STM: Down The Mountain
Transfiguration Sunday
Down the Mountain
I had a worship professor in seminary who once gave his students some advice on how to look at the world, and it stuck with me ever since. He said because the church is so full of symbols and renderings of God in various way, look around and you will see the world through those lenses. He said, look for the cross. I can’t drive down the road or past a construction site without seeing the cross. He said when you take a shower, remember your baptism. First thing in the morning, remember that you are marked and beloved of God. A beautiful way to begin the day. When you wash your hands maybe recall Pilate washing his hands of the problem of Jesus, and wonder how we are washing our hands of the problem of Jesus in our lives. When the wind blows through your hair, billows your clothing, feel the Spirit. Know that God is active, moving in the world.
When Ann and I moved to Texas, I once asked a woman at the grocery store to put my apples in a sack. She stared at me blankly until she said, “Oh, you mean a bag. We don’t call it a sack round here. A sack is something you put chicken feed in. Your groceries go in a bag.” Well, pardon me. For the longest time after that I couldn’t go to the grocery store without imagining all these people coming out with sacks of chicken feed. It took me awhile to adjust to the specialized language of the region.
Every group or culture has such a language, sports . . . . medical folks, scientists, politicians, even region to region. So does the church. We use symbols to talk . . . the cross, the font, wind of the Spirit, the dove, the wheat and grapes. We all have a sense of the meaning of these things and they fall easily into our Christian conversations.
These folks in Jesus time had similar ways of conveying understanding, of linking one thing to another. Our story today is a good example, and if we don’t full grasp the meaning of all the signs and characters, we may miss the fullness of its intent as Matthew tells the story of the Transfiguration.
For example in this gospel lesson today, we have mountains, clouds, voices from clouds, light, Moses and Elijah, Jesus and the disciples. And we have to somehow put all that together and make some sense of it beyond the impressive, sort of George Lucas special effects scene, that we see on the surface.
So let’s look at a few things. Mountains. Mountains in the Bible are one of the places where God expresses intent, where God resides and communicates with the people. . think of Mt. Sinai and the giving of the 10 commandments, the giving of the law. Think of Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount.
Clouds. Again, God-language. Think of the Exodus, people being led by a pillar of cloud. . . think of the clouds on Mt. Sinai that shrouded the mystery of God. Of course, the voice from the clouds is an articulation of God’s intention with Moses on the mountain, or the voice from the heavens at Jesus’ baptism. And this voice here. There’s a message we are to hear, that God is speaking through this mystery on this mountain for a particular reason, revelation.
Of course the light. Here is the symbol of revelation, of uncovering, of the making known. The light expresses a counter to darkness. It illuminates. The light expresses God’s glory, and that glory is cast on Jesus. . When we see this Jesus bathed in light, we ought to be looking for the cue of what this reveals.
Then we have the characters. Well, we know all about Moses receiving the 10 commandments on Mt. Sinai. He represents the Law, the expressed purposes of God among the covenant people. Then we have the great prophet Elijah, chief among those who spoke to the people in God’s stead. When we Moses and Elijah together we speak of the Law and the Prophets, the twin pillars of the God’s action among the people, which redirects and steers the people and makes God’s intention known.
All this is caught up on this mountain. And then we have this Jesus. The one whom the prophets named. We have this Jesus now on this mountain, being spoken of through God’s voice in the cloud of mystery, in the presence of the law and prophets. Jesus represents God’s new revelation. He is the one bathed in light. Not Moses and Elijah. Shining, shining with the divine light. All has been transformed. When leave today we will sing, Shine Jesus Shine, a call for that light to bathe the world in its reflected illumination. Jesus, elevated about the Law and Prophets, all engaged in this shining Jesus. And God says of him, “listen”.
Who’s he talking to? The disciples, those called to bear witness to this revelation.
And in he face of all that, they were terrified, of the awe and of the call.
In the wake of this unnerving scene, Jesus communicates with them in the most intimate language, He spoke with them in the simplest, most common language of all. He reached out and touched them. A touch of reassurance. “Don’t be afraid.” But more than that, it was the touch of their own transformation. The touch of newness. All through Matthew we know that the touch of the Lord is a touch of healing, newness, change. The blind see, the leper is cleansed, the fever is broken, the flow of blood is stayed. He touch them, spoke to them in the common tongue, “Do not be afraid.” And they stood up and beheld . . . Jesus the man, the teacher their leader. Gone is the symbolism, gone is the specialized language of the faith. Gone are all the trappings of glory, Just the familiar face, the one they are commanded to listen to.
I’ve seen several paintings of this scene, but the one that stands out for me is by Raphael’s Transfiguration. It is in part what you would expect with Jesus bathed in light, the cowering disciples, Moses with the commandments and Elijah with the book of the prophets. But the picture also includes a host of people at the foot of the mountain, contentious people, arguing afraid, unformed and angry. The one transfigured on the mountain is the one who comes down to transform the anger and divisiveness and the confusion of the world and the brokenness and confusion of our hearts. Martin Luther calls this the theology of the cross, where the Christ comes down to complete his journey of suffering and sacrifice, and is not confined to the distant glory of the mountain.
Now the disciples hear the word of their call to join him. Listen. Time to go down the mountain to the troubled valley. Time to set upon the path that takes Jesus into the midst of the people so that they may be transformed. Time to begin the walk to Jerusalem and the cross so that all that is commanded might come to pass. Time to go, so that all that has been revealed on this mountain, all that has been gathered into this One--God, law, prophets, hope, love, compassion, healing, transformation, salvation--may be fulfilled. Follow him so that his healing touch can reach out to the whole world, so his loving transforming touch may reach your world and mine.
And then nothing is the same . . . We at the bottom of the mountain are no longer contentious rabble, but objects of God’s grace and mercy and communities blossom and rifts are healed, and we are called to build those communities and heal those rifts, water flows to cleanse the hearts and lives of the people and we who follow Jesus are called to go, therefore,, and they are made new and called and commissioned . . . . .. . . bread and wine become conveyors of God’s grace, a confirmation of our forgiveness so we may be transformed again and again, wind and sunshine all carry the message of Christ’s salvation. And our horizon is littered with the images of Christ’s cross planted deeply into the heart of this world so that you may be transformed, and that through us, the world may be transformed. And the compassionate touch of the shoulder of a broken or frightened person carries the transforming power of the gospel.
Listen. This is the new day you encounter when you rise. God has made what was not possible, possible, in your life, in His world, in His name. Amen
Copyright (c) 2002 by Pastor Robert J. Rasmus
Down the Mountain
I had a worship professor in seminary who once gave his students some advice on how to look at the world, and it stuck with me ever since. He said because the church is so full of symbols and renderings of God in various way, look around and you will see the world through those lenses. He said, look for the cross. I can’t drive down the road or past a construction site without seeing the cross. He said when you take a shower, remember your baptism. First thing in the morning, remember that you are marked and beloved of God. A beautiful way to begin the day. When you wash your hands maybe recall Pilate washing his hands of the problem of Jesus, and wonder how we are washing our hands of the problem of Jesus in our lives. When the wind blows through your hair, billows your clothing, feel the Spirit. Know that God is active, moving in the world.
When Ann and I moved to Texas, I once asked a woman at the grocery store to put my apples in a sack. She stared at me blankly until she said, “Oh, you mean a bag. We don’t call it a sack round here. A sack is something you put chicken feed in. Your groceries go in a bag.” Well, pardon me. For the longest time after that I couldn’t go to the grocery store without imagining all these people coming out with sacks of chicken feed. It took me awhile to adjust to the specialized language of the region.
Every group or culture has such a language, sports . . . . medical folks, scientists, politicians, even region to region. So does the church. We use symbols to talk . . . the cross, the font, wind of the Spirit, the dove, the wheat and grapes. We all have a sense of the meaning of these things and they fall easily into our Christian conversations.
These folks in Jesus time had similar ways of conveying understanding, of linking one thing to another. Our story today is a good example, and if we don’t full grasp the meaning of all the signs and characters, we may miss the fullness of its intent as Matthew tells the story of the Transfiguration.
For example in this gospel lesson today, we have mountains, clouds, voices from clouds, light, Moses and Elijah, Jesus and the disciples. And we have to somehow put all that together and make some sense of it beyond the impressive, sort of George Lucas special effects scene, that we see on the surface.
So let’s look at a few things. Mountains. Mountains in the Bible are one of the places where God expresses intent, where God resides and communicates with the people. . think of Mt. Sinai and the giving of the 10 commandments, the giving of the law. Think of Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount.
Clouds. Again, God-language. Think of the Exodus, people being led by a pillar of cloud. . . think of the clouds on Mt. Sinai that shrouded the mystery of God. Of course, the voice from the clouds is an articulation of God’s intention with Moses on the mountain, or the voice from the heavens at Jesus’ baptism. And this voice here. There’s a message we are to hear, that God is speaking through this mystery on this mountain for a particular reason, revelation.
Of course the light. Here is the symbol of revelation, of uncovering, of the making known. The light expresses a counter to darkness. It illuminates. The light expresses God’s glory, and that glory is cast on Jesus. . When we see this Jesus bathed in light, we ought to be looking for the cue of what this reveals.
Then we have the characters. Well, we know all about Moses receiving the 10 commandments on Mt. Sinai. He represents the Law, the expressed purposes of God among the covenant people. Then we have the great prophet Elijah, chief among those who spoke to the people in God’s stead. When we Moses and Elijah together we speak of the Law and the Prophets, the twin pillars of the God’s action among the people, which redirects and steers the people and makes God’s intention known.
All this is caught up on this mountain. And then we have this Jesus. The one whom the prophets named. We have this Jesus now on this mountain, being spoken of through God’s voice in the cloud of mystery, in the presence of the law and prophets. Jesus represents God’s new revelation. He is the one bathed in light. Not Moses and Elijah. Shining, shining with the divine light. All has been transformed. When leave today we will sing, Shine Jesus Shine, a call for that light to bathe the world in its reflected illumination. Jesus, elevated about the Law and Prophets, all engaged in this shining Jesus. And God says of him, “listen”.
Who’s he talking to? The disciples, those called to bear witness to this revelation.
And in he face of all that, they were terrified, of the awe and of the call.
In the wake of this unnerving scene, Jesus communicates with them in the most intimate language, He spoke with them in the simplest, most common language of all. He reached out and touched them. A touch of reassurance. “Don’t be afraid.” But more than that, it was the touch of their own transformation. The touch of newness. All through Matthew we know that the touch of the Lord is a touch of healing, newness, change. The blind see, the leper is cleansed, the fever is broken, the flow of blood is stayed. He touch them, spoke to them in the common tongue, “Do not be afraid.” And they stood up and beheld . . . Jesus the man, the teacher their leader. Gone is the symbolism, gone is the specialized language of the faith. Gone are all the trappings of glory, Just the familiar face, the one they are commanded to listen to.
I’ve seen several paintings of this scene, but the one that stands out for me is by Raphael’s Transfiguration. It is in part what you would expect with Jesus bathed in light, the cowering disciples, Moses with the commandments and Elijah with the book of the prophets. But the picture also includes a host of people at the foot of the mountain, contentious people, arguing afraid, unformed and angry. The one transfigured on the mountain is the one who comes down to transform the anger and divisiveness and the confusion of the world and the brokenness and confusion of our hearts. Martin Luther calls this the theology of the cross, where the Christ comes down to complete his journey of suffering and sacrifice, and is not confined to the distant glory of the mountain.
Now the disciples hear the word of their call to join him. Listen. Time to go down the mountain to the troubled valley. Time to set upon the path that takes Jesus into the midst of the people so that they may be transformed. Time to begin the walk to Jerusalem and the cross so that all that is commanded might come to pass. Time to go, so that all that has been revealed on this mountain, all that has been gathered into this One--God, law, prophets, hope, love, compassion, healing, transformation, salvation--may be fulfilled. Follow him so that his healing touch can reach out to the whole world, so his loving transforming touch may reach your world and mine.
And then nothing is the same . . . We at the bottom of the mountain are no longer contentious rabble, but objects of God’s grace and mercy and communities blossom and rifts are healed, and we are called to build those communities and heal those rifts, water flows to cleanse the hearts and lives of the people and we who follow Jesus are called to go, therefore,, and they are made new and called and commissioned . . . . .. . . bread and wine become conveyors of God’s grace, a confirmation of our forgiveness so we may be transformed again and again, wind and sunshine all carry the message of Christ’s salvation. And our horizon is littered with the images of Christ’s cross planted deeply into the heart of this world so that you may be transformed, and that through us, the world may be transformed. And the compassionate touch of the shoulder of a broken or frightened person carries the transforming power of the gospel.
Listen. This is the new day you encounter when you rise. God has made what was not possible, possible, in your life, in His world, in His name. Amen
Copyright (c) 2002 by Pastor Robert J. Rasmus