February 11, 2024 | Dynamics of Faith: A Life of Faith

Transfiguration Sunday | Mark 9: 2-9 

 

Rev. Andrew Chappell asks this of his congregation:

Are you prepared to allow God to change you in such important and intense ways that he might be able to use you for peace? 

Are you ready to allow God to transfigure your life? 

Are you ready to live a life of dynamic faith?

 

The Transfiguration.

I’ve always viewed the transfiguration of Jesus as this weird, hard to fathom thing. When I think of the idea of transfiguration, I immediately think of the moment in Beauty and the Beast, when the beast transfigures back into a human…OR in Harry Potter’s Transfiguration class, when he transfigures animals into goblets.

I have memories when I was young of asking my father (who is a pastor) what the transfiguration meant…and he didn’t say it was magic or that it involved anything to do with Disney. He just said this: “It’s a mystery. No one really knows what this scene is or what Jesus became at that moment. But we do know that it was a response to a protest and a glimpse into the future.” Let me explain.

Answer to a Question.

In chapter 8, after Jesus feeds four thousand with a few fish and heals a blind man, he goes to Caesarea Philippi (on the northern end of present day Israel) and asks his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” 

Of course, Peter is the one to respond (confidently, as he often does), “I’ll tell you who you are…you are the Christ, the Messiah.” 

And then Jesus goes on to tell them about the suffering and death that is in store for him. He shares word for word what is coming his way. And Peter, always a hot head, grabs Jesus and protests, “This can’t be! We won’t let you go this way! Don’t talk like this! We will protect you!” 

That’s when Jesus exclaims, “Get behind me Satan.” And he then calls out to the crowd, but we all know he’s saying these things to Peter, “If you are going to follow me, then follow me! And let me lead! Indeed the kingdom is coming…the day is coming when the world shall see what I’m talking about, the world shall witness true glory, the splendor of God, an army of angels, the Son of Man…”

And not a week later, Mark says, they SEE a glimpse of what Jesus is talking about. And all of it occurs when they climb the mountain and three disciples have this mountain top experience.

Mountain Tops

Have you ever experienced something like that? A mountain top experience I mean? An moment between you and God that changed you? And it is seared into your brain?

It’s interesting, in film and literature, in our cultural stories, whenever there is a mountain, something big is happening, something that will change the course of the story.

(My favorite marvel movie is Iron Man, and if you remember that story)...Weapons manufacturer Tony Stark (after being injured by his own weapons), creates his first prototype of the Iron Man suit and begins a deep philosophical change of how he sees his life in the mountains of Afghanistan.

The mountains are present in the Lord of the Rings as well. Throughout and at the end of the story, Frodo Baggins contends with the destruction of evil, which has to occur at Mt. Doom, in the mountains of Mordor, and such an experience transforms Frodo in the process.

In Frozen, Elsa sings Let it Go and finally allows herself to become who she is in the mountains of Arendell.

Authors and filmmakers love to have big moments set near or on or in the mountains. Scripture is no different. The authors of Scripture continually depict God as someone who loves the mountain top.

Exodus 19-20 - God descends on Mount Sinai in fire and thunder to meet Moses and share ten commandments. 

1 Kings 19 - God meets Elijah on Mount Horeb in a gentle whisper and offers renewal and strength.

Zechariah 14 - Zechariah is given a prophecy that one day, God will descend upon the Mount of Olives and establish justice and the reign of God’s kingdom. (Which is why you see graves on the Mount of Olives today - people want to be close to the action).

God loves a mountain top…and more often than not, mountain top moments are transitional experiences. They are important moments in which God introduces a change that has consequences for the future.

The Transfiguration

Jesus and his three friends go up to the mountain top, and we are told that while there, Jesus is transfigured before their very eyes. The Greek there is metamorphoo - where we get the word metamorphosis. 

What does that mean? It means Jesus looks different. It means his form changes. His cloth