TRANSFIGURATION
March
1-3, 2025
Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude
Text:
Luke 9:28-36 (EHV)
“THE PERFECT PICK
ME UP!”
1.
A
glimpse of glory.
2.
The
witness of the past.
3.
The
word of the Lord.
Every once in a while you need a
little pick me up. Most here can relate. Maybe you had a really hard day at
work or a bad night of sleep. Maybe you got some news letting you know
difficult days were ahead. Maybe it’s just your body’s circadian rhythm and
there are times you need that energy boost. For centuries people have used
coffee and tea to provide that pick me up. In more recent times there are a
myriad of energy drinks like Red Bull available. One of the first jobs I had
was cleaning store floors at night when grocery stores actually used to close.
We would go in and scrub the dirty floors, scraping off stickers and gum. By
the way, who does that? Who spits their gum out onto the floor in a grocery
store? Knock it off. That’s gross! Anyway, then we would put on a nice shiny
coat of wax so that you, the customer, would want to come in and spend money.
It was a process. Took a lot of time. Normally we were heading back home in the
predawn hours. Eyelids would grow heavy. Most of the time the preferred pick me
up was Mountain Dew. I still have a taste for the stuff. But then came Jolt
Cola with probably the best advertising line I have heard for young people who
were not thinking about what they were putting into their bodies. “Jolt Cola:
All the sugar and twice the caffeine.” It was a great little pick me up at 4:30
in the morning!
The Transfiguration of Jesus serves as
a perfect pick me up for disciples of Jesus. As you heard in the Gospel lesson
it was about 8 days after Jesus said some very important things. What things?
He had revealed to the disciples that He would suffer many things, be killed
and then rise again after three days. But wait there was more. Faithful
followers of Jesus could expect suffering too. There would be crosses for them
to bear. In other words, “By following me, you have signed up for suffering.”
You can imagine on hearing this the disciples were confused, maybe afraid, they
no doubt had many questions. They needed a little pick me up to raise their
spirits. It came in the form of the Transfiguration. “Jesus took Peter,
John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29While he
was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothing became
dazzling white. 30Just then, two men, Moses and Elijah, were
talking with him! 31They appeared in glory and were talking
about his departure, which he was going to bring to fulfillment in Jerusalem.”
The Transfiguration of Jesus served as
the perfect pick me up for Jesus’ disciples. First it gave them a glimpse of
glory. Not a full taste. They could not handle it, nor could we, as our worship
theme box explained very well. Jesus appeared in a way that showed some of His
true glory as God. What a blessing this was for them as they followed a Savior
who looked like a normal Jewish man. What a blessing this was as they grappled
with the truth that faithful following of the Son of God would not get them an
easy earthly life but it would give them a glorious eternity. A perfect pick me
up for confused and questioning disciples. Secondly the Transfiguration drew
their attention to the witnesses of the past. Moses and Elijah. Peter James and
John grew up hearing about these heroes of faith in Sabbath School. Here they
were alive, talking with Jesus. And what were they talking about? Jesus’
departure that He would bring about. Later they would be able to
understand that the events in the Garden of Gethsemane and Good Friday did not
happen to Jesus but happened because of Jesus, according to God’s plan. There
was no need for them to worry. A perfect pick me up!
And there was still more. The first part
of Jesus’ Transfiguration set up the last. Peter, James and John had grown
sleepy while Jesus and Moses and Elijah were talking. That gives me some
comfort for when your eyes glaze over. But when they were fully awake, this
happened. “While he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed
them. They were afraid as they went into the cloud. 35Then a
voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son,
whom I love. Listen to him!” 36After the voice had spoken,
they found Jesus alone. They kept this secret and told no one in those days any
of the things they had seen.” How do you think He said it? God, I mean,
when He said, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen
to him!” A whisper? A bold booming voice? Something in between? You can
use your imagination and you have to because we are not told. That’s because
how God said it is not as important as what God said. Disciples. Followers of
Jesus, listen to what Jesus says. It will pick you up when you have doubts,
questions, fears, when you are tired.
The Apostle Peter sure learned that
lesson! This is what he wrote in his second letter. “To
be sure, we were not following cunningly devised fables when we made known to
you the powerful appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses
of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory
from God the Father, when the voice came to him from within the Majestic Glory,
saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” 18 We
heard this voice, which came out of heaven when we were with him on the holy
mountain. 19 We also have the completely reliable
prophetic word. You do well to pay attention to it,” (2 Peter 1:16-19)
Brothers and sisters, the Transfiguration
of Jesus serves as a perfect pick me up for you too. Like Jesus’ disciples at
this point in their lives we will find ourselves dealing with things that are
too big for us. Confused when faithful following of Jesus brings us suffering
instead of glory. Afraid when we don’t understand God’s plan for us or our
loved ones. Dealing with doubts over what God says. At those times it’s
important to go back to the glimpses of glory God lets us see, to revisit the
witnesses of our past and to pay attention to the words of our Lord.
Let’s start with a glimpse of glory. Jesus
let the disciples see a taste of what was coming to help them endure when
faithful following didn’t yield the results they wanted. We see Jesus’ glory
through the eyes of Peter, James and John but that is not all God gives us. Our
faith is not blind. Each of you, can think of times when God gave you your own
glimpse of His glory. The medical miracle. Some extra money at just the right
time. An impossible broken relationship restored. Don’t gloss over that
glimpse. Hold on to it as Peter, James and John would do. There is no need for
us to complain or through ourselves pity parties when faithful following of
Christ brings hardship. We have an eternity of glory coming. We also have the
witnesses of the past to pick us up. In addition to the biblical heroes of
faith we have in common with all followers of Christ God gives us more. You may
call them Mom or Dad, Grandpa or Grandma. Younger people especially. Think! Why
did they care about their faith so much? Why was church so important to them?
Like Moses and Elijah, they enjoyed their time talking with Jesus. God gives
you their witness of faithful Christianity to hold on to, to teach you the
importance of your relationship with Jesus.
And then remember, like it was with Jesus’
disciples, the glimpse of glory, the witness of the past, are all designed to
do one thing, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” The focus
stays on Jesus, what He has done. The eyes and ears read and listen to what He
has to say. It will provide the perfect pick me up. When you doubt God’s
truths, when you worry for your future, when you wonder about God’s love.
Listen to Him!
I still have fond memories of my high
school and college jobs. Using Mt. Dew or Jolt Cola when needed did the trick.
But now as I have taken half a step toward maturity I’ve discovered how nice it
is to have a daily pick me up. You’ve seen the coffee cup in my hand. That
works physically but not spiritually. For that I use God’s words. Every day.
Will you? Amen.
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