Sermon preached by The Rev'd Susan Kraus

St. Paul’s on the Green, Norwalk, Connecticut

The Last Sunday after the Epiphany – February 3, 2008 - 8:00 a.m.

Every year on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday we hear an account of the Transfiguration of our Lord. Today we heard the record according to Matthew’s gospel. The same story is to be found in the gospels of Mark and Luke. The Transfiguration is without doubt a major event in the life of Christ and in the experience of the disciples who were witnesses to it. It was an event of great importance to the faith of the first followers of Jesus and to those who came after them. And it is fitting to recall the Transfiguration as we prepare for the season of Lent. Let me give you the context of the Transfiguration in Matthew’s gospel to explain what I mean.

Jesus had asked his disciples what people were saying about who Jesus was. The disciples reported, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven” (Matthew 16:14-17).

So Simon Peter has been the one to declare, correctly, that Jesus is the Messiah. Matthew’s gospel goes on to say, “From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering … and be killed” (portions of Matthew 16:21). Peter, who has just gotten it right about Jesus, rebukes Jesus, saying “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you” (Matthew 16:22b). Jesus turns to Peter, in what may be anger or disappointment or simple heartache, and says “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things” (Matthew 16:23).

Then Jesus teaches all the disciples what discipleship means: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25).

The Transfiguration follows, six days later. Jesus takes Peter – who has gotten it right and gotten it wrong and who will continue to get it right and get it wrong – Jesus takes Peter and James and John up the high mountain. The glory of Christ was there made visible to these disciples, in dazzling whiteness, his face shining like the sun. And God spoke the same words to Jesus that were spoken by God at Jesus’ baptism by John: “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 17:5b).

So the revelation of Christ’s glory and of God’s love for Christ happens in the context of the suffering Jesus will endure. And in the context of what Jesus does immediately when he comes down from the mountain. Jesus heals the epileptic son of a father beside himself with worry that his boy, in a fit, will fall into the fire or water and die (Matthew 17:14-16). Jesus, never forgetting the suffering awaiting him, keeps on healing the sick, keeps on teaching about God’s Kingdom, keeps on preaching peace and reconciliation.

My friends in Christ, I hope all of us have had moments when we have known the glory of our Lord – in the sea or sky, in the sacrament of the altar, in music of praise, in the eyes of another, in the quiet assurance in our hearts of God’s love for us. I hope we have had these moments so that, knowing Jesus as Messiah in his glory we may have the courage to follow him, to come down from the mountain and do what Jesus did. God wants us to be transformed, transfigured, so filled with love that our faces shine! And God gives us grace and help along the way of transformation.

Lent is a season when the church calls each of us to consider what discipleship means for us, what we can do to show in our lives the love we have for our glorious Lord. Jesus calls us all to make ever greater room in our hearts to love God and to serve God and one another. This Lent let us open our hearts and pray that the Holy Spirit may inspire and strengthen us to do the work of our Lord, who was glorious on the mountaintop, glorious on the cross, and glorious in the garden of the empty tomb.

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me. … Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:35-36; 40). Amen.