Only Jesus
(This sermon is available in video form on YouTube.)
Mark 9:2-9
Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
Sermon
The Transfiguration- it sounds like another Super Bowl Halftime Show! There’s Jesus in shiny outfit up high, there are sound effects and it’s a big spectacle and celebrities Elijah and Moses join him and it’s this half time show - this halfway point in Mark’s Gospel, in this story of good news that begins with John the Baptizer calling people to turn toward God (Mark 1), and this final moment where Jesus wins big for all of creation, where God beats down death, and “Jesus himself sends out through the disciples from east to west the imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation!” (Mark 16) In this is super bowl match up we all win!
The Transfiguration moment, with Peter, James & John, the prophet Elijah and Moses, the great leader who marched God’s people toward freedom- this moment turns us toward freedom as we learn who Jesus is, and how Jesus will send us out from east to west with this good news. This transfiguration moment, this beautiful spectacle, connects us to God’s glory in a way that frees us up to love. Let’s study this moment, and figure out how to apply the meaning in our lives in ways that change the shape of who we are, that change the shape of how this world operates.
The definition of “glorify” is “to make known.” In this mountaintop story, Jesus is glorified - Jesus is made known to his followers. Now, this glorification part of the transfiguration moment is a bit like hosting a party (remember those?!) where you are the only one who knows all the people gathered. You introduce people, they get to know each other, they figure out how they know you, the host. Everyone knows more about one another, and about you, the host of the party. Jesus is the only one on the mountain top who knows all the party guests. Through Jesus, the Elijah and Moses meet three disciples, the three disciples meet Elijah and Moses, and they all know Jesus better as a result.
As they are meeting one another, God’s glory is revealed in sight and sound and spectacle. There is a voice from a cloud: “This is my son, my beloved. Listen to him!” Peter, James & John are stunned - frozen on the spot like people who just heard a voice from heaven would be, and then, they look around, and prophet Elijah and leader Moses are gone. There is only Jesus.
Only Jesus.
They saw no one. Only Jesus.
You know Jesus. You know the love and grace that radiates forth from God who loves creation so much that God became a physical part of it to make God’s very self known to us— You know Jesus, and there is only Jesus. There is no other being around. Only Jesus. Every person around you changes into Jesus. Becomes known to you as bearing the presence of God in this world. Dazzles you with messages of hope, proclaims to you the imperishable truth of God’s abiding love for all of creation. There is no-one else. Only Jesus.
The irritating customer vanishes. There is only Jesus.
The superstar celebrity vanishes. There is only Jesus.
The needy friend vanishes. There is only Jesus.
The neighbor who seems to have it all vanishes. There is only Jesus.
Our selfish desires and vanities vanish. There is only Jesus.
Photo by @Shujaoriginal
We are changed by knowing Jesus, and that changes how we see the world around us. It is no longer filled with good guys and bad guys, my kind of people and THOSE kind of people. There is no-one to call “our enemy." All are Jesus. Only Jesus.
That is God being glorified right now- God being made known as beautifully as Jesus clothed in dazzling brightness on a mountaintop with ancient superstars Elijah and Moses. Seeing Jesus, only Jesus, in others - it changes us into beings dazzling with the blinding brightness of God’s pure and generous love.
This is the deeply meaningful truth of the Transfiguration- God is knowable, and being made known to us. Sometimes in mountaintop spectacles — always in drawing us to see Jesus, only Jesus, in others. God already knows all of the party guests, us and all others, because God is the one who invited us all here to be together. Because we know God in Jesus, we see Jesus in every other face.
Truly knowing Jesus is knowing others, and knowing ourselves, to be Jesus in the world, to bear the love of Jesus. Over and over again, Jesus stars in spectacles and hosts gatherings to draw us into claiming this truth. Here is what I invite you to ponder in the week ahead with me-
It’s more important to: treat people like Jesus than to tell them about Jesus.
Photo by @hajjidirir
A few years ago I began writing as a hobby. While I write sermons nearly every week, writing for myself was new to me, so I participated in a wonderful Writer’s Retreat at Claggett. The instructors encouraged us aspiring writers to follow these three nuggets of writing wisdom:
Write what you know.
Write every day.
Show, don’t tell.
These nuggets apply to how we aspire to know Jesus more deeply-
1. Love what you know.
We know Jesus, so we can be this love we know. We manifest Jesus because we are loving what we know. We are living what we know. We are loving like Jesus.
2. Love every day.
To really throw ourselves into something that matters, we must hone it, practice it. Every day. Every day gives us an opportunity to be more loving. Whether you are masking up and going off to work this week or staying home- love every day like Jesus loved people. When you are harsh in your words or actions- slow it down and love like Jesus. When you are judgmental in your heart- soften your heart and love like Jesus.
3. Show, don’t tell.
Don’t talk about it- be about it! Put the love of Jesus (that is already within you) out where it will dazzle and shine. Put the love of Jesus (that is known in your life) out where others can recognize it and know it to be the imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation! Show the love, be the love.
We make God known by knowing other people in love.We glorify God by glorifying other people- in our lives. This is the truth of the transfiguration moment then, and right now still, today- the more we know Jesus, then the more we know people to be Jesus - only Jesus. There is no one else. And this boomerangs into: The more we see Jesus- only Jesus, in every face, the more we radiate that dazzling love of Jesus and the more we know Jesus.
My friends, as I stand in this place where we have gathered to be changed by the love of God as we share the Body of Christ, where I have stood hundreds of times putting the Body of Christ into the hands of the Body of Christ, I have seen Jesus radiate in YOUR face. You have been Jesus to me, and this has changed me forever. Like Jesus, we are changed in this encounter. We are changed into seeing and knowing only Jesus. And this seeing, this knowing Jesus, will change every other encounter.
Amen.
Photo by @artfilm
