ASTOUNDED

A sermon by George R. Pasley

2 Corinthians 3:17-4:2; Luke 9:28-45 

I don’t care what anyone says, I insist: none of us have ever seen anything like it.

Peter, James and John were used to miracles: they’d seen them, even commanded them by this time, and they were rather dumfounded. Peter didn’t know what he was saying; none of them said anything about what they had seen- not until later.

I admit- maybe some of us have had mountaintop experiences- experiences which we could not adequately explain, experiences which have left us speechless.

But this experience- overhearing a conversation between Jesus, Elijah and Moses; seeing his face change and his clothes becomes as bright as a flash of lightning; being surrounded by a cloud and hearing the voice of God- well, even preachers have a hard time explaining it. It was astounding. In fact, it was probably like- oh, I don’t know- going down to your boat and finding a mermaid who had volunteered to be first mate!

So I’m not going to try and explain that experience. But I am going to try and explain what Luke wants us to know, because he gives us lots of clues.

Clue number one: this experience happened 8 days later. Eight days probably means something, and it is probably connected to something else in scripture that happened on an eighth day- or the first day, depending on how you number the days in a week. Something that happened on Sunday.

Clue number two: this happened after Jesus said something, and that something was very similar- almost identical- to the something that Jesus said at the end of our passage- “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.”

Clue number three: Moses and Elijah appeared with him. They signify the law and the prophets, and Luke later tells a story about the first Easter in which Jesus, “beginning with Moses and the prophets, explains (to two disciples) what was said in the scriptures concerning his suffering.”

Clue number four: Peter, James and John were very sleepy, but they awoke to see two men- the afore-mentioned Moses and Elijah- standing with Jesus in his glory. Luke later tells us that when the women found and empty tomb on Easter morning, they also saw two men in the tomb whose clothes “gleamed like lightning.”

Clue number five: Moses and Elijah were speaking with Jesus about his departure. The Greek word is Exodus. They were speaking to him about that subject which preceded this experience and which concludes the passage. They were speaking about his death, just as the scriptures do.

Clue number six: A voice from the cloud- God’s voice- announces “This is my son.” This may be the clue that is hardest to put in place, but the announcement is quite similar to that which had been made at Jesus baptism, an event that symbolizes death.

Clue number seven: The story of what happened when they came down the mountain seems like a completely different event, but it’s not if we look at something it points to. For instance, the child who was seized by an evil spirit was the man’s ONLY CHILD, which reminds us of the voice of God. The child, beloved by his father, was seized by a demon and was in the midst of being destroyed. The disciples could not drive it out- only the power of Jesus saved him. While the crowds were marveling at what happened, Jesus chose that very moment to start talking about his own death.

Clue number eight: An understanding of what Jesus was talking about WAS HIDDEN FROM THEM, just as Jesus himself had been hidden from them while he was in his glory on the mountain.

So the appearance of glory is followed by a reminder of suffering, and the whole passage is bracketed by predictions of crucifixion. This passage is a way of saying, “Glory will come, and it will be dazzling, but it will come at a cost that is astounding.”

So let me tell you an astounding story. Astounding, but very true.

It happened in 1957, in Croatia. A beloved nanny was caring for two boys- Daniel, age 5, and Miroslav, age one. But for some unknown reason, Daniel escaped his nanny’s attention and left the house. He journeyed down the street to a small army garrison, where he entered and visited the soldiers. The soldiers were bored, looking for a little joy, and one of them picked up Daniel and placed him on a horse drawn cart. As the cart passed through a gate, Daniel peeked over the edge. His head was caught between the cart and the gate, but the horses kept going. Daniel’s head was crushed, and he died.

The soldier who had placed Daniel on that cart was devastated. But Daniel’s father, rather than judging the soldier, rather than holding a grudge, rather than seeking vengeance, forgave the soldier. In fact, he refused to press charges after the man was arrested, and he made countless visits to the solder, to comfort him. Likewise the nanny, Aunt Milica, was never blamed, and held a beloved place in the family until her own death decades later.

That does not mean the family did not suffer through Daniel’s death. In the words of Miroslav, the surviving son, his mother (who lost three babies prematurely) was “heartbroken” and his father had “a wound in his heart that would never quite heal.” (Miroslav Volf, “Free of Charge”)

Yet they forgave.

Why did they forgive the nanny and the soldier?

They did it because of what Jesus did.

They did it because of what God did.

They did it because Jesus died for us, at our hand.

They did it because God forgave us, though Jesus Christ.

They did what was astounding because of what was even more astounding.

So why did Jesus do what he did?

Why did he die for us?

Why does God forgive us?

Other than to say, “Because that’s what God does,” I don’t know- no more than Peter knew what was happening up there on the mountain. But I do know this- it is a glorious thing, a thing so glorious that it makes a flash of lightning seem terribly dull, a thing so glorious that when I comprehend it I am almost speechless.

Consider the art that begins its display in our narthex this week.

One of the posters features Judas leading the soldiers to arrest Jesus.

Another features Peter denying that he knows Jesus!

Yet another portrays Jesus being whipped by the soldiers.

The final picture portrays the crucifixion.

Those pictures portray more than our failures as human beings to live humanely and courageously. More significantly, they portray the depths that God has gone to bring about reconciliation with us.

So let me tell you another story, about a brother and sister, Eric and Debbie.

Eric had everything going for him- a college education, the attention of lots of nice girls, good job offers, and a bright future. But Eric was tormented by voices. So one day, when he was 28 years old, Eric walked away and never came back.

He left his home in Florida and went to Texas, where he lived on a vacant lot, and picked up trash along Interstate 10 outside San Antonio.

Meanwhile, his sister Debbie worried about him. She prayed for him. She looked for him.

Debbie got married, had children, raised a family. But she worried for Eric.

She worried, and worried, and worried, and she looked, every way she could, every chance she got.

Then one day Debbie got a phone call from a lawyer in Texas. He was Eric’s court appointed attorney. No, Eric wasn’t in trouble- but he’d been brought into the hospital by paramedics who found him curled up in pain by the side of the road. To deal with all the issues at the hospital he’d been assigned an attorney. Eric had cancer. He was dying.

So Debbie left her home in Florida to visit Eric. Once there, she decided she needed to stay, as long as it took. She rented an apartment, and she spent hour after hour, day after day, week after week, at Eric’s bedside. She knew Eric was dying, but she didn’t want him to die without remembering and experiencing once more one very significant fact: he was loved. So she had to stay, because Eric didn’t remember.

Each week she visited a church. One week she told the pastor her story, and the pastor asked her, “How do you keep from giving up?”

“It’s simple,” Debbie said. “He’s my brother.”

So I imagine that one day in glory, when we have the courage to ask, Jesus will say the same thing.

“It’s simple. I’m your brother, and you are loved.”

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.