that message: is very challenging for our worldly views today
And how must our hearts be drawn to the words of God from the cloud
“This is my Son, the beloved, listen to Him!”
“This is my Son, the beloved…” draws us right back to the beginning of Jesus’ adult ministry and His Baptism in the river Jordan
“You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
So… what does all this have to do with me, and you… and these wonderful children that are being baptized today
Consider these details
“Jesus took with him, Peter and James and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves”
and
“appeared to them”
and most importantly
“Then Peter said to Jesus, Rabbi, it is good for us to be here”
I have often wondered, since the original Greek would not have had punctuation and since most versions that you will read keep punctuation out of it - whether Peter was asking a question - “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here?”
But I believe that it is more profound to leave it as a statement
“Rabbi, it is good for us to be here!”
We have Jesus, God in the flesh, Emanuel - God amongst us
Bringing… leading… revealing… … To Us
Making sure we understand exactly - who he is … to us… for us … in our presence
We are part of God’s plan - brought along for the ride
I think that whole passage actually hinges on Peter’s words told as a statement
It is without a doubt about Jesus being transfigured
Present with Moses - the Law, and Elijah - the prophets
God’s cloud, and ‘words of affirmation’, and command to ‘listen to Jesus’ And only Jesus remaining
But I think our life rests more on the fact that: God values us and wants us part of His plans
“Rabbi, it is good for us to be here!”
Transformation is one reason that I like ‘Extreme makeover - home edition’ the best
As they always take some family that has suffered great hardships and there is a great transformation
And there is a real community effort to work to completely transform their homes
And at the unveiling - there are often thousands from the community present to see the impact on the well-deserving family
But mainly because of another reason:
I think of it a parallel to God’s Abundant Love
In this show there is no slim budget - they completely overhaul everything
From the structure to all the decorating and furnishing, to installing any necessary special needs: like an elevator in the house for a member that is in a wheelchair or special ventilation for someone that has respitory challenges
It is truly extreme and I see and it as a wonderful illustration to God’s Abundant Love
“God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life”
Today as we look to the solid proof that Mark provides of who Jesus the Christ really is
Looking to the transfiguration
Know as St. Paul often writes that we to be “In Christ”
We are to be transformed from one thing to “a life in Christ”
It is great that we are going to baptize these three beautiful creations into ‘that’
Into God’s family
Where we, as an entire community gathered, are going to make those same claims - as we join in saying the baptismal covenant
I love baptisms because I can, with everyone else gathered, make those claims - that we are all born to make
So when the moment comes - do so with excitement and passion and thanksgiving
Because - “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here!”
Amen