"Listen To The Glory"
Hear the message of Christ's transfiguration.
Sermon Preached by
The Rev. Dr. Andrew Stirling
Sunday, March 2, 2003
Text: Matthew 17:1-13
One of the greatest theologians of all time lived in the 20th century. Karl Barth spent most of his days in Basle, Switzerland - the city where he was born and that he loved. The story goes, as Karl Barth told it, that one day he was riding a streetcar through the beautiful city when a man got on and sat next to him. It was very evident that the man was a tourist, so Barth leaned over and asked: "Are you a visitor to the city?"
And the man said: "Yes, I am.
Barth asked: "Is there anything in particular that you would like to see while you're in this great city?"
And the man said: "Well, actually, yes. I was really hoping that someday I'd be able to meet your city's great theologian, Karl Barth."
Barth smiled at him and said: "Is that right?"
The man said: "Yes, I was wondering if it was possible."
And Karl Barth looked at him and said: "Well, actually, I have shaved his face every day for many years."
The man was so excited that he got off the streetcar at the next stop, went to his wife and said: "You're not going to believe it! I met Karl Barth's barber on the streetcar today!"
Sometimes, my friends, it is as if God's glory, God's goodness, God's splendour is right before our eyes to see, enjoy and celebrate but very often, like the man on the streetcar, we're looking in the wrong places and for the wrong things. We have an expectation ahead of time of what God's glory should look like, how it should manifest itself and where it should appear. And very often because of that, we don't take the time to listen for the glory. We don't take the time to open ourselves to the glory, for we are always so content to look where we expect to find it that we miss the obvious.
Our passage this morning, the glorious account of the transfiguration of Christ in the Gospel of Matthew, is a clear example of the disciples doing exactly the same thing. They went up to a mountaintop with Jesus to have a time of prayer, to listen to His words. We read that the disciples - a chosen few: James, John and Peter - wanted to get away from the crowds with Jesus. He often went up onto a mountaintop to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, and they went up there with Him expecting to hear something profound.
When they got to the mountaintop, they were overwhelmed by what they heard and saw. Rather than hearing the words of Jesus Himself, they heard a voice that came from heaven saying: "This is my beloved Son." Rather than just discussing with Him the problems of the day or the necessities of discipleship, they saw Elijah and Moses appear before them. Rather than having a time of prayer, they saw a bright light and a cloud, and Jesus changed before their very eyes. You see, they were looking for the glory of God in one way, when God was revealing it in another. That singular moment, witnessed by the disciples, changed forever their lives and their faith.
In the second Book of Peter, Chapter One, verse 16 (we're not sure whether Peter actually wrote or dictated this, or whether it was written about what Peter had said, later, but certainly Peter's influence is upon this book) he recounts the story of that moment on the mountaintop: how his life and the lives of the disciples changed by the breaking forth of the glory of God into their midst and that once and for all they knew and believed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God.
You see, when God broke forth, when His glory was revealed, they were changed. Their ministry, their lives, their whole approach to the faith was confirmed and changed.
This morning I want to look at that same story of the transfiguration of Jesus of Nazareth. I liken the account in Matthew to a letter. The story of the transfiguration is like a letter we have received that describes the glory of God. And like any letter, what we see first and what we find evidence of, is the signature of the glory of God. No one sends a letter without signing it, or certainly one shouldn't send a letter without signing it. A signature is a symbol of the authority of the one sending it.
Never did this become more real for me than last Friday night while I was in Florida to preach. I took two people from our congregation out for dinner. We had the most delightful dinner - seafood, baked potatoes, beautiful vegetables, nice rolls - oh, it was just dandy. After we had finished this glorious meal, as is the custom, the waiter brought the bill over to me. I looked at it and thought: "Oh, this is very reasonable," and immediately handed him my credit card. He handed me back the receipt, I signed it, returned it and thought: "This has been well worth every penny."
I was marching out the door with my two friends, thinking I had been most generous, when all of a sudden a man at the door stopped me. He said: "Excuse me, the manager would like to see you." I thought, "Oh, goodness, I'm in the country for one day and I'm already in trouble." I went over to the manager's desk and he said: "Sir, I'm terribly sorry but there has been a big mistake. The bill that you signed was not actually your bill." He handed me another bill; I looked at it and it was three times as much.
I said: "Are you sure about this?"
And he said: "Yes, I am. You see, we inadvertently gave you the wrong bill."
I said: "That's quite all right, I'll take the one you gave me. I don't mind!"
And he said: "But sir, your bill is actually three times larger than the other one."
I said (with a wink): "You know, you're at fault, you handed me the bill and I'm quite prepared to take the one you gave me."
He said: "But your card says 'The Reverend Andrew Stirling,' and I thought I could expect better from you than this."
Now, of course I was only playing with him, I said: "Well, I suppose I should sign the other one." So, I finally signed the correct bill. Then I realized that I had signed somebody else's credit card receipt. I hadn't even looked at the name that was on it. I had authorized something without thinking about what I was doing. I realized just how dangerous it had been because what would have happened if my bill had been three times larger than the one I was suppose to sign - then I really would have been upset!
The signature though, says it all; the signature is the final authority. It is what ultimately matters. Well, the story of the transfiguration is really the story of God's signature, God's seal, God's sign of who Jesus was. It was the ultimate moment for the disciples to confirm that this was God's activity and God's ministry.
What makes it all the more poignant, however, is that when you look at it carefully there are parallels to passages within the Book of Exodus. If you look carefully at the passage you will see that all the incidents that occurred on the mountaintop actually parallel events that had taken place during the time of Moses.
For example, we read that Jesus was on the mountaintop with the disciples for six days. In Exodus 34 Moses was on the mountaintop for six days when he divided the stone tablets of the Law. We read that Jesus was transfigured, that He changed, that a lightness came upon Him and He looked different to them. If you look at Exodus 24 you will see that Moses had a similar experience. If you look at the transfiguration, there is what is known as a shekinah in Hebrew - God appearing through the cloud and speaking through the cloud. If you look at Exodus Chapter 19 you will find Moses listening to God behind a shekinah - behind a cloud.
In other words, the disciples had spent their lives believing in the teachings of Moses. Moses had been the authoritative one. The transfiguration, the six days, the shekinah - all of these had been in praise of Moses and of the Law. For the disciples who went to the mountaintop to be with Jesus, both Moses and Elijah the great prophet had been the supreme authorities. But now Jesus, whom they were following, Jesus of Nazareth, whom they believed to be the Messiah, was being similarly transfigured before their eyes. Not only that, but the voice from heaven was saying: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." Jesus, in other words, was to be greater than even Moses and Elijah. The disciples then went with their faith up to the mountaintop to talk to Jesus. The glory of the Lord shone upon them, transformed Jesus in their midst and, like a signature, gave authority to the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth.
A document needs more than a signature to make it official; it also needs to be sealed or witnessed. I think it is fair enough to say that not one of us here saw the transfiguration of Jesus take place - it is an historical event. There is a very important proverb that says: "Every generation must learn for itself that the stove is hot." In other words, each generation needs to confirm the experience of past generations.
That doesn't mean that we always need to touch a stove to determine that it is hot. We don't need the experience of burning ourselves to realize the truth. We believe - and this is very important - we believe in the witness, in the evidence that is given to us by people whom we trust. We learn from others what truth is, and it is very often handed down from generation to generation.
That is why I have never believed the very popular axiom that says: "Only if you really experience something can you know it to be true." I don't believe that I have to stand in front of a bus to know that if I am hit by one bus I will probably be killed. I don't have to be raped to understand that rape is wrong. I don't have to be poor to sympathize with the poor and to know how desolate poverty can be. I don't have to be Asian of African to appreciate that Asians and Africans are human beings too. I don't need to experience everything in order to understand it to be true. I can sometimes listen to witnesses who have experienced something and through them understand what it true.
Now, I say this because we have not seen the transfiguration for ourselves, but we accept the witness of those disciples who tell us from their experience that this is the truth. And it is their witness that lives in our hearts and causes us to believe. That is why Jesus took those disciples up to the mountain. That is why the glory of the Lord shone upon them, so when they came down from the mountaintop they could tell the world the truth of what they had seen. They were the witnesses who confirmed the signature of God's glory on that mountaintop and confirmed Jesus Christ. That does not mean that very moment and that very Lord should not be part of our lives and experience and heart through faith.
I read a delightful story about a three-year-old girl who went to see the doctor. The doctor realized that she had the flu so he tried to make her feel better. He looked in her ear and asked: "Is Big Bird in your ear?"
And she said: "No! No, Big Bird's not in my ear."
So he said: "Open your mouth then, I want to look in your mouth." He looked into her mouth and asked: "Is the Cookie Monster in your mouth?"
And she said: "No, silly, the Cookie Monster's not in my mouth."
And he said: "Well, now I want to listen to your heart," and so doing said: "Is Barney in your heart?"
And she paused and looked at him with incredulity and said: "No, Jesus is in my heart; Barney is on my underwear!"
You see, my friends, even children can bear witness to the truth.
There is a sense in which Christ comes into our lives and hearts and we don't necessarily have to experience the transfiguration or the amazing glory of what happened on that mountaintop - that was for the disciples, they bear witness to it. We can experience the presence of the living Christ by listening to what they have to say to us.
But there is more. Not only must a letter be signed, witnessed and sealed, it also has to be delivered. A message has to be given. What was given was the word of God - not only the confirming of the presence of Jesus but also a word for every generation that is to follow. It is the hot stove of the Christian faith. It is that which we must experience ourselves.
I don't know if you feel as I do, but I sometimes feel like a pin cushion through which marketers are always trying to prod a pin. It seems that somebody is always trying to sell me something. For example, I kept my cellular phone turned off as the flight crew advised until I got off the plane on Tuesday, but as soon as I hit the ground I switched it on. Almost immediately there was a beep. Now, very few people have my cell phone number - it's for emergencies. It's for calls of real importance. So, I pulled off to one side and punched in my code expecting to hear some bad news - that something terrible had happened to somebody, that somebody had died or was in need - and I listened attentively. A message came on: "This is [a phone company - I won't tell you which one]. We can upgrade your system in the next 24 hours if you punch in code x and provide your credit card number. We will be able to upgrade your system so you can access messages anywhere in the world."
I couldn't help but think: "I don't want access to messages anywhere in the world. In fact, I don't want the message that I'm getting from you!" Somebody always wants to sell you something, get your attention, get you to buy something. Everyone seems to treat us as if we are objects, not subjects. And all that we are objects of is some great big marketing scheme. Our world is very much like that.
That is why we need to listen to the story of the transfiguration. There is a very profound message in it. When the disciples were up on the mountain with Jesus, a voice came from heaven saying: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." Just like what happened when Jesus was baptised. But then there was something else. It was: "Listen to Him."
In our busy lives we need to take the time to listen to the word of God. To listen to the word of Christ. Not only that, you notice that when the disciples heard the voice - Matthew tells us, Luke tells us and Mark tells us the same thing - they got on their knees and worshipped. They got on their knees and they trembled. This is of course, glorious Old Testament language. When people got on their knees it was a sign of reverence and awe.
I was saying to the young people at our contemporary service earlier this morning that very often I'm asked: "Why should I bother going to church? Why should I bother going to worship? Why do I need to do this?" It seems to me that with people demanding our time and energy, wanting us to participate in their agendas that we need to get on our knees at times. We need to be still. We need to have a mountaintop experience and to wait on the glory of God. But it is even more than that.
As I was getting off the plane I was handed a copy of Time magazine. Now, I'm not an authority and I had only spent four days in the United States, so far be it for me to know the mood of the country, but Time magazine had a very, very telling cover last week. It read: "America The Anxious," with a photograph of an eye peering from behind a taped-up window.
I must admit that as I listened to the members of the Florida congregation and talked to people during coffee time last Sunday - it was Canada Sunday, and we were talking about the relationship between our two countries - that I realized something profound: There is anxiety there. There are divided hearts there. There is uncertainty. Sometimes we think there is a lot of bravado - and maybe there is, as well as a lot of marketing and a lot of voices trying to sell us a whole lot of things - but the hearts and minds of many are divided and anxious.
I think many people throughout the world feel that way at the moment. That is why we need to listen to the story of the transfiguration all the more. The disciples who went to that mountaintop were told that there was one authority to listen to above all other voices - the voice of Jesus Christ. And that in that voice, Jesus spoke to them and said: "Rise, and have no fear." You see, there is no fear if we follow that voice. There is no fear if we follow in His way. There is no fear if we listen to His path of peace. And may we experience each and every day, in obedience to Christ, the glory of God. Amen.
This is a verbatim transcription of the original sermon.