February 26, 2017 – Matthew 17:1-9
Matthew 17:1-9
A Place of Divine Encounter
Transfiguration of our Lord – February 26, 2017
First Lutheran Church – Winnipeg, MB
Mountains in the Old Testament are places of Divine Encounter.
Both Moses and Elijah encountered God on Mount Sinai or Mount Horeb as it was also called.
And now the disciples will encounter God on a mountain again.
The strange thing is, though, they have been encountering God all along –
in the very down to earth ministry of Jesus.
In some ways, I feel like this is Peter, James, and John’s “Happy Light” moment.
I told you a few weeks ago that I am now the proud owner of a Happy Light –
I’ve been telling everybody.
In the dark winter mornings which I do find difficult, I put on my Happy Light for half an hour.
It gets me going, elevates my mood, perks me up, and energizes me for the day.
In the middle of a long winter of work, the Happy Light is what I need.
In the same way, the disciples have been trudging along with Jesus now for some time.
They’ve been slogging it out with him, hoofing it all over Galilee,
assisting him in his work of blessing and healing and feeding and forgiving.
Maybe it’s been disheartening, all this hard, mundane work – I don’t know.
But maybe they need to be energized.
Maybe they need some light.
Well, Jesus graciously gives it to them up on the mountain – boy does he give to them!
Up on the mountain, Jesus shines like a million watt light bulb –
literally our story today says that Jesus shines up there “white as light.”
I hope the disciples took their sunglasses with them and didn’t suffer any permanent
eye damage!
For here, on the mountain, they encounter who Jesus really is: Jesus is God.
In Jesus is shining all the glory of the God of all creation, pure goodness and light.
Radiant in love.
And it restores them and energizes them and renews them –
for following Jesus back down into the valley to continue the work of
blessing and healing and feeding and forgiving.
Now Matthew has written this all up for us very carefully – thank you, Matthew!
Everyone give him a hand!
There are lots of things telling us that a divine encounter is about to take place here.
Yes: they are on a mountain, which is where people have divine encounters in the ancient world,
because it is close to heaven, where God is dwelling up in the sky: think Mt. Olympus.
But there are other signs: the bright cloud, which is also a sign of God’s presence in scripture,
and of course God’s voice.
As well, though, there is a final marker – and it is mentioned by Peter.
Completely at a loss as to what to say, Peter suggests that they all just stay up on the mountain,
have a picnic, maybe with some nice rose wine – and hey,
maybe he’d build some booths or dwellings for the guests of honour.
Now the booths also imply places of divine encounter in the story of the Exodus:
the tent of meeting where the Israelites encountered God in worship,
and the tabernacle for the ark of the covenant.
A booth was, in short, a structure where God might be encountered.
Well, God cuts that particular suggestion short by instead pointing to his “son”
or his “agent” or – as I have suggested before – his “apprentice” in the world.
Jesus, now, is where God is to be encountered – not in some building.
The church, though, has a long history of being the place where Jesus is now encountered –
and so of being the dwelling place of the God of all compassion and mercy.
I like to think God is actually telling Peter: you’ve had your Happy Light experience:
now go down and be the dwelling where people encounter me.
Be the booth.
Be a house of Living Stones where I dwell and where people can encounter me.
We all know the church is not a building – the church is people.
It is through people that God is primarily and most meaningfully encountered.
It’s why the disciples are so important to Jesus.
It’s why Jesus gently touches the disciples on the shoulder and raises them up –
literally he resurrects them – and leads them back down the mountain to
continue to work with him so people can encounter the God of
blessing and healing and feeding and forgiving.
The church is where God dwells.
The church is a place of divine encounter.
A couple of weeks ago I spoke about the power of words in the wake of the
Quebec City mosque shootings.
Of how poisonous words leads to a poisoned environment.
And of how we have to counter that with life-giving words that lead to an environment that
nurtures life-giving relationships filled with joy and forgiveness and inclusion.
I began to think about how this place, the church, particularly on Sunday morning,
is a place where beautiful, life-giving true words are spoken.
Words that say, “I love you.” “You are my beloved child.” “I will never let you go.”
“With you I am well pleased.” “I forgive you.”
“You are making this day special by just being you.”
“You are the light of the world.”
Think of how this creates a life-giving environment.
An environment that counters the environment of exclusion and prejudice and division that
is seemingly getting out of hand.
An environment that counters the environment of body-shaming and bullying that is
so prominent on social media.
An environment where we are invited to take these words that we receive out into the world
and counter the death-dealing ones by sharing these life-giving ones –
and so expanding the circle where the God of all compassion is encountered.
Maybe everyone this week should say these words to someone at home, or at school, or at work:
you are making this day special by just being you.
Tell a bus driver, for God’s sake.
Friends, today is our annual meeting.
And it is a great day to reflect on the amazing place that is First Lutheran Church.
A read through of our AGM booklet of reports shows you how wondrous a thing we have built,
shows you just how hundreds and hundreds of people have encountered the
God of all compassion in the beautiful booth you have built as a community.
Through food banks and community meals and kids clubs and Christmas hampers and
Worship and coffee and welcome and hospitality and Sunday School and youth group
and communion and music and preaching and knitting and refugee sponsorships
and the list goes on and on and on.
It is so important that we be here,
a booth for the encounter of the God of all love and compassion.
Yes: our attendance is down and I have no idea what to do about that.
Yes: that will eventually wither us as a ministering community.
Yes: the darkness is all around us and yes sometimes it is drudgery to continue to
follow Jesus and heal with him and feed with him day in and day out.
Yes there is violence in our society and yes there are drugs on our street and
yes there is so so so much to do.
It is true: the light is often shrouded from us – but here’s the thing: not today.
And our failings often overwhelm us, but not today.
Darkness so often seems to have the upper hand – but not today.
The past six days it might have been difficult to see the light and
the next six days it might be obscured by the clouds of prejudice and apathy –
but not today.
Today, we’re on the mountain.
Today Jesus will touch you with his loving presence just like
he touched those disciples long ago, with a little bread in your hand and
a little wine on your lips.
And he’ll invite you to get up.
And he’ll invite you to take this light and shine with it down in the dark valley.
He’ll invite you to empathize with those who suffer.
He’ll invite you to feed those who are hungry.
He’ll invite you to sit with those who sit in deep darkness.
He’ll invite you to give and he’ll invite you to sacrifice and he’ll invite you to be so fired up
and thankful for this ministry at the AGM that you will take what you receive here to
your homes and your workplaces and your schools and share it – so that
those places too might be places where the love of God is dwelling.
So that those places too might be places of divine encounter.
So together, let us say, “Amen.”
Pastor Michael Kurtz
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
