The Best And The Brightest
Sermon
From Dusk To Dawn
Sermons For Lent And Easter
The best and the brightest. Elijah the prince of prophets.
Elijah upon the top of Mount Carmel defeated the prophets of Baal
with the power of God. Moses the lawgiver. Moses who scaled the
craggy surfaces of Mount Sinai to receive the 10 commands from
God. Elijah and Moses, the Fathers of the Law and Prophets.
Elijah and Moses, who had climbed every mountain to serve the God
who molds mountains, spills seas and soars across the skies with
the wings of an eagle.
One week after Peter had proclaimed his faith in Jesus as the
Messiah, he, along with the Zebedee brothers James and John, had
ascended Mount Hermon with Jesus. At the top of the mountain they
saw Moses and Elijah appear in a dazzling sun-infused vision. All
the disciples were amazed. Jesus appeared in dazzling white
clothing. Moses and Elijah were seen speaking to him. Luke alone
tells us that the best and brightest of the Israelite holy men
were telling him to go on with his mission. Go on toward his
rendezvous with destiny upon the cross.
A six-pointed star, a crescent moon, a lotus are symbols of
other religions. These symbols suggest beauty and light. The
symbol of our faith is an instrument of death. In the cross of
death we Christians discover light and hope to go on with our
personal missions in the name of the crucified God. A poet sings:
Our dim eyes seek a beacon
and our weary feet a guide,
and our hearts seek ... a
meaning and a key;
But a cross shines on our pathway,
On it hangs the crucified
and he answered all our longings,
With the whisper, "Follow me."
Transfigured. It is from the Greek word "metamorphosis" which
means to change bodies. The butterfly emerges out of a cocoon.
From an ugly worm the butterfly becomes a pastel-touched thing of
beauty as it floats serenely through the spring air. A teenage
tomboy in braces becomes a sophisticated debutante. A team of bad
news bears is transformed by the leadership of a new coach and
wins the March Madness basketball tourney. All of us go through
transformations. None of us is the same person we were at 16.
Life is change. Even as the year is transformed by the changes of
the seasons, so too does everything in God's world undergo
change.
The transfiguration is a "preview of the resurrection." It is
an audio visual unveiling of the glory of the Lord. Its sermon is
that sunshine and light will triumph over darkness and death. It
gives us hope to keep going when the going is tough, the road is
crooked, and the pathway up the mountain is rugged and rough.
The old abbess in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Sound Of Music
sings to young Maria, "Climb every mountain, ford every stream,
follow every rainbow 'til you find your dream."
A friend said his grandmother used to sing a song about life
being like a mountain railroad. To reach the top of the mountain
you have to keep running down the rails of duty and love. You
have to keep your engine chugging up the mountain to reach the
Celestial City of Love wherein dwells the Lord God of Hosts.
In John Bunyan's classic allegory The Pilgrim's Progress, the
hero Pilgrim says to those whose faith is in the twilight valley,
"Did we not see the Celestial City from the top of Mount Clear?"
Our eyes focus on the transformed Christ. Our ears hear from
heaven the voice of God, "This is my beloved Son, listen to him."
When, like the disciples, we look around, we will see no one but
Jesus.
A blind friend has a large black dog whose name is Bruno. This
faithful dog has been trained to guide his master on his daily
walks. His master is blind but Bruno is literally his owner's
eyes. We have a master who is not blind. We follow a Lord whose
love is as bright as the sun, as eternal as the mountains, and
who is ever with us.
Our minds are like parachutes. They don't work unless they are
opened. Our hearts don't beat with love unless we open them up to
the beauty and wonder of God's people. The transfiguration
teaches us to look at Jesus, listen to God's voice and remember
those mountaintop experiences in our own journey with Jesus.
Poet William Blake said, "Great things happen when men and
mountains meet." On the Mount of Transfiguration we men and women
stand in awe of the glorified God. In the dark and somber days of
our Lord's final weeks, Transfiguration Sunday reminds us that at
the end of the road leading to Calvary there is life eternal and
not death.
During this week let us live in the light of the Lord. The
Latin word "lustre" means to purify. Let us live lustrously for
God. Visiting the ill, comforting the grieving, challenging the
comfortable. Then we will leave the mountaintop experience of
worship and go about our Father's business in the daily arena of
our lives.
In thy light O God we see light. Give us more light during
this light and lively season of Lent.
Elijah upon the top of Mount Carmel defeated the prophets of Baal
with the power of God. Moses the lawgiver. Moses who scaled the
craggy surfaces of Mount Sinai to receive the 10 commands from
God. Elijah and Moses, the Fathers of the Law and Prophets.
Elijah and Moses, who had climbed every mountain to serve the God
who molds mountains, spills seas and soars across the skies with
the wings of an eagle.
One week after Peter had proclaimed his faith in Jesus as the
Messiah, he, along with the Zebedee brothers James and John, had
ascended Mount Hermon with Jesus. At the top of the mountain they
saw Moses and Elijah appear in a dazzling sun-infused vision. All
the disciples were amazed. Jesus appeared in dazzling white
clothing. Moses and Elijah were seen speaking to him. Luke alone
tells us that the best and brightest of the Israelite holy men
were telling him to go on with his mission. Go on toward his
rendezvous with destiny upon the cross.
A six-pointed star, a crescent moon, a lotus are symbols of
other religions. These symbols suggest beauty and light. The
symbol of our faith is an instrument of death. In the cross of
death we Christians discover light and hope to go on with our
personal missions in the name of the crucified God. A poet sings:
Our dim eyes seek a beacon
and our weary feet a guide,
and our hearts seek ... a
meaning and a key;
But a cross shines on our pathway,
On it hangs the crucified
and he answered all our longings,
With the whisper, "Follow me."
Transfigured. It is from the Greek word "metamorphosis" which
means to change bodies. The butterfly emerges out of a cocoon.
From an ugly worm the butterfly becomes a pastel-touched thing of
beauty as it floats serenely through the spring air. A teenage
tomboy in braces becomes a sophisticated debutante. A team of bad
news bears is transformed by the leadership of a new coach and
wins the March Madness basketball tourney. All of us go through
transformations. None of us is the same person we were at 16.
Life is change. Even as the year is transformed by the changes of
the seasons, so too does everything in God's world undergo
change.
The transfiguration is a "preview of the resurrection." It is
an audio visual unveiling of the glory of the Lord. Its sermon is
that sunshine and light will triumph over darkness and death. It
gives us hope to keep going when the going is tough, the road is
crooked, and the pathway up the mountain is rugged and rough.
The old abbess in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Sound Of Music
sings to young Maria, "Climb every mountain, ford every stream,
follow every rainbow 'til you find your dream."
A friend said his grandmother used to sing a song about life
being like a mountain railroad. To reach the top of the mountain
you have to keep running down the rails of duty and love. You
have to keep your engine chugging up the mountain to reach the
Celestial City of Love wherein dwells the Lord God of Hosts.
In John Bunyan's classic allegory The Pilgrim's Progress, the
hero Pilgrim says to those whose faith is in the twilight valley,
"Did we not see the Celestial City from the top of Mount Clear?"
Our eyes focus on the transformed Christ. Our ears hear from
heaven the voice of God, "This is my beloved Son, listen to him."
When, like the disciples, we look around, we will see no one but
Jesus.
A blind friend has a large black dog whose name is Bruno. This
faithful dog has been trained to guide his master on his daily
walks. His master is blind but Bruno is literally his owner's
eyes. We have a master who is not blind. We follow a Lord whose
love is as bright as the sun, as eternal as the mountains, and
who is ever with us.
Our minds are like parachutes. They don't work unless they are
opened. Our hearts don't beat with love unless we open them up to
the beauty and wonder of God's people. The transfiguration
teaches us to look at Jesus, listen to God's voice and remember
those mountaintop experiences in our own journey with Jesus.
Poet William Blake said, "Great things happen when men and
mountains meet." On the Mount of Transfiguration we men and women
stand in awe of the glorified God. In the dark and somber days of
our Lord's final weeks, Transfiguration Sunday reminds us that at
the end of the road leading to Calvary there is life eternal and
not death.
During this week let us live in the light of the Lord. The
Latin word "lustre" means to purify. Let us live lustrously for
God. Visiting the ill, comforting the grieving, challenging the
comfortable. Then we will leave the mountaintop experience of
worship and go about our Father's business in the daily arena of
our lives.
In thy light O God we see light. Give us more light during
this light and lively season of Lent.
