TRANSFIGURATION!

 TODAY  WE TAKE A LOOK FROM THE MOUNTAIN OF TRANSFIGURING LIGHT, CHRIST GOES FORTH TO JERUSALEM AND LEADS US TO THE PASSOVER FROM DEATH TO LIFE. HERE WE FIND THE MEANING OF HIS BIRTH AND UNDERSTAND THE MESSAGE OF YESTERDAY'S TEXT ON BAPTISM: HE WAS BORN TO DIE, SO THAT IN OUR DEATH, WE MIGHT BE BORN TO ETERNAL LIFE. DO YOU EVER HAVE THE PROBLEM I OFTEN HAVE? SOMEONE WILL TELL JOKE AND THINK IT IS HILARIOUS, BUT I MISS THE POINT. THINGS JUST DON'T MAKE SENSE AT TIMES. WE HAVE DISAPPOINTMENT. WE CAN'T FIGURE IT OUT, AND THIS CAN HAPPEN EVEN MORE EASILY WITH OUR LIFE IN CHRIST.  JESUS SAID THINGS LIKE, " GIVE AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN TO YOU, "OR" YOU HAVE TO LOSE YOUR LIFE IN ORDER TO FIND IT."  UNFORTUNATELY, WE OFTEN MISS THE POINT IN WHAT, OR MAYBE LOSE IT EVEN THOUGH WE ONCE HAD IT. AS A RESULT, EVERYTHING GETS SHORT CIRCUITED; THE GOAL ISN'T REACHED. THE RESULTS DON'T HAPPEN WHEN WE DON'T GET THE JOKE.  WE FAIL TO LAUGH AND SO MISS OUT ON THE FUN. WHEN WE MISS THE POINT IN WHAT'S HAPPENING AROUND US, OUR LIVES CAN SEEM QUITE MEANINGLESS. BUT WORST OF ALL, AND MOST TRAGIC, IS TO FIND NO JOY IN FOLLOWING CHRIST. BECAUSE WE HAVE FAILED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT HE WAS TALKING ABOUT, BECAUSE WE HAVE COMPLETELY MISSED THE POINT HE WAS TRYING TO MAKE. THIS LESSON IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THIS. JESUS TAKES PETER, JAMES AND JOHN UP ON A MOUNTAIN TOP, EVIDENTLY TO GIVE THESE THREE CHIEF DISCIPLES A SPECIAL REVELATION OF JUST WHO THEIR TEACHER REALLY IS. PERHAPS, IT IS ALSO TO CONFIRM THE CONFESSION OF FAITH PETER HAD MADE FOR THE OTHER DISCIPLES JUST SIX DAYS EARLIER WHEN HE SAID TO JESUS, " YOU ARE THE CHRIST."  THIS REVELATION WOULD HELP THESE  DISCIPLES TO GET THE POINT, TO UNDERSTAND THE MEANING WHAT IS SOON TO HAPPEN IN CHRIST'S LIFE- HIS GOING UP TO JERUSALEM TO OFFER HIMSELF AS THE SACRIFICIAL LAMB OF GOD WHOSE BLOOD WOULD TAKE AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD.
BUT WHAT HAPPENS ON THAT MOUNTAIN TOP? PETER AND HIS FRIENDS  COMPLETELY MISS THE POINT! LET'S TUNE IN ON THE STORY. SUDDENLY, RIGHT BEFORE THE DISCIPLES EYES, THE APPEARANCE OF JESUS IS TRANSFIGURED, "CHANGED." HE LOOKS DIFFERENT. HIS FACE GLOWS BRIGHTLY AND HIS CLOTHES BECOME DAZZLING WHITE. THEN MOSES AND ELIJAH ARE STANDING WITH JESUS. SO WHAT DO WE HEAR PETER SAYING? "ISN'T THIS NICE!" LORD, IT IS WELL THAT WE ARE HERE. WHAT A SHOW!  IN FACT THROUGH OUT THE GOSPEL OF MARK THE DISCIPLES FAIL TO UNDERSTAND JESUS. WHY?  WE HAVE A RINGSIDE SEAT ON HEAVEN ITSELF.  HEY, THERE'S MOSES AND ELIJAH OVER THERE. NOW IF EVER THERE WERE GREAT MEN OF FAITH, THEY CERTAINLY FILL THE BILL. WHAT WAS HAPPENING SOUNDS LIKE THEATER-IN THE ROUND WHERE YOU GET INTO THE ACTION, THE ACTORS ARE RIGHT THERE. YOU CAN REACH OUT AND TOUCH THEM, AND AT TIMES THE AUDIENCE ACTUALLY GETS TO BE PART OF THE ACTION OF COURSE, YOU KNOW AND EVERYONE ELSE KNOWS THAT YOU AREN'T AN ACTOR.
 BUT STILL, YOU CAN GO HOME AND SAY, "WASN'T THAT GREAT!" WELL, PETER THOUGHT IT WAS SO GREAT THAT HE WANTED TO STAY AROUND AWHILE AND ENJOY IT. " LORD HOW ABOUT IF WE SET UP SOME LITTLE SHELTERS HERE." THIS IS JUST  TOO GREAT."  PETER MISSING THE POINT, WANTED TO SETTLE DOWN AND ENJOY THE SHOW. PETER MISTAKES THE FUTURE FOR THE PRESENT.
 AREN'T WE THAT WAY TOO? WE HAVE ALL THE GREAT DRAMA GOING ON IN SCRIPTURES. NOAH, ABRAHAM, THE GREAT MEN OF FAITH, ISAAC, JACOB, MOSES, THE DIVIDING OF THE WATERS OF THE RED SEA, MANNA IN THE WILDERNESS, GREAT BATTLES, INTRIGUE, DAVID AND HIS ADVENTURES! THEN THEIR IS CHRIST'S LIFE- STILLING OF THE WATERS, FEEDING OF THE THOUSANDS, HEALING'S, EVEN PEOPLE COMING BACK FROM DEATH. OR THERE ARE THE STORIES OF PAUL AND OTHER APOSTLES-SHIPWRECKS, ESCAPES, DANGER. THEN THERE IS THE GREAT DRAMA OF THE EARLY CHURCH-THE MEN OF FAITH WHO FACED LIONS AND GLADIATORS AND ALL THE REST-MORE DRAMA AND ADVENTURE AN CRISIS, WHAT A THING TO SIT ON! ISN'T THAT GREAT! AND WITH PETER WE MIGHT GET TO SET UP A PERMANENT THEATER FOR THIS ON GOING DRAMA, WITH COMFORTABLE BOX SEATS INTO WHICH WE MIGHT SETTLE BACK TO ENJOY IT ALL. THAT'S WHAT PETER  SEEMS TO HAVE HAD IN MIND AND WE SHOULD DO THE SAME. "MASTER, SHALL WE
 BUILD SOME SHELTERS?"  BUT JESUS DID NOT ANSWER PETER AND HE WON'T ANSWER US.
JESUS DIDN'T ANSWER BECAUSE GREATER THINGS THAN THESE WERE YET TO HAPPEN. SUDDENLY, THE CLOUD OF GLORY BETTER KNOWN AS THE (SHEKINAH)
 PRESENCE OF GOD COVERS THE MOUNTAIN AND THE VOICE FROM THE CLOUD SAYS: " THIS IS MY BELOVED SON; LISTEN TO HIM."  WHAT'S ALL HAPPENING HERE?
 MOSES, ELIJAH, JESUS TRANSFIGURED! GOD IS TELLING THESE DISCIPLES SOMETHING. THINK ABOUT IT. ISN'T THIS THE SEQUENCE OF GOD REVEALING HIMSELF TO HIS PEOPLE. GOD'S FIRST REVELATION OF HIMSELF TO HIS CHOSEN PEOPLE WAS AT MT. SINAI, WHEN GOD CALLED MOSES ONTO THE MOUNTAIN TO RECEIVE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. THE MOUNTAIN WAS COVERED WITH FIERY LIGHTENING FLASHED AND THUNDER SOUNDED. WHEN MOSES CAME BACK DOWN THE MOUNTAIN HIS FACE GLOWED BRIGHTLY BECAUSE HE HAD BEEN IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD'S GLORY.
THEN THERE WAS ELIJAH, THE GREATEST OF ALL PROPHETS. WE HEARD ABOUT HIS FIERY ENTRANCE INTO HEAVEN. ELIJAH ALSO EXPERIENCED GOD'S GLORY ON A MOUNTAIN. IT WAS Mt. CARMEL. REMEMBER HOW ELIJAH ONCE THOUGHT THAT HE WAS THE ONLY PERSON LEFT IN ISRAEL STILL WORSHIPPING THE TRUE GOD AND THAT EVERYONE ELSE WAS WORSHIPPING BAAL., AN IDOL. AND REMEMBER  HOW GOD ARRANGED A CONTEST BETWEEN BAAL AND HIMSELF. THE FOLLOWERS OF BAAL SET UP AN ALTAR WITH AN OFFERING. THEN THEY PRAYED TO THEIR gods OFFERING, BUT NOTHING HAPPENING. THEN AT THE END OF THE DAY ELIJAH SET UP
HIS ALTAR AND PRAYED TO GOD, AND GOD REVEALED HIS GLORY. HE SENT DOWN FIRE FROM HEAVEN AND BURNED UP THE OFFERING, AND THE STONE ALTAR, AND EVEN THE WATER WHICH ELIJAH HAD SOAKED HIS OFFERING AND THE ALTAR AND THE GROUND ON WHICH IT STOOD.
YES, GOD HAD REVEALED HIS GLORY IN THE PAST IN THE PRESENCE OF MOSES, THE GREAT-LAW GIVER AND LEADER OF HIS PEOPLE. HE ALSO HAD REVEALED IT TO HIS
PROPHET ELIJAH. BUT NOW GOD'S GLORY IS REVEALED NOT TO A MAN-  BUT IN AND THROUGH A MAN. SUDDENLY, RIGHT BEFORE THE EYES OF THE THREE DISCIPLES, JESUS FACE AND CLOTHES ARE CHANGED INTO A GLOWING, DAZZLING WHITENESS.
 NEXT THE VOICE OF GOD FROM HEAVEN CONFIRMS IT, " THIS IS MY BELOVED." GOD HAD COME DIRECTLY INTO THE MIDST OF HIS CHOSEN PEOPLE, NO INDIRECTLY THROUGH THE LAW GIVEN TO MOSES OR IN THE WORD SPOKEN BY THE PROPHETS
, BUT IN PERSON. WHAT COULD BE MORE FANTASTIC?  YET, PETER SEEMS TO MISS THE POINT. " LET'S SIT DOWN AND ENJOY  THIS FOR AWHILE." BUT JESUS DOESN'T LET THIS HAPPEN. GOD REMOVES HIS GLORY FROM THE MOUNTAIN TOP, MOSES AND ELIJAH ARE GONE. JESUS IMMEDIATELY TAKES THE DISCIPLES DOWN THE MOUNTAIN TO LEAD THEM INTO EVER MORE EXPERIENCES OF GOD'S GLORIOUS PRESENCE AMONG MEN.- THE GREATEST OF WHICH IS TO COME.
IN THIS MAN JESUS, THE DISCIPLES ARE TO EXPERIENCE THEIR GOD IN A MOST DRAMATIC WAY. YET, IT WASN'T TO MUCH LATER THAT THEY FINALLY DO GET THE POINT OF IT ALL. THAT WAS ON PENTECOST WHEN THE SAME GLORY OF GOD WHICH THEY HAD SEEN IN JESUS CAME TO EACH ONE OF THEM IN THE FORM OF LITTLE FLAMES OF FIRES OF FIRES.- AND THEY BECAME CHANGED MEN. SUDDENLY, THOSE DISCIPLES STARTED DOING THINGS JESUS HAD DONE. THEY BECAME LOVING, FORGIVING, HELPING PEOPLE. THEY EVEN DID MIRACLES HE HAD DONE, BUT MOST OF ALL THEY BECAME WITNESSES TO THIS GOD OF GLORY WHO HAD BEEN WITH THEM IN JESUS AND NOW ACTUALLY WITHIN THEM. JESUS TRANSFIGURATION IS A FORESHADOWING  OF HOW THE STORY ENDS.  FOR US TOO. CALLING IT A "FORELIGHTING"  WOULD BE MORE ACCURATE. GOD SHOWS US HOW IT TURNS OUT  IN RESURRECTION AND A NEW CREATION SO THAT WE RECOGNIZE TRANSFIGURATIONS WHEN THEY TAKE PLACE. RIGHT IN THE MIDST OF THE MUDDLE OF OUR LIVES. SOMETIMES DEATH LOOMS SO LARGE AND UGLY THAT WE CANNOT SEE BEYOND IT. GOD SPEAKS TO US OUT OF THE FOG AND ENCOURAGES US WITH A GLIMPSE OF THE FUTURE. ST. PAUL SUMS IT UP IN, (2COR 3:18).  BUT WE ALL, WITH OPEN FACE BEHOLDING, AS A GLASS, THE GLORY OF THE LORD; ARE CHANGED INTO THE SAME IMAGE FROM GLORY TO GLORY, EVEN AS BY THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD. (AMEN!