February 22, 2009
Transfiguration of our Lord
Seeing the Light
2 Corinthians 4:3-6
Paul Was “in the Dark”
Saint Paul by El Greco
Today we see the Transfiguration of Jesus through the eyes and ears of a man who wasn’t there originally.
Saint Paul wasn’t there where Peter, James and John first saw Jesus transfigured in all his glory. It didn’t happen to the Apostle Paul until he had a face-to-face with the Risen Lord three or four years after Christ’s death and resurrection.
But it changed Paul. It changed and it transfigured him, even more than it did those first three disciples.
Looking back at his former life as a “religious nut,” a Pharisee, Paul would say that his eyes were totally blind and that he was “in the dark.” And so is anybody else that looks for God “in the wrong place.”
He was looking for God in the Ten Commandments, in the laws of Moses and the Prophets. “Moses and Elijah” would be another way of putting it.
Blinded by the “god” of this World
Person on Pedestal
But Paul later saw that that was nothing more than a bit of “self-promotion.” It put him on a little pedestal—high above all others.
It made him “religiously” superior. For in the laws of Moses, he thought he saw so clearly—God’s way for “right living.”
But, looking back years later, he saw he was “blinded.” Blinded by the “god of this world.”
Little “g” god. Did you notice that in the worship folder as I read the Gospel lesson? That it was a little “g” god. Not the big “G” God.
And all too often that “little god of this world” is ourselves. We make a “god” of our own self. And we “proclaim” and we “promote” ourselves. Good PR for us…for our person and agendas.
We want “our” way. We want the “glory way.” We do not want the cross. We do not want the cross way. We want the glory. We do not want the cross. It is too weak & wimpy.
Those Cut Off from the Cross of Christ are Perishing
But those who cut themselves off from the cross of Christ are perishing. That is the point that Paul would like to make.
If you cut yourself off from the cross of Christ, then you are cutting yourself off from the way that God really works in this world of ours. And so, you are cutting yourself off from God’s Light and Life.
And it’s like a veil or a piece of cloth being draped over a plant. You leave it there long enough and that plant with whither and die. But, take that cloth off. And let that “plant” bask in the full sunshine of God & that plant will grow and thrive.
Confronted by the Risen Christ
That’s what Paul came to see in his own personal one-on-one encounter with Jesus Christ. For all of us there is a moment when we come to see Jesus face-to-face.
For every one of us, there is a moment in our lives when it is just me and Jesus. It’s me, Jesus and a cross and resurrection. We are confronted with the Lord. Christ our Lord and God, big “G” now, crucified and raised.
For Paul it happened as he traveled from Jerusalem to Damascus to arrest some Christians. To us it happens whenever we hear the Gospel word. But, it happens.
We are confronted with the Risen Lord, the glorified Lord. The one who died and rose for us. And it is just Jesus and us. Face-to-face.
And Jesus looks us in the eyes and says to us, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” And Jesus knocks us off our “high horse.” And Jesus throws us to the ground. But, then he lifts us up. And invites us to call him “Lord.” “God,” with the big “G.”
“I am Rescuing You”
And he turns our life around 180°. And he sends us out to serve others. “I am rescuing you,” Jesus says to Saul who now becomes Paul. “I am rescuing you.”
“And I am sending you to others to open their eyes…so that they may turn from darkness to light…and from the power of Satan to the power of God…and so that they may receive the forgiveness of sins…and have a place, among my people of the Light.
And suddenly, we see what God is up to in Jesus Christ. God is ruling the world through the cross. God is not lording it over us, like the self-promoters do.
God is not blasting us with righteous indignation. God is not coming with the handcuffs to arrest us and imprison us for usurping God’s role and neglecting our duties.
We See the Light
We look at Jesus and his cross. And a veil is lifted. And we see “the Light.”
That is Jesus on the cross “for me.” That is my sins that he is dying for. That is God’s mercy to me. I am the one who was persecuting him through my self-promoting ways.
But he died and rose again to knock me down from my “high horse” and to lift me again to his own purpose for my life.
The same power that God used to create the heavens and the earth when God first said, “Let there be light.” And the same power that God used to free Israel from its dark exile, when God said, “Rise, shine for your light has come.”
That is the very same creative and life-giving power that God gives to us to go out and to be “a light to the nations” so that we might shine the Light of Christ into the hearts of others.
God’s Servant People
If Jesus is the “Lord,” the “God of this world” (God with a big “G” not a little one) then that position is taken. And there is only one job left for us. And that is to be God’s servant-people.
We give up our PR, our self-promotion. No longer do we proclaim ourselves. Rather, we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as servants to others for Jesus sake.
And is good. That is so very good. For not only is Jesus much better at being God than we are, but he is also gentler and much kinder. And so are we, we are gentler and we are kinder when we see the Light, and reach out in love to those who are our neighbors.
Through our mission and our ministry to the world we become the face of Jesus, the image of God, so that others may also have their own personal encounter with the Risen Lord, Jesus Christ, face-to-face.
For in the end, Jesus is the image of God. Jesus is what God is up to in this world of ours. Jesus is the way. He is the Light.
© 2009 Pastor Paul Jaster