YOUR GLORIOUS HOPE IS HERE
Matthew 17:1-9
Pastor Jeremy Mattek – February 26, 2017
Most people know who Rosa Parks is. Just a little over 60 years ago, she refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Every student in school learns about her. In fact, a few years ago, the Smithsonian Institute surveyed thousands of high school Juniors and Seniors, asking them one question – “Who are the most famous Americans in history?” Think for a moment about whom you would place on that list. For the high school students, Rosa Parks was #2. Dr. King was #1. #3 was Harriet Tubman. Maybe you noticed that the top 3 were all African-Americans. And, for the record, of those students who were surveyed, 70% were White. I think there are many out there who would consider that survey to be pretty significant.
You might know that Rosa Parks died in 2005. And in most of her obituaries and eulogies, there is one word that was used to describe her. That word was “quiet.” She comes across as this quiet, sometimes seen but rarely heard, woman who just happened to be on the right (or the wrong) seat at the right (or the wrong) time. But that word quiet is really very misleading, because Rosa Parks was not very quiet. In fact, for the 2 decades leading up to her most famous moment on a bus, Rosa Parks was quite the activist. She grew up in a family that was very active in the Civil Rights movement. She joined the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP in 1943 and spent the next decade pushing for voter registration, justice for black victims of racial brutality and sexual violence, supporting wrongfully accused black men, and pressing hard for desegregation. She said that her personal hero was Malcolm X. She may come across as quiet. But those who knew Rosa Parks knew a woman who was pretty feisty and independent. Yet there was a day when even Rosa Parks needed help.
In August of 1994, Rosa Parks was 81 years old and living in Detroit. That’s when a man broke into her home, robbed her, and beat her. Mike Ilitch, the founder of Little Caesars Pizza and the owner of the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings, read about it in the paper, and wanted to do something to help. He was able to get in touch with Rosa Parks and suggested that she should live in a home that wouldn’t make her so vulnerable to things like this happening. When Rosa Parks said she couldn’t afford anything better, he found a nice apartment for her in downtown Detroit, along the Detroit River, and paid every month’s rent for next 11 years, until she died. He didn’t tell anyone about it. He just wanted to help. Mike died earlier this month, which is when many discovered that this was happening.
It’s the kind of story we like to see not only because it makes us feel like there are good things happening between the races, but also because it maybe gives a little bit of hope to anyone who needs the help, like Rosa Parks once did.
This past Monday, a mom named Jessica posted a picture of her 10-year-old son who’s fighting Leukemia. The picture was of him standing over the toilet crying, with his head shaved from his treatment. And she posted this – “For anyone battling cancer or enduring chemotherapy. For anyone going through this horrible disease. It is about to get real, real hard and real quick. The picture I’m posting is from this morning, and before you scream and cry ‘why would she post a picture of him in a pull up, the indecency’, well 1. It doesn’t show more than swimming jammers would and 2. Because life is not always politically correct and pretty, it is real. Life isn’t pretty, and cancer destroys a person.”
Life isn’t pretty. I’m guessing that this 10-year-old boy’s family and Rosa Parks aren’t the only ones who know it. I’m guessing you do too – for any number of reasons. I’m guessing that this morning, seeing this picture, isn’t the first time your heart has ever ached. I’m guessing there are moments when you look at society, in the mirror, in your life, in your family and have a hard time seeing much good happening. I’m guessing there are times that, because of what you see, it’s easy to lose hope.
And if that’s true, then you’re in the right place this morning. Because Jesus is going to let us see something different. This is Matthew’s account of what is known as the Transfiguration, a day when Jesus took some disciples to the top of a mountain, away from the ugliness of life and allowed them to see something glorious that would allow them to live with hope no matter the situation they were in.
1 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.4 Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified.7 But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.”8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
There is a bird in the city of Boston named Rhea. There are many birds in Boston, but this one is different. Rhea has a disease that has caused her to lose all of her feathers. And that’s not good for a bird, especially during winter. So people have been sending Rhea nice sweaters she can wear to keep her warm. Before I saw Rhea, I had never seen a bird without its feathers.
Just like, until the disciples were on this mountain, they had only seen Jesus covered in human skin. When Jesus was born as a little baby in Bethlehem his skin looked very similar to the skin of every human that has lived before or after him. So it may have been easy for the disciples to slip into thinking that the guy they were following wasn’t all the different. But Jesus wanted to show them that he was, and he wanted to show them now.
Our sermon text starts out with the phrase, “After six days.” What had happened six days earlier is that Jesus had told his disciples that he was going to die; and not just that he was going to die, but that he was going to die in the extreme pain of a crucifixion. At this point, Jesus is 9 months away from his death, and he knew his disciples were going to see it happen. He knew they were about to go through some pretty hard times. He knew they were going to see some very hard things that were going to challenge their faith and make them wonder whether following Jesus was really worth it. So he took off the feathers here to show them something. And what they saw when he did wasn’t a weak, cold bird. It was a light that was entirely blinding. It was a glimpse of his glory. It was a reminder of how different our God really is.
Many pictures of the Transfiguration show the disciples on the ground, because the light was so bright that it basically stopped them in their tracks and crippled them. And that wouldn’t be the only time God would have done something similar. The plagues in Egypt, the Red Sea, Jericho’s walls. Throughout the history of Black America, the amazing feats of God’s strength were the basis for songs and poems that inspired some of the greatest feats of courage in this history of our nation. During the offering today, you’re going to hear a song that was written by Mr. Giles, Mr. Marquardt, and Mr. Jacobs. It reminds us that our God is the one who made the universe around us. He was the one who spoke a word and healed the Centurion’s servant. He woke up from his nap in the boat, shushed the storm, and it listened.
And just like he did for his disciples, during those times in life where it doesn’t seem like anything good is happening, he wants you to remember who our Jesus really is. He wants you to look past the human skin and see the glorious, blinding power that is always there, and always available to those who cry out to him. “Call upon me in the day of trouble,” Scripture says, “and [God] will deliver you.” We may not see a way that can happen. But God can.
And he also wants us to see something else on this mountain. When the disciples looked up, they saw Moses and Elijah standing next to him. I want you to imagine that you were there, on that mountain. Imagine that you recognize Moses and Elijah. Imagine that you’re having a really hard go of it right now. So you go up to them and you ask them, “How do you get through it? How do you keep going when life isn’t what you were hoping for or expecting?” I imagine they would look at you kind of funny; because for the last couple thousand years, they had been living in heaven, which is far better than anything they ever could have hoped for or would have ever been expecting. For the last couple thousand years every moment of their existence had been one completely without death, crying, cancer, or pain, and one in which God had thousands of years ago wiped their last tear away. “How do you get through that?” may have sounded like a silly question.
On that mountain was a reminder not only of who the God is who walks with us through life, but there was also a reminder that, in the end, this life isn’t all there is, and that the hardness of this life simply will not win. You will. On that mountain was a reminder that we get to live with an eternal perspective; one that allows you to exist right now knowing that one day all your hurts will be healed, all your tears will be dried, and all your loved ones who have gone before you will be there again right by your side.
And for Peter, that was such a glorious perspective that he wanted it to last a bit longer. He suggested building some shelters up there so everyone’s stay could be a bit more permanent. But you may have noticed that Jesus didn’t even acknowledge the request. And he most certainly didn’t allow Peter to follow through with it. And that brings up an important question that pops into our hearts somewhat often as we go through life; the question of “why?”
This past Thursday, I was live on Facebook for an hour, fielding questions about the bible from people literally all over the world – from across America, the Philippines, from Japan. And one of the questions that came in was this: “Why does God allow suffering for so long making it hard to continue to believe?” Another way to ask the same question would be to ask “Why doesn’t God let the good moments in life last a bit longer? He could. But I don’t think anyone disagrees with the fact that, quite often, he doesn’t.
Just look at one family’s experience. Royce Young is a writer for ESPN. He and his wife Keri recently found out they were expecting another child, which was very happy news for them. But the happiness of that moment didn’t last very long. An ultrasound showed them that the child growing inside Keri doesn’t have a brain. As the doctor told them the news, they both burst out in what Royce called “full body ugly crying.” But then his wife looked at the doctor and said, “If I carry her full term, can we donate her organs?” The doctor put his hand on her shoulder said, “Oh honey, that’s so brave of you to say.” Like, ‘how nice of you, but come on, you’re not really serious.’ After all, think of what that would mean. It would mean that she would go through months of being reminded, through every little kick and hiccup and roll, that she was carrying a baby that she will never be able to hold. Her body would change in all the difficult ways that a woman’s does during pregnancy, but without the promise of one day being able to hold a snuggly newborn baby, reminding her it was all worth it.
Just a couple of days earlier, Royce had been working at the NBA All-Star game, and he met a little boy who needed a liver transplant and was wearing a t-shirt that said, “It takes a life to save a life.” And that’s true for most transplants. Someone’s life needs to end in order for another life to have hope that theirs will keep going. That’s why Royce and Keri are carrying their daughter to full-term. They want to give someone hope.
And that’s also why Jesus cut this glorious moment on the mountain much shorter than Peter wanted. It’s because he wanted to give someone hope. It’s because he is well aware of how hard life often is. He is well aware of those moments that are so hard and go on for so long that we forget how powerful our God really is; the moments we walk through life with slumped shoulders as if our God really can’t do anything about the situation I’m in, as if he can’t save me from my worst moments of discouragement. Jesus cut short that glorious moment on this mountain because he had another mountain to climb; one on which he would show the whole world how much he also believes that “it takes a life to save a life.” Someone’s life needed to end in order for ours to have a reason to keep going. On the cross, that’s exactly what happened.
That’s why the Father shouted from heaven how much he loved his Son and was pleased with him. Not only because the perfect life of Jesus really was the only one that could offer a sacrifice valuable enough to cover over and forgive all the times we have doubted him, but also because it was Jesus’ life alone that would bring yours to him. And the thought of that pleases our Father more than anything.
We don’t always know why God allows our suffering to go on for so long. But we know why he allowed Jesus to suffer. He was loving you, which is all our God knows how to do for his children. And he wants you to be encouraged by that love often, which is why the one command God gave in this section was to “listen to [Jesus].”
The city of New York is one of the busiest, most stress-filled cities on the planet. Yet even in the middle of New York’s chaos, you can find some encouragement. There is a dog named Loubie, who hangs out with its owner on the corner of 5th Ave. and 14th St, that gives hugs to anyone who wants one. She’s there almost every day, ready to give an encouraging hug to anyone in need of one. She’s been doing that for about 3 years now.
Jesus has been doing it for much longer. He knows how hard life often is, and he wants you to know about the encouragement that is waiting for you in the middle of all of it. You may not always find the encouragement of Loubie on the corner of 5th Ave. & 14th St., but you will always find the encouragement of Jesus in the Word, which is where we hear his voice. And one of the very best things you can ever do with each day is to spend even a little bit of time listening to it. Find a quiet place away from the busy-ness of life. Away from the hurt. Away from the stress. You don’t need to stay long. Just long enough to be reminded of what kind of God is listening whenever you cry out to him. He’s the one whose powerful arms are always wrapped around your precious life, and whose glorious grace and mercy will never fail to bring you through everything.
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