02052017 Transfiguration and 5th Sunday After Epiphany - We are moved by the Holy Spirit to speak of God!

February 5, 2017
We are moved by the Holy Spirit to speak of God (v. 21)

SERMON TEXT

All of us have heard the tale of the young preacher who went to see a member of his congregation, but the conversation that occurred didn’t contain condemnation for the old man’s lack of attendance.  The fiery young preacher didn’t tell the member, he needed to give more money.  The young preacher didn’t try to get the man to get on a committee or come to church because he hadn’t attended during his entire tenure.

The young preacher sat quietly with the old man around an open fire pit, watching the fire burn brightly not only with glowing embers that consumed the wood added to the fire, but with a clear warmth.  After many minutes without a single word conversation.  The preacher reached over to the pair of tongs that were used to move the logs for maximum burn and warmth.

The preacher had noticed a lone rather large piece of cold coal from a long ago fire that was sitting very close to the old man’s feet that were outside of the warmth and clear burning of the rest of the fire.  Reaching purposefully, he picked up the cold coal and carefully placed it in the center of the fire with the bed of coals.  Very quickly the coal began to glow, the once cold coal now was glowing and heated up and burning with all the rest of the fire, heated by the warmth of its surroundings.

Minutes passed and with each moment the fire continued to radiate the warmth of the fire.  Slowly the preacher arose and bid his host a good day and left.  The very next Sunday, the old man, visited by the young preacher was seen returning to the warm embrace of the people that were journeying with him.

This story is a metaphor for us this morning of what we are celebrating.  Today we remember and celebrate when Jesus Transfigured before Peter, James and John.  Like the coal that had been separated from the fire for too long, once ‘reintroduced’ or ‘returned’ to the warm embrace of the fire that cold piece of coal became aglow from the fire.  Jesus in His transfiguration, showed His true Glory to the three disciples and enkindled in them not only an awe, but especially the realization that Jesus Christ, the man they had walked with and lived with, was not just a simple man, but truly the Son of God.

The change or transfiguration that occurred of Jesus not only changed the reality of the disciples understanding of Who Jesus was, but would radically change not only their understanding of the man in their midst, but especially Whose Son He was, the Son of God.  It would also transfigure their future after Jesus was raised from the dead and walked with them, ate meals and became transfigured by Jesus Christ.

We who gather here today are not only the spiritual descendants of the disciples, our understanding of Whose Son Jesus was is clearer than it was for the disciples.  We look back with 20/20 vision of Jesus Christ.  We see through the lens of the Gospel message not only portrayed, but fulfilled on the Cross of Calvary.  We see a Savior Whose death on Calvary transfigured us and our reality through our baptism into Jesus Christ, life, death, resurrection, but also His Transfiguration before Peter, James and John.

What does this mean for us today?  With our celebration of Jesus Transfiguration, we have but one joyful task to do.  We are moved by the Holy Spirit to speak of God.  For Peter since he witnessed these events, wrote his epistle and we who read it are empowered, no, we are moved by the Holy Spirit that has been given to us in Holy Baptism and inspired to speak of God and His Son Jesus Christ to all that we meet.

While I was under the weather this last week, I watched Risen, in preparation for our “Films of Faith” next month.  So compelling is this story that it isn’t just a story of mystery of the risen Christ, or of relationship, but of discovery and how one individual, a non-believer, discovered the truth and began to truly understood the Gospel message and was moved to become like the disciples, ‘fishers of men’.

We who gather here today gather having heard the first-hand account of the disciples who witnessed the transfiguration and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We have heard read Peter’s message which has one intent in mind.  Not only to give God the greatest glory, but in order that we who gather here today, may be moved.  Moved not to division nor indifference, but in order that the Gospel message of salvation of what Jesus Christ did on Calvary may be spread to the ends of the earth. 

Just as the Roman Prefect was changed by this message in “Risen”, we to can be transfigured.  It is my prayer that we through the Work of the Holy Spirit can be changed, in order that “We are moved by the Holy Spirit to speak of God”.  Not only here within the walls of the church, but in our community, in order that the saving message of Jesus Christ will impact our world.  So today let us resolve to move each of us closer into the fire and warmth of the church and set us ablaze to speak of God.  In order that God can transfigure each of our hearts, our minds and our spirits, just as He did with the three disciples.  And ultimately move us by the Holy Spirit to speak of God daily.  So that on the last day God will usher each of us into eternity with our transfigured Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  AMEN.

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Speak Your Mind

02092014 Transfiguration Sunday

Gospel Reading
Sermon Audio

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  AMEN.

When one looks at the fields at this time of year, especially before we received this wonderful moisture in the form of snow, you could see the wheat planted in the fall that had germinated and started to grow.  One of the agriculture programs that I listened to recently talked how the shoot of the wheat begins to grow and tiller and can remain dormant for the winter.  But how the crown can be broken if not protected during the winter.  But even if damaged, the plant will yield a harvest.  Even the wheat plant knows how to develop and grow with the right conditions and to come back from adversity.  And this morning as we consider the petition of ‘Give us this day our daily bread’, it gives new meaning for me of not only the growth of wheat, but how we are not unlike the winter wheat that we grow here in Western Kansas.

Let’s pull out our bulletin insert for this morning and read responsively as a congregation the “What does this mean?”  and “What is meant by daily bread?” sections.  “The Fourth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer,  Give us this day our daily bread.  What does this mean?  God certainly gives daily bread to everyone without our prayers, even to all evil people, but we pray in this petition that God would lead us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.  What is meant by daily bread?  Daily bread includes everything that has to do with the support and needs of the body, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, land, animals, money, goods, a devout husband or wife, devout children, devout workers, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace health, self-control, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.  Let’s go to God in prayer asking for our daily bread.

Let us pray, Gracious God giver of our daily bread, we come before You this morning asking You help us receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.  For not only are these the gifts given freely to us without our asking, but they enable us to be faithful with the gifts given daily by You that we return in our tithes and offerings.  For we receive these gifts out of Your gracious will because of what Your Son Jesus Christ did for all of mankind, including all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this morning.  AMEN.

Believe it or not, I am spoiled.  I say that not to be glib, funny or shallow, but to let some of you who come week in and week out to hear God’s Word to know how my wife Michele spoils me.  There may be some that wonder what she does that spoils me, or if I am just saying that because she is not here this morning, but it is not a matter of what she does, but more her intent behind what she does.  You see, I have before us a bread maker, which is one that Michele and I received as a wedding gift.  Michele has become not just a proficient bread maker, she is a master cook and baker and has even shared her talent during our Lenten Soup Suppers.  Michele spoils me in this regard, just like my Mother would when I was younger, for both my mother and Michele bake me homemade bread.  Michele and I on many occasions have cut a hot fresh loaf of freshly baked bread and smothered it with butter and made a meal out of it.  And this is exactly what this petition in the Lord’s Prayer is about, our being spoiled by God with our ‘daily bread’.  As we heard earlier, God clearly gives us so many things to be thankful for in our lives and spoils us in many and various ways.  I personally am blessed and lucky enough to have a loving and devout wife and child who spoil me, not only with bread, but with their unending love and forgiveness, which I need on a hourly, daily and weekly basis.

But unlike previous petitions we have studied, this petition of the Lord’s Prayer does not ask for ‘spiritual things’ only for needs of the body, hence our praying for ‘our daily bread’ forgets how God has already spoiled us.  We forget that by giving His Son Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary, God offered to each of us life, salvation and blessings beyond measure.  We have received the greatest gifts of mankind and the promises of life and salvation and spending eternity in the Kingdom of God.  This and these are the promises that God through His Son Jesus Christ offers us and what we receive in our ‘daily bread’ is ‘gravy’ or ‘icing on the cake’ or the ‘cherry that is on top of a sundae’.  Our daily bread is given not only because of His love for us, but because of His promise to care for us and our every need.

So no matter if we buy bread from Wal-Mart that Stuart stacks and changes the location of the freshest bread to keep people guessing, or if we make our own bread in a bread maker.  When we pray this petition of the Lord’s Prayer, may we be reminded that we are spoiled by God with salvation and what we receive ‘in addition’ is not just a gift, but a sure fulfillment of the promise we have in our salvation through Jesus Christ.

For we may look at bread and wheat and think of our daily meal or our lively hood on the farm, but God provides us far more out of His mercy and great love for each and every one of us.  May we see these gifts as not just for us, but that we can share with one another during our journey here on earth.  This is the blessing of daily bread and what we can share with one another as we journey during our life time.

If one were to talk to the dying breed of veterans that served both in the World War II, Korea and Vietnam that experienced the torture of being a prisoner of war, whether by the Germans, Japanese, Koreans or Vietnamese, the stories they tell are horrific.  But what was very clear was that when they were prisoners, they consistently would share food in order to survive and their daily ration of daily bread took on new meaning.  One such survivor I personally knew, Reginald Pettus, survived a Japanese POW camp.  Though he never would talk about his experience, it deeply and profoundly changed his life.  One of the clearest indications of how bad it was for him was a picture I saw at his house while delivering papers.  It showed him right after his liberation, he stood over six feet tall and in the picture he was nothing but skin and bones.  I can only imagine the impact his experience had upon him and countless others and how today our understanding of daily bread as we pray this petition needs to be a prayer of thanks and praise.

For God clearly gives each of us what we do not deserve out of His great love for each and every one of us.  Thanks be to God for the gift of eternal life and salvation through Jesus Christ and the gift of our daily bread offered for all of mankind, but especially for each and every one of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this morning.  AMEN.

Sermon 01202013 Transfiguration

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  AMEN.

Let us pray!  Gracious God from Mount Sinai You sent Your servant Moses with the commandments written on the two tablets.  With each commandment there is a promise from God that we sometimes fail to understand.  May we like Moses be transformed and recognize how God impacts our daily lives and enable us to see, understand and believe these commandments are a blessing for us from God and fulfilled through Jesus Christ.  For Jesus was transfigured in order for His Glory to be revealed for all of mankind, especially all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel.  AMEN.

While at seminary one of the videos that was produced which told of the ministry of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary described the process of the formation of Pastors like a potter and clay.  When the clay was ‘flung’ on the wheel and began to be ‘turned’ each revolution transfigured the clay from a block of shapeless dirt into a unique item.  So to in Pastoral Ministry the preparation that took place at seminary was a transfiguration of individuals from being not only children of God to our being transfigured into God’s called instrument to a specific congregation.  This calling to a Pastor though unique to every congregation or ministry setting clearly is another way in which not only Pastor’s but congregations are uniquely transfigured by God with clear ministries and purposes in mind.

Our Old Testament text this morning is the transfiguration of Moses when he brought down the stone tablets of the 10 Commandments from Mt. Sinai.  Moses transfiguration unlike Jesus which we also celebrate today wasn’t of clothing or height nor of his gender, but simply the skin on Moses face shone brightly.  In our culture today we see advertisements and ads on television, the computer and in the newspaper claiming the ability to have ‘glowing skin’ or even crops like wheat, corn or sunflowers that will shine with the noon day sun and give a higher yield.  Well Moses, whose skin was clearly transfigured clearly shined when he descended from Mt. Sinai.  It wasn’t from any healthcare product, it was from something more profound and longer lasting.

Moses while he was on Mount Sinai encountered the presence of God.  It wasn’t in passing, Moses was in God’s presence to fulfill God’s purpose for his climbing the mountain.  There was a three-fold purpose.  First it was to have a personal encounter with God.  Moses, who as his name means, had been ‘drawn out of the water’ also whom God had called in the burning bush had something that not since Adam and Eve had anyone really had.  Moses had a special personal relationship with God. This relationship unlike the one from the Garden of Eden between Adam and God was one that had a purpose in mind, to model for us today what relationship with God can really be like.  Moses had to trust God and became a leader for the people of Israel.  Moses leadership was not easy, but leading the people through the wilderness because of their sin, Moses because of his special relationship modeled how God can still use us even today here in Goodland, KS.

Second, Moses went up to Mount Sinai to bring back down the 10 Commandments from God.  The 10 Commandments were God’s expectations of the people of God.  This was where God in clear and distinct form and function outlined for the people what they should do.  These same commandments we still have to this day and teach about them to our children, confirmation students and use them as a basis for our laws that we have in society.  Yet, Moses personally witnessed their creation, implementation and their application for the people of Israel.  The 10 Commandments for us today not only promise God’s interest, but especially His presence.  When we honor God by following the commandments, the relationship that God had with Moses can be ours as well.  We though sinful creatures conceived and born in sin, through one Man have the opportunity to have a personal relationship with God because of Jesus Christ fulfilling the 10 Commandments that Moses brought down from Mount Sinai.

Finally, Moses ascending and descending Mount Sinai was to reveal to God’s people when we encounter God, we are transfigured as well.  Our transfiguration occurs because of and through our baptism into Jesus Christ life, death and resurrection.  Just as we celebrated last week Jesus Baptism by John in the Jordan River and our Baptism by Water and Word, the simple act of water poured over our head intimately connected with God’s Word transforms and transfigures us into Children of God.

With our transfiguration we are no longer only sinners, we are transfigured into Children of our Heavenly Father and now have the ability to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, God’s Only Son.  We are new creatures that enter into a deeper relationship with God and with the knowledge of our sin as measured by the 10 Commandments our sin is revealed to us in light of our relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  Yet, this relationship transfigures and changes us and reveals to us an opportunity to be further transfigured by and through Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior.  And we know we cannot keep the 10 Commandments perfectly, but Jesus Christ did and this is His gift offered to and for each and every one of us.

For through God’s gift of the Commandments through Moses bringing them down from Mount Sinai our relationship with God we have the opportunity to understand them and be transformed and transfigured into God’s children.  We are renewed with our partaking of Holy Communion and our relationship with Jesus Christ changes and transfigures us into a new creation.  This new creation is the result of Jesus Christ life, death and resurrection for all of mankind, but especially for all of us saints that are gathered here at Emmanuel this morning.  AMEN.

Sermon 01292012 Transfiguration Sunday

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight O Lord, our rock and our redeemer!!  AMEN!!

Let us pray!  Lord Jesus Christ, on the mount of Transfiguration Peter, James and John beheld Your divine glory.  This was to confirm for them and us that You had to go to Jerusalem to die for our sins.  May we begin to prepare our hearts as we prepare for our Lenten journey to survey the wondrous Cross, not as an end, but the beginning of our relationship with You.  For You came to save us from our sins and Your transfiguration confirms the divine plan of salvation for all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this morning.  AMEN.

After Michele and I were married, there was a time where movies played an important part in our entertainment.  One of the trilogies that we thoroughly enjoyed was the “Lord of the Rings” adventures of Frodo, Sam, Gandalf, Aragorn and the other hobbits from the Shire and other characters of Middle Earth.  One scene from the Two Towers is especially poignant for this morning.  Gandalf, whom everyone had thought had died fighting a Balrog in Mount Doom, suddenly appears in the Forest to a few of the company, Legolas, Aragorn and Gimli, that had set off in search of the Hobbits taken by the forces for the Dark Wizard.  When Gandalf appears, he no longer is the Gandalf the Grey, but has transfigured and transformed into Gandalf the White.

So to this morning the story of Jesus Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration was not only a stimulus for J.R.R. Tolkien, but was the inspiration for the return of Gandalf.  As we heard, “Jesus Christ took with Him Peter and James, and John…and led them up a high mountain by themselves.”  It was not uncommon for Jesus to go to mountains for prayer and communion with God the Father, but in taking Peter, James and John, it probably caused some of Jesus followers to wonder what would occur.  Once on the mountain, probably Mount Tabor, which is East of Nazareth, Jesus “was transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became white as light.”  For those of you who have been up when the sun rose and see the sun in the distant East rising, Jesus transfiguration wasn’t slow, it was immediate, it was blinding.  Consider if at noon you were to look directly in the sunlight, this is what looking at Jesus would have been like.  Jesus immediately transfigured before them and Peter, James and John beheld the Glorified Body of Jesus Christ.

Then, “Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him [that is Jesus]”.  In this account Matthew inspired by the Holy Spirit, clearly identifies two men that predate him by 1500 and 1000 years respectively.  Moses who had died and Elijah who had been taken up into heaven in a fiery chariot were conversing with Jesus, splendid in white, in His Spiritually Glorified state.

Can you imagine the conversation, the two greatest representatives of the Old Covenant, one having given the Law, the other being the most zealous for the Law, on the eve of the Law’s ultimate fulfillment were speaking to Jesus Christ, the one Whom would fulfill the Law?  Yet what does Peter do, he doesn’t try to ‘hold onto these three figures’, but says, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”  Peter wants these three men to stay and probably wants to ask all kinds of questions and sit at their feet and drink up the wisdom and instruction of all three individuals.

Yet, what occurs, the plans of men to delay the fulfillment of the law is thwarted by none other than God the Father.  In similar fashion to Jesus Baptism that we celebrated earlier this month, “a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with Whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!”  Just as on the river Jordan where God’s voice Spoke and Jesus was revealed as the Son of God.  Here on the Mount of Transfiguration God reveals to James, Peter and John that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of His promise.  This Jesus Christ Whom they have seen heal the blind, the lepers and the lame, feed the multitudes, teach with authority and explain more explicitly God’s Kingdom and prophecy about His own death and resurrection is revealed as the fulfillment of the prophecy of old.  Jesus Christ in Whom the Father is “well-pleased” is the One Who would complete the plan of salvation.

As soon as God the Father spoke, Peter, James and John Jesus disciples, “fell face down to the ground and were terrified.”  In their sight and hearing, they had seen legends of the Old Covenant and heard the Voice of God the Father and some would say out of their wits they were ‘terrified’.  But the Pastoral Shepherd that Jesus was, “came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.”  The vision they had just beheld Jesus plainly and clearly says for them not to be afraid of and Jesus commands them, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.”

So what can we take away today, 2000 years later?  What gem does God reveal for us today as we celebrate His Transfiguration, the appearance of the Moses and Elijah and the strict command to the disciples to ‘tell no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead’?  The gem we take away is that this same Jesus Who revealed His Glory on Mount Tabor, fulfilled on the Cross of Calvary for you and for me the plan of salvation.  In His one gesture of dying a sacrificial death on the Cross, He made You and I heirs of eternal life.  We no longer are bound by sin, death and the devil and we are transfigured as well in our baptism into His life, death and resurrection. 

This same Jesus Christ Who not moments earlier was in splendid array in garments Whiter than any other transfigures us as well.  Through our baptism with Water and Word, we, the collective church of Emmanuel Lutheran are transfigured and made in the image of God.  Though we still live in earthly attire, though we are conceived in sin, though we are both saints and sinners as Martin Luther would attest, we have been through the Blood of the Lamb transfigured by Jesus Christ.  We are a new creation that waits now for God’s calling to come home to be with Him in His Kingdom.  Our transfiguration is an accomplished fact and because Jesus has been raised from the dead, we now are empowered to tell others what He has done for each of us through Water and Word for all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this morning.  AMEN.