Matthew 17:1-9                                           Transfiguration Sunday

 I was at church camp. A framed wooden building served as eating and meeting house. Cement floors, screened walls, and tall pines surrounded room full of sweaty kids. I don’t know exactly how old I was, but I think about 12. Renny, our retreat leader, had taught us a new song a capella, one I think he composed himself. It goes like this.... “Sing out love to all the world. God is here. God is here. Sing out love to all the world. God is here. God is here. Sing out love to all the world. God is here. God is here. Sing out love to all the world. God is here. God is here.” We sang it in a round. It took us a long time to get it all, but when we did, I was transported.

 I can’t explain it, but I knew God was there. I felt God’s holiness and presence. I can remember the warm feeling even now, even though it has been years since I thought much about it. As I told you last week, I have always referred to my experience at age fifteen as the pivotal one, when I made a conscious decision to follow Jesus, but God’s Spirit was moving me before that time, just like God’s Spirit is moving in you, in all of us, even now, whether we notice it or not, whether we reflect on it or not.

 I wonder what experiences of God’s holy presence you’ve had and perhaps forgotten, or buried. Another memory that returned to me in my spiritual reflections this week was my dad’s memorial service in 2001. I remember reading the end of Romans 8.
I was the only family member missing from his dying bedside in the hospital, but we flew home immediately from England, all six of us, as soon as he had the massive stroke that would take his life just hours later. I remember walking to the pulpit to read scripture and as soon as the words came out, “What can we say about these things?
If God is for us, who can be against us? ....Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord", and I was transformed from grieving daughter to a passionate believer, proclaimer of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which upholds us in life and in death, in sorrow, in regret, in forgiveness, and in release. Not a mountaintop day but a valley raised.

 Think for a moment about your life. When did you know God was there? When were you moved to tears because of the beauty of God’s good creation? When did you see for the first time or in a new and different way the love Jesus Christ for you, for others? Were you in worship? Were you watching the waves roll in? Were you looking into the eyes of a newborn baby? Were you lying in bed feeling less lonely than the night before? Where you on the other side of surgery, able to breathe again? When did you experience the awesome presence of the Holy One? Take a pen and write down on your bulletin, I saw the glory of God when.... Finish the sentence. Now even if your experience was not as profound as you would have liked, maybe it wasn’t very dramatic at all, or perhaps you still struggle with doubts, yet that moment was memorable. Claim it. God was stirring up something in you. If something has bubbled up, share it with someone near you. Just ever so briefly. Share one sentence, not a the whole story.

 And now hear the story of the disciples mountaintop experience with Jesus.
 

 ^NRSMatthew 17:1 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. ² And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. ³ Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. ⁴ Then Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." ⁵ While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" ⁶ When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. ⁷ But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Get up  and do not be afraid." ⁸ And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. ⁹ As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead." (The Word of the Lord...Thanks be to God.)
 

 Peter, James, and John, three of the four fishermen, whose call to follow Jesus we read last week, are the mountain top guys. Jesus took three, just three. Jesus shows us, you see, that our sphere of direct influence is rather small. Three close friends. Twelve colleagues, and then the crowds. Three closest friends are the ones who share this profound experience, which for Jesus must have been a sort of confirmation experience. Baptism by John in the Jordan and a voice says, “This is my Son, the beloved. Listen to him.” And then, because Jesus, being human like us, receives a reaffirmation of his calling, this time in more dramatic form. The first time was with cousin John, and there’s voice from heaven and a dove descending. This time his face shines with God’s glory, and Moses and Elijah appear, along with a bright cloud, and again the same voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with him I am well-pleased; listen to him.”

 This was an awe-inspiring experience for the disciples. They did not forget it, even though they were not supposed to share it until after he was raised from the dead. Of course, at this point, they probably had no idea what he meant when he said, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” Who? What? No they were still awe-struck. Did you hear that voice? God’s Son? Our teacher Jesus. Moses and Elijah, wow! Quite a mountain top experience. Unbelievable. No, quite believable. Unreal. No, more real than any other experiences they had.

 I mean can you imagine being taught about a historical figure in the faith all your life and then, “There he or she is.” “But what if this was all in their imaginations?” Some of you  are saying to yourselves. Perhaps this supernatural experience was in their heads. What if it was? Well, which is real, I ask you: That which you can prove scientifically? Or that which you know experientially? As the scientific revolution began taking over the human mind, insisting that nothing is real until proven empirically, 1611 the English poet, John Donne, wrote:

                             [The] new Philosophy calls all in doubt,
                                The Element of fire is quite put out;
                         The Sun is lost, and th'earth, and no man's wit
                               Can well direct him where to look for it

 After he died, my dad came to me in a dream and spoke some very important words to me. Was that not real? I believe that was just as real as that screen is real, probably more real, because anything that is relational is more real than inanimate objects. Did Jesus’ face shine like the sun and did his clothing really turn bright white? Yes, that’s the experience of the disciples which they shared and is now recorded in the Bible as revelation. Can we really see the face of Christ in people we meet? Can we experience the presence of the saints who have gone on before us? Can we know beyond a shadow of doubt that God is present with us, that God loves us? Yes, I believe we can, but it doesn’t happen in ways that can be empirically, scientifically proven. And we should try to avoid jumping to conclusions quickly, but live into the experience. Peter was rushing to try to figure out something to do, “Here, Jesus, I’ll make booths for you, Moses, and Elijah.” when really he just needed to listen. “This is my Son. Listen to him.”

 That is the message God is trying to get to us every day, “This is my Son, Jesus Christ, listen to him.” Listen to him in the people around you. Listen to him in the clouds. Listen to him in the bright shining Florida sun. Listen to him in the voices you hear in the night. Listen to him in the beauty of life all around you. Listen to him in the blessings that come without warning. Listen to him in the Word and in the Sacrament and in the confessions of the church. Listen to him. God gives you these experiences so you will tune in and listen. So stop analyzing and trying to understand everything with objectivity. Stop busying yourselves with tasks, even worthwhile tasks. And go sit on a mountain or kneel by your bed or watch the sunset on the beach. Listen in worship. Listen for God’s voice. That’s the real life. The rest is just imaginary.

 The Spirit of Jesus Christ is all around you, wanting everywhere in every way to transform you into the image of God, your Savior, who says to you, “You are my beloved.” Sing out love to all the world. God is here. God is here on the mountains and in the valleys. God is here when we worship. Fall on your knees and dare to be inspired by the revelation of God in Jesus Christ.