a sermon for the Transfiguration of Our Lord [Year B]
Mark 9:2-9
Big game today? People are saying that Super Bowl LVIII could be the most watched Super Bowl of all time. In fact, some are saying it could be the most watched television broadcast of all time! Some of this is due to the commercials, of course, but a lot of the hype this year centers around a certain celebrity relationship involving one of the Kansas City Chief’s star players. Taylor Swift, the top pop star in the world, is fresh off her historic win at the Grammy awards. He is one of the best of his position ever to play the game. And they are a definite draw. Others will have their sights set on Patrick Mahomes, quarterback for the Chiefs, as he pursues his own third and possible back-to-back Super Bowl victory. Still others will be drawn by the half time show, which this year will be performed by Usher and Alicia Keys, two of the most popular R&B artists of our time.
Some attention, however, will be on the quarterback of the other team, the 49ers, who has not even been starting in that position for two full years yet. His name is Brock Purdy and was drafted for the 49ers in just 2022 as the final pick in the entire draft, number 262, earning him the nickname “Mr. Irrelevant.” It’s one of these situations where not many thought he had it in him. His stats were not all that high coming into the pros. Halfway through last season he was still the third-string quarterback. His salary is among the lowest for his position. According to everyone who knows him, the humble Brock Purdy is not a spotlight seeker. But here he is. The moment has found him, and he is thrust into the spotlight on the biggest stage as the first-ever Mr. Irrelevant quarterback to start in Super Bowl. All claims of his irrelevance have already been laid to waste.
I say all of this because that is one way we can think of our Lord’s Transfiguration. On a mountain most likely somewhere in north Israel, Jesus, another humble leader who comes from obscurity is thrust into the spotlight, and any questions about his relevance and identity are finally addressed. Despite what the disciples may think about him, despite what the old Nazareth townspeople claim him to be, and despite what his religious opponents say, Jesus is not Mr. Irrelevant. God’s voice makes it clear: Jesus is God’s own Son, the Beloved, and he deserves to be listened to.
Jesus’ transfiguration is one of those events that often is hard for my modern mind to make sense of. First there is this part about his clothes changing into bright white, then there’s the images of Moses and Elijah joining him—two guys long dead—and then there’s the booming voice from the sky. The whole sounds a bit like something out of a science fiction or animated movie, like that scene in The Lion King where a young and disillusioned Simba looks up at the clouds in the night sky and suddenly they form the shape of his father, Mufasa, who has a special message for him. I mean, things like that don’t really happen, do they?
But on another level, we hear of people having mystical experiences all the time—and if not mystical, then surreal and inexplicable. Haven’t each of us, at some point, been somewhere or witnessed something that just overwhelmed us with its mystery and power?
I remember being with one of my campers years ago when I was a counselor at Lutheridge in North Carolina. I had a cabin of middle school boys all from around Miami, and we went on a hike one day in the Blue Ridge Mountains. This one kid had never been out of Florida. When we got to the top of Looking Glass Rock he just stood dumbstruck looking out over the rolling landscape. No one could move him. To me it was just a mountain scene, but for him it was a religious experience. He was transfixed by this moment where he could see the grandiosity and complexity of creation with fresh eyes.
Jesus’ transfiguration is that kind of moment. The disciples are transfixed by Jesus’ beauty and and they come to understand him in a new way. He comes to have new relevance in their lives. They receive a vision they need to remember, establishes validity they need to take to heart, and highlights a voice they need to hear.
The vision comes from this moment of Jesus’ robes turning dazzling white. It’s like a sneak peak of the glory that awaits him after his life and mission is brought to its completion. Through the days and weeks before this moment, it has started to become apparent that Jesus’ purpose is going to reach a big climax, but none of his disciples are sure that that might be. Jesus has explained just prior to this transfiguration that he is headed to Jerusalem where he will be handed over to the authorities and be killed. Just after they come down this mountain Jesus will reiterate that fate two more times, in order to make abundantly clear his mission as God’s Son will not just be one dramatic and exhilarating healing experience after another.
Because, quite honestly, that’s what it has turned into. Healing, miracle, another healing, another miracle, winning an argument with the religious leaders…this is what following Jesus seems to be about. But really to God’s kingdom going to require some astonishing suffering. And so this moment of transfiguration gives them a vision to hold onto as they trudge through the tough days of the cross. It’s like a little peak at the resurrection glory that we will all take part in one day after we come through this valley of tears. Jesus will want them to hold onto that vision when they eventually see him hanging on the cross in darkness and death.
Besides vision, the transfiguration says something about Jesus’ validity. You have to imagine that for the first crowd drawn to Jesus, even the disciples closest to Jesus, like Peter, James, and John, there may still be some lingering questions about Jesus’ authority. There was a lot of “Who is this guy?” going on. Seeing him appear with the two greatest figures of Israel’s history and the Jewish faith would have helped give weight to what Jesus was all about. He’s not a flash in the pan. Moses represents for the laws and teachings of God’s people, and Elijah stands for the line of prophets to came to announce God’s intentions. Seen together in this moment they show Jesus’ words and actions have the countenance of the whole Hebrew tradition.
And more than that, there is an element of baton-passing going on. Just as Moses led God’s people through the wilderness into the Promised Land and as Elijah and the prophets sustained God’s people through the rise and fall of the kingdom, Jesus will now lead God’s people through suffering and death to a new life. It is time for new journeys of faith for God’s people, and Jesus is the one who will pioneer and nurture it.
Obviously this Jewish-centered validity hits different in this day and time. Moses and Elijah don’t bear as much weight in our secular mindsets. Furthermore we live in what people are calling a “post-truth society” where people doubt almost every authority, perhaps rightly so, and lead with skepticism rather than faith. We make up facts to suit our agendas, rather than the other way around. How is Jesus’ validity established for you? What I think this moment of transfiguration says is that Jesus is not just one among many possible saviors. There is something about him specifically that is connected to the very heart of God’s mission that his people are to be a light to the world.
Lastly, there is the voice of God sounding from the cloud saying that Jesus is the beloved Son of God and to listen to him. Something like this had occurred at Jesus’ baptism, but it’s not clear anyone but Jesus had heard it. Now the voice is telling the disciples around Jesus to pay attention, to listen to the things that Jesus says. We do this think in youth group where we say, “Clap one time if you can hear my voice.” And then you get a few claps. If there’s still talking you can say, “Clap two times if you can hear my voice,” and that’s usually all it takes so you can say what the group needs to hear. With the transfiguration God is saying, “My Son has some relevant things to say.” And then suddenly they’re left with only Jesus.
We are so prone to seek God in these lofty moments of wonder and awe, as if we will determine God’s relevance by how often and how deeply we feel spiritually moved. Like Peter, we want to freeze these moments, whether they’re on a literal mountaintop or on a retreat, or in a special book we’ve bought. Said another way, so often our faith searches for divine experiences, but we have a God who is seeking a human experience. Everything done at the transfiguration reminds us that God has come to us and brought his love right here. That has been confirmed and settled in Jesus. God’s vision of glory is one of life conquering death, the light winning over the darkness. His authority is valid because he has the backing of all of God’s story. And his voice of humility and compassion and love is trustworthy.
Oh, it’s so tempting to consider Jesus Mr. Irrelevant, these days, especially when he eventually puts himself dead last on the cross. He puts himself in last place so that we all may be in God’s care forever. It’s so enticing to look for vision, valid truths, and voices elsewhere. And yet God has promised that, no matter what, Jesus is always relevant to our lives and to the hopes of the world.
The transfigured Jesus is always relevant because he suffers for us. He doesn’t lie to us about life and its dark moments, that a life lived well will have moments of hardship and pain, especially when we’re doing the right thing.
The transfigured Jesus is relevant because Jesus shows us truly how to love. Love that is self-giving, love that serves the neighbor is always going to be relevant to the world.
And Jesus is relevant because he is ultimately victorious over death. His suffering, his love, lead to a new life that cannot be taken away from us.
And so we can go from here, from everywhere, no matter what hardship lies before us, knowing now that our relevance is settled debate. That is the vision we walk down the mountain with, the vision that compels us to offer our lives to others and have compassion on the world.
Thanks be to God!
The Reverend Phillip W. Martin, Jr.
Said Another Way 