Sermon Illustrations for The Transfiguration (2021)
Illustration
2 Kings 2:1-12
“…as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” Elisha’s words to Elijah are repeated three times in this passage. The reminder is a good one for us in these days. How many of you have been in a time and place when you were asked to leave the situation and you chose to stay? As a local church pastor, I have spent many days sitting with families as they wait for a loved one to pass from this world. Many, knowing my busy schedule, gave me permission, even encouraged me, to leave them. Yet, I could not. I wanted to be with them, to offer support and love as the transition from this world to the next came for their loved one. There was no more important work for me to do, no more important place for me to be. Now in these days of pandemic, I cannot be physically present in many of these times. Yet, my spirit wants to be there. It is my call to be present in love for those to whom I minister. I do know, however, that even if my physical presence is missing, the spiritual presence of my prayer and the overwhelming grace of God is present. God clearly reminds us, “I will not leave you” in the words of Elisha.
Bonnie B.
* * *
2 Kings 2:1-12
Famed modern theologian Karl Barth sees this story as a Christian way of looking at our temporal end and what lies beyond it. He wrote:
What is usually called death, even the very last trace of a judgment connected with the temporal end of man, is in this case completely veiled, concealed, and indeed annulled by the revelation of the true nature of life here concluded. But this is just the point. What is usually called death, even the very last trace of judgment... is in this case completely veiled, concealed, and indeed annulled by the revelation of the nature of the life here concluded... If Elijah met his end, and left the “land of the living,” he did so without the gloom usually associated with death... Yahweh Himself had intervened as the content, goal and end of Elijah’s life. (Church Dogmatics, Vol.III/2, pp.636-637)
Elsewhere Barth adds, “...hope in Christ is a real liberation for natural death.” (Ibid., p.639):
He [The Christian] affirms Jesus Christ as His beyond. And it is for this reason that he understands his life here and now as one which is affirmed by his beyond.(Ibid., p.640)
Referring to this text and how Enoch was assumed to heaven (Genesis 5:24), Martin Luther cites the famed ancient preacher John Chrysostom and claims:
But God wanted his [Enoch’s and Elijah’s] taking up to be recorded in the Holy Scriptures for our sakes, namely, “in order that the human soul,” says Chrysostom, “might get the hope that death would be destroyed and the tyranny of the devil would be condemned.” (Luther’s Works, Vol.29, p.234)
In line with the main message of this text, Luther and Barth agree that death does not ultimately prevail.
Mark E.
* * *
2 Corinthians 4:3-6
In the Transfiguration, Jesus is revealed for who he truly is and always was -- the divine light of the world! Yet before he was revealed in this manner to three of his apostles the clues were there. Still the storm. Walk on water. Heal the sick. Raise the dead. All that stuff. How could folks fail to see who Jesus clearly is? After all, as Paul writes, “…the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness’”, the light of creation set to shining in the first verses of Genesis, is the one who illuminates our hearts so we know God “in the face of Jesus Christ.”
Case closed, right?
But that’s why Paul brings up “the god of this world.” There is no such god of course because there is only one God. But people worship dead gods anyway, even today. If we are blinded, it is because we have made a god of some inanimate thing that may be good in itself -- good food, healthy exercise, the NBA playoffs, fill in the blank. Our normal appetites for the good things of this world can be elevated to the status of a false god, and suddenly the lordship of Jesus begins to slip in importance -- not because it isn’t the absolutely most important fact in the world, but because we’ve got our priorities all womper-jog. Never heard of womper-jog—may be an Ohio term?
Frank R.
* * *
2 Corinthians 4:3-6
Not being able to see is not only inconvenient, it can be deadly. On November 29, 1991, a deadly dust storm swept through California and wreaked havoc on drivers. Interstate 5 runs north and south between southern California and northern California. On November 29th, a Saturday, there was considerable traffic on the highway as people were returning home after Thanksgiving. The area of the highway near Coalinga in the San Joaquin Valley is usually prime farmland. However, in 1991, many farmers had decided not to plant their fields because of severe drought conditions, leaving long stretches of dusty soil near the highway.
As the winds strengthened to nearly forty miles per hour, dust swept over the highway, severely hindering visibility. A chain reaction of collisions developed over a mile-long stretch of the highway. One hundred and four vehicles, including eleven large trucks, were involved in the massive collision. It took hours for the rescuers to find all the victims in the continuing dust storm. Seventeen people lost their lives and nearly one hundred and fifty suffered serious injuries. Meanwhile, thousands of people were trapped in their cars for the nearly an entire day until the highway could be cleared enough for traffic to pass.
When you can’t see, bad things can happen. What is true physically is even more true spiritually. Paul writes, “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). The god of this world (Satan) has blinded unbelievers so that they can’t see the light of the gospel. May we pray that they see the light.
Bill T.
* * *
Mark 9:2-9
The celebration of the Transfiguration is a reminder for us of the continuity of our faith, the connections between Old Testament prophets, the rabbis, and the Son of God Jesus. We are called to witness with Peter, James and John, the transformation of the faith from that which has been into that which is and will be. Transformation for the faithful is also transformation for the church. Yet, Peter needs to reminded that transformation can be celebrated but not by clinging to the present moment. Building shelters to maintain the current moment is not the call on the faithful. The call of the faithful is to follow, to move, to reflect on the connections with the past and the present, but to take the confident steps in to the future by following the instructions God provides, "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!" May it be so for us in these days.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Mark 9:2-9
John Calvin offers some helpful insights on this Lesson. He claimed that when testifying to Christ’s forgiving, persistent love we need to be reminded of the Transfiguration:
We ought to gather from this passage a useful doctrine, that when we are not thinking of Christ, we are observed by Him; and it is necessary that it should be so, that He may bring us back, when we have wandered from the right path. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XVII/2, p.79)
Calvin also commented on the cloud which overshadowed the event. He claimed it is a reminder “that we may not seek to pry into secrets which lie beyond our senses but, on the contrary, that every man keep within the limits of sobriety.” (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XVI/2, p.313)
When you have been in the presence of this all-powerful Christ, seen him (or thought of him) in all his glory it is mesmerizing, you just can’t helped but be moved. It’s like George Bernard Shaw once wrote of the transfigured Christ:
You are my inspiration and my folly. You are my light across the sea, my million nameless joys, and my day's wage. You are my divinity, my madness, my selfishness, my transfiguration and purification. You are my rapscallionly fellow [mischief-maker] vagabond, my tempter and star. I want you.
We need the image of the transfigured Christ all year long.
Mark E.
“…as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” Elisha’s words to Elijah are repeated three times in this passage. The reminder is a good one for us in these days. How many of you have been in a time and place when you were asked to leave the situation and you chose to stay? As a local church pastor, I have spent many days sitting with families as they wait for a loved one to pass from this world. Many, knowing my busy schedule, gave me permission, even encouraged me, to leave them. Yet, I could not. I wanted to be with them, to offer support and love as the transition from this world to the next came for their loved one. There was no more important work for me to do, no more important place for me to be. Now in these days of pandemic, I cannot be physically present in many of these times. Yet, my spirit wants to be there. It is my call to be present in love for those to whom I minister. I do know, however, that even if my physical presence is missing, the spiritual presence of my prayer and the overwhelming grace of God is present. God clearly reminds us, “I will not leave you” in the words of Elisha.
Bonnie B.
* * *
2 Kings 2:1-12
Famed modern theologian Karl Barth sees this story as a Christian way of looking at our temporal end and what lies beyond it. He wrote:
What is usually called death, even the very last trace of a judgment connected with the temporal end of man, is in this case completely veiled, concealed, and indeed annulled by the revelation of the true nature of life here concluded. But this is just the point. What is usually called death, even the very last trace of judgment... is in this case completely veiled, concealed, and indeed annulled by the revelation of the nature of the life here concluded... If Elijah met his end, and left the “land of the living,” he did so without the gloom usually associated with death... Yahweh Himself had intervened as the content, goal and end of Elijah’s life. (Church Dogmatics, Vol.III/2, pp.636-637)
Elsewhere Barth adds, “...hope in Christ is a real liberation for natural death.” (Ibid., p.639):
He [The Christian] affirms Jesus Christ as His beyond. And it is for this reason that he understands his life here and now as one which is affirmed by his beyond.(Ibid., p.640)
Referring to this text and how Enoch was assumed to heaven (Genesis 5:24), Martin Luther cites the famed ancient preacher John Chrysostom and claims:
But God wanted his [Enoch’s and Elijah’s] taking up to be recorded in the Holy Scriptures for our sakes, namely, “in order that the human soul,” says Chrysostom, “might get the hope that death would be destroyed and the tyranny of the devil would be condemned.” (Luther’s Works, Vol.29, p.234)
In line with the main message of this text, Luther and Barth agree that death does not ultimately prevail.
Mark E.
* * *
2 Corinthians 4:3-6
In the Transfiguration, Jesus is revealed for who he truly is and always was -- the divine light of the world! Yet before he was revealed in this manner to three of his apostles the clues were there. Still the storm. Walk on water. Heal the sick. Raise the dead. All that stuff. How could folks fail to see who Jesus clearly is? After all, as Paul writes, “…the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness’”, the light of creation set to shining in the first verses of Genesis, is the one who illuminates our hearts so we know God “in the face of Jesus Christ.”
Case closed, right?
But that’s why Paul brings up “the god of this world.” There is no such god of course because there is only one God. But people worship dead gods anyway, even today. If we are blinded, it is because we have made a god of some inanimate thing that may be good in itself -- good food, healthy exercise, the NBA playoffs, fill in the blank. Our normal appetites for the good things of this world can be elevated to the status of a false god, and suddenly the lordship of Jesus begins to slip in importance -- not because it isn’t the absolutely most important fact in the world, but because we’ve got our priorities all womper-jog. Never heard of womper-jog—may be an Ohio term?
Frank R.
* * *
2 Corinthians 4:3-6
Not being able to see is not only inconvenient, it can be deadly. On November 29, 1991, a deadly dust storm swept through California and wreaked havoc on drivers. Interstate 5 runs north and south between southern California and northern California. On November 29th, a Saturday, there was considerable traffic on the highway as people were returning home after Thanksgiving. The area of the highway near Coalinga in the San Joaquin Valley is usually prime farmland. However, in 1991, many farmers had decided not to plant their fields because of severe drought conditions, leaving long stretches of dusty soil near the highway.
As the winds strengthened to nearly forty miles per hour, dust swept over the highway, severely hindering visibility. A chain reaction of collisions developed over a mile-long stretch of the highway. One hundred and four vehicles, including eleven large trucks, were involved in the massive collision. It took hours for the rescuers to find all the victims in the continuing dust storm. Seventeen people lost their lives and nearly one hundred and fifty suffered serious injuries. Meanwhile, thousands of people were trapped in their cars for the nearly an entire day until the highway could be cleared enough for traffic to pass.
When you can’t see, bad things can happen. What is true physically is even more true spiritually. Paul writes, “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). The god of this world (Satan) has blinded unbelievers so that they can’t see the light of the gospel. May we pray that they see the light.
Bill T.
* * *
Mark 9:2-9
The celebration of the Transfiguration is a reminder for us of the continuity of our faith, the connections between Old Testament prophets, the rabbis, and the Son of God Jesus. We are called to witness with Peter, James and John, the transformation of the faith from that which has been into that which is and will be. Transformation for the faithful is also transformation for the church. Yet, Peter needs to reminded that transformation can be celebrated but not by clinging to the present moment. Building shelters to maintain the current moment is not the call on the faithful. The call of the faithful is to follow, to move, to reflect on the connections with the past and the present, but to take the confident steps in to the future by following the instructions God provides, "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!" May it be so for us in these days.
Bonnie B.
* * *
Mark 9:2-9
John Calvin offers some helpful insights on this Lesson. He claimed that when testifying to Christ’s forgiving, persistent love we need to be reminded of the Transfiguration:
We ought to gather from this passage a useful doctrine, that when we are not thinking of Christ, we are observed by Him; and it is necessary that it should be so, that He may bring us back, when we have wandered from the right path. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XVII/2, p.79)
Calvin also commented on the cloud which overshadowed the event. He claimed it is a reminder “that we may not seek to pry into secrets which lie beyond our senses but, on the contrary, that every man keep within the limits of sobriety.” (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.XVI/2, p.313)
When you have been in the presence of this all-powerful Christ, seen him (or thought of him) in all his glory it is mesmerizing, you just can’t helped but be moved. It’s like George Bernard Shaw once wrote of the transfigured Christ:
You are my inspiration and my folly. You are my light across the sea, my million nameless joys, and my day's wage. You are my divinity, my madness, my selfishness, my transfiguration and purification. You are my rapscallionly fellow [mischief-maker] vagabond, my tempter and star. I want you.
We need the image of the transfigured Christ all year long.
Mark E.
