Luke 9:28-36

They say that sunshine stimulates an area of the brain that makes you feel better. I can believe that. I always have a sense of expectancy at this time of February. The sun is visible more often. The daylight is two and ½ minutes longer every day for the next month. This is all a promise that good weather is just around the corner.

My parents live in the Sonora Desert in the Southwest. Something positive that I can say about desert life is that if you ever need the sun to cheer you up, then Arizona always there. I saw the ad in USA Today Magazine. It was for a winter sun lamp. It was a reading lamp with another purpose. It is also designed to lift your mood. The theory is that on these dark days of winter not enough light reaches the brain mood-control center. The light serves as artificial sunshine until we get the real thing back in springtime.

As Christians, we live in hope of Springtime. Life in Christ is more than peace in your heart – it’s a vision of how God intends the world to be. God says in Isaiah 58:6, ‘I want to loosen the bonds of injustice and let the oppressed go free.’ It is a wonderful vision of a world at peace where as Isaiah also says in verse 7, the hungry are fed, the homeless have beds, and the naked are clothed. God’s plan for your future is a mansion and the best news is that no one has to be denied for you to get yours. People, we are heading for good days.

The problem is that we are passing through winter. The news today is not that AIDS is cured, it is that people died today in Jerusalem. The news this morning is not that our president found peace in Afghanistan, it is that our government was unable to help peace in Haiti. And while God promises a new heaven and a new earth, many of us woke up with bodies that showing the strain of the present order.

If you need some sunshine in winter, then you have come to church on the right Sunday. We are going to look at an incredible event in Jesus’ ministry today. The disciples got recharged in their energy and vision to keep going. Their hearts got stimulated with enough good feelings to keep hope strong. If your hope is depressed under the storms of life, I want you to pray that some winter light will pierce those clouds this morning to keep you going until that happy day when the Light of the world bans all darkness forever.

I am always pointing out how Christianity is different from how we would have designed it. This mountaintop experience where God comes down and the light is shining seems clearly like the climax of Jesus’ ministry. How can you top this? Peter is overwhelmed and wants to build three cottages on the mountain and live there forever. But this miracle is not at the end of Jesus’ ministry, it is in the middle.

This miracle is not a theatrical finish to a heavenly play, it is a moment of glory in the middle for people getting through the winter of life. They are trying to walk the exodus to the Promised Land but it is no easy path.

 This whole event reminds the disciples of Moses’ trip to Mount Sinai in the middle of the flight from Egypt. Jesus and Moses went up on a mountain. Moses is in both accounts. God speaks from a cloud of glory in Exodus 24 and here in Luke.

Indeed, Luke shows that Jesus message is the same as the message from the Old Testament. The Jewish people were the people of the Law and the Prophets.  Moses was the great lawgiver, and Elijah was the great prophet.  They are on the Mount of Transfiguration to show that Jesus continues the very vision and work in which they participated.

The great news of the light of glory is that the rule of darkness will end. Isaiah is one of the great books of the Bible to explain how the old kingdom departs and we are caught up in the new. In [Isa 9:2] The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness-- on them light has shined. I believe that one reason for the popularity of the Lord of the Rings is that Tolkien was steeped in Christian understanding. His view of the Blessed Realm where darkness never penetrates is simply restating in myth what Isaiah gives as promise.

 One reason for this weekly worship celebration is to keep our hopes, heart, and feelings focused on the new kingdom coming. The world is expecting less and less and we need to drench our hearts with more and more. Robert Kennedy reminded us that it is no hard thing look at things the way they are, and ask why. The hard thing is to dream of things that never were, and ask why not? That is God’s desire for you and me.

The shining light in Jesus’ face reminds Peter, James, and John that greater things are going on than their five senses know. And that’s what God calls us to as well.

Our five senses can be used by Satan to show us the grimness of the present moment. The light of glory operates directly on the heart and stimulates new faith to see us through the rest of winter. Someone recently contacted me on the internet and shared how much it bruised their spirit to not have legal papers. They do not have a bank account or an ATM, they do not use a credit card or buy on the internet. They don’t drive. With all those challenges, it is easy to forget that we are citizens of a new kingdom coming. Your identity papers have already been made out, it is only that you need winter’s light to make it to that time.

The light on the mountain not only is the promise that darkness will end, it is the preview of the glory awaiting those who serve the Lord [2 Tim 4:8] there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

After being on the mountain, Jesus immediately returned to the people who were hurting and healed the epileptic child ("all were astounded at the greatness of God," v. 43). Our present glory is in service each week to God. Some of that service is our witness on the job or in school. And we should each have an hour of service beyond that in church or volunteer ministries.

I know that as you struggle to get ahead, devoting energy to ministry may seem like a good goal that is just unattainable, but specific set aside ministry confirms to your own heart where you are going.

I see a lot of young people who say they want to go to college. Almost every high school student will tell you that they are going to college. But I can think of two high school seniors right now who have said that they are going to college and they haven’t contacted any colleges, they aren’t sure what kind of college they want to go to, and their parents don’t want the expense of college. You know what? They aren’t going to go.

There is glory in serving the Lord. I will not be seeing the Passion. My emotional system simply can’t take much violence. But I hope that the film captures a glory in Jesus’ sufferings, because that is surely a message from the Mount of Transfiguration. If you work for peace, for equitable distribution for all – there is glory in your life even in suffering. Let us join Jesus in the work of the kingdom.

 And God’s presence came in the cloud of shekinah glory in this account. Suddenly Peter, James, and John could not see. And their understanding was partial. Peter wanted to live there forever which would have ended Jesus’ ministry. The disciples continue to half interpret God’s message. After this time, they would fail to heal a boy with a demon, argue about which one of them was the greatest, Peter would deny Jesus, and they would stand at a distance while Jesus was crucified. But God would win the victory anyway!  Anyway! If God could succeed with these disciples, there is hope for us!

 If you feel the weight of winter in life, God knows this. And the Lord has made glory available to keep our hearts going in the coldest of seasons. Through worship we let our hearts dance to heavenly tunes. Through ministry, our hands transfer that same glory to our lives. Let winters light shine!