Before reading the sermon, please read the lessons from God's Holy Word.
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
"It's good to be here." I seem to recall saying those words the time I made it to the top of Larch Mountain— an extinct volcano out in Oregon. And let me tell you— when you're standing on its summit, 4,000 feet up in the air, literally surrounded by the peaks of mountaintops, volcanos... the outstanding view of nearby Mount Hood, Mount Adams, Mount Jefferson, Mount St. Helens... you can't help but think how good it is to be there. But maybe you've never climbed a mountain. Maybe for you it was camping with your family or casting your line out into the lake. Maybe it was sitting in a tree stand in early October or maybe just relaxing in the living room as the grandkids scamper around the room. Every one of us has a place we just love to be. A place where it's right and appropriate to say: "Yes. This is good. It's good to be here."
Well what I'd like to ask you about this morning is (predicably): what about this place, this church? How 'bout here? Surrounded by brothers and sisters who, despite our disagreements, brothers and sisters who share a united faith in Christ… fellow Christians who shoulder similar burdens… surrounded by fellow sinners who need a God who saves, who need God's love, His presence, His gospel? It is good to be here, isn't it? Where else throughout the week can you focus so intently on Jesus? Where else do you have the opportunity to put everything else on hold so you can see and hear only Jesus?
Consider with me for a moment another time when those words were spoken, when Peter spoke up to Jesus and said, as St. Luke records for us, "Master, it is good that we are here" (v.33). It's that scene on the mountaintop when Jesus has taken Peter, James and John up on the mountain so that Jesus can be transfigured, transformed: Now about eight days after these sayings [Jesus] took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white... Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory... And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!" (vv.28–39, 32, 35)
What a sight! What a sound! It was good for Peter and his brethren to be there— because it was a time for them to focus themselves oh-so-clearly on who Jesus was. It was good for them to be there because they needed... they desperately needed! to know TO KNOW! that this Jesus was truly God. Not a man with God-like powers, but God Himself... God in the flesh... God Incarnate come to us. It was important because all-too-soon, these three men would have some very different sights and sounds to cope with. With their eyes they would soon see Jesus arrested in the garden, flogged by Pilate and pierced on Calvary. With their ears they would soon hear the crowds say "Away with this man! Release Barabbas!" (Luke 23:18). They would hear the masses shout "Crucify him! Crucify him!" (Luke 23:21). And if they were close enough to the cross they would hear Jesus himself cry out in agony, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34) ...Because they would see all those things with their own eyes, and hear them with their own hears, it was important that they first get a chance to see and hear who Jesus really was. They needed to know who Jesus really was so they wouldn't get fooled by the crown and the cross.
It's important for us too. We're about to take another Lenten journey, tracing the somber steps of our Lord. But if the suffering and death of Jesus are to mean anything to us, we too need to know who He is suffering and dying for us. The Mount of Transfiguration reminds us that this wasn't just man— this is God Himself. We think about that when we see Him walking to cross, the weight of our sins –our evil– on His back; and the Mount of Transfiguration reminds us that (being God) He wasn't pushed or prodded. He wasn't coaxed or coerced. Nobody twisted His arm and nobody forced His hand. This is the Son of God, willingly offering up His life— for you. Do you remember what Jesus says in John 10? He says, "I am the Good Shepherd… I lay down my life for the sheep… no one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord" (John 10:15,18).
This is what was spoken by the Son of God. True, He was partially hidden, veiled in human flesh, but He never ceased to be true God, glorious God. The Transfiguration account reminds us that! Even though Jesus veiled His divinity in the flesh, even though Jesus is now hidden from us because He has ascended into heaven, the Mount of Transfiguration reminds us about just who this Jesus really is. We can see it: "And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white" (v.29). We can hear it, too: "This is My Son, my Chosen One; listen to him." Yes, listen to Him.
Peter, by the way, would have been wise to do a little more listening on the mountain. Instead, before listening (as was his wont), before getting all the facts, Peter starts to talk. Instead of keeping his mouth shut and figuring out what's going on, he talks; he starts spouting off about earthly shelters. Listening would have been a better option. Listening would have been a FAR better option.
But, again, before we get all up on our high horse, we're not so different than Peter. Without thinking and without knowing all the facts, we can do an awful lot of speaking sometimes. We can spend a frightful amount of time complaining about undeserved hardships or grumbling about burdens. We complain to each other. We complain to God! We think how better served we'd be if God would just listen to us a little more often. We climb up to the rooftops to sing out our own songs of self-praise. We open our mouths to make excuses for our bad behavior and our bad decisions. Yet at the same time, how quick we are to point out this person's fault and that person's fault. Basically, we like to talk!
But... listening is a far better option. Listen to Him. Focus your ears on the One who created you and then adopted you as His own through Holy Baptism.
Listen to Him, even when that's hard work: when He teaches you, in his Word, about right and wrong... when He looks under the rugs in your life and speaks against the dirt and grime in your heart. Listen to Him when He exposes selfish motives and material mindsets. Listen to Him when He indicts you for your half-hearted discipleship, your focus on worldly things. Listen to Him when He says: "cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law" (Gal. 3:10). Listen to Him because, hey!— He's not speaking to you in hypotheticals… He's speaking to you... directly against you!
It's a hard word to hear, but take heart!— because He's also speaking directly to you when He says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28). Take heart!— because He's also speaking to you when we kneel before Him and He says those gentle yet powerful words: "Take; eat. Take; drink. You are at peace with God, your sins are forgiven." He's also speaking to you when (despite our being abandoned in our deepest need by friends and allies), when the voice of your Savior says "Never!" "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" (Heb. 13:5). And even when that ancient foe, death itself, comes calling, your Savior's voice speaks with a greater authority: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies" (John 11:25).
It's good to be here today because God is speaking to us. And the voice of God transfigures our perception. He's telling us —He's telling us not what we want to hear— but what we need to hear. He's telling us what we need to take with us when we walk out that door, back out into the world, back out into a place where we're no longer surrounded by like-minded Christians... where we're no longer encouraged by vivid reminders of our Savior... He's reminding us of what we need to hear when we find ourselves too-often surrounded by bad influences and visual distractions.
That's why, truly, it IS good to be here. It's good to be here where God's Word is proclaimed, spoken, shared, and sung. It's good to be here reminded of the true divinity of Christ. Know that the Lord Jesus Christ is anywhere and anywhen you call on Him. He is anywhere you read His Word or recall His Word. So hear the Good News to keep your eyes focused on Him and your ears fixed to His voice. Strive to see and hear only Jesus, not just today, but every day... and God will see you through. In Jesus' name, Amen.
The peace of Christ, which surpasses all understanding, guard and keep you in Christ Jesus, Amen.
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