The Transfiguration of Our Lord
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It is in our nature to love experiences. These are the things we remember, the times look back upon fondly as we grow older. As Humphrey Bogart said to Ingrid Bergman in the movie Casablanca, “We’ll always have Paris.” Amazing experiences are considered the measure of a life well-lived, and some people spend most of their time reminiscing on past events, longing for the “good old days”, measuring every current event against those of memory.
It’s easy to bring this way of thinking into the church. Do you remember the days when the church was social center of town, when there was standing room only at Christmas and Easter? Or perhaps you might remember a spiritual experience you had, a day when you promised to turn your life around, a time when you felt the nearness of God, some sort of spiritual epiphany that changed your life in a moment?
These experiences can be wonderful, but they can also be misleading. Many Christians find themselves chasing these sort of spiritual highs, filled with nagging guilt and regret because they are unable to sustain that emotional feeling throughout every day of life. Keith Green, one of the very first Christian artists from the Seventies, wrote a song lamenting the loss of “sweet communion” with the Lord, “I feel so sorry inside, that my first love has died.” Had he departed from the faith, renounced Christ, or fallen into gross sin? No. And yet he was plagued by guilt because that feeling he had first experienced when becoming a Christian was no longer there.
It's a common practice in many churches for people to get up and give their testimony, recounting the experiences they had that brought them to Christ—the more amazing and fantastical the better, it would seem. I have had a few amazing spiritual experiences myself, things that cannot be explained by science or reason. I’m sure most of you could tell a similar story or two. But St. Peter has a story that tops anything we have ever experienced. In his second letter to the church, Peter writes, “We were eyewitnesses of his majesty… We ourselves heard [the voice of God the Father] borne from heaven, for we were with [Jesus] on the holy mountain” (2 Pet 1:16, 18). If we were to rate spiritual experiences, I don’t think anything could top this: Seeing Jesus transformed to shine bright as the sun, hearing the Father’s voice speak from heaven, and just in case that wasn’t amazing enough, Moses and Elijah, two of the greatest men of the Old Testament, were also there for good measure. Now that would have been an amazing experience!
So amazing, in fact, that Peter didn’t want the moment to end. He offered to make three temporary tents to try to make the experience last forever. Of course, that would never work. In our lives, we too try to preserve those wonderful moments. Photo albums, souvenirs, mementos, all these things are an expression of our yearning for heaven, where time will be no more and nothing that is good will ever be lost. But try as we might, we cannot hang on to the things of this passing life. Honeymoons end, loved ones die, and even memories fade. No, Peter, even the most well-made tent will not preserve this mountain-top experience. This is a glimpse of what heaven will be, not a moment to be seized on earth.
Later in his life, a much wiser Peter would reflect on this greatest of all earthly experiences. “Yes, I was there,” Peter says. “I saw the majestic glory. I heard the voice from heaven. I was with Jesus on the holy mountain.” But we (including those of us who were not there) have something better, something more trustworthy, something more certain (2 Peter 1:19).What could be better than a life-changing experience? Peter answers, “We have the prophetic word.”
With our tendency to love experiences, it may seem a bit underwhelming to hear that the Word of God is better. I remember my pastor asking years ago, “Would you rather have a hundred dollars or the Word of God?” I was about ten or twelve and I thought, “Give me the hundred dollars!” We gravitate toward experiences and feelings and emotions in the same way that Peter was in a hurry to built some tents and prolong the glory of the mountaintop. But God the Father said to Peter and the other disciples, “This is my Son. Listen to Him” (Mt 17:5) Your heavenly Father knows what you truly need, the Word incarnate, “to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place” (2 Pet 1:19). Listen to Him.
The trouble with mountaintop experiences is that they are a very small part of life in this broken and sinful world. And these moments are generally fleeting and far in-between. Most of life is spent in the valleys. If you are counting on experiences to feel close to God and know that He loves you, your own conscience is likely to bear witness to the opposite. The bulk of your experiences say, “You are a rotten sinner. You don’t deserve a place in heaven. You are not worthy of eternal life. Why should God love you?” It’s hard to argue with all this. But the Word of God, which is more trustworthy than all human experience, tells you, “Your sins are forgiven. Your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. You are a beloved child of God, purchased by the blood of Jesus.”
The prophetic word, to which you would do well to pay attention, tells you that your status with God does not go up and down as our emotions do. It does not depend on your good behavior. How can you know with certainty that you are still a member of the family of God? How can you be sure that the promises of Christ still apply to you? Because you have something far more certain and sure than a feeling or a mountaintop experience. You have the prophetic word, which is backed by God’s own unchangeable and unbreakable nature. God has promised Himself to you, and He will not and cannot change His mind. The prophetic word, which you heard spoken in the absolution this morning, is a preview of the verdict that Christ Himself will pronounce upon you on the Day of Judgment. The words of forgiveness, which our Lord speaks in your hearing today, are the words that He has bound Himself to speak concerning you on the Last Day. Everything else in which we might be tempted to trust is shaky and uncertain, but the promises of Jesus are steadfast.
Nowhere are these promises more real and concrete than when the Word of God is added to the water of Holy Baptism and the bread and wine of Holy Communion. In these mysteries, the prophetic word is joined to physical elements so that you might feel, and see, and taste the love and forgiveness of God. The promise that is delivered to you as you hear the words of absolution, feel the water of baptism, and taste the elements of Holy Communion is far more sure and certain than anything else you might experience. Touch this water and know that you are God’s own child. Taste the wafer upon your tongue and know that Christ’s body was broken especially for you. Feel the wine slide down the back of your throat, as Luther said, and believe that your sins are forgiven.
This is the prophetic word, which has been spoken to you, and to which you will do well to pay attention. Experiences, amazing as some of them are, will not give you certainty of salvation. But the words of Christ can and do. And these words are faithful and true. These promises will sustain until the glorious day dawns at last, and the morning star rises in your hearts. Amen.