Matthew 17:1-9

Sometimes you just have to talk about it. Sometimes things happen in our lives that are so big. They redefine how we see the world. At first it is a little disorienting. And we have to talk about it. We have to share it with someone to help us process the event mentally and emotionally.

Peter James and John had just such an experience. It all really started when Jesus asked them one night around the campfire, "Who do people say that I am?" After repeating all the different things people on the streets were saying he rephrased the question, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter said, "You are the Messiah the Son of the living God." And Jesus told them that he was going to be rejected by the leaders and be killed and rise again on the third day. But they didn't understand.

Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John up a mountain to pray with him. Nothing odd here Jesus was always going off by himself to pray. But while they were there it happened. Suddenly Jesus was changed and he glowed with the glory of God. Moses and Elijah were standing there with him. And then to top it all off God shows up and says, "This is my Son, do what he says."

This spectacular event confirmed everything Peter had said and they all had hoped. Jesus was the Messiah the Son of God! But as they were on their way down the mountain Jesus told them, "Don't tell a soul about this until after the resurrection." How could they not tell? I mean how can you experience something like that and not tell everyone? It must have been incredibly difficult for the disciples to keep this secret, but keep it they did.

I wonder how they could keep a secret like that. How do you keep such a secret? First you don't talk about it. I know that sounds simple but it is more difficult than you think. First you have to get past the initial shock and the felt need to tell someone. When people go through a tragedy or a trial they want to tell people about it. Whether it be the death of a loved on or an auto accident. They just want to process it.

But then there is the fact that the event changes the way one sees the world. Your perception of reality is changed and you could give the secret away because all your assumptions are different from those who don't know the secret. The story goes that a family had made plans to buy a second hand car so that they oldest could drive it to college. The car was going to be a surprise birthday present for the student. So everyone in the family was in on the surprise keeping a secret from the oldest child. One day they were trying to figure out rides for some events that would be after the oldest birthday. Without thinking one of the younger children blurted out, "Oh, sis can drive her new car!" Well the cat was out of the bag.

So if you are going to keep a secret don't talk about it. No matter how much you feel the need to talk about it, don't say a word. And be careful that you don't let is out by accident.

A second rule for keeping a secret is don't think about it. If you don't think about the secret you won't have a problem not talking about it. When something big happens it is hard not to think about it. Whether it is something bad like a death or something good like a birth you find yourselves dwelling on that event. But if you can avoid thinking about it then you can avoid talking about it.

One way to avoid thinking about it is to put away anything that will remind you of that event. I have seen families where someone has died recently; they will take down all the pictures of that person. Dwelling on and thinking about that person's death is too painful. So to avoid it they put away all the pictures of that person that will remind them of their absence.

I can imagine it was hard on the disciples. I mean they couldn't exactly hide Jesus from their view. Every time they saw him they were reminded of what they saw. They could see in their minds Jesus transfigured with Moses and Elijah standing next to him. And every time they heard a rumble of thunder they could remember the voice of God saying, "This is my Son, listen to him."

So that is how you keep a secret. Don't talk about it. Don't think about it. Hide any reminder of it in your life. And you won't end up telling anyone about it.

I feel like I am preaching to the choir. The church today knows how to keep a secret. In fact we have done a wonderful job of keeping this secret. So few people in our world seem to know that Jesus is the Messiah the Son of the living God. We must have been keeping the secret.

But wait a minuet. Jesus told the disciples not to tell anyone until after the resurrection. Well this is after the resurrection! That means we can tell the world that we have seen the glory of God in Jesus! We can tell the world that God confirmed that Jesus is the Messiah the son of God!

The issue for the church today is not how to keep a secret but how not to keep a secret. Wait a minuet; let's see… OK - How not to keep a secret. First talk about it! Tell everyone. Just blab it to the whole world. Second think about it. Think about Jesus day and night. If he is all you are thinking about then you will find yourself talking about him. Next put reminders of him in your life. Making it a habit to stop and pray and read the Bible and go to church will remind you to think of him often. Wear a cross or keep on in you pocket. Put a Bible or across or a religious picture somewhere you will see it all the time.

But it shouldn't be hard. I mean if you have seen the glory of God in Christ with your own eyes, and you have heard the voice of God with your own ears and in your own heart, how can you not tell everyone? How can you not simply explode with the Good News of Jesus Christ?

Maybe that is the problem. Maybe you haven't seen his glory. Maybe you haven't heard God's voice. I hope you have. If you haven't, then ask him to show you. And if you have, please don't keep it a secret.

Peter was a fisherman. We know from the Gospels that Peter and the others would fish at night. In fact on one occasion they had fished all night and early in the morning Jesus told them to go out again and throw their nets on the right side of the boat. On another Jesus greeted them on the beach with a breakfast of roasted fish after a long night's work. So I am sure that Peter knew the value of lights on the shore or on a boat to guide a sailor. More than once Peter would have used a light on the shore to help guide him in his fishing boat to find a safe harbor.

Peter knew about lights on the shore but he also knew about the light of Christ. After all it was Peter who first confessed that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God. He recognized Jesus as the Messiah because he saw the light of God in him. But as you remember he didn't see very clearly. When Jesus told him that the Messiah must suffer and die Peter rebuked Jesus!

But shortly after that, six days later to be exact, Jesus took Peter and James and John up a mountain. And on top of that mountain Peter saw the light! They saw Jesus glowing with the glory and light of God. Elijah and Moses were also there with them. And the voice of God thundered from heaven, "This is my beloved son, listen to him."

For Peter the light of Christ's Transfiguration was a beacon on the ocean of faith. Years later when the church was wrestling with what it meant to be faithful he recalled this incident. The church several decades after Jesus had ascended, faced many challenges. Among them were people who tried to modernize and adapt the Gospel to their own views. We know of some of them. Some argued that Jesus was not really the Son of God but just an angel. Others said that Jesus was not really in the flesh. He just appeared to have come in the flesh. And others held other views that Christians now call heresy.

So Peter offered his advice. He pointed out that his Gospel was not based on clever myths. His Gospel was based on and verified by a real live experience of God. He had seen Jesus on the mountain and he had heard God say "Listen to him." This event was where Peter got his theological bearings.

But to plot a position and then a course you need two point to get your bearings. Peter offered the second one as being the prophets of the Old Testament. Their writings were not the concoction of human minds. It is the inspired message of God. So Peter tells the church to get their bearings from Christ and the Word of God.

Times haven't changed much. The world is still a dangerous theological sea full of hidden shoals and reefs. There are people who want to update and modernize the Gospel to suit their political sensibilities. Others try to change the Gospel to make it serve their national interest. Some try to make the Gospel serve their materialistic goals as in some forms of the prosperity Gospel. Some change it around to justify their lifestyle. Some come up with cleverly devised myths to make the gospel more interesting. I think the best example of all this is the recent titillation about the DaVinci Code.

But all these loose their bearings. God and Peter have already told us what to do when we are faced with these alternative Gospels. First God said, "This is my beloved Son, … listen to him." Peter too pointed to Christ. We should not let ourselves to taken in by clever explanations. We should focus on the light of Christ.

The other source light for finding our direction is the Word of God in the Bible. This is more than a good book it is The Good Book. I love a good story with clever twists and turns in the plot. But this is truth with a capital T. It is not devised by the minds of people but was revealed by God.

Now I am talking about getting your theological bearing. You may think to yourself "well, theology is just something for preachers and professors." No, theology is what a Christian does every day. If you wake up in the morning and ask yourself "How can I serve God today," that is theology. If you seek to know what is right or wrong that is theology. If you want to know how Christians should respond to some social or political issue you are doing theology. If you want to serve God and have a closer walk with Jesus you are doing theology!

There are plenty of cleverly devised myths out there to help you answer all those questions. But I am telling you to look to Jesus and the Bible for your answers. "Well Martha, the preacher done gone fundamentalist on us." I am being a Methodist Christian! I think the Methodist Church and other mainline churches have gotten a false reputation for not being Bible believing churches because we often take stances that are different from those who so loudly claim they believe the Bible. But we take the stances we do because we have read and believed our Bibles. The Methodist Church ordains women because the Bible says in Christ there is no Male of Female. And our other stances are based on the Bible.

In this world of theological alternatives, keep your eyes on Christ. Let the light of His glory guide you through life. Read and learn the Bible. Let it be a guiding light as well. Don't take my word for it. Take it from Peter the sailor who saw the glory of God in Christ himself. "You will do well to pay attention to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place."(2 Peter 1:19)

You know, it would really help if Paul would not keep using references to Old Testament stories that we 21st Century folk are unfamiliar with. Of course if you're a graduate of Disciple I and II you know what he means when he talks about Moses wearing the veil. But for the rest of us, let me tell the story. You can find it in the end of Exodus chapter 34. Moses had gone up Mt. Sinai to get the second copy of the 10 commandments. You remember that when he got the first set he came down the mountain to find the people worshipping a golden calf. At which point he threw the first set of tablets down and broke them. When he came back down after his second visit his face was shining from being in the glory of God.

This scared the people. So after telling them what God had said, he put a veil over his face. This became a tradition. He would go into the presence of God without the veil and when he came out the people would see the glory of God on his face. After he told them what God had said he would put the veil on again.

The purpose of the veil was to keep the people from being frightened of Moses. I guess the sight of a person literally shining with the glory of God was disconcerting. But Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians takes this image and uses it as a metaphor. Paul sees it as a metaphor for the failure of people to see the glory of God. And at the same time it was a metaphor for the revealing of the glory of God through us.

Let me tell you what I mean. Have you ever known someone who glowed. I know when Melissa was expecting she seemed to glow. And when joyful things happen in a person's life they seem to radiate the joy of it; they glow.

There was a woman in one of the first churches I served that glowed. When she entered a room, it just seemed to light up. She brought with her a joy and warmth that you could feel. She was a quiet woman, so it wasn't like she came bouncing into the room. But you could see the peace and joy in her face.

But she wasn't always like that. In fact when I first arrived at that parish a relative of hers had just died after a long bout with cancer and before that she had nursed her husband for years after he had had a stroke until he died. Far from being someone who glowed she was one of those people who seemed to have a cloud over her head all the time. She was a faithful Christian and she would tell you that her faith had seen her through those hard years but there was just a darkness there.

Then one year we had a Lay Witness Mission. A Lay Witness Mission is where a church invites a group of lay people to spend a weekend sharing their testimonies in services and gatherings. This woman was a dedicated church member so she came to the gatherings and service and volunteered to help in housing and feeding the guest witnesses. Over the course of the weekend she heard the testimonies of people who had been through hard timed too and found joy and peace. Over the course of the weekend she soaked up the glory of God. By the time the weekend was over she had been transformed. She went from having a cloud over her head to being a ray of sunshine. The veil has been removed and the glory of God that lay buried under years of heartache and trouble was revealed.

Paul says that we Christians are not like Moses. Moses put a veil over his face to hide the glory of God. But we are bold to reveal the glory of God. Now Paul's metaphor assumed that we are like Moses in an important way. He assumes that we are glowing with the glory of God.

He explains this in the last verse of chapter 3. He says, "And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." We are like the disciples that Jesus took up the mountain. We have seen the glory of God in the salvation and grace and hope and love we have experienced. We have witnessed the glory of God in Christ Jesus.

And our faces were not covered. This glory has changed us. In small increments we are being transformed into the likeness of Christ. We are absorbing the glory of God every time we come into his presence. This is a gift from God.

The point of Paul's metaphor of the veil is that we should be bold. One of the details of the accounts of the transfiguration in the Bible is the silence of the disciples. That always puzzled me. Now in Matthew and Luke it says that Jesus told them to be silent. But how could they keep silent? After witnessing the glory of God in such a way, how could they not tell the whole world?

They were told to be silent, but we are not told to be silent or to veil the glory of God. We are commanded to reveal it to all. When you leave church I want people look at you and say "That person must have been to church today." I want the world to know that you have seen the glory of God. I want them to see the likeness of Christ in you. I want all of you to remove the veil and let the world see Christ in you.

Now that doesn't mean we are called to put on a show and pretend that we are always happy. We are called to be genuine. You don't have to be smiling all the time. But you have seem the glory of God in Christ. Then you are called to show that Glory to others.

There are many on our world that are blind to the glory of God. They are veiled from seeing it. You need to show it to them. Remove the veil and boldly show the world the glory of God in your life!

Mark 9:2-9

We human beings are a strange mixture of belief and doubt. We say we believe something, but there is always doubt present. I guess it is part of being human. The Bible says we see only in part now as through a dark glass. We can't understand everything in the world around us. So we are always questioning what we believe to be the truth. I guess faith and doubt are like two sides of a coin. Without one the other would be meaningless.

But thank God we still venture to believe despite our doubts. Even though we can't see God, some of us still believe that God exists. Despite all the evil in the world we still believe that God is in control and that God is good. If we do not admit however that we have doubts then we are fooling ourselves.

One day a man came to Jesus. He was a leper and wanted to be healed. Jesus asked him if he believed. He said, "Yes Lord I believe. Help my unbelief." He was honest with Jesus and we should follow his example. We need to admit that we are all a mixture of doubt and belief.

Jesus' disciples were no different. They believed and yet they doubted also. One day Jesus asked them who people were saying he was. They said, "Some say Elijah or John the Baptist come back." Then Jesus said, "Who do you say I am?" And Peter said, "You are the Messiah." He believed in Jesus and was the first disciples to say so out loud.

But then Jesus started saying that he must go to Jerusalem to be rejected and killed. Peter didn't like the sound of this. He probably began to doubt not only Jesus' divinity but his sanity as well. Mark says that Peter took Jesus aside and rebuked him. He didn't merely ask for a clarification of something he had trouble understanding. He rebuked Jesus and told him he was wrong. If Peter believed without a doubt that Jesus was the Messiah, he would have accepted whatever Jesus said as the Gospel truth. But he questioned what Jesus told him and doubted.

This incident demonstrates that Peter, the chief apostle, was a mixture of belief and doubt. Don't misunderstand. Peter did believe. He honestly believed that Jesus was the Messiah. But at the same time he doubted. He questioned the truth of Jesus' teaching when it didn't make perfect sense to him.

Peter and the other disciples had to live with this mixture of faith and doubt just as all humans do. So Jesus took them on a journey to help them grow in faith. It took six days of walking to reach the destination: a mountain. Then Jesus took three of the disciples: Peter, James and John up a mountain to pray. Some scholars believe that this mountain was Mt. Hebron. Mt. Hebron is 9200 feet up and its summit is always covered with snow.

So it was quite a hike to the top. At the top something happened. Jesus was transfigured. His clothes became an unearthly white and his face glowed. Moses and Elijah were standing there with him as a testimony to Jesus' holiness. Then a voice came from heaven and said, "This is my Beloved Son, do as he says."

I believe that this happened to confirm their faith. They believed that Jesus was the Messiah but at the same time they probably wondered if he was not mistaken about going to Jerusalem to die. But despite their doubt they followed Jesus to the mountain. They even hiked to the top of a high cold mountain. And God showed them that Jesus was the Messiah, and their faith was strengthened.

Like the disciples you and I are a mixture of belief and doubt. If we are honest with ourselves we can all join that leper in saying, "Lord I believe. Help my unbelief." Even faithful people, like the apostle Peter, have doubts. "Lord I believe. Help my unbelief." That is the prayer of a true disciple. Anything less is a failure to be honest with ourselves and with God.

We all have doubts, and one of the main areas of doubt is that Jesus actually is the Son of God. Like Peter people say Jesus is the Messiah, but they doubt at the same time. Many people say they believe that Jesus is the son of God, but they have never committed their lives to him. They accept the historical premise that Jesus is God's Son. But they are unwilling to base their lives on that. Many who say they believe Jesus is the Son of God are unwilling to set aside the time to worship him on a regular basis. They believe, but not enough to give up a hour a week for study and worship. Or to give some time to him in prayer or service. But all of us have some level of doubt. Even those who have committed their lives fully to Christ have room to grow. No matter how deep our faith in Christ is, there are always new depths to discover.

And yet Jesus' sonship is at the cornerstone of our faith. Maybe that is why people have doubts about Jesus from time to time. After all if he was only a great moral teacher and not the only begotten Son of God, then his teachings are no more important than say Buddha's. There were many healers in Jesus day. If he was not God's son than he was just another healer. If he was not God's son than he could not have died for our sins and we would have to rely on our own moral ability and good works to save us. And we know no one is saved by works. Perhaps people doubt Jesus' divinity because it is so central to our faith.

We all have doubts. When you have doubts, just follow Jesus anyway. There are some people who believe they should just sit still until they get it all figured out. They say they will start going to church after they are finished reading the Bible and understand it. Or they won't make a commitment to Christ until they are free of all doubts. It'll never happen!

That's not the way Jesus works. When Jesus called Peter and the others, he didn't say come and I will explain everything to you then we will minister. He said, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." Christians learn on their feet while they walk. Jesus believes in on-the-job training. Every Christian needs to take classes, but we also need to sign up for an internship. We must follow to learn and grow. If we try to learn it all then follow, we will never learn a thing.

Have you ever heard the saying, "If you want to have faith, live as if you had it." That doesn't mean that you should put on a religious show as if you had faith. It is saying that we should step out in faith especially when we doubt. Because it is only when we step out in faith that our faith is verified and our doubts are quieted.

Step out in faith like Peter, James and John. They doubted, yet they followed Jesus up that mountain and their faith was confirmed and strengthened. In the same way follow Jesus up the mountain. Even though it seems an uphill struggle and your doubts nag at you continue to step out in faith. And you will see for yourself that Jesus is the Beloved Son of God.

Exodus 24:12-18

Matthew 17:1-9

A mountain top is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Maybe it's the panoramic view, and the realization that all that beauty is God's creation. Maybe it's the experience of watching clouds float by at eye level. Maybe it's the thin air. Whatever it is I simply feel close to God on a mountain.

But I have discovered that getting to a mountain top is difficult. Melissa and I like to go to the mountains. Sometimes if you cannot drive to the top a particular mountain we take to foot. Usually these mountain trails are uphill but smooth at first. However as we get further and further up they become steeper and steeper. There are more rocks and roots to stumble over. It becomes more and more difficult to keep a good footing. When we are the most tired the trail gets its roughest and the last 100 yards are as difficult as the whole first mile.

Mountain tops are great, but they are hard to get to. In the same way the high points or mountain tops of our spiritual lives are wonderful. But they are sometimes hard to reach. It seems that we have to go through a lot of trials to get to those times. But in those moments when God's glory is revealed to us, we feel closer to God than other times and we are given a new perspective on the lower points in our lives.

Jesus' disciples knew this truth. It was a rough trip to the mount of transfiguration. Their journey to that mountain top began when Peter confessed that Jesus was the Christ. Jesus had asked, "Who do you say that I am? Peter had faithfully responded by saying what was probably already in the hearts of the other disciples. "You are the Christ the son of the living God." Then Jesus explained to them that the Son of Man must go to Jerusalem to die and on the third day rise. Peter, the one who had spoken first before said, "Never, we won't let it happen." But Jesus spoke back just as sternly, "Get out of my way you devil. That is the way humans think." The disciples probably felt like they had been kicked in the teeth. It was like their best friend had told them that he was dying of an inoperable cancer and only had six months to live. And when they had tried to convince him otherwise he pushed them away.

The account of the Transfiguration begins with the phrase, "Six days later." For six days they carried this news of Jesus' impending death around inside of them. For six days it soaked into their souls. For six days they secretly grieved for the inconceivable death of their Savior. What would they do without Jesus? For six days they walked in a daze between denial and acceptance of the most unacceptable news they had ever heard.

On the seventh day, Jesus took Peter, James and John, a representative group, up the mountain. And suddenly on the seventh, or "Sabbath" day, the day of God's favor, the glory of God was revealed to them in Christ. His clothes and his face glowed. Heavenly light shown from him. And that wasn't all. Moses and Elijah appeared. The two greatest Prophets of God right there with Jesus. Then a cloud overshadowed them and a voice came from heaven and said, "This is my Beloved Son, with him I am well pleased; listen to him."

Maybe if the disciples could hold these two truths in balance: maybe if they could remember Jesus the Messiah suffering and dying, and Jesus the Son of God high and glorified; Maybe that balancing act could help them understand or at least cope with what was happening. Maybe the vision of glory and the voice from heaven could help them deal with the trials of the past; and the future. Maybe it would give them the strength to lead the other disciples in their trials also.

Moses had appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration. Maybe, as the disciples pondered this incident later, they remembered that Moses had been on that mount before. Oh, not that exact pile of rock, but that same situation. Except that time Moses was not part of the vision, he was the disciple. It wasn't easy leading God's people through the desert. They were always complaining and talking behind Moses' back. "Who made Moses King anyway?" "Maybe we should go back to Egypt." "At least we had three square meals there. All we eat here is this manna"

One day God called Moses up to the mountain. And when Moses arrived a cloud covered the mountain. For six days Moses had no vision. Visibility, both physical and spiritual, was zero. The worries of being the leader of a nation of escaped slaves plagued Moses like the waves of frogs and locust that had plagued Egypt. For six days Moses sat in the shadows of the clouds and wondered where God was, and he thought: Maybe it was all just a fluke, a coincidence the plagues and the Red Sea and all. Maybe God hadn't really called him there. Maybe it was all just the product of his conceited imagination.

Then on the seventh day, the Sabbath day, the day of God's favor, the glory of the Lord appeared to him. It was like a glorious fire that made the burning bush seem so small. And the voice of God came out of the cloud. God had been there the whole time. In the cloud no less. And for forty glorious days and nights Moses listened to God's council and basked in God's glory.

Maybe if he could hold on to that vision; maybe if he could remember that almighty glory of God; then he could handle leading that ragtag mob that God loosely called as a nation. Maybe the memory of God's greatness could help him handle the constant complaining of the people. Maybe it would give him the strength to lead them through the desert to the promised land.

Life, especially the life of faith, is an uphill journey. There are rocks and pits in the trail and at times it gets steep. As we trudge up the trail we are met with disappointments and doubts. Even though we have confessed Christ as our Lord and Savior, it gets difficult. And we are troubled by doubts and dilemmas. Why does God let innocent children suffer? Why does God allow faithful people to die of cancer or to contract AIDS? Why does God let the suffering of the world touch me? Why does God let me suffer? It is like a kick in the teeth. "Hey, wait a minuet Jesus, remember me, I was the one who said you are the Son of Living God, and now you do this. You can't go die on no cross for me, I won't let you."

And we sit and stew in our disappointment. We grieve over a loss that we can't seem to accept. We keep poking the sore spot to see if it is any better. And we doubt. For six long days, or months, or years, or decades, we sit in the darkness of a cloud that overshadows us. And our spiritual vision never goes beyond our hurts and doubts. But in faith we sit where the Lord has called us to be.

But then the seventh comes, the Sabbath day, the day of God's choosing. What then? Then the Glory of the Lord is revealed. On the Sabbath day Jesus stands transfigured, glowing with a heavenly radiance, right before our eyes. On the Sabbath day the voice of God speaks out of the cloud itself. I don't know where you are. Perhaps you are in a valley or in darkness. Or maybe you are going up a mountain, or coming down the mountain. Wherever you are remember that God's people have been there before. And when the time was right, when God decided the time was right; The glory of the Lord enveloped them.

Remember that. When the trail gets steep remember that God's glory is always revealed at the right time. Hold on to the glory that you have seen and the promise of the glory that you will see. Balance it with the truth that the trials of the past have shown you. And let it prepare you for the desert places and trials ahead. If you can hold on to that glory and the voice, it will enable you to face the memories of the past and the troubles of the future just as Moses and Peter did. The mountain is steep, but remember that God is with you and God's glory will meet you at the top.

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Luke 9:28-36

If you take a good look at Jesus' life you'll see that before every major decision, he spent time in prayer. Usually he went to a high place away from the crowds. Before he chose his 12 disciples he prayed. And throughout his earthly ministry Jesus retreats from the crowds to pray. We are familiar with his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Before giving himself up to be killed he talked to his heavenly Father.

Here again Jesus has retreated for prayer. He took Peter, James and John, his three closest disciples, and retreated to a high place to pray. This however was no ordinary retreat. There had been many others before, but the Bible tells us little about the details of them. This retreat however was important enough that the Bible gives it a prominent place.

While there, probably early in the morning while they were still half asleep, it happened. Jesus was transfigured: His clothes became gleaming white. And his face lit up. Then Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus. Moses the one through whom God gave the law. And Elijah, the greatest of the prophets. The greatest of The heroes of God's people were standing there. The three disciples were beside themselves. What a great thing, to meet and talk to Moses and Elijah. So Peter suggested building three booths so they could all stay there a while. But building those booths was not in God's plan, so God appeared to them in a cloud and addressed them. His message was simple and short. "This is my Son, the chosen one, listen to him."

Why was this retreat different than the others? Why did Elijah and Moses appear and why did God speak on this occasion and not on the other occasions? I believe this was a pivotal point in Jesus' ministry and in the development of the faith of his disciples. It was just before this that Jesus asked them who he was. Of course Peter said, "You are the Messiah the son of the living God." Then Jesus told them that he must suffer and be killed, but the disciples could not accept this.

Luke tells us that Jesus was discussing with Elijah and Moses his departure or exodus which he would accomplish in Jerusalem. That means his death. He was going to Jerusalem to depart from this life. But he was also going to begin an exodus from slavery to sin and death. The disciples didn't understand this. And Jesus' attempts to explain it to them only worried them more.

Why was this retreat different? I believe that this time Jesus retreated to pray for strength for his disciples. Jesus knew that he was in for a hard time, but he knew why it was happening. It would be much harder on the disciples because they were still in the dark. So Jesus took the three leaders, the ones the other disciples looked up to and decided to shine some light for them. Jesus wanted to strengthen their faith. First they saw Jesus glorified, which reinforced that he was the Messiah. Then they saw Moses and Elijah, which showed them that Jesus actions were in line with their tradition. Finally God spoke to them and told them that Jesus was his beloved son and to do as he said.

They still didn't understand. They were still bewildered when Jesus died. They still didn't know why Jesus set his face for Jerusalem. But that was O.K. It was O.K. because they had seen Christ's glory and had heard God's voice. And that would carry them through a lot of darkness and ignorance and bewilderment. They couldn't understand God's plan at that time, it was beyond their comprehension, but they could trust in God.

Life is full of ups and downs. You don't have to be manic depressive to be in a good mood one day and a bad mood the next. And all of us have experiences that lift us up and then ones that cast us down. Sometimes we have religious experiences in which God reveals to us the glory of Christ. And all of us experience trials and tribulations that test our faith and shake our confidence.

This is all part of God's plan. Mountain top experiences are designed to prepare us for the future. The disciples were not ready for Jesus' trial and death, but God prepared them by giving them a mountain top vision of Glory. After that they descended the mountain and eventually landed at the cross watching their friend die.

If you have ever had a mountain top experience, it was a gift from God to prepare you for the trials to come. Just because you descend into a pit doesn't mean God has abandoned you. God has prepared you for that trial. Jesus needed to die so that the disciples could be ransomed from sin and death. The suffering the disciples went through was necessary to purchase their salvation. Those trials were necessary to ransom them. Perhaps the low points in our lives are also part of God's plan to ransom us.

Have you ever known someone who glows? You know what I mean. One of those people who always seems to radiate energy and life. Sometimes they are energetic people who are always active. Other times they are quiet peaceful people. Either way they are radiant.

Such people radiate life and energy and peace. That is the way I understand the transfiguration. “Transfiguration” literally means a change in appearance. When Jesus when up the mountain his appearance was changed. It was as if he glowed with the fire of God and his disciples say him in a new light.

When we speak of “the transfiguration” we are usually speaking of incident with Jesus we read about in Luke. But Moses was transfigured too. The Bible says that when he came down the mountain his face glowed. In fact it scared the people. In a way this glowing was a validation and confirmation to the people that Mosses had truly spoken with God.

But how does this happen to a person? How can we be transfigured? How can our lives glow and radiate the life and peace of God? These are the questions I want to explore this morning. And I want to propose a recipe for transfiguration.

Let’s look at Moses first. Moses had been on Mount Sinai receiving commandments from God for 40 days and 40 nights. This is significant! To spend 40 days and nights with someone alone on the top of a mountain you get to know them. In a sense one could say that Moses was close to God. Not just because Moses was on the same mountaintop but because Moses knew God. Exodus says that Moses’ face was shining because he had been talking to God. So Moses wasn’t just near God he had been conversing with God. In fact he would keep on conversing with God.

The other thing to notice is that Moses came to the people to share what he had heard. It says that Moses didn’t know that his face was shining. But he had something to share with the people. He had the law of God, so he went to the people and shared that law with them. His face had probably not shined at all in the presence of God’s vast glory. It was only when he went into the darkness of the world that he glowed.

For Christmas one year, my sister gave the girls some stars that glow in the dark. They look like ordinary pieces of plastic in the light but when the lights are off they glow. In the same way Moses probably looked like an ordinary man in the presence of God. But while he was there he soaked up the light of God and when he was in the dark world the glowed that light for all to see.

Let’s take a look at Jesus. Luke tells us that Jesus took three of his disciples up a mountain to pray. It happened while he prayed that his appearance was changed and he glowed. At that moment Moses and Elijah, the representatives of the Law and the Prophets, were standing with him talking. And Jesus’ disciples saw all this.

As in the case of Moses the source of the light was God. Jesus was close to his Father and had been praying. The light that he had soaked up during that time of prayer was now being radiated for all to see. The fact that he was talking with Moses and Elijah, who represented two major divisions in the Old Testament, showed his intimate knowledge of the Scriptures.

It is also important to notice that Jesus was not alone. He had brought some friends with him. Like Moses, he had not gone to the top of the mountain for his own benefit, but for others. Moses had gone to receive the law to give to the people and Jesus had gone to show God’s glory to his disciples.

So how do we achieve transfiguration in our lives? How do we come to glow with the life and light of God so that others in this dark world can see God burning in us? First of all don’t seek it for yourself. Don't seek to radiate energy to call attention to yourself. Don't seek after it so that can feel better about yourself. Both Jesus and Moses when up their mounts of transfiguration not for their own benefit, but to help others. If you just want to look holy you are going up the wrong mountain. But if you truly want to bring God’s light to those in darkness then you are headed up the right mountain.

Secondly, seek to be close to God. Like Jesus pray and like Moses talk with God. Get to know God intimately. This will take time. You will need to study God’s Word. You will need to meditate on it day and night. You will need to soak it up so that it becomes a part of you.

Then, once you have soaked up the light of God, you need to go in to the darkness. You can’t glow in the presence of God. You have to spend time with God to soak up the light because God is the source. But you will never glow in God’s presence because God will always outshine you! You need to go to the world, where it is dark, and let God’s light radiate from you.

So here is my recipe for transfiguration.

Try this recipe. Today!