This is an Important Job

Steve Bowyer

Words & Works of Jesus • Sermon • Submitted 4 months ago • Presented 4 months ago

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Job Interviews

Job interviews. We’ve all been on them. Wanting that job, sending a resume, w/ references, hoping to get to the next step which is the interview. Maybe, there are more than one in the process.

Here, there was a search committee that posted the job on ministry placement websites. I sent a resume like about 100 other people. They paired down their list, sent a questionnaire, I answered as did most everyone else. We had a Skype interview, this was before Zoom became a thing. I spoke back and forth w/ several of the committee over the weeks. They called my references.

One friend told me about his convo w/ Ken VanDoorne. Obviously it went well. They paired their list down to 2 finalists, invited us both in to preach and meet the ppl here. Then, they decided to offer me the job.

Finding a ministry position can be pretty involved. Small church like this, it’s a little simpler.

Big churches may get 1,000 resumes. I’ve known of search committees that asked for a second list of references. B/C, the ones you list first are your best. They will speak the highest of you. The second tier, they may have a slight reservation.

I even know of one church that asked for a 3rd list of references. Now you get to some ppl who have a bone to pick. But, that was what the church was after. They knew nobody is perfect. They wanted to smoke out the imperfections and find out how the pastor dealt w/ it.

Finding the pastor for your church is kind of important. There are a number of factors. Good preacher. A likable person. And probably most important, a good wife.

Seriously, I’m just trying to keep up.

Let’s be honest, Sara is my greatest asset in ministry here. We have a great partnership.

Many of you have been on job interviews like this. Maybe you’ve interviewed ppl for a job. The more important the job, the more important the process and having the candidate prove they can do the job.

Beyond a resume. B/C, we only put the good stuff in print. Good ref’s.

Some of you maybe can relate to this. When Sara’s mom got to a point when she needed 24/7 care due to her dementia. We had to be diligent and very careful in hiring the right ppl.

Sara handled the first step. She collected resumes, called refs, and did initial interviews. Her brother and SIL interviewed the caregivers that made the cut.

What we were looking for were caregivers who were good, conscientious, caring, responsible, and trustworthy. They are going to be alone in the house w/ her mom who could not defend herself nor stop them from stealing if that’s what they came in to do.

We put cameras up for accountability.

And, for the most part, we found good people. There was one we had to fire.

But like every hire, you can’t ask every question. And the answers you get don’t cover everything. You do the best you can and then have to have faith and accountability.

As I’ve gone thru my process w/ prostate cancer. I’ve had to be diligent in choosing a doctor and treatment. I like my urologist in Flag okay. And, I like the radiology oncologist. But, my doc is so busy, when he first diagnosed me, he pressed me for an immediate decision on treatment. Surgery or radiation. Let’s go.

He encouraged me to get a second opinion. I was going to anyway consult w/ Mayo. But, he was ready to go.

I’m going to go consult at Mayo, but w/ whom? Well, it so happened the Sunday I announced what I was dealing w/, Lynn Otlewsky’s BIL was here and came up and talked to me about his doctor at Mayo and his surgery went great. So, I had a reference so I called and set up the appt w/ Dr. Andrews.

And, it’s Mayo. By reputation they are known as one of the best hospitals and treatments centers in the world. We have ppl here who swear by the care they are getting there. More references.

I met w/ Dr. Andrews and a couple of his interns, they tell me w/ what my doc in Flag found in his biopsy, it would be irresponsible to do anything at this point. The risks involved in both surgery and radiation are not worth it b/c of how little cancer he found.

That’s why we’re doing another, more involved biopsy in Feb to see if there is any more cancer. Either way, there won’t be much more if any. And, watch and wait may be the best approach right now.

I have to choose a doctor and a treatment for my cancer. You know I have to be as sure as I can be that I’m making the best choice. You would, too, if it were you.

Choosing a pastor, a caregiver, a doctor are all big and important decisions to make the best, right choice. And if you think these are big deals, what about choosing a Savior.

Resume? References? We have His word. We have eye-witness accounts. We’ve studied His powerful messages and miracles. We know He raised 3 people from the dead, but back to this life. What about the next life?

We can’t ask all the questions. And the answers we get fill in most of the blanks, but not all of them. So, is our faith in Jesus to be able to get us to the next life, and in the meantime provide all we need to survive till we get there, justified?

The entire bible is Jesus’ resume for us to consider.

The transfiguration gives us the best evidence yet that Jesus is Who He says He is and can do what He says He can do.

We are justified and confirmed right to have faith to give Jesus the job of Savior or our lives.

This is written about in 3 passages. Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9. We’re going to start in the Luke passage and finished in Matthew.

Setting

Luke 9:28 NIV

About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray.

They were about a week removed from when the discs confirmed they had faith that Jesus is the Messiah. This was much more than a title. It describes what they believe He is capable of doing.

Messiah, Savior, is the Son of God who can take away the sins of the ppl and save us.

Right after, Jesus described what the life of a follower of His is like. Deny yourself what you want. Pursue what God wants for you.

Now, we know that if you follow Jesus closely, He will change your desires to be what He desires for you. But, it still involves sac.

I talked about this last week. If you missed it, I’d encourage you to go back and watch it. The best indicator of whether or not you are denying yourself is how you spend your time, money, and energy.

Not that Jesus expects 24/7 involvement w/ Him. But, enough to demonstrate He is the most important thing in your life. More than family, hobbies, houses, and health.

But, He literally just asked us to give up everything we want for Him. Of course, He gave up much more for us.

But, is He worth living like this for? Denying what you want? Can He do what He says that would justify such sacrifice?

We’ll get into that in a minute.

Luke says 8 days. Mt and Mk say 6. don’t get hung up on what looks like a contradiction.

We’re going on vacation soon and we’ll be gone a week. 10 days. Is it a week? Or, 10 days? Yes, if you count the weekends on both ends.

So, was it 6 days, or 8? Yes, if you count the days on either end.

Anyway, just a week removed from instructing the discs that to be a follower of Jesus requires great sac. Are they sure it’s worth it? Can He really do what he said?

We’ve all been lied to in our lives. PPL have made promises they couldn’t keep. If we placed great faith in them only to have them let us down then shame on them, and us. Did we do our due diligence in making sure they were worthy of our faith?

Is Jesus?

He took His closest 3 discs, Peter, James, and John, up on a high mountain to pray. We don’t know which mountain. There are 2 most obvious possibilities, Mt. Hermon or Mt. Tabor. But there’s no way to know for sure.

Jesus goes off to pray. The 3 discs start to nod off. But, then something woke them up. It was like someone turned on the light in a dark room and started talking. How rude.

Or was getting roused out of a nap worth what they saw and heard?

This is Different!

Luke 9:29–31 NIV

As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.

We don’t know what time of day it was. But a light came on. It was much lighter than whatever sunshine they had.

Jesus morphed. He changed. He physically changed. His face, his clothes turned dazzling white. It was beyond bleach.

If you’ve ever been near a flash of lightening, it’s blinding. You can’t see for a few seconds after the flash.

Mt, Mk, and Lk all tried to describe the brightness. They had no frame of reference for what Peter, James, and John later described to them.

John wrote about what he saw in his gospel.

John 1:14 NIV

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

What the 3 of them were seeing was the glory of God. There is no human comparison. The glory came from w/in Jesus. It wasn’t like the sun got brighter, or one of these spotlights was on Him. It came from w/in Him. And, it was the full glory of God.

In that moment he demonstrated that He is fully God and all that God is and has is w/in Him.

He’s not just a guy who can fool us into thinking he’s more. He’s not a psychic, magician, salesman or performer. There was nothing natural about what happened there. This was supernatural. Not a human phenomena.

He is God.

Why didn’t Jesus have this look the entire time He was here w/ them? It was veiled. He was one of them.

Besides, the glory of God is so intense it kills ppl unless God chooses to save them. That’s why there was such a thick curtain in the temple. When it was first built, the glory of God filled the space behind it. If a sinful person wondered back they, they’d drop dead immediately. The curtain saved the priests’ lives.

For that brief moment, these 3 discs saw what Moses saw when He got to go into the tent of meeting before the temple was built and God preserved all of them.

After they left Egypt, and were wondering in the wilderness, Mo would meet w/ God. When he came out, his face would still be glowing from his encounter w/ the glory of God. It would fade eventually.

Luke described Moses and Elijah appearing in glorious splendor in the same way. They had just left heaven, the presence of God and His glory. Their brightness did not come from w/in them. It shown on them and would fade if they would have stayed long enough.

Not only did they see Jesus in all His glory, they saw his references. You think you’ve got strong ref’s on your resume? He has Moses and Elijah.

Can Jesus give us life after we die here? Is there a heaven where we will live forever in the presence of God.

Mo had been dead 1,500 years and Elijah over 500. Yet, there they were. This was not the zombie apocalypse. They were very alive. Recognizable. Able to converse w/ Jesus. They were at least as alive then as they were before they left this life. Probably more.

Why Mo and Eli?

Moses rep’d the OT law and Eli rep’d the OT prophets. Mo rep’d the old way of doing things to be right w/ God. Eli rep’d the hope of the future kingdom, heaven.

They basis of their teaching when they were alive were these issues. Mo taught Is how to relate to God by faithfully keeping the law. Eli warned Is that b/c they had become unfaithful and disobedient they would be punished by Babylon. But those who returned to God in faithful ob would see the kingdom in the future.

They rep’d the past and the future. Jesus rep’s our present hope and connection from the past to the future.

The law pointed to Jesus as the keeper of the keys to the kingdom.

The convo the disc heard them have was about Jesus’ departure. The Greek word here is “Exodus”.

Further tying Jesus to Mo and the law, Eli and the promised coming kingdom .

The OT Exodus was God redeeming Israel out of bondage and slavery. He saved them and delivered them into the freedom of their PL.

Jesus’ exodus, his suffering and death on the cross will pay for us, give us value, redeem us. His work will deliver us into our promised land, heaven. He liberates us from our bondage. We are no longer slaves if we have the faith in Jesus to save us. He saves us into the kingdom Eli taught believers to look forward to.

You think you might have a strong resume w/ good ref’s? How about Jesus’!

Only God has glory like that, shines that bright. Jesus is God.

His ref’s are men who lived long ago. One, Moses, dead for 1500 years but still alive. The other, dead for 600 years. Jesus didn’t do a Lazarus on them, bring them back to life here. He gave them life in heaven where they’d been until this day; and then returned where they are today.

Yes, Jesus is qualified and capable to save you. Mo and Eli proved there is life after death. They looked no worse for the wear.

Imagine being there to see this.

That week earlier Jesus had said some of them would see Jesus come in His kingdom glory. This was it. This was a brief foreshadowing of what Jesus will look like when comes again to take all believers into His kingdom.

Peter got it right. He understood exactly what this meant. But he didn’t get the timing right.

Peter Got it Right

Luke 9:32–33 NIV

Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.)

Dozing off. Sudden light and ppl talking woke them up.

Peter wanted to build 3 shelters.

The shelters he was referring to were the shelters the ppl would build during the feast of tabernacles.

This was a week-long festival, celebrating God leading Israel out of Egypt and thru the wilderness into their PL.

For the festival, families would put up temporary shelters, tents on their roof, or backyard. Live in them for the week. Cook over an open fire. All this, just like their ancestors did when they were wandering.

Neighbors saw each other. They partied. Laughed. It was a joyous occasion.

Think a cross between Xmas and backyard camping.

Christmas has a very important Christian beginning. But, it’s a season of parties and joy.

This feast anticipates believers final regathering in the PL. The wedding feast of the Lamb when Jesus sits at the head of the table and leads us in the feast that welcomes us to heaven.

It’s when he passes the 4th cup of the Seder. We celebrate communion w/ the 3rd cup, the cup of redemption. He never got to the 4th cup. But he will. And the feast of tabernacles anti

In c.1 Israel was oppressed by Rome, held down as slaves, and they looked forward to the coming Messiah who would gather the ppl in Kingdom under His reign.

Peter wanted to create the equivalent of this festival commemorating the Exodus. He fully understood the significance of Moses, Elijah, and Jesus in this moment. But, He thought the kingdom was coming right then and they needed to prepare for it.

But, Mo and Eli were just leaving. They will be back. They are the 2 witnesses that show up during the tribulation in preparation for Jesus’ return when He will establish His kingdom.

As clear as it was to Peter what was happening, soon things got cloudy.

Things Got Cloudy

Luke 9:34–36 NIV

While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen.

They were engulfed in a cloud.

During the Exodus, God’s presence in the cloud guided them by day. Fire by night.

In the temple, behind the curtain, when God was present, he was in the form of a cloud that they could see, smell, and understand.

Here, the presence of God surrounded them. And, similar to when Jesus was baptized, God spoke and confirmed who Jesus is.

How about that as a reference if you’re looking for a Savior?

Peter wrote about this in one of the letters he penned

2 Peter 1:17 NIV

He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

As all this transpired, according to Matthew’s account, the discs were terrified.

Imagine, put yourself in their place. A voice from heaven.

Matthew 17:6–8 NIV

When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.

The glory of God is enough to kill them. The presence of God is enough to kill them.

Terrified would be an understatement.

Jesus calmed them. It only lasted a few minutes. Then, the glory was gone, the witnesses were gone, and the cloud was gone.

Also, in the Mt passage, Jesus instructed to keep this on the DL until after the resurrection. It’s not clear why. But the discs obeyed this request.

There was so much they had yet to understand. Maybe if they tried to explain what they saw this day they would have misled people more than they would have helped lead them to Jesus.

This event was a foreshadowing of what is going to happen when Jesus returns. A brief authentication of what Jesus had said about Himself.

In this, there is confirmation that Jesus is God. He is capable and qualified to be our Messiah, Savior. No one else in history has offered such strong evidence.

There is confirmation of eternal life. Yes, there is life after death. But how long will we live. Moses had lived 1500 years in heaven when he came to visit w/ Jesus on the mountain.

Time is a non-issue in heaven. But, we’ll have an infinite amount of it when we get there.

This was confirmation that Jesus is greater than Moses and Elijah. Their brightness was cast on them. Jesus’ came from w/in Him.

This was confirmation of our Exodus. We will leave the bondage of this life, our sin, its effect on us and Jesus will lead us to freedom and our PL.

If the disciples left their interaction w/ Jesus w/ any reservations when He told them it would cost them everything to continue to follow Him all of their lives, then the events on this mountain top would clear them up.

No one would naturally want to give up all they have, all they want w/out some assurances that the future will be great w/out all this stuff. The transfiguration give us the assurances.

Jesus has given us a strong resume, His powerful messages and miracles. But the window he opened to heaven on this mountaintop is the most powerful assurance and evidence that whatever we give up for Him now, He will make up for many times over in heaven.

Just like He says He will.

Applications

Any hesitations?

Jesus has just told you to be willing to give everything you love up for Him. He has promised to provide you more in heaven.

Is there still anything you are hesitating to give up, afraid your life will not be as good w/out it.

But, if Jesus has asked you to give it up, then your life will be better w/out it. How can you be sure?

The Transfiguration. No more hesitations. Give up what Jesus is asking to give up.

Any reservations?

Any reservations left about putting all your faith in Jesus?

Even if you have already, are you wondering if it was a wise move putting all your eggs in this one basket?

If you did, then there is only 1 reservation left. That one is your reservation at His table at the wedding feast of the Lamb when we all get to heaven.

Stop hedging your bet. Put all your faith in Jesus, not only to get you to heaven, but provide what you need to manage your life while you’re here.

Our Exodus

Freedom. Jesus has unlocked the cuffs that have bound you to whatever bad habit you’re trying to kick. He is leading you from that binding into the freedom to not have to do it ever again.

Let it go. Don’t go back.

Choosing a pastor, a caregiver, a doctor are all big and important decisions to make the best, right choice. And if you think these are big deals, what about choosing a Savior.

The entire bible is Jesus’ resume for us to consider.

The transfiguration gives us the best evidence yet that Jesus is Who He says He is and can do what He says He can do.

We are justified and confirmed right to have faith to give Jesus the job of Savior or our lives.

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