Sermon - Transfiguration - Matthew 17:1-9 - 2018

What is it that you believe about God and how is it that you’ve come to that belief? Epistemology is the study of knowing and believing. Based upon the study of epistomology, we’ve come to recognize that there are many different sources by which we come to know and believe the things that we think. We learn how to read, write, and do arithmetic from differents sources like textbooks,  teachers, and basic experience. 

I learned how to cook mostly from watching my mother, my mom is the source I have for learning about how to prepare food. I learned how to grow a garden from my father, thus my dad is the source of my knowledge about plants. In fact everything that we observe, watch, listen to, experience, is a source of knowledge for us. 

If you like to listen to pop music on the radio, then Justin Beiber is a source of your knowledge. If you like to watch CNN or Fox News, then those stations are a source of your knowledge. If you like to watch sitcoms like I Love Lucy or the Big Bang Theory, then those sitcoms are a source of knowledge for you. Everything that we take in is a potential source of knowledge, whether we even realize it or not. 

The question then becomes: is your source of knowledge truth or lies? Every source of knowledge presents their position as truth, yet many of them are not. So how do you distinguish between truth and lies? How do you determine the true truth?

“And Jesus was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light… behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”” Jesus is the full manifestation of God’s glory and it is to Him that we listen and discover the true truth.

In the Old Testament, Israel was searching for truth as well. The Israelites were continually jumping from one false god to the next, searching for their savior, and trying to ascertain the truth. Yet the Lord reveals Himself to the Israelites as the sole source of truth and life. So when Moses descended from Mt. Sinai after being in the presence of God’s glory, “the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.”

Moses’ face shined, not because he himself was God’s glory, but because he reflected God’s glory like a mirror. God’s glory reflected off of Moses because of the words God spoke to Moses. Whenever Moses spoke to God and Moses spoke to the people, his face shined and revealed God’s glory on account of the Word that was spoken. “Whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face was shining.”

Yet “when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.” The glory of the Lord was not fully revealed to the Israelites, but it was veiled, it was partially hidden from them. Like St. Paul explains in 1 Corinthians, Moses “would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end.” God’s glory was not fully revealed in the law He gave to Moses.

If you were to read the Old Testament and even parts of the New Testament that only pertain to the law and ignore Jesus, then you would not see God’s unveiled glory. This is why the Jewish people still to this day are not Christian: because God’s glory is veiled in the Old Testament. 

God’s glory is only unveiled and fully made manifest in Jesus. “Jesus was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.” Jesus didn’t just reflect God’s glory, but Jesus shone like the sun because He Himself is God’s pure glory. The glory that shone from Jesus is the same glory that shined upon Moses’ face and was reflected to the Israelites. 

That same glory shines among us still today just as the Father declared, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” Listen to Him! Jesus who is the Word made flesh, is the same Word that speaks to us today and shines upon us in the hearing of His Word. For Peter so clearly explains, “we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place.”

The Scriptures, God’s Word, the Bible is a lamp shining in a dark place! From these pages God’s glory is made manifest to us in our lives. From this book, the Word of God shines forth and gives us the true knowledge about Jesus Christ who is the Savior of the world. This book is the sole source of knowledge regarding God.

How is it that you can be sure the Bible is God’s Word? Peter goes on to say, “No prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” This Bible is the production of the Holy Spirit, while Man wrote the words, the Holy Spirit carried along the writers, inspired them to write the words that they wrote. This book is not a book filled with the ramblings of man, but it is filled with the utterances of God almighty. 

So let me ask you again: What is it that you believe about God and how is it that you’ve come to that belief? Is it strictly through the pages of this Bible or has this knowledge come to you from another source? If it’s come to you from another source, are you certain that it agrees completely and entirely with God’s word, because if not then it is not God’s glory and salvation is not to be found therein.

Every bit of information that comes into you must be tested, St. John instructs us so kindly: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” It is your duty as a hearer to test everything you hear against the scriptures. Including your pastor: me. 

Listen to everything and test it not against yourself but test it against God’s clear and certain Word. If I should ever say something that contradicts God’s Word, bring it to me, show me where I have erred against the scriptures, and bring me back in line. I only ask that you do this gently. 

But the same goes for every other source of knowledge you come across. Listen with critical Christian ears and discern whether what it says is true to scripture or not. Whether you’re watching a movie on the couch, reading a book from the library, or checking the so called news; be discerning. If you listen to a church service or the Lutheran Hour or watch a speaker on TV like Joel Osteen, listen and be discerning, especially if they claim to be a Christian. 

Just because something talks about a god or a spirit or being spiritual, doesn’t mean it’s good and true. For instance, in Emmetsburg there’s a lady who calls herself a psychic and uses a lot of nice sounding spiritual terminology. Beware of false prophets, for God has explicitly condemned necromancy as a practice of Satan. Whether it’s a psychic or a false TV evangelist or lies within the media, beware of them, “for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”

Instead here in God’s Word is His true glory which shines upon us and lights the path in our dark world. In Jesus the veil has been removed and we can see clearly that Jesus is our Lord God forever. “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” Yes, the glory of the Lord that shines through His Word is transformative. 

Just as Jesus is transfigured upon the Mt. of Transfiguration, and Moses’ face reflects God’s glory, so are we transformed in the hearing of His clear Word. As you continue to listen to God’s Word, the more you live in it and listen to it, the more it transforms you into His image. Just as Moses’ face shone when He was in God’s presence, so do we reflect God’s glory when we live in it in God’s Word. 

But at this time we don’t shine with the reflection of God’s radiance, we aren’t yet clothed in white robes. Likewise, after the mount of transfiguration, Jesus’ glory didn’t shine forth from Him any longer. Things went back to normal, and took on their ordinary dull hue. Indeed Jesus didn’t shine forth in His full glory until He was raised from the dead and seated at the right hand of the Father.

It wasn’t until Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead that His full glory is permitted to shine forth with unending light. Until we are saved by the cross of Jesus and risen from the dead we will not shine. But one day, when the fullness of time has come, and our bodies are raised immortal, we will be clothed in white. We will stand in the city of God, which has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb, Jesus, is its light. 

Jesus is the light that no darkness can overcome, His word is a lamp that guides our path to the way of righteousness. Jesus is the full radiance of the glory of God and here in His Word you have seen the Christ. Peter is right, “Lord, it is good that we are here.” It is good to be in the light that shines from the Word, for in this Word you have come to know that our Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit has delivered you from the domain of sin and darkness unto the realm of eternal light. So lift up your eyes, don’t be distracted by everything else, and see “no one but Jesus only.”