The Festival of the Transfiguration, Cycle C

"Attend! Let us Be Attentive and Listen to the Beloved Son!"

February 14, 2010

The Rev. Dr. David M. Wendel

Saint Luke's Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs

Lessons: Exodus 34:29-35; 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2; St. Luke 9:28-36

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

I've heard the story of a young minister, newly graduated from seminary, serving his first church. One day, he receives a call telling him that a faithful, but elderly woman who has given her life to that church is seriously ill, in the hospital, and doctors expect this will be the end. The young pastor hurries over to the woman's hospital room. All the way, he's thinking about what he will say to this wonderful Christian lady, how he will offer her words of comfort to help prepare her for the nearness of death. The pastor arrives at the room, sits and talks with her for a few minutes, and finally, as he's ready to leave, he asks if she would like him to pray for her. She answers, "Yes, of course, that's why I wanted you to come." "Well", asks the pastor, "would you like me to pray for something in particular?" "Why", said the woman, somewhat surprised, "I want you to pray that God will heal me completely!" Catching the young minister off-guard, he fumbles over the words of the prayer, feeling he must pray that God will heal her, though he's convinced that can't happen, and she will die soon. However, when he finished the prayer and uttered the feeble "Amen", the woman said, "You know, I think it worked! I'm healed!" And she got out of bed, began to run up and down the hallway of the hospital, shouting, "Praise God! I'm healed!" Meanwhile, the young pastor, confused and even troubled by the experience, makes his way down the stairs and out to his car in the parking lot. As he fumbles with his keys, so startled by the whole event, he looks toward heaven, and says, "Don't you ever do that to me again!"

The fact is, God often gives us life experiences that can leave us confused, frustrated, and worried, not knowing what to make of it, or what to do with it. And they're not always unhappy, or sad experiences—they can be times of great blessing and joy—mountain-top experiences we call them, that can leave us just as baffled and uncertain, as times of great sorrow or loss. So that we might find ourselves, looking to heaven and shouting, "Don't you ever do that to me again!"

Surely the Transfiguration was one of those times for the disciples of Jesus—Peter, James and John. Just before the Transfiguration, Jesus had been talking with them about his own suffering and death, ending by telling them that anyone who would truly come follow him, must deny himself, take up his cross and come after him. And then, just after the Transfiguration, Jesus again foretold his death, saying, "Hear me, and let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men." This prediction of His own passion and death troubled the disciples, as well it should have. But in the middle of these two discourses about his crucifixion and death, Jesus takes the inner circle of the disciples, the three closest to Him, up the mountain to pray. And while there, they experience the mountain-top experience to top all mountain-top experiences! As Jesus was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white, and Moses and Elijah appeared, in glory themselves, and they spoke with Jesus about his impending departure—his death, which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem. And just as they were stirring from sleep, realizing what was going on in front of them, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and Peter, James and John were afraid. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, my Chosen One—listen to him!" And when the voice had spoken, they found Jesus, alone. And what should have been the high point of their lives, what should have caused them to be dancing and shouting for joy, anxious to tell the other disciples what they had heard and seen, left them troubled and confused, as St. Luke concludes this account saying, "And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen."

It seems so strange that they kept silent, and told no one anything of what they had seen. Why no excitement? Why no enthusiasm? Why no running down the mountain to tell the others about this miraculous transfiguration? Elsewhere, Jesus tells them not to say anything to anyone, until the Son of Man has risen from the dead. So, they do keep these things to themselves. In Luke's Gospel, however, there is no command for silence from Jesus. And on the one hand, it makes us wonder how it was that they could keep silent about something so wonderful as this. On the other, we can understand how this could leave them confused and wondering—where did Moses and Elijah come from; how did Jesus' clothes become dazzling white; and what about the voice from heaven? We can almost see ourselves, with Peter, James and John, shaking our fist at the voice from heaven, confused, upset, shouting, "Don't you ever do that to us again!"

And couldn't that also have been the response, after Jesus was crucified, dead and buried, only to be resurrected on the third day? After the pain, grief and loss the disciples experienced seeing their Lord and Master arrested, tortured, nailed to a cross, they surely struggled to come to grips with what had happened—as we struggle the first day or two after the loss of a loved one. And we, like them, begin to accept and adapt to the emptiness we feel, as we deal with the reality of death. But then imagine their shock and awe, upon seeing Jesus alive again on Easter morning! Dead is dead! No one comes back to life! The immediate surprise and confusion of it might have led his followers to respond, "Don't you ever do that to us again! Leave us thinking our beloved Jesus is dead and gone for good, only to raise Him up on the third day!"

That's how we might respond, if we had no inkling that Jesus would be raised. That's how we might respond if we thought the death and burial of Jesus would be the last word. Which is why Jesus told his disciples, time and again, not only that He would suffer and die, but that He would be raised from death! This wasn't any great secret Jesus was keeping from them—as we see from Scripture that most every time Jesus spoke of his death, he did also speak of His resurrection. Just before the Transfiguration, Jesus told them, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected, and be killed, and on the third day be raised." It's just that the disciples of Jesus, his very closest followers, weren't listening. Which may very well be why the Father in heaven saw fit to say to them, and to us, "This is my Son, the Beloved—listen to Him!" Those are some of the most important words in all the New Testament, for us—because they call us to listen to Jesus! Here, the Father is aware of how we sleep-walk through life. Here, the Father is aware of how drowsy we get in life—so much so that we fail to listen to Jesus, fail to hear what He has to say to us, fail to be attentive to all that He has commanded us. That's why in the Orthodox liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, before the reading of the Gospel, the priest exhorts the people saying, "Attend! Let us be Attentive!" And isn't that what the Father is saying, from heaven, as well, to the drowsy, sleepy, confused disciples? "Attend! Be attentive to the words of my Beloved Son. Listen to Him!" And isn't that what the Father is saying, from heaven, to you and me, as well. When you are spiritually drowsy; when your faith is in hibernation—the Father is saying, "Wake Up, Be Attentive—listen to my Beloved Son, Jesus!"

And, if you think about it, isn't that the reason and purpose of Lent, which begins this Wednesday—to wake us up, spiritually, to stir up our sleepy faith, to heighten our spiritual senses, so that again, we attend to Jesus, and listen to Him. We may just add that call to "Attend, to be attentive" to the Word of the Lord, to our Lenten liturgy, so that throughout our Lenten journey, we might be reminded, week in and week out, that the Father implores us to listen, and hear His Son as He speaks to us, teaches us, exhorts us, and proclaims to us, forgiveness of sins and redemption through His blood. For the truth of the matter is, Jesus will be transfigured among us this Lenten season, not once, not just in one momentary mountain-top experience, but each week as we come together to see Jesus, transfigured among us, in His Word, written, read and preached, and in the Sacrament of the Altar, as He, the Word of God incarnate is glorified among us, in bread and wine that become His Body and Blood. He comes to us, is transfigured among us each week, to be God's Word in our midst—and we are to be attentive to Him, to hear Him, and to receive Him. And that's why the Father says, "Listen to Him!" So, today, I trust that you are listening to Him. And throughout the Season of Lent, let us listen to Him—Him who is the Father's beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.