Oak Chapel United Methodist Church

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Had I been there, I too would have been terrified. Jesus had separated them from the other disciples that day (this tight inner circle: Peter, James and John). He had led them up the mountain to a place few men have ever stood; had shown them his true glory, his face shining and his clothes dazzling; had revealed himself as a transcendent figure, one at whose beck and call the great Moses and Elijah would appear; had let them see eternity, if only for a moment. And when Peter had tried to speak, dumbly as it turned out, the very voice of God drowned him out. They fell on their faces and were overcome with fear. Any of us would have been. But, after that, they found their courage.
 

This is My Beloved Son

God appeared twice in Jesus life -- used the same words each time, in fact: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am delighted. Listen to him." It happened first at Jesus' baptism (in preparation for his Temptation by Satan, and for his earthly ministry), and again here, on the Mount of Transfiguration (in preparation for Jesus' agony and death). All three synoptic gospels report this event. Matthew's version is word-for-word with Mark's.

Obviously it was an important story for the early Christians, a story to memorize, a story to die for. John, when he writes his Gospel, can't get through the first chapter without reminding his readers that he was there: "And we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten Son of God." And Peter, in his second letter, which was read for us this morning, reminds his readers that he and the other two had been "eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father, when that voice said, 'This is my Son…with whom I am well pleased.' We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain."

 
God's Stamp of Approval

In the minds of the early Christians, this event established Jesus' bona fides by putting God's stamp of approval on His life and death. The Greek word for "transfiguration" is a word we know: "metamorphosis" -- a sudden, dramatic and complete change. The word is used here, of course, to refer to the change in Jesus, but we might also think of it as referring to a sudden and dramatic change in the story itself. It's now time to get serious, to separate men from boys. Jesus begins to speak of his trial, and his death. He tells the three, as they come down from the mountaintop, not to mention what happened until he rises from the dead. They don't understand, not until later. The subject, from here on out, is the cost of discipleship. Anyone can follow Jesus up to this point. But now the going gets tough. One writer refers to that trip down the mountain as "the descent to the cross."
 

All Saints and Martyrs

We should think more often of the physical courage displayed by these men. There is courage here, and valor. These are true heroes. Jesus knows what awaits him, yet he walks to it. All the others, as they grow in faith (and after they have seen him risen from the dead) all become saints and martyrs of the church, dying for their Lord. It is no small thing to give one's life. This is not a movie or a television show, where death is pretty, and actors stand, dust themselves off, and walk away after being "killed." These are true stories of real people, dearly beloved, people just like us, who hurt and suffered just as we hurt and suffer, but who had seen something, or experienced something, that led them to do the most inhuman thing, the thing which everything in us resists, to surrender our lives.
 

The Meaning of Lent

Lent, which begins this Wednesday, commemorates two events: the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness, tempted by Satan, and the last days of Jesus life…this descent to the cross. We begin Lent with ashes on our foreheads, reminding us of our frailty -- physical, moral, and spiritual. "From the dust you were created, to the dust you will return." We begin where Christians always must begin, in confession and repentance. We look at the life and teachings of Jesus, especially in these last days, and we ask ourselves if we are willing pay the price that he, and his first followers, paid. And we feel the same fear the disciples felt when the heard the voice of God, or when they witnessed their Master arrested and carried off to die.
 

The Meaning of Fear in Our Lives

Thomas Merton said that "the root of all war is fear -- not so much the fear we have for one another, but the fear we have of everything." He was on to something. "The fear we have of everything." From the time we are babies, there is (lurking beneath the surface, and often well-concealed) a certain fear of anything outside ourselves.

It explains why even the most confident people are often insecure. When we are afraid, we do not act well. We can't even live with others, much less love them. So fear may be the root not just of war but of all broken relationships. Those who overcome their fear are our heroes, like Jesus, and his disciples, and those early Christian martyrs. They live wonderful lives and die wonderful deaths.

Reflecting on Saint Valentine

One Christian courageous martyr, by the way, was Saint Valentine. He was a priest in Rome, and he was executed on February 14, during the persecutions of Diocletian -- the last great persecution of Christians, it was empire wide, and thousands died. He was connected with love and lovers in medieval times, apparently only because February 14 coincides roughly with the time birds start courting. But, since it is Valentine's Day, we might speak for a moment about love and courage. Do we know how much courage it takes, how much fear has to be overcome, for one person to love another? To make a commitment to another human being, to make it in front of others, to promise (with your friends and family watching) that you will stay with someone "for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health," till death do you part.

It takes enormous courage to make that commitment, and it takes courage to keep it. You know, the biggest problem I have with unmarried people living together? It's the cowardice. Not to make a real decision. To always leave the back door ajar. Not to take the risk. Not to commit. Such wimps! We will make commitments to a basketball team, or a bridge club, but not to the one we love. And we think it will keep us from being hurt if "the relationship" doesn't work out. But, of course, rejection and failure always hurt -- inside or outside of marriage.
 

People of Courage

Christians are people of courage. We were not on the Mount of Transfiguration, with Peter and James and John, but we have seen something, or heard something, or experienced something, that gives us the courage to give ourselves away -- in love, in parenting, in the service of right, in the fight against wrong.