Luke 9:28-39
Toward the end of the movie The Wizard of Oz there’s a scene where Dorothy, the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion encounter the “real” wizard. They’re in the Emerald City looking at the larger-than-life figure they think is the Wizard of Oz. Then Dorothy’s dog Toto pulls back the curtain, and everyone finds that the wizard is just an ordinary man. It was an illusion all along, just special effects. His cry of “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain” falls on deaf ears. When the curtain is pulled back, the truth is revealed and he is seen for what he is.[1] In our text today, the curtain is pulled back and Jesus is revealed for who he truly is. Unlike the wizard of Oz, though, Jesus had seemed like an ordinary man, and now is revealed to be the Son of God as he is transfigured in front of Peter, James and John. The human curtain is pulled back and Jesus is shown for who he truly is. The glory of God is revealed and Jesus shines dazzling white.
Today is Transfiguration Sunday. It is the Sunday before Lent begins, the festival day that bridges the season after Epiphany and the season of Lent. In these past several weeks we’ve explored the beginnings of Jesus’ ministry and we’ve seen how the glory of God manifests in the world through Jesus Christ. And today we see the ultimate manifestation of Christ’s glory on the mountaintop.
In this passage Jesus takes three disciples to the top of a mountain to pray. And while Jesus is praying, he begins to shine. Two important figures from Israelite history, Moses and Elijah, appear and discuss Jesus’ exodus that he is about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Some bibles translate the word “departure” or “exit” but it’s significant to point out that it’s the same word that’s translated “exodus”. The Gospel writer Luke clearly uses it to draw parallels to the Exodus from Egypt which involved the liberation of the Hebrew people from slavery. Jesus’ exodus will also involve liberation. This time, liberation for all humanity.
When Peter sees what’s happening he offers to set up some tents or some other kind of living structure so Jesus, Moses, and Elijah can stay here on the mountaintop. It is often pointed out that he suggested this because he was under the impression that it would be best to stay on the mountaintop. There’s a lot of meaning in the fact that Jesus instructs them to follow him back down the mountain into the valley of suffering rather than remain on the mountaintop of glory. And in the verses that follow what we read this morning, verse 51 says “Jesus set his face toward Jerusalem”—the place he was going to die. And when they do come down the mountain, they keep quiet about all that they saw up there. In Matthew and Mark we learn that Jesus told them to not tell anyone what they said seen until he had risen from the dead.
But after Jesus rose from the dead, these disciples would not keep quiet; they would tell the story and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. For now though, these disciples are still learning how to follow Jesus and how to let their light shine.
In the reading from Second Corinthians, the apostle Paul makes it clear that followers of Jesus are called to let our light shine. We are not to put a veil over ourselves and keep quiet about our faith. Paul references the story from Exodus about Moses shining and wearing a veil, and Paul tells the church in Corinth to remove their veils. Similarity, we are called to have unveiled faces and unveiled lives. To not be guarded or ashamed of the light within us. Or as Jesus says elsewhere, to not hide your lamp under a bushel basket. Instead, we are called to live life with unveiled faces, to follow Jesus, and to let our light shine!
There are many ways we can let our light shine. We let our light shine when we live the way Jesus did. When we love the way Jesus loved. When we care for the poor and the outcast and the refugee like Jesus did. We let our light shine when we live out the values of the gospel: simplicity and compassion, justice and mercy, serving the poor and speaking truth to power. And we let our light shine when we tell others how much of a difference our relationship with God has made in our lives. When we share the good news of God’s love and healing and forgiveness.
Unfortunately there are many veils we have that prevent us from shining our light. Things that keep us from emulating the words and deeds of Jesus, from living the way Jesus did. What keeps us from shining our light? All of us, myself included, are affected by sin in some ways we may not even recognize that dim the light of Christ in us. The journey of discipleship involves the Holy Spirit healing and transforming those parts of us that dim the divine light. It involves healing and empowerment and learning to walk the path of Christ. And it’s not just sin and selfishness that dim the divine light; it can also be our insecurity and self-doubts. Either we don’t wanna upset others or we don’t have the confidence or belief in ourselves that we have anything worth sharing. Whether it’s being too nervous to share your faith story or too fearful to stand up to injustice, we often lack the spiritual confidence Jesus sought to build in his disciples.
These issues that dimmed the divine light were very real for the disciples too. Peter had a lot going on that dimmed his light, and he clearly had a lot of blunders that the Gospel writers are happy to share with us. Peter didn’t know what to say when he saw the glory of Jesus Christ on the mountaintop, so he blurted out a nonsense idea that reflected his misunderstanding of what Jesus was about. This same Peter would make many mistakes and eventually deny he even knew Jesus three times the night Jesus was arrested. Nevertheless, the light of Christ formed Peter into a light bearer himself. A person through whom the light of Jesus shined brightly. He is traditionally considered the first pope and was a confident leader in the early church. After much struggle, the divine light in him did in fact shine brightly.
The same is true for each of us. Despite our mistakes. Despite our blunders. Despite our not knowing what to say sometimes. Despite our fears and doubts and sins. Through it all, God is forming us to be bearers of light who bring God’s love and light to a world in need. The Holy Spirit is transforming each of us and using our lives to help us grow into light bearers who shine the light of Christ brightly.
It's not that we have to shine our light in order to make God love us or accept us or save us. Being transformed by Christ’s light isn’t a requirement to be saved or accepted by God. It’s what happens as a result of God’s love and acceptance and grace, not a requirement for it. As we walk on our journey with God, the Holy Spirit heals and transforms us and we grow brighter. Because when we’ve been so touched by the love and grace of God, and are naturally transformed by it. The Holy Spirit is at work making each of us a bright light-bearer for Christ. Someone who shines the light of God in the world through our words and deeds, through the way we talk and the way we act and the way we share God’s love.
As we celebrate the glory of Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration this day, so too let us enter into the season of Lent this week and prepare ourselves for the Holy Spirit’s refining process. That we face those things that dim the divine light in us, and invite the Spirit to transform us into light bearers who shine the light of Christ in all we do. Like those first disciples who learned to be light bearers to a suffering world, let us also follow Jesus and shine brightly.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[1] Illustration idea from: https://www.sermonsuite.com/free-access/sermon-illustrations-transfiguration-sunday-2020
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