The veil is lifted. . .

Sermon for the Transfiguration of Our Lord, preached on Sunday, February 14, 2021.

    It is strange to think that Moses, such a giant figure of faith in the history of all of God’s people and in the story of Christ, died in obscurity.  If you read Deuteronomy 34, you find few details.  The Lord commands Moses to come up on Mt. Nebo.  This is just across the Jordan from Jericho.  The end of Israel’s long journey is within sight.  In the distance there it’s the promised land.  But Moses will go no further.  He will not enter into that land of promise.  There, as God had foretold, he would die.  Perhaps the greatest figure in Israel’s history dies alone in a foreign land without a grave marked for people to visit.  A strangely quiet and mysterious end for a man who had walked with God and talked with God whose face had beheld God’s glory.

    On the other hand, Elijah’s last moments were straight out of a Hollywood script.  His life was certainly a mysterious one and he was a larger than life figure right up to the blink of an eye when he was gone.  Elisha was with him, his student and his successor. He was not ready to let go of Elisha, not ready to take over the mantle of the great prophet.  Elijah headed to Jericho and as he crossed the waters he cast his cloak upon the water so that they could pass over.  And then the whirlwind was about to come and swallow up the prophet.  Elisha asked for a double portion of the prophet’s spirit but it would not come unless he was faithful to watch until God’s glory had come.  And then it happened.  Chariots of fire, horses of fire, and Elijah was gone, swallowed up by the glory of God.

    Both of their stories might have but a memory – until Jesus ascends the mountain of His glory, transfigured before Peter, James, and John, until He shone with God’s glory. And there in that glory was Moses raised from his forgotten grave to point to Jesus.  And there in that glory was Elijah, come back from the chariots and the face of God to point to Jesus.  For the glory of God is not a place and it is not an experience.  The glory of God is Jesus.  There in Christ we encounter the true glory of God.  Here is the saving glory of the God who loves you who are unworthy of that love.  Who comes as one of you so that you might be one with Him.  Who saves you not by the whisk of a wand but by the pain of the cross.  Who loves not in words but in the mighty deed by which we and all who are saved are rescued from sin and redeemed from its death. 

    There in this holy conversation between the one who delivered the Law to God’s people and the one who delivered the hope of the Gospel to those same people, the three apostles stood.  They were terrified and did not know what to say.  Peter knew only that he would rather stay there than to descend the mountain and go back to Jesus’ talk of betrayal, suffering, and death.  Nobody was paying any attention to Peter; only to Jesus.
There in the cloud was the fearful glory of God but even such fearful glory was better than suffering, better than fear, and better than the cross.  Just when they thought there might be a chance of avoiding what Jesus had been talking about, the voice tells them to listen to Jesus.  Listen to the voice of Jesus speaking of betrayal, of suffering that would redeem the world, of death upon a cross, and upon the life that death could not contain.

    In that moment, the Father was commanding them not to be distracted by thoughts of glory but to follow Jesus for Jesus knew where He was going.  And then everyone was gone.  Moses returned to the mystery of a giant life and an unmarked grave.  Elijah returned to mystery of a life swallowed up by God.  And there was Jesus.  Only Jesus.  No more talk of tents or thoughts of staying high in the clouds.  Only the command to listen and the voice of Jesus to lead them where He must go to save them and all of us.

    It is clear that Moses did not live and die to make a name for himself but to point to the Word from whom the Law came and to the Word made flesh who would keep that Law for us and for the whole world.  It is clear that Elijah did not live for whirlwinds of glory and chariots and horsemen of fire but for the glory of God manifest in the Savior, born of Mary, for the suffering of the cross.  The testimony of the Law and the Prophets points not to our best lives for God to reward but to the gift of God in the Son whom the Father sent to keep the Law and fulfill the word of the prophets once for all.

    It is as if God was pointing Peter, James, and John to the center of history in the God-man.  Jesus is that center of everything that was, that is, and that is to come.  And the voice that told them “This is My beloved Son; listen to Him,” was speaking not to the three disciples who were there but to everyone.  Jesus is not simply the center of history but the center of our history, the One in whom we shall be saved and the only One who can deliver to us life that death cannot overcome.  Listen to Him is the call to hear and hearing to believe and believing to live in Christ.  God may not be well pleased with your sin but He is pleased to deliver to you a Savior who forgives your sin with His own blood.  God may not be pleased by the way you run away from Him but He has run to you, embraced your sin and death as His own, and saved you before you even knew to ask for His help.

    Dear people, loved by God, we are a sinful people with eyes that see everything but Jesus, with ears that hear everything but the Word of God, and with hearts that believe everything but the promise of God.  Sin has done a pretty good job of corrupting our hearts and minds.  But God has restored our vision, unstopped our deaf ears, and broken down the barriers of our hearts.  All the Law and the prophets point to Jesus and the Holy Spirit living in you by baptism, is right now pointing you to Jesus.
Jesus is the only thing that matters.  Moses lived and died and appeared on the mountain to point to Jesus.  Elijah lived and was swept up in a whirlwind of fire and glory into God’s presence only to point to Jesus.  The Church exists to point to Jesus.  Look and listen.  God’s glory is not some unimaginable power or mystery but the love that saved you while you were yet sinners and His enemies and the love which counts Christ’s obedience and holiness as your own and the love which cleanses us from every spot and stain of sin and marks us for heaven.

    Your life may seem like a mystery but it is not.  God knows your coming and going.  Where you came from is not important.  Where you are going is. And the One who saves you from your past and delivers to you the future you did not even know you had, He is the center and focus of your life.  Your struggle is to keep your eyes upon Jesus amid all the distractions around you and to listen to His Word amid all the cacophony of sounds crying for your attention.  You come down the mountain but the Lord comes down with you.  He is with you in the valley and in the shadow of death and He will raise you up to be with Him forevermore.

    Our nation is divided, living under the threat of pandemic, with economic uncertainty, opposed to marriage and family, and without protection for the sacredness of life.  You are caught in the midst of it and at times it seems all you can see and hear.  And the Holy Spirit is pointing you to see Jesus, to grasp hold of His promise, and to endure all that comes in the strength and grace of God.

    Moses still points to the Law and through the Law to the Jesus who keeps its command to be holy.  Elijah still voices the prophecy which has been fulfilled in every way by Jesus.  The voice of God still calls us to listen to Jesus.  The glory of Jesus is where He has promised it to be – not in earthly kingdoms or might but in the water marked with God’s name, the absolution that forgives our sins, the voice of God in the mouth of the preacher, and the food of God in bread that is Christ’s body and wine that is His blood.  The mountain is not some geographical place in Palestine but where the Lord is, and the mountain is right here, in the means of grace and among a people gathered by its invitation to see the face of God.  Be strong and see by faith what you eyes do not and listen with ears of faith to the Savior who is your eternal hope.  Amen.