Sermon for February 3, 2008

Transfiguration of our Lord

“We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty!”

       How  many  times  have  you  ever  been  involved  in  a conversation where everyone has a different perspective on an event  and keeps adding to the story?   One person starts out the story and  then  everyone  else  adds  their  own view or opinion.   Some people have read about it, some have seen it on television and others can say, “I WAS THERE!”  Since this is Super Bowl Sunday, “How many of you have personally attended a Super Bowl Football Game and love to share what you remember and what you experienced with other people?” 
       According to the NFL,  there are 5 people who have attended all 41 of the Super Bowl games and  one of them is an 86 year old man from Denver named Don Stewart.  He shared that his most memorable Super Bowl was #3- the one with Joe Namath and the New York Jets, a major underdog defeating the highly favored Baltimore Colts and loves to tell about his experiences before and after the game even though it happened nearly 40 years ago.
       Maybe  it was a  memorable historical event such as 9-11 of 2001 with the New York City Twin Towers terrorist airplane crash, or the day  President John F. Kennedy was assassinated  in Dallas, Texas - November 22, 1963 or  for those blessed with a few extra years  in your life - what were you doing on Pearl Harbor Day December 7, 1941?
       This desire to share a story firsthand is one of the big emphases of our Television and Radio News.  They want to be known as  the “EYEWITNESS NEWS” team who are the first ones on the scene with live “EYEWITNESS” accounts of what has just happened.  News Reporter’s reputations are often based on their experiences of being “EYEWITNESS” Reporters of news worthy events such as a War, a natural disaster or a major political event and how they responded and what they said!
       When we read 2 Peter 1, we have an example of EYEWITNESS NEWS as if we have put a microphone in front of Peter's mouth and he is sharing his  experiences on the mountain during the TRANSFIGURATION of Jesus before  his  very eyes!  Peter tells us, "I WAS THERE!  I SAW  IT FIRSTHAND WITH JAMES AND JOHN!" You can believe what I say because I experienced it and I saw it and heard it and now  I  want  to tell you all about it so you can experience it as well!
       What does the TRANSFIGURATION  of  our Lord Jesus Christ have to do with us over  2000  years  later?  Does it mean anything to us, other than the  fact that we start the season of  Lent  this  week  or is  an  interesting  story?   Is it something that can help us  realize the awesomeness of God as we are eyewitnesses and earwitnesses to the glory and majesty of Jesus Christ?
       We see the glory of Jesus Christ through the eyes of His disciples, the eyewitnesses to  Jesus' earthly life.  We have heard again and again the  beautiful  and comforting story of Jesus' birth, life, death and  resurrection and what it means to us as Christians.  We see Jesus then through eyes of faith as the Holy Spirit works through  God's  Word to enable us to grow closer to Jesus each day of our life!
       As a result of God's  gift  of  faith in our life, we go out as "EYEWITNESSES" into the world so that other people can see the Glory and power of  God  in their life!  A little boy was once given his sight after  surgery  by a well‑known Christian eye doctor. The boy's family was  very  poor and the boy and his family told the doctor, "WE DON'T HAVE  ANY  MONEY  TO  PAY YOU! "That’s Okay, you can still help me out and thank  me," said the doctor, "JUST  TELL  OTHERS ABOUT THE ONE WHO HEALED YOU!"
       That is what we are to do as Christians, as eyewitnesses through God's Word to God's love  and care and healing in our life!  After all, a witness is  one  who speaks of that which he or she knows about first  hand.  As a Christian, we  need a knowledge of our faith  so  that  we can  go out and witness about what God has done  for  us  in  our life and then trust that God will help us in our witnessing.
       A dedicated Christian man who was very shy was once asked by his pastor to  give a talk before the congregation during an Evangelism training session to help the members of the congregation learn how to share their faith with others.  "I have never spoken  in  front  of  a  crowd and I'm sure my knees would shake and I would stutter and stammer in front of the people- I don’t want to look like a fool."
       The pastor said, "You'll do  all right!"  "Just tell the people how Jesus Christ is  your Savior and what Jesus Christ means to you!"  The man said, "For Jesus' sake, I'll make the effort!"  When he spoke,  the  people  were deeply blessed as God worked through His message and were greatly challenged to give their best in service and thankfulness to Jesus Christ for all that Jesus Christ has done for them!
       One of the greatest joys  of  being  a pastor is to have someone share with me a  special  time  in their  life when God has been at work  showing them  His  power  and glory and His love!  It  inspires  me as  God  works  through you to build me up  in  my  faith  as  you  share  with  me  those  times  of challenges and frustration in your life  and how you trust in God to work everything out for  the best!  God has given each of us a story to share as  a Christian and that  is one of the reasons we have the  church  as  a  place  to be built up and strengthened in  our  faith  during  times  of  both  joy and sorrow!
       One of the  reasons  God  has given us a church is for a time to worship together.   The  structure of our worship service is intended to be a time of withdrawal from the world and our everyday  routines‑  an hour  or  two of escape into God's presence‑ so  that  we  are  empowered  to  go out from worship for  the other 166‑167  hours of the week refreshed and renewed with God's love and power and forgiveness.  God works through His Word, through a  hymn,  through a special part of the liturgy that we may say  over and over again, but maybe a word or phrase will have a  special meaning and hit "CLOSE TO HOME" because of something that has happened to us.
       HAVE YOU EVER BEEN  CONFRONTED  WITH  A MESSAGE THAT HAS CHANGED YOUR PERSPECTIVE ABOUT  GOD  AND  YOUR FAITH?  I read about one church that chose as  its Lenten theme, "40 DAYS OF LOVE."  Each week the members  of  the church were encouraged to show their love and appreciation for each other in special ways.  The first week they  were  encouraged to send notes to people who had made positive contributions to their life as a person and as a Christian!
       After the first service a  man  came  up to speak to the pastor.  This member was one of those former football players who loved to hunt and  fish  and  who  was a strong self‑made man who didn’t attend church very much.  The man said, "I love you Pastor  and I love the church, but no way am I going to participate in this 40 days of Love stuff.  It's too sentimental and it’s not my style!
       A week went by and  this  man  came up to the pastor and said, "I want to apologize to you for what I said last Sunday about the 40 days of  Love.   I  realized on Wednesday that I was wrong!"  "Wednesday?   What  happened  on Wednesday?" the pastor asked. 
       The man choked up as he said, "I got  one  of  those  letters  from  someone  I  never expected to hear from.  It said that they cared about me and were praying for me. I had no idea anybody was praying for me! Every time  I read it, I get tears in my eyes. I suddenly realized  I  was  loved  by others in the church."  I was so moved by  that  letter that I sat down and wrote 10 letters myself.
       Receiving that letter was  a “TRANSFIGURING” experience in this man's life.  It  came  from  a  mailbox  instead of on a mountaintop, but the effect was the same‑ God had touched his life in a memorable way  as  he  was a personal eyewitness to what God's love is all about when it is shared with others!
       We don’t need to make the story about Jesus Christ “CUTE OR MAKE UP SOMETHING TO TRY AND MAKE IT SEEM MORE INTERESTING” The most life‑changing thing we can do is to pass on the message that we have heard from God himself through His Word‑ the message that Jesus Christ died  on  the cross so that our sins are forgiven and that we  will be in the presence of God and His glory forever in heaven.        You and I are  right  smack  dab  in  the  middle of the TRANSFIGURATION even today!  No we may not be having a mountain top experience like Peter, James and John did when Moses, Elijah and Jesus appeared in a heavenly way.  Instead, through  the  eyes  of  faith and through God’s Word  we have seen Jesus Christ glorified,  risen,  alive  and  at  work  in our lives, in our church and in  our world today.  We go out into the world, into God's mission  field as we leave church today as eye‑ and ear‑witnesses with the message of God's love that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior of the world- THE ONLY WAY TO ETERNAL LIFE IN HEAVEN!