February 19, 2023  Transfiguration

Lighting the Christ Candle

Welcome and Announcements

On this transfiguration Sunday as we humbly come to worship, may we hear the voice of God saying; “This is my son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”

Called to Worship:

On mountaintops and in deep valleys,
Jesus is the light of the world.
On busy city streets and on quiet country lanes,
Jesus is the light of the world.
At home, at work, at play, and at rest,
Jesus is the light of the world.
Let us see one another in the light of Jesus.

 

Hymn:  414  God reveal  your presence

 

Prayer of Adoration

O Holy One, on mountaintops and valley floors you reveal to us the light of your love.  Our hearts desire is to bask in the amazing glory of the divine presence.

With each encounter we are changed and transformed.  Draw us nearer that we might receive a double portion of your Holy Spirit.

Help us, O Holy One, to live our lives as a reflection of divine glory.  May we walk among our brothers and sister as a blessing, bearing light into dark places, hope to displace despair, and love that casts out hate.  Amen.

 

Unison Prayer of Confession:

Though we want to walk with Moses
and see God’s holy radiance, we hide in the mist of our own desires, unable to perceive the presence of God’s grace.
While we want a world of justice and peace, we walk in clouds of selfishness, unable to share God’s loving-kindness.
Though we want to follow Jesus up the mountain, we cower in fear, unable to bear the light of God.

 

Assurance of Pardon

God grants us the grace and wisdom to watch, to listen, to follow, to learn, and, in the end, to understand, as we join with other followers on The Way.  In Jesus God grants us forgiveness and calls us to explore the glories of his Kingdom. Amen.

The Peace
Passing the Peace

 

Hymn:  358 There is a redeemer

Scripture Lessons:

2 Peter 1: 16-21
Matthew 17: 1-9

 

Sermon:   He received glory from God

The congregation which is addressed in 2 Peter, is finding itself in a struggle of what is real and true and what is not.   There are voices around them that assert that the Gospel story of the resurrection is untrue and merely a hoax to support the myth that Jesus is the son of God.  From the perspective of our own age, do we hear the echo of the words, “Fake News”?

We know all too well how the things that we have seen and heard in the unfolding of the events of our day, have been disclaimed.  Even when the videos of the events have been replayed we are told that we cannot trust our eyes or our ears.

This letter has been written to remind the people that the good news is indeed true.  It is true because the disciples saw it and hear it and reported it.   And it is true because the believers of the congregation trust the testimony of those who saw and heard and repeat the story with confidence.   That same truth informs the witnesses of our present day.

Testimony is important!

The retelling of the Transfiguration underscores and upholds the presence and the power of God.  That witness is substantiated in the presence of Moses and Elijah.

When Moses appears with Jesus, it is a reminder that Jesus is the embodiment of the history of the people and the one that upholds the Law of God.

When Elijah appears with Jesus it is a reminder that Jesus is the one of whom the prophets have spoken.  His story has been told to us in the revelation of the prophets through the ages.

Moses and Elijah provide the testimony that Jesus is the faithful one—who is the revelation of God, and who provides the evidence of the in-breaking of God into human history.

We are then invited to look around us in our own time for the evidence that God is breaking into the church and the world.  Where do we see the evidence of the presence and power of God revealed in the everyday life of our community?

We see it in the response of this community to the needs we see around us.  In the generosity for the monthy mission offerings and the Christmas gift offering, and so many other ways.

We also see it in the response to the earthquake in Syria and Turkey, where people responded and helped in great number, even though they had different political and religious beliefs.

Here in Salmon Arm as well as in Syria and Turkey the response of the people to the needs that arise is a sign that God is still present in and among his people.

Jesus and all who follow him are the ones through whom God is present.  We see that unfold in the Transfiguration in many ways.

The cloud that encompasses Jesus and Moses and Elijah is a reminder of the work of the Holy Spirit who shrouds everything in the mystery of the Holy and yet at the same time reveals the grace and glory of God.  The Holy Spirit’s presence reminds us that the Transfiguration is itself a prophecy of the glory of Jesus that is to come.

The commentator Green reminds us that Peter grounds this message not only in Scripture, but also in the men and women who were moved by the Holy Spirit to speak from God.  More to the point, he insists that Scripture cannot be changed according to any one’s personal whim or understanding of the world.  He points out that there were people in Peter’s time who insisted that the Transfiguration was merely a natural phenomenon, like a lightning strike.

 

Green reminds us that the significant question here is not “did it happen?” but “what does it mean?”.   That is why the illumination of the Holy Spirit is so very important.  The witnesses speak truth, and the Holy Spirit confirms that truth.

The glory that is given to Jesus, is emphasized that day on the mountaintop and will be revealed on the cross and in his resurrection.  More importantly his glory will be revealed in the eschatological revelation of the end days when he claims his throne and takes up his rightful place as the ruler of the world.

This is what the Transfiguration means, Jesus is the glory of God, transfigured and transformed for the people he came to save.  We see here a portrait of the future of Jesus, and what it will ultimately mean for us and for our salvation.

We hear that promise in the words of God, an echo of the word spoken when Jesus was baptized, reminding us that Jesus is the divine son of the Living God and that God is well pleased with him.  His human life was a demonstration of the love and grace of God, and his divinity an embodiment of the glory of God. That glory, ultimately, becomes God’s gift to the faithful.

The words of God are also a point of testimony in the story.  Testimony does not only come from the human observers.  This is the most important testimony of all.  “This is my son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Jesus is not some human around whom a mythology has been fabricated.  Jesus is the son of the living God, and reveals God’s glory to all who will see it.

In this letter from Peter, we understand why he puts so much emphasis on the majesty, honour and glory of God in the identity of Jesus.  This is not some fabricated story—this is the revelation of God.

On this mountaintop Jesus is with Moses and Elijah, but more importantly he is with God and God is with him.  This is the majestic glorification of Jesus, a foreshadowing of the resurrection and the promise that Jesus is the king of heaven and earth, now and for eternity.

God speaks, and thereby Jesus is glorified.  We are reminded that from the Creation to Eternity it is God’s words and actions that have and will make everything possible.  God’s word produces what God says it will do.

We recall that this is the message of all of Scripture.  There is a theological premise that the only interpretation of Scripture is Scripture.  Is what we say about the Biblical witness supported in the Law and the Prophets?  This is the only corrective that there is to us imposing our whims and ideas on what we want to see.  No this is not some lightening strike, as people were claiming, this is the glory of God demonstrated so all people can see it.

Where have we seen that glory before?  With Moses on the  mountain top when God gave him the tablets with the 10 Commandments.   We see that glory again in the resurrection appearances of Jesus.  And we will see it when Jesus returns in that full glory.  Scripture showed it, scripture said it, scripture reveals that it will happen again.

Scripture is where God’s revelation has been declared again and again.  Jesus himself asserts this truth in the post-resurrection appearance on the road to Emmaus.  In Luke we read:    He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.  Luke 24 NIV

That same truth is echoed in this passage from 2 Peter which places Jesus firmly in the prophetic words of Scripture.  This is true because of the witness that saw it and the Scriptures which had previously spoken about it.

What then does the Transfiguration mean for us?

When we read about that Transfiguration experience, we can be confident that what it communicates to us is that the life and character of the Kingdom of God comes to us in Jesus.  This is a kingdom that is based entirely on God love, mercy, justice and goodness.  God’s love for Jesus is transformative and grounded in God’s mercy.

We can take heart because it also means that God’s love for us is transformative and grounded in his mercy.  Jesus has been faithful to the call to love God and neighbour.  His love for us is rooted in the heart of the kingdom.

And then Jesus gives us the same commission.  Love God and love neighbour….and the promise—the ability to give that love is rooted in the heart of the Kingdom.

Being transfigured and transformed did not end with Jesus.  It continues with us until the promised day of his return.

 

Thanks be to God.  Amen.

 

Hymn:  187 We have come at Christ’s own bidding

Offering
Doxology
Offertory Prayer

Today O God we have a glimpse of Jesus who is the life; inviting us to follow in his footsteps as he trod the way of love and justice, inviting us to follow him in prayer as he lived out his faith and made You known.

We live out that faith in our daily labours, but also in the sharing of our gifts and wealth.  Bless what we have brought and transform it that it may bring the change in the world that you desire.

We give thanks for the good news that unfolds in the world as people dream your dreams, follow your nudging, and seek you in the faces they meet each day.

Perhaps, O God, it is the only Transfiguration we really need.  May it be so in our living.  Amen

 

Gathering Prayer Requests
Prayers of the People and the Lord’s Prayer

O God,
We open our eyes and we see Jesus,
the light of the world, your light.
We open our eyes and we see Moses and Elijah,
your word restoring us, showing us the way,
telling the story of salvation.  Teach us to see, to hear and to listen.

We open our eyes and we see mist, the cloud of your presence
which assures us of all we do not know and that we do not need to fear that.  Teach us to trust.

We open our eyes and we see Jesus, not casting us off,
but leading us down, leading us out -to ministry, to people.
We are grateful that Your love endures forever.

We open our hearts and we see your grace.  Help us now to administer that grace as we pray for the needs of those around us and those around the world.

Joys

 

Concerns for:

 

The latest victims of avalanches in BC and those who grieve for them.

Places of natural disasters:

New Zealand after the cyclone, floods and landslides and an earthquake.

Syria and Turkey still searching after the earthquakes.  Help us to bring aid to the homeless.

The Ukraine, seeking aid.  Make that aid possible that they may protect their homeland.

 

We thank you for hearing our prayers and participating in them.  And now, we join together praying as Jesus taught us saying,  our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be they name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory, forever Amen. 

 

Hymn:  626 Lord of all power

 

Charge and Benediction unison

When Jesus’ glory is revealed to us,
we become transformed.  We are not who we were before.
We go to our homes, our neighborhoods, our schools, and places of work as new people.
We go illumined by the glory of God in Christ.  Let us be renewed and be radiant.

Sung Blessing