The Transfiguration Of Our Lord
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VI, Cycle C
Object:
COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS
Lesson 1: Exodus 34:29-35 (C); Exodus 34:29-35 (E)
Here we have an interesting precedent to the Transfiguration experience which would happen to Jesus. Moses was described as having a face shining with a glow which appeared to result from his most recent encounter with God. What physical phenomenon may have occurred we can't, of course, know. However, all we have to do is see a child's face at Christmas, or a lover whose proposal of marriage is accepted, or a diligent student whose grades have just arrived and are the best hoped for, to be reminded that sometimes, when something quite wonderful happens to us, our faces can take on what must seem to those who love us as a literal glow of joy. We must believe that some powerful sense of God's presence, some transcendent encounter has brought Moses to a power-filled sense of mission and presence.
This encounter on Mount Sinai has some historical importance, as it reveals the later Jewish conviction that Moses enjoyed special status in relation to God -- special as their own embodiment, and thus in a sense, an affirmation of their own special status in relationship with God. It also has a spiritual value for us as a reminder that when we open ourselves up to God, when we earnestly pray and try to submit ourselves to God, we too may experience something transcendent.
Lesson 1: Daniel 7:9-10 (RC)
A fascinating visual image of the judgment of God.
Lesson 2: 2 Corinthians 3:12--4:2 (C)
Paul here makes the unpopular assertion that the Jews are blinded by a covering veil when they read the Law. Only by turning to the Lord, to the Spirit which leads directly to Jesus, can their vision be restored. Thus, the veil is removed when they accept Jesus as the revealer of God. As a result, when we accept this, it should cause us to stop anything about our lives which is immoral, secret, shameful, and henceforth make every possible effort to live in such a way that those who see us will find us worthy examples of our faith. Paul also assures us that if we do this, "the Spirit transforms us into his likeness," in other words, we will not be required to become New Beings (Tillich) by our own resources but rather will, by cooperating with the Spirit, be changed.
Lesson 2: 2 Peter 1:16-19 (RC)
The author presumes his hearers' familiarity with the reports of the transfiguration. Troubled by growing doubts among the people around him, "Peter" firmly states his conviction of the Second Coming of Christ and will brook no interpretation of events or of Scripture apart from his own beliefs. These, he warns, are a gift of the Spirit. Interpretation of the prophets and their prophesies must be guided by the Spirit. Those who saw Jesus in the flesh during his earthly life perceived his regal majesty, and they are left with no doubt of his imminent return in regal splendor once more. Furthermore, speaking on behalf of his fellow apostles, "Peter" wished to make it clear that all of this was based on Scripture and on eyewitness evidence.
Lesson 2: 1 Corinthians 12:27--13:13 (E)
(See Epiphany 4)
Gospel: Luke 9:28-36 (37-43) (C); Luke 9:28-36 (RC, E)
We do well to stand alongside the apostles in our hearts, awe-struck, willing to accept what we cannot understand or explain. Little wonder those fellows said nothing afterwards. People might have thought they were either out of their minds, or were making up stories to make Jesus look good.
You and I must decide what we think might have happened at the Transfiguration, whether a literal event took place in the physical world, or whether a blinding inner event took place, in which those closest to Jesus suddenly realized fully just who he was -- we can't know. Different ones among us interpret the Bible in ways others may not. What we do know is this: the Jews, personified in Moses, and the Jewish psyche, personified in Ezekiel, joined to affirm the role of Jesus as God's chosen emissary. We know that Peter, James, and John experienced something so overwhelming that they were never to be the same. Their humanity remained intact as evidenced by such things as Peter's later denial of Jesus in the courtyard. But something happened that day which would change, not only the three men, and perhaps Jesus, but it would also change the world.
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
I find the theme in Exodus essentially the theme of the Gospel text. The story of Moses might very well serve as an illustration for the sermon if one wishes to make the point that God has acted in the past in the lives of those who are engaged in doing the divine will. However, it seems to me that if one proposes to preach on Transfiguration Sunday about that event, a Gospel text would almost certainly be preferred. I might add to that the thought that as Moses was returning from the giving of the law, the Jewish belief (with which, of course, we would agree) that the law was, indeed, given by God could suggest a sermon on the necessity of law as well as grace.
Title: "Learning To Be A Christian"
Text: 2 Corinthians 4:1-2
Theme: This may not be a good title since most of us like to think we've been working at becoming Christian for a long time. Still, it might be worth our time to review for ourselves just what is involved in being a good Christian. It's not always easy, that's for sure. We're still loaded down with all our old baggage. I still get irritated with mechanical things as I always did. On the one hand, I'm nicer to the occasional person whom I find irritating than I might otherwise have been, but I still feel that irritation. I still recall with embarrassment the evening I had gone to my church to work on my sermon. It was late, near midnight, and I counted on having the building to myself. But just as I was starting, a man who did a lot of work at the church, was of immense value to the place, but who never ever came to worship, showed up to do some work. Now it was his church as much as it was mine. I know that now. Nonetheless, I was so angry (he had done this more than once in the past) I slammed my fist against a door jamb -- and broke my little finger. For the next couple months it was sheer agony to stand at the door after worship and shake hands with departing worshipers.
I hasten to say I would never have expressed my anger to that gentleman, but my so-called Christianity didn't relieve me of an inclination to be irritated by interruptions. My only rationalization for this is it was better than suffering clinical depression.
So -- my point: to practice what Paul has preached here is a matter of growth for most of us, rather than a sudden transformation. It's like a man walking to the grocery, but he's going in the wrong direction. He's getting farther and farther from the store, when a friend stops him and points this out. Now the man turns, starts off in the right direction. He's a long way from the store to be sure, but now he's getting closer to his true destination. When I accepted Christ, it was as if I had turned, started off in a new, better direction. But I still have a way to go.
Title: "Opening Blind Eyes"
Text: Luke 9:28-36
Theme: Dr. Barclay points the way in this text by suggesting that verse 32: "Peter and his companions were sound asleep, but they woke up...." I particularly like the phrase from The Message version of the Bible: "When they came to...." That could be our text. "When they came to ..." they saw who Jesus really was. Isn't that true for all of us? When we come to -- when we finally awaken to the true meaning of Jesus in our lives, when his real identity is at last clear to us, then we begin to change, and life takes on new beauty.
1. Many things keep us from "seeing" Jesus. For example, our constant preoccupation with success. We clergy are -- most of us -- aware that we are no exception to this desire. When Luther once remarked that "it is a miracle if a pastor be saved" he was simply acknowledging that everyone (maybe a few exceptions, but very few) wishes to succeed at something, and that can preoccupy us to the point we have no time for worship, for reflection, for Bible study, for the things which open us up to Jesus.
2. Sooner or later, life tries to awaken us. The loss of a loved one, for example. An illness. A sense of anxiety or loneliness or failure. A disappointment. Or, for a few, a sudden sense of some transcendent feeling which overwhelms us, though I think that is nearly always preceded by some stressful event.
3. God tries to use those events. "All things work for good," wrote Paul. One woman told of a lifetime of drudgery and selfish living. One day she became seriously ill. Later, after recovering, she told a friend that she had accepted Christ while she was sick. "I guess I had to be put flat on my back before I could look up," she said.
4. If, and when, we "see" Jesus, life is redeemed.
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
Keith Miller, in his book The Second Touch, gives a delightful report of the early days of his Christian journey. He had decided to arise very early each morning to have quiet prayer time, before his wife and three children arose. He said he carefully tried to tiptoe about, gently opening dresser drawers so as not to disturb anyone. However, he said his wife, Mary Allen, had this little signal to let him know he was disturbing her, for just as he was leaving the darkened bedroom, she would utter a gentle sigh. He said, "This would let me know in one incoherent syllable, that (1) I had awakened her and she couldn't go back to sleep and (2) she hoped I got a lot out of those prayers since we were both losing sleep so I could have my 'quiet time.' "
Miller would then slip down to his study, already out of sorts -- ready to pray for patience, he said, which he wouldn't have needed if he'd stayed in bed. Then he would settle down in his favorite chair and begin to read the Bible and to pray.
"Then came the children," he wrote. His "quiet" movements had disturbed them and, all of them being preschoolers, they would tumble downstairs, barge into his study, and inquire what in the world Daddy was doing up at this hour. Stifling his irritation, he tried to explain what he was doing, but their persistent questions upset him one morning so that he snapped at them to please be quiet and get out of here. "Daddy's busy."
"I will never forget our middle daughter, sniffling back her tears, asking her mother, through the kitchen door, 'What's the matter with Daddy?' " Miller wrote. "My wife's matter-of-fact answer was, 'Oh, he's learning how to be a good Christian, so that he can love the people downtown.' "
____________
Tolstoy told the story of a peasant who was informed by his Emir that he could possess whatever property he was able to walk around from early morning until sundown. The only limitation was that he must return to the Emir by dark. The man began his journey with high enthusiasm. He passed golden fields, rich for harvest. He passed clear running streams, ponds, and charming landscapes. On he went, joyously choosing for himself all the land he could see.
That afternoon, as the sun was moving toward the horizon, the peasant realized that he was a long way from his destination. He began to walk swiftly, then to run. Frantically, he scrambled up the hill where the Emir waited, and a crowd of interested and perhaps jealous townsmen waited. At last, just as the sun disappeared, the peasant fell at the feet of his Emir. He had succeeded. At this point, he fell dead.
The obvious moral is the fact that we frantically try to acquire and accumulate, until at the end, we can destroy ourselves in our haste to possess. If only that peasant had controlled his desires, had chosen more modest possessions in favor of appreciation of life, he might have had a happy one.
____________
There's a famous painting in the classic Pilgrim's Progress titled "The Man With The Muckrake." It shows a man scrabbling in the mud with a rake, while above his head is to be seen a heavenly hand offering him a crown. But the man will not receive his crown because he never looks upward.
____________
When Danny Kay Lung was nine years old, his stepfather chained him to a clothesline. Other times, he was tied to a tree. In despair, he ran away from home and found a friend -- a member of a gang. "Eight years and 1,900 cuts, stitches, stabs and gunshots later," he said, a police officer urged him to join the armed forces rather than go to prison. He served two years in the Marines, then returned from Vietnam to be called a baby killer, and to be spit on by civilians. Hating the world, he turned to drugs and alcohol.
Finally, a woman met Lung who saw something good in him. They married. But heartache was still to dog his life as his small son developed spinal meningitis. He had decided that there could never be happiness in his life. But one day a visiting friend told him about the power of God. "I would never have let him in the house if I had known what he was there for," he said. But the friend told him about God and, according to an article recently appearing in The Indianapolis Star, "when he did, it changed him. His relationship with God gave him the peace that had eluded him all his life. "I'll never be the same," said Lung.
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 99 -- "The Lord reigns."
Prayer Of The Day
Open our eyes, we pray, that we might see beyond the cares of this moment, that we might set aside the pressing demands which beset us long enough to look upward with our inner vision, that we might see him who lost his life while saving ours. In gratitude we pray, O God. Amen.
Lesson 1: Exodus 34:29-35 (C); Exodus 34:29-35 (E)
Here we have an interesting precedent to the Transfiguration experience which would happen to Jesus. Moses was described as having a face shining with a glow which appeared to result from his most recent encounter with God. What physical phenomenon may have occurred we can't, of course, know. However, all we have to do is see a child's face at Christmas, or a lover whose proposal of marriage is accepted, or a diligent student whose grades have just arrived and are the best hoped for, to be reminded that sometimes, when something quite wonderful happens to us, our faces can take on what must seem to those who love us as a literal glow of joy. We must believe that some powerful sense of God's presence, some transcendent encounter has brought Moses to a power-filled sense of mission and presence.
This encounter on Mount Sinai has some historical importance, as it reveals the later Jewish conviction that Moses enjoyed special status in relation to God -- special as their own embodiment, and thus in a sense, an affirmation of their own special status in relationship with God. It also has a spiritual value for us as a reminder that when we open ourselves up to God, when we earnestly pray and try to submit ourselves to God, we too may experience something transcendent.
Lesson 1: Daniel 7:9-10 (RC)
A fascinating visual image of the judgment of God.
Lesson 2: 2 Corinthians 3:12--4:2 (C)
Paul here makes the unpopular assertion that the Jews are blinded by a covering veil when they read the Law. Only by turning to the Lord, to the Spirit which leads directly to Jesus, can their vision be restored. Thus, the veil is removed when they accept Jesus as the revealer of God. As a result, when we accept this, it should cause us to stop anything about our lives which is immoral, secret, shameful, and henceforth make every possible effort to live in such a way that those who see us will find us worthy examples of our faith. Paul also assures us that if we do this, "the Spirit transforms us into his likeness," in other words, we will not be required to become New Beings (Tillich) by our own resources but rather will, by cooperating with the Spirit, be changed.
Lesson 2: 2 Peter 1:16-19 (RC)
The author presumes his hearers' familiarity with the reports of the transfiguration. Troubled by growing doubts among the people around him, "Peter" firmly states his conviction of the Second Coming of Christ and will brook no interpretation of events or of Scripture apart from his own beliefs. These, he warns, are a gift of the Spirit. Interpretation of the prophets and their prophesies must be guided by the Spirit. Those who saw Jesus in the flesh during his earthly life perceived his regal majesty, and they are left with no doubt of his imminent return in regal splendor once more. Furthermore, speaking on behalf of his fellow apostles, "Peter" wished to make it clear that all of this was based on Scripture and on eyewitness evidence.
Lesson 2: 1 Corinthians 12:27--13:13 (E)
(See Epiphany 4)
Gospel: Luke 9:28-36 (37-43) (C); Luke 9:28-36 (RC, E)
We do well to stand alongside the apostles in our hearts, awe-struck, willing to accept what we cannot understand or explain. Little wonder those fellows said nothing afterwards. People might have thought they were either out of their minds, or were making up stories to make Jesus look good.
You and I must decide what we think might have happened at the Transfiguration, whether a literal event took place in the physical world, or whether a blinding inner event took place, in which those closest to Jesus suddenly realized fully just who he was -- we can't know. Different ones among us interpret the Bible in ways others may not. What we do know is this: the Jews, personified in Moses, and the Jewish psyche, personified in Ezekiel, joined to affirm the role of Jesus as God's chosen emissary. We know that Peter, James, and John experienced something so overwhelming that they were never to be the same. Their humanity remained intact as evidenced by such things as Peter's later denial of Jesus in the courtyard. But something happened that day which would change, not only the three men, and perhaps Jesus, but it would also change the world.
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
I find the theme in Exodus essentially the theme of the Gospel text. The story of Moses might very well serve as an illustration for the sermon if one wishes to make the point that God has acted in the past in the lives of those who are engaged in doing the divine will. However, it seems to me that if one proposes to preach on Transfiguration Sunday about that event, a Gospel text would almost certainly be preferred. I might add to that the thought that as Moses was returning from the giving of the law, the Jewish belief (with which, of course, we would agree) that the law was, indeed, given by God could suggest a sermon on the necessity of law as well as grace.
Title: "Learning To Be A Christian"
Text: 2 Corinthians 4:1-2
Theme: This may not be a good title since most of us like to think we've been working at becoming Christian for a long time. Still, it might be worth our time to review for ourselves just what is involved in being a good Christian. It's not always easy, that's for sure. We're still loaded down with all our old baggage. I still get irritated with mechanical things as I always did. On the one hand, I'm nicer to the occasional person whom I find irritating than I might otherwise have been, but I still feel that irritation. I still recall with embarrassment the evening I had gone to my church to work on my sermon. It was late, near midnight, and I counted on having the building to myself. But just as I was starting, a man who did a lot of work at the church, was of immense value to the place, but who never ever came to worship, showed up to do some work. Now it was his church as much as it was mine. I know that now. Nonetheless, I was so angry (he had done this more than once in the past) I slammed my fist against a door jamb -- and broke my little finger. For the next couple months it was sheer agony to stand at the door after worship and shake hands with departing worshipers.
I hasten to say I would never have expressed my anger to that gentleman, but my so-called Christianity didn't relieve me of an inclination to be irritated by interruptions. My only rationalization for this is it was better than suffering clinical depression.
So -- my point: to practice what Paul has preached here is a matter of growth for most of us, rather than a sudden transformation. It's like a man walking to the grocery, but he's going in the wrong direction. He's getting farther and farther from the store, when a friend stops him and points this out. Now the man turns, starts off in the right direction. He's a long way from the store to be sure, but now he's getting closer to his true destination. When I accepted Christ, it was as if I had turned, started off in a new, better direction. But I still have a way to go.
Title: "Opening Blind Eyes"
Text: Luke 9:28-36
Theme: Dr. Barclay points the way in this text by suggesting that verse 32: "Peter and his companions were sound asleep, but they woke up...." I particularly like the phrase from The Message version of the Bible: "When they came to...." That could be our text. "When they came to ..." they saw who Jesus really was. Isn't that true for all of us? When we come to -- when we finally awaken to the true meaning of Jesus in our lives, when his real identity is at last clear to us, then we begin to change, and life takes on new beauty.
1. Many things keep us from "seeing" Jesus. For example, our constant preoccupation with success. We clergy are -- most of us -- aware that we are no exception to this desire. When Luther once remarked that "it is a miracle if a pastor be saved" he was simply acknowledging that everyone (maybe a few exceptions, but very few) wishes to succeed at something, and that can preoccupy us to the point we have no time for worship, for reflection, for Bible study, for the things which open us up to Jesus.
2. Sooner or later, life tries to awaken us. The loss of a loved one, for example. An illness. A sense of anxiety or loneliness or failure. A disappointment. Or, for a few, a sudden sense of some transcendent feeling which overwhelms us, though I think that is nearly always preceded by some stressful event.
3. God tries to use those events. "All things work for good," wrote Paul. One woman told of a lifetime of drudgery and selfish living. One day she became seriously ill. Later, after recovering, she told a friend that she had accepted Christ while she was sick. "I guess I had to be put flat on my back before I could look up," she said.
4. If, and when, we "see" Jesus, life is redeemed.
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
Keith Miller, in his book The Second Touch, gives a delightful report of the early days of his Christian journey. He had decided to arise very early each morning to have quiet prayer time, before his wife and three children arose. He said he carefully tried to tiptoe about, gently opening dresser drawers so as not to disturb anyone. However, he said his wife, Mary Allen, had this little signal to let him know he was disturbing her, for just as he was leaving the darkened bedroom, she would utter a gentle sigh. He said, "This would let me know in one incoherent syllable, that (1) I had awakened her and she couldn't go back to sleep and (2) she hoped I got a lot out of those prayers since we were both losing sleep so I could have my 'quiet time.' "
Miller would then slip down to his study, already out of sorts -- ready to pray for patience, he said, which he wouldn't have needed if he'd stayed in bed. Then he would settle down in his favorite chair and begin to read the Bible and to pray.
"Then came the children," he wrote. His "quiet" movements had disturbed them and, all of them being preschoolers, they would tumble downstairs, barge into his study, and inquire what in the world Daddy was doing up at this hour. Stifling his irritation, he tried to explain what he was doing, but their persistent questions upset him one morning so that he snapped at them to please be quiet and get out of here. "Daddy's busy."
"I will never forget our middle daughter, sniffling back her tears, asking her mother, through the kitchen door, 'What's the matter with Daddy?' " Miller wrote. "My wife's matter-of-fact answer was, 'Oh, he's learning how to be a good Christian, so that he can love the people downtown.' "
____________
Tolstoy told the story of a peasant who was informed by his Emir that he could possess whatever property he was able to walk around from early morning until sundown. The only limitation was that he must return to the Emir by dark. The man began his journey with high enthusiasm. He passed golden fields, rich for harvest. He passed clear running streams, ponds, and charming landscapes. On he went, joyously choosing for himself all the land he could see.
That afternoon, as the sun was moving toward the horizon, the peasant realized that he was a long way from his destination. He began to walk swiftly, then to run. Frantically, he scrambled up the hill where the Emir waited, and a crowd of interested and perhaps jealous townsmen waited. At last, just as the sun disappeared, the peasant fell at the feet of his Emir. He had succeeded. At this point, he fell dead.
The obvious moral is the fact that we frantically try to acquire and accumulate, until at the end, we can destroy ourselves in our haste to possess. If only that peasant had controlled his desires, had chosen more modest possessions in favor of appreciation of life, he might have had a happy one.
____________
There's a famous painting in the classic Pilgrim's Progress titled "The Man With The Muckrake." It shows a man scrabbling in the mud with a rake, while above his head is to be seen a heavenly hand offering him a crown. But the man will not receive his crown because he never looks upward.
____________
When Danny Kay Lung was nine years old, his stepfather chained him to a clothesline. Other times, he was tied to a tree. In despair, he ran away from home and found a friend -- a member of a gang. "Eight years and 1,900 cuts, stitches, stabs and gunshots later," he said, a police officer urged him to join the armed forces rather than go to prison. He served two years in the Marines, then returned from Vietnam to be called a baby killer, and to be spit on by civilians. Hating the world, he turned to drugs and alcohol.
Finally, a woman met Lung who saw something good in him. They married. But heartache was still to dog his life as his small son developed spinal meningitis. He had decided that there could never be happiness in his life. But one day a visiting friend told him about the power of God. "I would never have let him in the house if I had known what he was there for," he said. But the friend told him about God and, according to an article recently appearing in The Indianapolis Star, "when he did, it changed him. His relationship with God gave him the peace that had eluded him all his life. "I'll never be the same," said Lung.
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 99 -- "The Lord reigns."
Prayer Of The Day
Open our eyes, we pray, that we might see beyond the cares of this moment, that we might set aside the pressing demands which beset us long enough to look upward with our inner vision, that we might see him who lost his life while saving ours. In gratitude we pray, O God. Amen.
