The WOW
Factor
Pastor Mathew Magera – 2/11/18 – Sermon 268
St. Thomas Lutheran Church, Trufant, MI
To God be the Glory!
Grace and peace to you from
God our Father, from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Whenever I read the Bible,
I'm always on the lookout for that "wow" factor. I'm always looking
for that one word or phrase that I really hadn't noticed very well before. I'm
always waiting for something to jump right out the page and amaze me, something
to make me just sit back and say, "wow". Still, as has proven many
times for me, this wow moment tends to be found in places I least expect to
find it and in places I don’t want to find it. As I sat down this week studying
the story of the transfiguration, one that we read every single year, I have to
say I wasn't expecting much. I was expecting more of an "oh yeah" not
a full out "wow". But, as I read and studied, I was immersing myself
within the story. I saw Peter, James and John following Jesus up the mountain.
I saw Jesus go on in front of them. I saw him turn around and in a bright flash
of light I saw something change. I saw the dazzling white clothes. I saw the
light beaming from Jesus as he stood there in his divine glory. Then, Moses and
Elijah came into the picture standing there with Jesus. It was truly a sight to
behold and I can only imagine what the disciples saw themselves and how they
just wanted to capture that moment with their eyes and savor it.
I don’t know if you watched
the opening ceremonies to the Olympics the other night. I am drawn to it every
two years. I love the display that the host country puts on to exhibit their
culture, the unity that is taking place during the games and the ability to
capture the hearts of people around the globe. Sometimes the display is pretty
elaborate, but sometimes it is just more meaningful being more on the simpler
side. There is always a wow factor to me when I watch. I got chills the other
night watching this. To see North and South Korea walking into the stadium
holding on to one unified flag was truly a sight to see. To see two people
carrying the Olympic torch up to the cauldron, one from the North, one from the
South, it spoke of a unity that has been absent for too long. While the Olympic
Games cannot solve our world’s problems, seeing this display of unifying north
and south, if at the very least, says there is some kind of hope. It was easily
a wow factor for me. It was a visual event for the world to see.
Being near the halfway point
in Mark's Gospel, this event, the transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain top,
was a pivotal moment of Jesus’ passion narrative. I mean, this was quite the
display being put on. You have Jesus standing there and you would want nobody
else besides him to be there. Yet, in the middle of this brilliant display of
light, two special guests appear with him. Moses and Elijah become Jesus' entourage.
Could it get any better than this? It's absolutely amazing, stunning to just
look at and soak it all in, just like Jesus' three closest disciples who had
the VIP backstage passes right there on the mountain where all of this was
taking place. As I pictured this in my mind, I thought this was going to be my
wow moment as I just soaked it all in again for who knows how many times. But,
it wasn't.
The wow moment came when God
began to speak. I realized that what God said was not what I had expected to
hear. Even though I've heard this story time and time again, I was stopped by
God’s words. In my mind, I was right there with the disciples as the cloud descended.
I was star struck already but then I could almost stand there with the
disciples, taking in all of this amazement. I had been here before many times
and it was as if I knew that special line was coming and I could just about
mouth the very words that God would speak. So, down comes the cloud and here
comes that voice: "This is my son, whom I love. Look at him!" But,
wait a minute. That's not what God says. Surely it must be a mistake. I mean,
what else could God have meant? Here we are on the top of a mountain, a place
from which everything around near and far can be seen, a place that can
likewise be seen for miles around. Here we are at the top of the mountain,
Jesus radiating in brilliant light wearing clothes that not even OxiClean could
bleach so white. There's Moses and Elijah too. Then there's the cloud on the premises
as well. This is a sight to behold, people. This is something to see and that
very possibly could have been seen from far away. Surely God must have misspoke
because if there is any time that we need to be looking at Jesus, it is right
now. But, that's not what God said. "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen
to him." Not look. But, listen.
Wow. Not the wow I was looking for either.
I mean, let's think for a
minute about the logistics of what is going on here. If I had you close your
eyes, when we think about the transfiguration, we tend to think more about how
Jesus looked. It was a visual event. I mean, think of things that would be
different, perhaps, less captivating, if we were forced only to listen. Imagine
going to the movie theater, sitting in your seat, but being forced to listen to
only the sound because the projector wasn't working. Do you think you'd be
underwhelmed if you couldn't see what was going on? What about visiting the
Grand Canyon? Imagine going to the Grand Canyon but never being allowed to open
your eyes while you were there. I'm not sure you would get the same effect.
Think about the solar eclipse we had last August. Imagine only being able to
listen to it and not see it for yourself, even with those special glasses.
These are visual events, events that lose their power when you can’t see them.
These are situations in our lives in which our eyes can glean more information
than our ears. And, as a result, this is what we believe the transfiguration of
Jesus to be. It's something we need to look at it. According to God, however,
this is not entirely true. Isn't it amazing, or just plain backwards, that the
transfiguration event, one that we automatically visualize in our minds, is not
as much about what we see but rather about what we hear? To take that one step
further, isn't it ironic, even, that the reason we miss this is because we are
not listening? God turns a seemingly visual event into something meant not for
our eyes but for our ears. But, why?
Just one chapter prior to
this, Jesus announces for the first time that he would suffer many things, be
killed and rise on the third day. Nobody wanted to hear it. No one wanted to
believe it. They simply wanted to ignore it. Peter even stands up to rebuke
Jesus for it. This kind of talk is enough to make anyone think you are crazy.
Who would listen to you after talk like this? This represents the minds of the
disciples. The transfiguration was a wakeup call for the disciples. You just
heard this terrible news, but failed to listen to the end of the story. God is
being gracious enough to provide this wakeup call in order that the disciples
might actually sit back and listen to him, but they still will not get the clue.
In life's toughest times, it is easy for us to get caught up in the words Jesus
says but to not listen through to the end of the story. It is easy for us to
just ignore Jesus' words altogether. This is what the transfiguration event
intends to remedy. Stop using your eyes; start using your ears. Stop focusing on
your illness, stop focusing on your financial situation, stop focusing on your
divorce, your terrible relationship with your children, your addiction, stop focusing
on these as stumbling blocks and start listening to what Jesus says.
Every visual aspect that is
present in the transfiguration is only there to support what Jesus has been
saying, is saying, and will continue to say. He shines to confirm his divinity
that he has spoken of. Moses and Elijah are present to represent the Jewish Law
and the prophets, both of which Jesus uses when he preaches and teaches.
How guilty are we when
things start to go downhill and we turn to ourselves and not to the Lord? When
I feel anxious, for example, all I'm thinking about is myself, what I see with
my eyes and what I feel, I'm not looking to Jesus but I should be. To me, the
transfiguration is about redirecting my attention from something that seems so
obvious for me to be looking at and focusing on the faith that keeps me going
time and time again when things are good as well as when they are bad. The wow
factor that I mentioned comes into play when we do listen to Jesus. The wow
factor comes when we hear what Jesus is telling us, when we wait to hear the
end of the story, where it brings healing, forgiveness, community, peace,
comfort, and so much more. When we hear what Jesus is telling us, what he is
teaching us, how he is encouraging us, forgiving us and saving us, that is where
the wow factor comes.
Let me give you an example.
Last Sunday, something happened in worship that caught me off guard but
absolutely moved me so much so that I have to share it with you. We all love R’s
grandson, P, right? Absolutely. Well, last Sunday during Communion, P comes up
front and is standing there waiting. I finish blessing the other table and move
over to begin the next one. As I recall, P was the first one in line. As I
always do, I reach over, give him the sign of the cross and offer my usual
blessing, "I give you the sign of the cross, sign of Jesus' love and
protection on your life now and always. Amen." After that, I could not
believe what happened. P gives the biggest fist pump and "yesss!"
that I have ever seen during Communion. I absolutely loved it. I loved it so
much I lost track of where I was and what I was doing. Right then, P embodied,
to the absolute fullest extent, the wow factor of hearing what Christ has done
for us. He got it. That wow moment comes for us when we hear what Jesus says to
us and the promise that he makes us. I'd love to see everybody get that excited
about Jesus. Your sins are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit. YESSS!! This is the Gospel of the Lord. YESSS!! The
body of Christ given for you. YESSS!! Are we hearing what Jesus is telling us?
Are we listening to him?
God wants us to start
listening to Jesus. God knows how we are quick to get off track and he wants us
back with him. He wants us focused on the promise and not dwelling on our
circumstances. God knew the disciples would have a hard time to come after
Jesus announced what his destiny was to be. God knows the hard times ahead of
us and how it will become easier for us to stumble along the way but he
encourages us that because Jesus went to the cross for us, there is good news
in what he preaches.
The disciples had to pay
attention because not long after this transfiguration event, they would see
something else that would make them cower and tremble: they’d see their friend
Jesus impaled on a cross at the Place of the Skull. They would be tempted to look. And as they
looked they might feel the temptation that Jesus was not the one. Their eyes
would deceive them, seeing their friend on a cross. Maybe he wasn't the one.
Maybe there is no hope. Maybe this blood-covered man is not the messiah. But
even on that dark day the key activity on that hill would be the same as it was
on the mount of transfiguration: don’t go with what your eyes show you. Listen to him. We can almost hear God
speaking to us at the cross, "This is my son, whom I love. Listen to
him."
Jesus says to the thief, “Today
you will be with me in paradise.” Listen to him. Jesus says, “Father forgive
them for they know not what they do.” Listen to him. Jesus says, “It is
finished.” Listen to him. Finally, after the resurrection, he says, “Go and
make disciples of all nations.” Listen to him.
These are words his
followers needed to hear and could be easily clouded by his horrific death. God
is still speaking to us. We should take time to close our eyes and listen, to
hear him, to hear the promise, to hear the hope. That is my prayer for you on
this Transfiguration Sunday, that you would not look with your eyes, but listen
with your ears and believe with your heart, to hear that wow factor, the Gospel.
God says, "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him." To God be the
glory, now and always. Amen.