Transfiguration Sunday, Immanuel Chapel 2012 Exodus 34:29-35
Frederick Buechner writes in his book “The Hungering Dark” of sitting in a college town theater watching the movie La Dolce Vita. The movie opens with a helicopter flying slowly through the sky. Hanging below, in a kind of halter, is the life-size statue of a man dressed in robes with arms outstretched. It flies over a field where men are working with tractors. One yells out, “Hey, it’s Jesus.” They wave their hats and hop around and yell. It passes over a rooftop swimming pool surrounded by a number of girls in bikinis. They look up and start waving. The young men in the helicopter hover a bit, circle and try to communicate that they would only be too happy to return when their mission is accomplished.
The reaction of the college crowd in the theater was to laugh at the incongruity of it all. A sacred statue of Jesus dangles from the sky, on the one hand, and profane young Italians and young bathing beauties on the other hand. One made of stone, out of place in the sky on the end of its rope, others made of flesh, so bursting with life. The helicopter continues on its way. Soon the dome of St. Peter’s looms from below. For the first time the camera starts to zoom in on the statue with its arms outstretched “until for a moment the screen is almost filled with just the bearded face of Christ-and at that moment there is no laughter in the theater…there was something about that face, that made them silent.” Buechner concludes; “I think that is much of what the Christian faith is. It is a moment, just for a little while, seeing the face and being still.”
Today we see the face of the transfigured Christ. The disciples on the mountain were beyond words, “for they were terrified.” Martin Luther writes, “I would not have you contemplate the deity of Christ, the majesty of Christ…divinity may terrify man. Inexpressible majesty will crush him. That is why Christ took on our humanity, save for sin, that he should not terrify us but rather that with love and favor he should consol and confirm…now is overcome the power of sin, hell, conscience, and guilt…if you come and believe that he is come, not to judge you, but to save.” Thus Jesus charged his disciples not to tell anyone of what they had seen until he had risen from the dead.
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai a second time, he did not hear singing, but encountered fear. He had been in the presence of God for forty days; the skin of his face shined and they were afraid to come near him. Something of the divine glory remained with him.
Moses thereafter wore a veil during the routines of daily life to dim the glory. However, he uncovered his face when he entered the tent of meeting to speak face to face with God. With uncovered face he spoke face to face to the people, the word which God had given him to him. He was the pastor, prophet, preacher called by God to speak his authoritative word to God’s people. His uncovered shining face became the sign that when he spoke, he did so with the authority of God.
We have something of that sort of thing in the church today, except in an opposite way. Martin Luther must have been responding to a complaint about their pastor when he said, “Infinite and unutterable is the majesty of the Word of God, and we can never thank God enough for it. Human reason, however, thinks: ‘Ah, if I could hear the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth, I would run to the end of the world.’” Luther continued, “Listen brother, God, the Creator of heaven and earth, does speak with you through His preachers; it is He who baptizes, instructs, and absolves through ministry of His sacraments.” That may be one of the reasons the church has seen fit to dress its pastor, prophet, preacher in white garments and bright stoles. The preacher who has been in the presence of God reading, studying, and digesting God’s word during the week, on Sunday, speaks that word in the presence of his people. The preacher’s face doesn’t shine, but in the white garments with which he covers his body, he emulates Jesus glory on the Mount of transfiguration. He is a sign that his message of salvation bought with Christ’s red blood on the cross transfigures our scarlet sins, to the whiteness of new fallen snow. The garments are an outward visible sign that God has called this person occupying the pulpit to speak the word which he has heard from the presence of God in scripture during the week. The white robes look forward to that time when someone says of us, “These are they who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
But the glory which shined from Moses face was a reflected, imperfect glory. The glory that the pastor proclaims is a glory filtered through a frail human being. There is only one who can show us the true glory of God. The glory of Jesus Christ is not a reflected glory. As Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.” John wrote of him in his version of the Christmas story, “We have seen his glory, glory as of the only son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
That the glory of God was filled with grace and truth is not limited to the New Testament. When Moses came down from the mountain carrying the tablets of the testimony he had been in the presence of not only the giver of the commandments. The Lord declared that he is merciful and gracious; slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty.” Moses prayed, “O Lord please…pardon our iniquity and sin and take us for your inheritance.”
The pardoning of our sin and iniquity and the guarantee of our inheritance in heaven did not occur when the glory shone round about the shepherds in the field at his birth. They were sore afraid of that glory. In the shame and shattering of crucifixion, Jesus glory is demonstrated most clearly and strongly. In the cross we see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Just as transfiguration did not take place in the temple in Jerusalem, but on a barren mountain top; so any moment or place can be a place and time of transfigured glory. Before, the council meeting Tuesday evening, I visited Harry Kolaks at Christian North East. When Harry spotted my communion kit, he said, “Good, you brought communion.” As I set up for the sacrament a young lady came in with some medicine. Harry asked where she went to church. Then he said, “Do you know what communion is? It’s the blood of Christ for the forgiveness of all our sins. Is that right pastor?” I answered, “You got it Harry.” It had dawned on me that that hospital room had been transfigured through the presence of Christ in the sacrament.
Today we leave behind the Alleluias. We enter lent singing, “In the cross of Christ I glory.” We sing our repentant way through Lent until we emerge in the season of the resurrection singing,
He is arisen! Glorious Word!
Christ victorious,
Rising glorious, Life is giving.
He was dead but now is living!
This Lent look on the face of Christ who makes it possible for the pastor, prophet, preacher to say, as we go on our way, the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you…and give you peace.
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