by the Rev. Judy DesHarnais
Click here to watch the sermon recording on YouTube.
Lord Jesus Christ, help us to listen to you and bring your light into a hurting world.
Today is the last Sunday of Epiphany, a season focused on the ways that Jesus was revealed as the Son of God, the Messiah. And through Jesus, God has revealed God’s self to us.
Last week, we heard from the sermon on the mount that we are to “let [y]our light shine before others, so that they may see [y]our good works and give glory to [y]our Father in heaven.” Today, you heard Matthew’s account of the transfiguration on a mountain top where Jesus’ face shone like the sun. And God, in a bright cloud, told us, through the witness of the disciples, “Listen to Him!”
At the age of 11, I was confirmed on a mountain above Berchtesgaden, Germany. Behind the altar, there were large windows revealing snow-covered Alps in the distance. In the foreground was a small green meadow dotted with tiny white flowers, edelweiss. Remembering the experience today, I also remember driving through Berchtesgaden and noticing many old Bavarian buildings with bullet holes, some 25 years after the end of World War II. The exquisite beauty of nature and the lasting scars of war. The Bishop of the Armed Forces asked, “Do you promise to follow Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?” to which we all answered, “I do.”
Shortly before Jesus and three of his disciples went up the mountain, Jesus told the disciples he would undergo “great suffering…and be killed…and on the third day be raised.” And he went on to say, “If any want to be my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
Then, Jesus invites three of his closest disciples, Peter, James, and John, to follow him up a high mountain. Jesus is transfigured before their eyes, and they heard a voice from a bright cloud, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”
Second Peter is written to followers of Jesus who have begun to doubt their faith. The promised second coming had not occurred. James the Apostle and Stephen the Deacon had already been martyred. Other believers had died trusting that Jesus would come with his angels in glory and gather them to himself. Peter warned that he himself was about to die and was writing to them for the last time.
He is writing to reassure and encourage Jesus’ followers. They were experiencing persecution from outside and ‘false teachers’ within their community. He wrote, “You must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love.” (2 Peter 1:5-7)
Peter recounts, “For [Jesus] received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’”
‘Peter’ believes that Jesus will come again based on what he saw on the mountain. He has seen Jesus in glory and so he can trust that Jesus is coming again “with his angels in the glory of his Father” (Matthew 16:27).
And just as the memory of the transfiguration assured this early audience that Jesus was truly God’s Son and would return as he promised, we too can be assured that in the end God’s love wins. The early followers of Jesus needed this assured hope to continue to live faithful lives with endurance, mutual affection, and love.
These last few months, you have shown endurance, mutual affection, and love. Some of you have been witnesses to persecution and have stood in the breach. Some of you have delivered groceries to those who cannot safely leave their homes. Some of you have kept a watchful presence at the doors of St. John’s to assure the safety of the young children who use our building. Some of you have stood at bus stops or in school parking lots. Some of you have marched. Some of you have participated in civil disobedience. Many of you have provided financial support for food, rent, utilities, or legal aid. We have all prayed. You have shown endurance, mutual affection, and love.
We have been told that Homeland Security will wind down its massive anti-immigrant attack on our cities. While I do not trust those telling us this, yet, I do hold some hope that it will happen soon. This will not mean that our neighbors will feel safe going to work. It does not mean that children will feel safe going to school. This does not mean that the need for financial assistance will end. Over time, the way we show love to our neighbors may change. But the call to love our neighbors in our actions will not change.
Our hope is not in our government to do the right thing. Our hope is in Jesus and in the assurance that in the end God’s love wins. This means we are still called to stand with our neighbors. And like the early followers of Jesus, we must continue to show endurance, mutual affection, and love.
These last few months, I have witnessed God, not on the mountain top, but in the love for our neighbors that so many have shown. People of different faiths and no faith at all have stepped forward to stand with immigrants and with those who, because of the color of their skin, their accents, or their religion, are being targeted by our own government. May the memory of Jesus revealed in his glory on the mountaintop strengthen us to endure, show one another mutual affection, and love our neighbors.
Let us pray: Lord, make us open to the call that you have for each of us. Strengthen us to follow Jesus, loving our neighbors as ourselves. Amen.
