ORDER OF SERVICE ST. ANDREW’S

FEBRUARY 27, 2022

Welcome and Announcements:

• St Andrew's welcomes you to this Transfiguration Sunday service. We also thank Janet Hanna for leading us in worship, may God be glorified in all our lives as we receive his instruction and encouragement in this hour.
• World Day of Prayer will be celebrated on March 4th. The service will be via Zoom and St. Andrew's will cast it to the big screen in the sanctuary at 1:30 pm.
• March's Looney Offering will be going to the Hospice Society. To learn more please check out the "Recent Posts" to the right of your screen.

CALL TO WORSHIP –
Great is the Lord in Zion; he is exalted over all the nations.
Let them praise your great and awesome name, He is holy.
The King is mighty, he loves justice – you have established equity.
Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his footstool, He is holy.
Exalt the Lord our God and worship at His holy mountain.
For the Lord our God is holy.

Hymn: 757 Come sing O church in joy

PRAYER OF ADORATION –
God of grace and God of glory,
you reveal your presence to the world
in radiant glory and gentle whispers,
on mountain tops and lowly plains,
in classrooms and hospital beds,
in homes and churches,
in the silence of nature and the sounds of cities.
Yours is the presence that pushes past our fears,
yours is the touch that transforms our doubts.
We come before you to celebrate your goodness,
to focus on your light, and offer you all praise,
honour and thanksgiving, for you are our God
and we are your people, now and always.

UNISON PRAYER OF CONFESSION -
God of mercy and forgiveness, facing the light of your goodness,
we confess all that keeps us from sharing that goodness.
We are distracted by the desire to have more than we need.
We focus on our own disappointments rather than trust the future you create.
We feel discouraged by the pandemic and fail to claim the hope you hold out
to us in Christ.
Transfigure us by your grace, and shape us into disciples who follow Christ’s
leading each day. Amen

ASSURANCE OF PARDON
Do not be afraid. God’s forgiveness shines into the world.
The morning star rises in our hearts, and we are made new.
Know that you are forgiven and forgive one another in Christ’s name.
And may the peace of Christ be with you.

THE PEACE

HYMN: 767 Jesus bids us shine

SCRIPTURE READINGS –

Exodus 34:29-35 –
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant
law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken
with the LORD. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant,
and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all

the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. Afterward
all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the LORD had
given him on Mount Sinai.
When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever
he entered the LORD’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he
came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been
commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil
back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.
Luke 9:28-36
About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John, and James with him and
went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face
changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses
and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his
departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. Peter and his
companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his
glory and the two men standing with him. As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter
said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one
for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.)
While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid
as they entered the cloud. A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son
whom I have chosen; listen to him.” When the voice had spoken, they found that
Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at
that time what they had seen.

PRAYER –
God of all wisdom and truth, we seek your guidance as we hear the Scriptures read
and interpreted today.
Send your Holy Spirit to open our minds and hearts, to give us fresh understanding
and a renewed commitment to follow your Word. Amen

SERMON – THE TRANSFIGURATION

The story is told of a few generations ago when an old farmer brought his family to
the big city for the very first time. They had never seen buildings so tall or sights
so impressive. The farmer dropped his wife off at a department store and took his
son with him to the bank – the tallest of all the buildings. As they walked into the
lobby, they saw something else they had never seen before. Two steel doors in
front of them opened. A rather large and elderly woman walked in, and the big
doors closed behind her. The dial over the doors swept to the right and, a short
time later, moved back to the left. The doors opened and a beautiful young lady
came walking out. The farmer was amazed. He turned to his son and said, “You
wait right here son. I’m going to get your mother and run her through that thing.”

Personally, I have always sort of brushed over the story of the transfiguration. It
doesn’t really resonate with me. I just don’t understand why it is such a big deal in
the scripture. I know the story. I know the facts of the matter. I have heard many
sermons on the text, but I struggle with the significance. When I saw that today
was Transfiguration Sunday, I decided to look deeper into this ‘miracle’ and see
what I could learn. I did a lot of reading in our various reference books and much of what I have here is taken from them, primarily the commentaries on the Gospel of Luke by Matthew Henry and William Barclay.

That silly little story was about transformation, while today’s text is about Jesus’
transfiguration. The two things are very similar in that they both describe a change
in an outward appearance, or nature, or personality, BUT transfiguration goes
further in that the changes are made to exalt or glorify. The dictionary defines
transfiguration as “a radical transformation of figure or appearance” and the very
definition cites the sudden emanation of radiance from Jesus’ person that occurred
on the mountain.

Jesus took his followers up onto a mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the
appearance of his face changed. Some translations say ‘radically altered.’ Probably
because of his intense prayer. Many of us may have noticed a similar
transformation on the face of a person who is in close communion with God in
prayer. It is not uncommon for someone to reflect the peace and joy of being in the
Lord’s presence while praying. Moses certainly mirrored God’s glory when he
communed with Him on the mountain. His face shone so brightly it was almost
impossible to look at him and this frightened the people, so he would cover himself
with a veil.

Luke also describes Jesus’ clothes as bright as a flash of lightning, which would be
whiter than anyone could bleach them. Matthew says the clothes became as “white
as light.” What does that mean exactly? People of Jesus day typically wore dark
and drab colours like gray or brown. Teachers wore a light yellow, maize colour.
Light colours and bright colours were rarely seen except on the very wealthy and
any fabric described with a metallic glow or a brilliant white would have been very
impressive to the disciples. The word is literally translated as glistering which
means lightening forth, as if from some inward source of glorious light. The
disciples were at a loss to even find words to describe it.

Suggested theories of the phenomena of this event differ widely, ranging from
those who attribute no more that a legendary or symbolic value to the story, or
explain it as a resurrection story read back into the earthly life of Jesus, to the other
extreme of the spiritualists who claim it as a séance. In reply to the latter, the New
Commentary, Revised said, ‘It may be pointed out that there was no
communication from Moses and Elijah (the ‘dead’ people) to the disciples, and the
subject of discussion was the cross, which was not usually a topic at seances!’

“THEY SPOKE ABOUT HIS DEPARTURE, WHICH HE WAS ABOUT TO
BRING TO FULFILLMENT IN JERUSALEM’” (Luke 9:31)

William Barclay in his commentary on the gospel of Luke published in 1955,
wrote, “Here we have another of the great hinges in Jesus’ life upon earth.
Whatever happened on the Mount of Transfiguration we can never really know,
but we do know that something tremendous did happen.” Both the gospel writers
Mark and Luke cite the event as taking place about a week after Peter, in answer to
Jesus’ question, “Who do people say I am?’ proclaimed Him the Christ and soon
afterward Jesus began to teach his disciples that he must suffer many things, be
rejected, and killed.

The disciples had been shattered by Jesus’ statement that He was going to
Jerusalem to die. That seemed to them totally contrary to everything they had been
taught and believed about the Messiah. He was to come as a conquering king to
overthrow the hated Roman domination and restore the nation as a significant
power. To now say he was to die for the people was just wrong. They were
bewildered and puzzled and uncomprehending. Nothing about this made sense.
This man they had followed and listened to and learned from for three years, this
man whom they loved, had given them heartbreaking news. For the three disciples,
the transfiguration experience of seeing Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah would
give them something to hold on to, even when they could not really understand
what Jesus had been telling them. They had heard God’s voice acknowledge Jesus
as God’s son. His role as Messiah was confirmed and so was their faithfulness.
This time on the mountain had shown them the glory of Christ, and now, not at the
moment, but when the time came, they had the story of this glory to tell others.

Peter’s response to the sight of Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah is very typical
of his personality and is often the main topic of sermons on the Transfiguration.
And it actually adds validity to the narrative. “Let’s make some huts so we have
shelter for the night. Come on James and John, start gathering sticks.” Peter is
frequently described as a man of action and often as a man who acts before he
thinks things through. His immediate thought of the physical needs of the visitors
from heaven is very typical of his temperament. The fact that Moses and Elijah
have long been dead and likely do not need protection from the elements does not
occur to him. He sees a need and acts to meet it. This very down-to-earth physical
response recorded in the story helps to make a mystical experience more plausible
and, in some way, understandable.

When the incident was over a cloud overshadowed them. In Jewish thought the
presence of God is regularly connected with the cloud. It was in the cloud that
Moses met God. It was in the cloud that God came to the Tabernacle. It was the
cloud which filled the Temple when it was dedicated after Solomon had built it.
And it was the dream of the Jew’s that when the Messiah came the cloud of God’s
presence would return to the Temple (Exodus 16:10, 19:9, 33:9, 1 Kings 8:10). The
descent of the cloud is a way of saying that the Messiah had come, and any Jew
would understand it exactly like that.

There is also significant theological importance for Peter, James and John in the
presence of Moses and Elijah during this event. Moses was the giver of the Law.
To him the nation owed the laws by which they lived, and which were the laws of
God. Elijah was the first and greatest of the prophets. Always the teachers and

followers of the law looked back to Elijah as the prophet who brought to mankind
the very voice of God.

Moses and Elijah lived at a great distance in time from one another, but that means
little in heaven. Christ himself said that there ‘the first shall be last and the last
first’. All are one to the Lord. The transfiguration also echoes the teaching by
Jesus that God is not "the God of the dead, but of the living". Although Moses had
died and Elijah had been taken up to heaven centuries before, they now live in the
presence of the Son of God, implying that the same return to life applies to all who
face death and have faith.

Christian theology assigns a great deal of significance to the transfiguration, based
on multiple elements of the narrative. In Christian teachings, the Transfiguration is
a pivotal moment, and the setting on the mountain is presented as the point where
human nature meets God: the meeting place for the temporal and the eternal, with
Jesus himself as the connecting point, acting as the bridge between heaven and
earth.

The transfiguration not only supports the identity of Jesus as the Son of God (as in
his baptism), but the statement "listen to him", identifies him as the messenger and
mouth-piece of God. The significance of this identification is also enhanced by the
presence of Elijah and Moses, for it indicates to the apostles that Jesus is the voice
of God "par excellence", and instead of Moses or Elijah, representing the Law and
the Prophets, He – Jesus - should be listened to, surpassing the laws of Moses by
virtue of his divinity and filial relationship with God. Peter later wrote in his

second letter (2 Peter 1:16–18)’ “WE DID NOT FOLLOW CLEVERLY
INVENTED STORIES WHEN WE TOLD YOU ABOUT THE POWER AND
COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, BUT WE WERE
EYEWITNESSES OF HIS MAJESTY. FOR HE RECEIVED HONOR AND
GLORY FROM GOD THE FATHER WHEN THE VOICE CAME TO HIM
FROM THE MAJESTIC GLORY, SAYING, ‘THIS IS MY SON, WHOM I
LOVE, WITH HIM I AM WELL PLEASED.’ WE OURSELVES HEARD
THIS VOICE THAT CAME FROM HEAVEN WHEN WE WERE WITH
HIM ON THE SACRED MOUNTAIN.” At the Transfiguration God assigns to
Jesus a special "honor and glory" and it is the turning point at which God exalts
Jesus above all other powers in creation and positions him as ruler and judge.
Martin Luther continued to see Moses and Elijah as the Law and
the Prophets respectively, and their recognition of and conversation with Jesus as a
symbol of how Jesus fulfills both "the law and the prophets"

The event was also significant for Jesus. William Barclay wrote, “One thing Jesus
would never do would be to take a step without the approval of God. In this scene
that is what we see Him seeking and receiving. For Jesus, in meeting with these
two great figures, it meant that the greatest of the law-givers and the greatest of the
prophets said to Him, “Go on!” It meant that they saw in Jesus the consummation
of all that they had dreamed of in the past. It meant that they saw in Him all that
history had longed for and hoped for and looked forward to. It is as if at that
moment Jesus was assured that He was on the right track because all history had
been leading up to the Cross.” God said to Him, ‘You are acting as my own
beloved Son should act and must act. Go on!’ On the mountain Jesus was assured

that He had not chosen the wrong way. He saw, not only the inevitability, but the
essential rightness of the Cross.”

The transfiguration is considered a preview and an anticipation of the
resurrection. On one hand it cautions the disciples, and therefore us, that the glory
of the transfiguration, and the message of Jesus, can only be understood in the
context of his death and resurrection, and not simply on its own. In that context the
presentation of a shining Jesus as the Son of God who should be listened to can
help us to understand the statement by the resurrected Jesus in Matthew 28:16–20:
"ALL AUTHORITY IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH HAS BEEN GIVEN TO
ME".

For the disciples who witnessed this miracle and confirmation of Jesus as the Son
of God, while still struggling with the pronouncement of his forthcoming death, the
Transfiguration was mystifying, but encouraging. They had seen that Moses and
Elijah were still alive in glory centuries after they had passed from this earth. They
were standing right in front of them; all three of them. Each was a witness for the
others. They could hear them talking, they could see them moving about. Life
after death was really and truly real!

Still, as they came down the mountain Jesus cautioned them - for the last time - to
not tell anyone what they had seen. Prior admonitions from Jesus to not speak of
witnessed events did not have an ending. It would have been dangerous for many
of the things he did to become commonly known before he was revealed as the
Messiah. But this one did. “WAIT,” Jesus said, “UNTIL THE SON OF MAN

HAS RISEN FROM THE DEAD.” And it gives the disciples a lot to discuss and
something to hold on to. Cross, or no cross, they had heard God’s voice
acknowledge Jesus as His Son. It made them, in a special sense, witnesses of the
Glory of Christ.
And after the resurrection the disciples had the story of this glory to tell others. It
would also help them to understand what had happened to Christ’s body when the
tomb was found empty. John 20: 8 says, “FINALLY THE OTHER DISCIPLE,
WHO HAD REACHED THE TOMB FIRST, ALSO WENT INSIDE. HE
SAW AND BELIEVED.” Ralph Hodgson said, “Some things have to be believed
to be seen.”

So, how does the story of Jesus’ transfiguration affect us? How does His
identification as God’s son and subsequent authority affect us personally? Author
Michael Green titled one of his books, “Who is Jesus Really?” and the answer to
these questions lies within it, and it goes like this - Jesus is the Son of God. He is
the promised Messiah. He is the Giver of life - life on earth and life in death. Jesus
is the source of peace and joy, forgiveness, and eternal life. Without Him we are
lost. We are alone, we are forsaken by God. But in Jesus we have God’s love
bestowed upon us. We have God’s compassion upholding us. We have God’s
forgiveness given to us because of Jesus’ shed blood for our sins. Not His sin, our
sin. We have the only thing worth living for in a world fraught with danger and
despair, loneliness, pandemic, disasters, and ultimate death. In the transfiguration
we are shown that Jesus is who he claimed to be - God’s beloved Son, the
sacrificial Lamb come into the world to restore God’s kingdom in love. We are
told that he has all of the authority of God, greater authority than Moses the law-
giver, and Elijah the greatest prophet. God Himself says, “Listen to Him.” Jesus’s

words can be trusted. His actions showed his love for us and His death on the cross
and resurrection proved he was our Saviour. Robert Schuller wrote: “Every human
being is born without faith. Faith comes only through the process of making
decisions to change before we can be sure it’s the right move.” We can trust that
the decision to open our hearts to the gift of salvation available through Jesus is the
right move. The very best move and most important move we can ever make.
Amen.

HYMN – 187 We have come at Christ’s own biding

THE OFFERING – God has been revealed in glory for the healing of the world.
We have glimpsed that healing in the hope we share in Christ, even in these
challenging times. Let us present our gifts to God so that this healing and hope will
continue to spread in the world God loves.

THE DOXOLOGY

OFERTORY PRAYER -
Gracious God, you have given us life and blessed us in Christ with new life. Bless
the gifts we offer today, and bless our lives, so that others may see his grace at
work in us and what we offer the world in Jesus’ name.

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE –
Revealing God,
You bless us with your presence and wisdom,
and we marvel at the wonders of your love.
You created a beautiful world that reveals your majesty.
You sent your Son to show us how to live with compassion.
Your Holy Spirit guides us on our way.
Thank you for opening our eyes to your presence each day.
Help us to recognize you not only in mountaintop experiences,
but also in everyday tasks and in times of great challenge.

Loving God,
Much in this world needs the transformation only you can provide.
Where there is violence, bring calm;
where there is poverty, send sustenance;
where there is confusion, bring wisdom;
where there is chaos, create order;
where minds and hearts are troubled, bring comfort;
where pain is crippling, grant release.
Move the hearts of the rich to share with those in need;
and call the powerful to act with justice for those at risk.
Give us all the will to work for the wellbeing of the earth
and to live with respect for the fragile balances within your creation.
Hear us now as we raise to you the names and situations on our hearts this day:
Hear the cries of all who suffer and bring each one hope of new life with you.
Eternal God, we pray for your church around the world and for our congregation.
Give your people the energy to shine
wherever there is persecution, despair or discouragement.
Bless each congregation with wisdom and vision,
as we face the changes in the world caused by the pandemic.
Renew our imagination and commitment
to develop new forms of ministry and mission for the days ahead.
Gather us as a people again after months of distancing,
and inspire us with greater delight in your mystery,
and greater joy in seeking your presence.
We ask all these things through Christ Jesus,
who revealed your will to us through your revolutionary love, and taught us to pray
these words together:
THE LORD’S PRAYER -
Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory
For ever and ever. Amen.

HYMN – 376 Lord, the light of your world is shining.

BENEDICTION –
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be
gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.

CLOSING SONG –