Shiny Jesus… Squirrel!

The Holy Gospel According to St. Matthew, the 17^th Chapter

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.

Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 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.” 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!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. 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.”

We’re at the end of the season of Epiphany... the light season.  At the beginning of this season the star guided wise men across the desert to find the baby Jesus and at this end of the season Jesus himself shines on top of a mountain.  Peter, James and John went with Jesus up the mountain and there they saw Jesus transfigured, which basically means he got super shiny.  Really, really shiny because it says he shone like the sun!  It was God’s not-so-subtle way of trying to catch the easily distractible disciple’s attention and get them to focus on Jesus.

You’ve seen those big promotions at car dealerships where there’s the year end blowout sale?  They inflate a giant gorilla, set up an enormous sound system, have a celebrity give an endorsement and have giant searchlights sweep the sky.  That is sort of what God was doing here.  Doing something big and bright and loud to get the disciple’s attention and then God pointed at Jesus and said, “Look here,” this here is my Son, HE is THE MOST IMPORTANT THING…LISTEN to him…DO what he does...He is the answer…AND He is right HERE with you!

In the Transfiguration, God reminded the disciples, and reminds us, that our focus should be Jesus… that we are to be a Jesus church.  That may seem obvious but we're easily distracted.  That means we are not a Bible church, we are a Jesus church.  We are not a young people, retired people, charter member, new member or family church... we are a Jesus church.  We are not a women’s group, youth group, Sunday school, sewing group, altar guild, fellowship group, stewardship or evangelism church either, we are a Jesus church.

Now, don’t get me wrong, those other things are important.  The Bible?  Very important… It more clearly than anything else we have, points to Jesus.  And our people, worship and programs are really important too because they also point to Jesus.  But none of those things are were our focus is supposed to stop.  We may start there but in the end our focus should rest on the One that God made shiny on top of that mountain.  The One whom God called “My Son, the Beloved.”  The One who God reminds us is here, right here, always with us... the One we are supposed to listen to.  That’s our focus.  We are called to be a Jesus church and the message of the Transfiguration is that Jesus is to be both our focus and the beacon we follow as we live our lives. 

Apparently Peter, James and John needed this dramatic reminder and to be honest, we may need it even more!  Not only do we have so many more distractions in our lives today with the pace of the world, technology and the information we are bombarded with, but ironically at times it seems that we get distracted from Jesus by thinking and wondering and discussing and confessing things about Jesus! 

There is a story of a church that received a bequest from one of the pillars of the congregation to purchase a painting of Jesus feeding the five thousand.  A group of the most faithful, loyal, devoted Christians in the congregation got together and seriously focused on, talked about and theologized about what kind of painting they wanted to commission for their church.  They deeply wanted to find an artist who would both communicate the essence of the story but would also draw people deeply and personally into this instance of God's grace in the most powerful manner possible.  They focused and talked and prayed and wondered about this story and their task for three hours until someone suggested they take a break and get something to eat for lunch.  Leaving the church they stepped over a homeless hungry man on the doorsteps of their church still talking about Jesus feeding the five thousand.

One of the most important things we do when we come together for worship is to help one another experience a weekly transfiguration.  To remind one another again that Jesus, and what Jesus did and is doing in the world, is to be our focus.  It is a time to realize again, God’s Son is with us listening to us, caring for us, loving us, forgiving us, claiming and naming us, feeding us and healing us.  But also to hear again that Jesus is there to actively guide us to an abundant life, filled with meaning and worth that starts now and never ends.  Later, I'll hold the cup and the bread and tell you, and hopefully remind us all again that Jesus is here, not only in a spiritual way but in a way we can all feel and see and touch and taste.  Holy Communion too, is God reminding us again that God's Son is with us and Jesus is to be our focus!

Just one reminder may not be enough though.  Do you remember how this Gospel lesson started?  It went like this: “Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain.”  Do you know what happened six days before this?  Six days before this Peter confessed Jesus was the Messiah, God’s Son, but now, just six short days later he apparently needed a HUGE reminder!  Then they went down the mountain and what happened?  They needed another reminder, pretty much right away.  We need those reminders too because focusing on and following Jesus isn't easy.  It means staying on the mountain and getting comfortable isn't an option.  Jesus wants us down the mountain and out in the world transforming it into the Kingdom of God.  We need to, for example, both feed the hungry AND confront people in power and ask why people are hungry.  That sort of thing is scary and we tend to be easily distracted from things that are scary.  So we need the reminder... both of our call AND that aren't alone.  Jesus goes with us… leads us and loves us without condition and without limit.

We need all the help we can get… inflatable gorillas, searchlights, booming voices, brilliant lights or whatever else it might take to remind us, like God reminded Peter, James and John, that God’s Son Jesus is the light and life of the world.  We need those reminders so we don't get distracted by things of the world or even by things that point to Jesus… but instead that we focus on JESUS...God's Son, the beloved… so we will LISTEN to him… and more than that, FOLLOW him, living as he lived… challenging the world to become the place God created it to be… the Kingdom of God.  Amen.