Transfiguration Sunday
Preaching
Preaching and Reading the Old Testament Lessons
With an Eye to the New
Object:
It seems clear that we have a different source beginning in verse 12 than that found in 24:1-11, because while Moses and the elders are already on Mount Sinai in verse 11, Moses is bidden to ascend the mountain in verse 12. Nevertheless, the context forms a continuous story. The covenant of God with Israel is "cut" in 24:3-8, followed by the account of what could be called the first Lord's Supper in 24:9-11. Moses and the priests and the elders eat and drink the covenant meal with God himself. Then, following our text, God gives instructions to Moses and Israel about how to build the tabernacle with its ark of the covenant and all of its accoutrements (Exodus 25-31). Yet, it is also implied by 24:12 and by 32:18; 33:19; and chapter 34, that the instructions that God writes on the tables of the law given to Moses include the commandments now found in the Decalogue and the Ritual Decalogue of 34:12-28.
Obviously this text in Exodus 24 has been chosen for this Sunday of the Transfiguration because it speaks of the glory of the Lord descending on Mount Sinai "like a devouring fire" (v. 17). "The glory of the Lord" refers here, in verse 16, to that shining light effulgence by which God manifests himself on earth, and it reminds the reader of the Transfiguration in which Jesus' face shines like the sun and his garments become white as light. The glory of the Lord, who made the light and the sun, can manifest their brilliance, and so human beings must be protected from that dazzling light by a cloud (vv. 15-16). Indeed, in the New Testament, even the reflection of such light must be veiled from the sight of those who view it (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:7, 13). As 1 Timothy 6:16 says, God dwells in "unapproachable light," and in John, Jesus Christ is "the light and the life of" all (John 1:4). The incredible gift, therefore, is that humankind has been allowed to approach the very light of God in the incarnation of our Lord.
There is a further emphasis to be noted in our text for the morning, however, and that is contained in 24:12. God specifically tells Moses that the covenant people must receive their instructions for their living from the Lord and not from human beings, not even Moses. In other words, the people of God are to live by the Lord's law and commandments and not by the ways and ordinances of the world and the society around them (cf. Leviticus 18:1-4).
Now we know that there can be found some parallels to the laws of Israel in the laws of other peoples of the ancient Near East, for example, in the Code of Hammurabi. Yet, even there, the parallels are not exact, and the Ten Commandments, for example, form a code of law unknown to other societies. Israel's laws are different from the laws of other peoples, because they are commandments given by God, and Israel is to conduct her life according to those commandments and not according to some other rules or mores or customs.
In short, Israel is not a natural people, bound together by race or soil or economics. Israel, like the Christian Church, is a "mixed multitude" (Exodus 12:38), bound together by their common redemption out of slavery and by their willing covenant with their Lord. God's acts and Israel's loyalty to him make Israel a community -- a people -- and apart from God they become "no people" (cf. Hosea 1:9) in which community is impossible.
That means, therefore, that the covenant people of God -- Israel and the Christian Church -- are not to do just what comes naturally. It is not natural to love your enemies and to pray for those who persecute you. It is not natural to deny yourself and to take up a cross. But the followers of Jesus Christ do not succumb to natural actions and wants. They follow a Lord who is greater than nature and instinct and desire.
By the same token, the covenant people of God -- Israel and the Christian Church -- do not do as the society around them does. In our society, the goal is to accumulate wealth and power. But the people of God know that "the meek shall inherit the earth" and that they are to lay up for themselves not treasures on earth but treasures in heaven.
The covenant people of God -- Israel and the Christian Church -- do not even seek after just humanitarian values and ideals, for they know that human valuation of what is "good" or "compassionate" is always distorted by human sin and self-seeking. The "good" that we construct is never good enough, because it never measures up to the height and depth and breadth of the love of God in Jesus Christ. And the values that we hold are all tinged by our valuation of ourselves before all others. Our Lord emptied himself and became a servant for our sakes. There are very few of us who are able to get rid of ourselves and to serve others alone.
It follows, therefore, that unless we live by God's will, given us in his commandments, we will always go astray. We will never inherit that abundant life that God so much wants for us. And so God guides us and protects and loves us by giving us his law, his teaching, his merciful commandments in the New Testament. He points the way to abundant life, and he says to us, "This is the way; walk in it." And he does the same thing for Israel in the Old Testament here in our story of God's words to Moses on Mount Sinai.
The fact that we are to live by God's will and not by our own or by society's ways, makes us a unique community in the world. As the book of Numbers says of Israel, the church is "a people dwelling alone, and not reckoning itself among the nations" (Numbers 22:9). Or as Exodus 19 and 1 Peter have it, we and Israel are God's "own possession," his "peculiar treasure" (KJV), his "holy nation" (Exodus 19:5; 1 Peter 2:9), which means we are set apart for God's purpose. We are his witnesses in the world, his "kingdom of priests," set apart to "declare the wonderful deeds of him who called (us) out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once we were no people but now (we) are God's people; once we had not received mercy but now (we) have received mercy" (1 Peter 2:9-10). And we will fulfill God's purpose for our lives and for our church if we follow those unique commandments that he gives to us in his love.
Obviously this text in Exodus 24 has been chosen for this Sunday of the Transfiguration because it speaks of the glory of the Lord descending on Mount Sinai "like a devouring fire" (v. 17). "The glory of the Lord" refers here, in verse 16, to that shining light effulgence by which God manifests himself on earth, and it reminds the reader of the Transfiguration in which Jesus' face shines like the sun and his garments become white as light. The glory of the Lord, who made the light and the sun, can manifest their brilliance, and so human beings must be protected from that dazzling light by a cloud (vv. 15-16). Indeed, in the New Testament, even the reflection of such light must be veiled from the sight of those who view it (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:7, 13). As 1 Timothy 6:16 says, God dwells in "unapproachable light," and in John, Jesus Christ is "the light and the life of" all (John 1:4). The incredible gift, therefore, is that humankind has been allowed to approach the very light of God in the incarnation of our Lord.
There is a further emphasis to be noted in our text for the morning, however, and that is contained in 24:12. God specifically tells Moses that the covenant people must receive their instructions for their living from the Lord and not from human beings, not even Moses. In other words, the people of God are to live by the Lord's law and commandments and not by the ways and ordinances of the world and the society around them (cf. Leviticus 18:1-4).
Now we know that there can be found some parallels to the laws of Israel in the laws of other peoples of the ancient Near East, for example, in the Code of Hammurabi. Yet, even there, the parallels are not exact, and the Ten Commandments, for example, form a code of law unknown to other societies. Israel's laws are different from the laws of other peoples, because they are commandments given by God, and Israel is to conduct her life according to those commandments and not according to some other rules or mores or customs.
In short, Israel is not a natural people, bound together by race or soil or economics. Israel, like the Christian Church, is a "mixed multitude" (Exodus 12:38), bound together by their common redemption out of slavery and by their willing covenant with their Lord. God's acts and Israel's loyalty to him make Israel a community -- a people -- and apart from God they become "no people" (cf. Hosea 1:9) in which community is impossible.
That means, therefore, that the covenant people of God -- Israel and the Christian Church -- are not to do just what comes naturally. It is not natural to love your enemies and to pray for those who persecute you. It is not natural to deny yourself and to take up a cross. But the followers of Jesus Christ do not succumb to natural actions and wants. They follow a Lord who is greater than nature and instinct and desire.
By the same token, the covenant people of God -- Israel and the Christian Church -- do not do as the society around them does. In our society, the goal is to accumulate wealth and power. But the people of God know that "the meek shall inherit the earth" and that they are to lay up for themselves not treasures on earth but treasures in heaven.
The covenant people of God -- Israel and the Christian Church -- do not even seek after just humanitarian values and ideals, for they know that human valuation of what is "good" or "compassionate" is always distorted by human sin and self-seeking. The "good" that we construct is never good enough, because it never measures up to the height and depth and breadth of the love of God in Jesus Christ. And the values that we hold are all tinged by our valuation of ourselves before all others. Our Lord emptied himself and became a servant for our sakes. There are very few of us who are able to get rid of ourselves and to serve others alone.
It follows, therefore, that unless we live by God's will, given us in his commandments, we will always go astray. We will never inherit that abundant life that God so much wants for us. And so God guides us and protects and loves us by giving us his law, his teaching, his merciful commandments in the New Testament. He points the way to abundant life, and he says to us, "This is the way; walk in it." And he does the same thing for Israel in the Old Testament here in our story of God's words to Moses on Mount Sinai.
The fact that we are to live by God's will and not by our own or by society's ways, makes us a unique community in the world. As the book of Numbers says of Israel, the church is "a people dwelling alone, and not reckoning itself among the nations" (Numbers 22:9). Or as Exodus 19 and 1 Peter have it, we and Israel are God's "own possession," his "peculiar treasure" (KJV), his "holy nation" (Exodus 19:5; 1 Peter 2:9), which means we are set apart for God's purpose. We are his witnesses in the world, his "kingdom of priests," set apart to "declare the wonderful deeds of him who called (us) out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once we were no people but now (we) are God's people; once we had not received mercy but now (we) have received mercy" (1 Peter 2:9-10). And we will fulfill God's purpose for our lives and for our church if we follow those unique commandments that he gives to us in his love.
