IT IS GOOD THAT WE ARE HERE

Luke 9:28-36

Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord

February 18, 1007

The snow is melting. As it does, stuff you had forgotten is revealed. What you left in the backyard before the snow fell before Christmas, is still there. I think that’s why I’ve always liked winter. I see some poetry in the honesty of the season. You see what’s really there—behind the foliage, everything out in the open. The fact that winter is followed by spring with renewal is an extra blessing.

Honesty, followed by renewal—we’ve named today Renewal Sunday for this reason.

Winter has brought us the Epiphany season—Jesus is out there in the open, we see who He is clearly—God’s Son, Savior. As we see Jesus, we also see ourselves and who we are—baptized into Him and His story; made members of His Body the Church; commissioned with His mission. Such reminders can be painful—comparing who we are to be in Christ with whom we actually are—but that’s the poetry of the honesty of the season. There is the opportunity for renewal—hence the name of the Sunday. Today we can join with Peter—though not for Peter’s reasons—to say, “Lord, it is good that we are here.”

What are Peter’s reasons and why don’t we want them?

Luke provides us with Peter as something of a foil—I’d like to say the Luke always does this, but I didn’t do the research. Looking at Peter and pointing our finger to say, “Silly Peter, how could you be that way,” allows us the comfort of understanding ourselves in Peter’s place without having to say it out loud. Peter is confused. Confused he is with the whole moment as he sees everything unfold.

Confused by Jesus’ words. A few days before, Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God. But then, Jesus honestly tells them what it means that He is the Christ—and it’s not what Peter wanted to hear. Jesus doesn’t speak of the glory of what it means to hang out with God; Jesus speaks of His coming Passion and death. Jesus speaks honestly of what it means to be His disciple—denying self, surrendering one’s will and living under the cross. Jesus tells them how following Him means you will go somewhere. Listen, Follow, Go.

That’s not what Peter is expecting. Hanging out with the Son of God should mean something else. So Peter speaks out of his desire—“let’s build three shelters” so this moment of glory can last forever. Let’s skip the suffering, Jesus, and just stay on this mountain forever. Since we’re talking about speaking honestly, I think we’d have to admit that there’s something in each of us that would vote with Peter.

Let’s skip the cross and its commitment. There’s this idea out there that because God loves, He’ll just open heaven up to everyone regardless of how we’ve lived. Such a view does skip the cross; it means that Jesus’ death is meaningless and that our lives also have no purpose or value that Jesus would die for us. But suffering hurts, so we’d rather step around it or just plain avoid it.

Let’s skip the call to follow, too. Jesus talks about surrendering our will to the Father—as He has done. Following Him is to be like Him. But wait, something in us would protest, what about my choices, what about what I want? Brides don’t like the Ephesians language about submitting and grooms don’t like what Paul says about dying for one’s wife—such talk goes against our nature, our cultural expectations. I saw a shirt for sale that expressed this well, “It really is about me!”

Voting with Peter’s desire to stay in the glory means that we also skip the call Jesus puts on our lives to go somewhere. The outgrowth of wanting to have it my way means that I expect to be master of my own fate—to go where I want to go. I suppose that’s why SUVs are so popular—you actually can go where you want. If you’ve seen those commercials for the SUVs, there’s usually some disclaimer advising you that a trained driver is going the places you see, suggesting that you not do this on your own. That’s good advice, because on our own, we don’t belong on the mountain with Jesus—that’s not the destination at the end of our solo trip—we get off in hell.

Voting with Peter and trying to be in charge of the moment and hold onto the glory by ourselves is dangerous. Remember it was Jesus who invited Peter, James and John. Jesus is the One conversing with Moses and Elijah. Jesus is also the focus of the other Voice Luke records for us.

Listening to Peter today leaves us confused, at best. Peter speaks into the cloud. Another Voice speaks out of the cloud. This Voice speaks clearly: “This is My beloved Son, Whom I have chosen. Listen to Him!” Listen to Jesus. So our pattern for renewal is set: Listen, Follow, and Go.

What does Jesus say? He says He is the Christ. He is the Son Who dies in exchange for those who are slaves (to sin and our choices), to give us His inheritance in exchange for our debt. He dies our death we owe for sin; He takes our place in the grave—and gives us His life in exchange. This is the reversal that makes it possible to even talk about renewal in our lives.

As the Christ, Jesus sets the pattern for our lives. At the cross, He shows us what it means that He is the Christ; in His living, He shows us the pattern for our lives as we follow Him. Baptized into Christ doesn’t just mean we have hope in heaven, it means our lives are shaped like His—suffering now, glory later. Yet as He walked this path He knew the Father was with Him. He knew it was not an accident—that the Father’s plan was unfolding—His choice was unfolding. He calls us to follow Him into this life.

Jesus calls us to follow and sends His disciples someplace. Staying on the mountain isn’t an option. There is a cost to following Him: surrendering to His leading, as He surrendered to His Father’s plan. There is also a destination—it isn’t just the journey.

Yes, that destination finally is Heaven—the glory Peter wanted and we want. Before that, there are other destinations. Jesus’ disciples didn’t just wander the countryside; He sent them into the towns and cities with a mission. They followed Jesus’ instructions and the Spirit’s opportunities—so can we.

We’ve heard Peter’s voice and listened to the Voice speak from the cloud. We’ve been instructed to listen to Jesus. Jesus has invited us to follow Him. There’s another voice that needs to speak today: yours. That’s why today is Renewal Sunday. January reminded us of our Baptisms—who we are in Christ. Today we have an opportunity to affirm and to renew our commitment to live out our baptisms.

We recommit to listening to Jesus. Listen to Him in His Word through Bible study and prayer and worship. Listen to Him today as He meets you at the Table in His meal

We recommit to following Jesus. Yes that means that we step outside of the comfortable places that we’ve padded with our excuses and our plans to skip the costs of discipleship. We get out of the boat and step out in faith where Jesus is. We step again into the life of following Him—Lent will give us forty days to be reminded what that means.

We recommit to going someplace for Him. He’s got destinations in mind for us—as He did for Peter and the other disciples. Peter left his home in Galilee and ended up in Rome. Let the Spirit lead you into the opportunities where you work, go to school, shop or live. You may not have to go to Rome—or someplace far away—you may just have to stretch to go where He wants you to be.

We recommit to going someplace not just as individuals, but also as His church. Those first followers didn’t just stay in Jerusalem, looking skyward at the wonder. They went places as the Spirit took them. Within the first three centuries, the entire Mediterranean world had heard the good news of Jesus. Within ten centuries, Europe was evangelized. After twenty-one centuries, more than two billion people confess the name of Jesus as their Savior.

Mount Olive has places Jesus wants to lead us, too. In forty years, we have followed the Spirit’s leading into new neighborhoods and new ministries. Where we He lead us in the next forty? That’s the adventure of following Him; you get to go someplace new.

After weeks of winter, we are ready for spring. We are ready for renewal. We remembered what God has done for us by His grace in Christ as we remembered our baptisms with the doves. Today we by that same grace recommit ourselves to Him. We recommit ourselves to listening to Jesus; to following Jesus; to going where He wants us to go. By His grace, we will be renewed.

How does the story end with Peter, James and John? The moment passes, leaving them with Jesus. Jesus goes down the mountain with them, back into their lives. That’s how today ends, too. After the singing and worship is ended, as we go down from this “mountaintop” experience, Jesus goes with us, too, back into our lives.