Here is my final draft for tomorrow's message:

Transfiguration/Transformation 2013 02 10         Luke 9:28-43; Psalm 99; 2 Corinthians 3:12--4:2

John's aunt invited him to go to an event with some transformers, and he went.  He was a bit surprised when they arrived at a church, and he was really disappointed when he learned the transformers were a team that helped congregations transform themselves.

Churches serve God well when they succeed at transforming people.  The church in Gibbons was a small congregation of about 50 families in a community with close to a 1000 families, yet they provided close to 50% of the leadership of organizations in the community, and many of the rest had attended the Sunday School that preceded the church.  Four or so women had organized the Sunday School, and led the way to it becoming a church about 20 years later.  They played a major role in transforming children and youth into adults committed to serving the community and with the leadership skills needed to serve as leaders.

Churches have provided places and stories that transformed individuals and communities since the first century.  From public schools and hospitals to the abolition of slavery, churches have served Jesus as transformers in the world.  When people attend a church week after week, year after year, and do not change, then the church is failing them.  When the presence of a church makes no difference to a community, the church is failing that community.

The transforming power of churches draws on the power of Jesus to transform people and the world.  This power was the focus of the story of the transfiguration.  The presence of Moses and Elijah declared that Jesus was the consummation of the law and the prophets -- that all of the Jewish faith is contained in him and his teaching. 

This event concludes the season of Epiphany as the transfiguration event is the ultimate epiphany.  It revealed Jesus as a unifier of the law and the prophets as well as being in a special relationship with God.   And it affirmed the authority of his teaching even if people still have trouble really believing him. The story declared that now these three disciples saw Jesus more clearly for whom he was.

At this time, I need to add a disclaimer, like the part added to ads for medicines.  There is a long-standing debate by scholars and others about every aspect of this story.  I don’t know what actually happened.  I do know this story is in three of the gospels and referred to by one or more of the writers of the letters in the Christian scriptures.  I do know this story was important enough to the early Christian community to be included in the Bible, and, as such, it requires a response from us.

The people who walked with Jesus, and the people brought into the Christian community by their stories and passion for serving Jesus used this story to reassure and encourage others in joining them in their quest.  This story represents their way of describing their experience of Jesus, and it is in many ways consistent with the experience of thousands of people since their time.  In a discussion forum, one writer posted their refusal to use this story because, to them, it was about miracles and or magic, and that person did not find it helpful to encourage people to fall into magical thinking.  If we focus on this story as literal truth, that is a natural outcome.  My focus is on what the story says about the disciples experience of Jesus.

Jesus had an extraordinary relationship with God.

His teachings integrated the Law and the Prophets and lifted them to a higher level.

The experience of Jesus is not meant to be kept in a safe shelter on a mountaintop.  We are to bring our experience of Jesus into our day to day life.

Our reading points to ways of doing just that;

With that kind of hope to excite us, nothing holds us back. Unlike Moses, we have nothing to hide. Everything is out in the open with us.

People need to see hope, joy, and love in us and in what we do.  Smiling, and even shouting the occasional amen or alleluia in worship; being open about being followers of Jesus outside of church; and eagerly looking for ways to make a difference in the world are ways for our light to shine.

He wore a veil so the children of Israel wouldn’t notice that the glory was fading away—and they didn’t notice. They didn’t notice it then and they don’t notice it now, don’t notice that there’s nothing left behind that veil. Even today when the proclamations of that old, bankrupt government are read out, they can’t see through it. Only Christ can get rid of the veil so they can see for themselves that there’s nothing there.

Anything in us that is worn out or no longer relevant to the needs of the world around us, any structures or rules or theology that do not contribute to Jesus mission in this world; any habits or attitudes in us as individuals that block people seeing our relationship with Jesus are to be fixed, renewed or dumped.

Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face.

This passage challenges us to actively turn our lives around so we can face God, see God face-to-face, finding real freedom.  Seizing time for spiritual practices, such as all of the ones in the holiness calendar for Lent, is one way of turning our lives around.  I will be more successful this year than the last time I tried, God willing, and I invite you to consider it or something similar in your lives.

And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.

Making small, consistent, incremental changes in our lives amazes us and others by the dramatic outcomes that result.  At first, the differences are so small, they are barely noticeable.  Disciplined consistency leads to transfiguration, and transformation.

Since God has so generously let us in on what he is doing, we’re not about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times. We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don’t maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don’t twist God’s Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God.

Lastly, openness, respect, and honesty are key ingredients to success, along with persistence and diligence.  These five will contribute to growing credibility in the eyes of the world around us.  We are witnesses of the Good News of Jesus, God’s Chosen One, hosts to all those who come to walk with us, and servants of his word.

In other words:

We are told to believe Jesus.

If we believe Jesus, we seek transfiguration and transformation through a closer walk with God and choose ways to live out his instructions in our lives.  This takes discipline and persistence following thoughtful strategies.

Through transfiguration, transformation, and living by his directions, we become lights in the world for others to find their way home.

May God help each and everyone of us to shine bright in this world for those who live in darkness.  Amen.