A Glimpse of Glory (Mark 9:2-10)=

Rev. Jenn= ifer E.=20 Barrett Siegal

February = 22, 2009

Old South= Union=20 Church

Holy God, you have revealed the glor= y of=20 your love in Jesus Christ, and you have given us a share in your Spirit. <= SPAN=20 style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> May we who listen to Christ follo= w=20 faithfully, and may we reveal the light of your truth in all the places we= =20 travel along our journeys. = May the=20 words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in y= our=20 sight, O God, our Rock and our Redeemer.= =20 Amen.

Today we stand at the=20 threshold=97the threshold between Epiphany and Lent. Our feet are still firmly plante= d in=20 Epiphany, but Lent is just a step away.&= nbsp;=20 Before we cross over into Lent, though, let=92s look back for a mom= ent and=20 remember how Epiphany began=97with Jesus=92 baptism by John in the Jordan River.&nb= sp;=20 During his baptism the heavens were torn apart, the Holy Spirit des= cended=20 on him like a dove, and the voice of God came from above, saying, =93You a= re my=20 Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.=94 Those precious words were just f= or=20 Jesus, though=97Jesus received a glimpse of his own glory, but that glimps= e was=20 for his eyes only. The Sund= ays that=20 followed Jesus=92 baptism invited us to follow along as Jesus=92 disciples= got their=20 own glimpses of who Jesus was as a teacher and a healer. And now, at Jesus=92 transfigura= tion, as=20 Peter and James and John stand at the threshold of heaven, they finally ge= t a=20 glimpse of Jesus=92 glory.

As William Barclay write= s in The Daily Study Bible, =93What h= appened=20 [during the transfiguration] we cannot tell. We can only bow in reverence as = we try=20 to understand.=94[= 1] It is indeed difficult to unders= tand=20 exactly what happened up on that high mountain when Jesus was transfigured= . Only the inner circle, Peter and= James=20 and John, only they saw him when his clothes become dazzling white and he = was=20 suddenly in the company of Moses and Elijah. Only Peter, James, and John saw = the=20 cloud that overshadowed them as the voice of God declared once again, =93T= his is=20 my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!=94&n= bsp;=20 Only Peter, James, and John received this glimpse of Jesus=92 glory= . And they were terrified. They were terrified and confused= and=20 ordered into silence=97and we, well, we=92re left to try and make some mea= ning of=20 their mystical encounter.

In order to start wrappi= ng our=20 minds around what happened, we need to know what transpired right before J= esus=20 was transfigured. At the en= d of the=20 previous chapter, before Jesus took the inner circle up on the mountain, h= e=20 asked the disciples a question=97=93Who do people say that I am?=94 The disciples hemmed and hawed a= bit,=20 and then finally Jesus asked, =93But who do you say that I am?=94 And Peter confidently proclaimed= , =93You=20 are the Messiah.=94 It turn= s out that=20 Peter had the name right, but his image of the Messiah was all wrong. Jesus went on to explain that he= would=20 suffer and die as the Messiah, and Peter=97Peter rebuked him. Peter rebuked Jesus because what= Jesus=20 said just didn=92t fit. A M= essiah who=20 would conquer and rule, that Peter could see, but one who would suffer and= =20 die=97well, that he couldn=92t imagine.&= nbsp;=20

William Barclay writes, = the=20 disciples =93had been shattered by Jesus=92 statement that he was going to= Jerusalem to die= . That seemed to them the complete= =20 negation of all that they understood of the Messiah. They were still bewildered and=20 uncomprehending. Things wer= e=20 happening which not only baffled their minds but were also breaking their= =20 hearts.=94[= 2] So Jesus took three of them up o= n the=20 mountain for a glimpse of the glory they so desperately wanted to see. =93What they saw on the mountain= of the=20 transfiguration would give them something to hold on to, even when they co= uld=20 not understand. Cross or no= cross,=20 they =85 heard God=92s voice acknowledge Jesus as his Son.=94[= 3]

And the disciples, they = needed=20 that glimpse of glory. They= needed=20 to hold onto that because the journey ahead was going to take Jesus to Jerusalem, to his betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemane, to his trial in the courts of Pila= te, and=20 eventually to Golgotha where he was goi= ng die=20 on a cross. The disciples n= eeded to=20 hold onto that glimpse of Jesus=92 glory because they couldn=92t stay up t= here on=20 the mountain forever, and the journey ahead was filled with challenges and= =20 questions and doubts.

You know, we=92re not so= different=20 from the disciples=85 Don= =92t we=20 struggle to understand just what Jesus means when he says, =93Follow me=94= ? Haven=92t you ever fumbled for t= he words=20 to explain why Jesus had to die? =20 Don=92t we wish and pray that God would take away our doubts, our f= ears,=20 and our questions with a sudden display of dazzling power? It would be so much easier to be= lieve,=20 wouldn=92t it, if everything was clear.&= nbsp;=20 But =93to be invited =85 to see this transfigured Jesus is to be in= vited into=20 =85 a story in which discipleship means to live with ambiguity, [to live w= ith=20 uncertainty, to live] by faith while=20 trusting the one who promises.=94[= 4]

What I=92ve come to see = is that=20 there=92s more than one glimpse of glory in the story of Jesus=92=20 transfiguration. We see Jes= us=20 transformed and shining like the sun, yes.only Jesus.=94<= SPAN=20 style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> Peter, James, and John certainly= =20 received a glimpse of Jesus=92 glory in his transfiguration, but in the en= d after=20 the shining light had faded, what they saw was only Jesus=97the Jesus they= knew=20 and loved, the Jesus who promised to be with them even in the midst of the= ir=20 confusion and their doubts, the Jesus they still wanted to follow even tho= ugh=20 they didn=92t fully understand.

I=92m reminded of a stor= y from the=20 book The Way of Prayer, which= we=92ve=20 been using as the guide for our ten-week adult education class on prayer=20 practices. The story is of = a man=20 whose young daughter was ill with cancer. =20 Many people prayed for her, but God did not intervene to cure her.<= SPAN=20 style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> Even as those around her saw the= wonder=20 of divine interaction through the physicians, nurses, family, and friends = who=20 provided medical expertise and loving care, still, the child continued to = lose=20 strength and eventually died. When=20 asked by a friend how he could believe in God after this tragedy, the fath= er=20 replied that although God had not intervened to cure her and God=92s inter= action=20 with her care team had been unable to save her, he had known God=92s prese= nce as=20 both he and his daughter had been able to endure the suffering caused by h= er=20 illness. And facing her dea= th, he=20 was able to endure his grief.[= 5]

I think that=92s the pro= mise of the=20 transfiguration. The promis= e that=20 even when we=92re in the midst of darkness and can=92t see the shining lig= ht of=20 God=92s glory, we=92re not alone. = The=20 promise that even when we=92re blinded by illness or suffering or heartbre= ak or=20 addiction, even then we=92re not alone.&= nbsp;=20 The promise that even when we have questions and doubts, even when = we=20 don=92t understand just who God is and what it means to follow Jesus, even= then=20 we=92re not alone. The prom= ise is=20 this=97if we look into the ordinary, everyday struggles of our lives and w= e see=20 with eyes of faith, we=92ll get a glimpse of Jesus standing right by our=20 side. And that, my friends,= is=20 glorious enough. Amen.

<= /DIV>

[= 1]=20 William Barclay, The New Daily St= udy=20 Bible: The Gospel of Mark (Louisville= :=20 Westminster John=20 Knox Press, 2001).

[= 2]=20 Barclay.

[= 3]=20 Barclay.

[= 4]=20 James Boyce, =93Mark 9:2-9,=94 www.workingpreacher.org.

[= 5]=20 Jane E. Vennard with Stephen D. Bryant, The Way of Prayer: Participant=92s B= ook=20 (Nashville:=20 Upper Room Books, 2006).