“The disciples fell to the ground and were overcome
by fear. But Jesus came and touched them
saying, ‘Get up and do not be afraid.’”
In the midst of a passage that is filled with awe and wonder, I almost
missed it. I almost missed the part when
Jesus places his hand on the disciples’ shoulders. I almost missed the part when Jesus says to
the disciples, “Get up and do not be afraid.”
If
we are not careful, we are sure to miss the essential turn in this passage; we
are sure to miss the part that helps us really understand the purpose of the
transfiguration. If we are not careful,
we are sure to get caught up in the supernatural elements of this passage. But how could we not get caught up in the awe
and wonder of this passage?
Jesus’ face shines like
the sun. Jesus clothes become a dazzling
white. Moses and Elijah, two dead men
who represent the Law and the Prophets, show up and start talking to Jesus – no
wonder Peter wants to set up camp! A
cloud hovers over the scene and the voice of God drives the disciples to their
knees.
But when the shock and
awe is over, Jesus comes over to the disciples, touches them, and says, “Get up
and do not be afraid.” And by this time,
the cloud has vanished and so have Moses and Elijah. It’s just Jesus and his disciples alone on
the mountain.
The moment is over. The rush is gone. And they make the journey down the mountain
back to the real world where they aren’t to speak a word about what happened
until after the resurrection of Jesus.
Like the disciples, it is
easy for us to get stuck on top of this mountain. Like Peter, it is easy for us
to come to believe that the mountain top is the final destination. It is easy for us mere mortals to get caught
up in the sights and sounds of this passage and lose sight of the bigger
picture here. Maybe that is why Jesus
tells him to tell no one about what they saw until after the resurrection.
It is easy for us to
forget that Jesus’ ministry is not about pointing to heaven for heaven’s
sake. Instead, Jesus is pointing to
heaven in order to shed light on the kingdom he is establishing on earth. Jesus is not an escape hatch that is rescuing
us from a world of death.
Instead, Jesus is the
instrument of God’s salvation that comes to renew and restore this world with a
love that is stronger than death. The
story of Jesus is not a beam me up
Scottie story like the disciples first suspect but a resurrection story, a
story of the transformation of this world.
But in order for this
restoration project to start to take effect, in order for the kingdom of heaven
to grow on earth, a major re-ordering of things must take place. And as we have just learned in the Sermon on
the Mount the kingdom of heaven looks nothing like the kingdoms of this
world. In essence, Jesus reveals that
the kingdoms of this world are run by fear and anxiety while the kingdom of
heaven is run by courage and hope and love.
And this major
re-ordering of things will upset the people who like the current world
order. Jesus’ re-ordering will turn the
world as we know it upside-down. In the
end, God completely turns the world upside down when the glory of God is
revealed in his fullest through Christ crucified.
The kingship of Jesus is
fully revealed not because he takes an earthly throne by force but because he
refuses to bow down to the powers of this world and willingly accepts the
sentence of death on the cross. On the
cross, Jesus reveals the ultimate power of our faith and that is the conviction
that the way of love and inclusion puts to shame the way of fear and exclusion.
Jesus predicts that the
powers of this world will not take kindly to this new world order, a world
order where the mighty are cast down from their thrones and the lowly are
filled with good things. Jesus predicts
that he will undergo suffering and death because the powers of this world will
reject the new world order that the kingdom of heaven brings.
And this is why the
disciples fall on their faces in fear.
They didn’t know that they signed up for a project that would result in
their leader’s suffering and death. And
if their leader undergoes suffering and death, then what is in store for the
followers? Surely suffering and death,
too. But Jesus knows that his followers
are scared to death and so he offers encouragement. He touches them and says, “Get up and do not
be afraid.”
Quite literally, this
passage shows us that ours is a God who enters the human experience, enters
human flesh so he can touch us and say, “Get up and do not be afraid.” In Jesus, God is showing us that the story of
love and forgiveness and hope will endure even fear and hate and death.
Even if the story of love
is temporarily put to death on the cross, Jesus shows us that the story of love
continues when he is raised again on the third day. And because Jesus shows us that the story of
love defeats the story of hate we can move from a place of fear to a place of
hope. Instead of being paralyzed by
fear, we can be inspired by hope because of the way Jesus overcomes suffering
and death by enduring the cross and the grave.
Beloved, I know I don’t
have to tell you that we live in a world that seems to be thriving off of fear
and anxiety. We are paralyzed by fear
and stuck on top of the mountain. We are
like cats pacing back and forth on top of a ledge trying to muster up the
courage to jump. We are like babies who
are learning to take our first steps.
After one step, we plop down on our bottoms and start crying.
We want to live in this
new kingdom that Jesus is bringing to earth but living in this new kingdom
requires quite a jump, living in this new kingdom requires us accept that
getting hurt is a part of what it means to walk in the way of Jesus. And thanks be to God we have Jesus who comes
to our aid, who touches us and says, “Get up and do not be afraid.”
There are certainly a lot
of amazing sights and sounds that accompany following the way of Jesus. There are moments of pure amazement and
astonishment, moments in our Christian faith and life that words cannot
adequately describe. There are times
when we don’t want to leave this place of worship.
We find ourselves in
foyer groups that we wish we could keep forever. We go on retreats that we wish would never
end. We will encounter times in the life
of St. Paul’s that we might describe as perfect and we will do everything we
can to keep things that way. But again,
the Christian story is one of renewal, not preservation.
Most of our Christian
life and witness happens when we have the courage to venture outside of these
safe places so that we who have been touched and healed by the power of God’s
love can go out into the world and touch others with the healing power of God’s
love through acts of mercy and service.
We are called down from
the mountain to tell of a new story that is born out of a place of hope and
love. Instead of complaining about the
problem, instead of perpetuating fear and anxiety, Jesus’ story of love calls
us to be a part of the solution. And
Jesus solution shows us that the power forgiveness and the hope of resurrection
fundamentally changes the story. Instead
of saying things will never change, we get to be a part of Jesus’ story of love
that changes everything.
As followers of Jesus, we
will inevitably become frightened by the prospect of living in God’s new
kingdom – not because we don’t like the idea of God’s new kingdom but because
of the changes that must take place in order to be a part of that new
kingdom. Of course we will want to stay
atop the mountain because the view is better.
But through Jesus, God
shows us that the way of life and peace is not an escape to the
mountaintop. Rather, the way of life and
peace is through the cross, through suffering and death. This is a way that we would not choose for
ourselves, this is a way that scares us to death.
But the way of the cross
is how God turns the world upside down in order to show us that Jesus’ way is
actually right-side up. The way of cross
is meant to change our perspective. The
way of the cross opens our eyes to the way the world God intends.
Beloved, it is time again
to come down the mountain and walk in the way of the cross as we begin the
Lenten Season. But fear not and don’t
miss our transfigured Lord Jesus Christ who desires to meet you, touch you, and
give you courage this day to face the season of Lent, face the way of the cross
with a posture of hope and not fear.
Amen.
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