Finding Faith ... in knowing that we must come back down the mountain

EDITOR'S NOTE: On Oct. 23, 2021, I was ordained as a minister of word and sacrament in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and installed as pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. I also served the same church for four years from October 2017 to October 2021 a synodical authorized minister. The journey together these past seven years has been an amazing one, full of learning, growing and a deepening of my theological mind. This sermon took place on March 2, 2025.

This week's gospel text: Luke 9:28-36

The Transfiguration

28 Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus[a] took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. 30 Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. 31 They appeared in glory and were speaking about his exodus, which he was about to fulfill in Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep, but as they awoke they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33 Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us set up three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah,” not realizing what he was saying. 34 While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. 35 Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen;[b] listen to him!” 36 When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

The message:

I wonder this morning Faith Family, if I asked you, “Can you tell a time that you unquestionably, down to your very bones, knew that you were in the presence of God … AND that Jesus was standing right there next to you too!”

If I gave you a minute to recall that time … could you share with me that moment? … In dazzling detail?

Or maybe … you can even recall multiple times that you’ve “went up on the mountain to pray” and lo and behold you’ve run into God.

Anyone … Does a moment like this come to mind?

I actually have several … but unfairly I also have had several days to think about this. You have not. 

For me, there was a time on a return trip home taking my mom to see my brother for the last time before he would pass. … I actually wove that into a sermon once.

And there were multiple times I felt I was in the presence of God in the days I spent bringing my mother to and from her medical appointments.

There was a time standing on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico I felt the same … and another when I was standing on a mountain top in the Rockies.

And then there was the time I attended chapel during my first on-campus time at Luther.

All of these times … I was absolutely certain that I was in the presence of God. … Absolutely certain that I could feel Jesus next to me. … That I could see his “dazzling white” face.”

And I believe in those moments that I felt just a little bit of what Peter and the other disciples were feeling in today’s gospel text when they were witness to Jesus’ transfiguration. 

Transfiguration … now there’s a $5 theological word, right! 

Jesus’ transfiguration. … So, what exactly are we talking about when we say that Jesus was “transfigured?”

Well, most directly it’s the line in the gospel which states that: “And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.”

So, one, there was an actual change in physical appearance. Jesus face took on a holy look … as well as the rest of his physical appearance did too.

And, two, the transfiguration takes on added significance because of the other characters that enter the picture: Moses and Elijah, who are both dead, let’s note, but in this gospel story symbolize the Old Testaments’ laws and prophets.

Which means that Jesus, appearing here in the New Testament and now being referred to as God’s son, symbolizes baptism and the new covenant God has with his people.

And so while we know that in all of the gospels, Jesus never really enjoys a moment in which he is crowned the king of kings on earth, his transfiguration maybe is as close to that moment as we symbolically ever come.

In fact, we don’t celebrate it a whole lot in the Lutheran church, but Jesus’ transfiguration is considered one of the five great milestones in his life … the rest be, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension.

So, yes, what Peter and John and James and the others witnessed on that mountain that day was a big deal. … Jesus’ transfiguration.

But enough of the school lesson, right? … Back to the sermon at hand … Mountaintop moments, I’ve heard them referred to as. … Those moments that you know for absolute certainty that you are in the presence of God, the infinite … the almighty … and you know that you will be forever changed.

Just as in today’s gospel text when Peter and his companions witnessed Jesus’ face change and his clothes become dazzling white.

I’ll share one of my favorites with you … still gives me chills every time I tell it. 

It was my first time on campus during seminary. Way back then … pre-pandemic … the way classes were structured was different. We were still required back then to take 10 percent of our classes in person, on campus. 

And so if you will remember, that meant that every January and every June … for one week … I would pack up, head to the Cities and stay in a dorm room for a week while I attended class. 

Well, in January 2017, I was on campus for the very first time, and on campus they have chapel every day at 11 a.m. It is a big, beautiful, modern space … soaring ceiling, must be three stories tall, lots of light, art work, beautiful wood work everywhere, beautiful sounding organ. The works, you know.

After finding my way there across a campus that I didn’t know, I walked in looking every bit the part of the new kid in class, not knowing how things worked, where to sit, what to expect … not knowing anyone.

I had just arrived on campus late the night before, and up to this point, I’d only taken one semester of classes online. And so I hadn’t met anyone in person. … I was a fish out of water.

And so, with my last burst of courage, I pushed through those big double doors of that chapel, made a beeline for the center aisle of pews and sank down on the cushion before I could turn around to leave. 

And eventually more people filed in, and the prelude organ music started and slowly it just started to feel comfortably like church. … Albeit a very big church.

And then Faith Family, the strangest thing happened … just before the service was about to start, the most beautiful peace settled upon me … and it seemed that the room became ablaze with even more sunlight … and from nowhere in particular I heard the words … clear as a bell: “Child, you are home.” 

And in that moment I knew I was in the presence of God … and I knew that my 25-year run from seminary was over and that I was where I was supposed to be.

Mountaintop moments. … Jesus’ transfiguration. … Being in the presence of God. 

Faith Family. … How about you? … Does this stir up any memories in you of your mountaintop moments?

And now we come to the most important context of today’s gospel text altogether.

Every single one of our mountaintop moments … All of mine. And yours. And yours. Yep, even yours. … And, yes, most certainly this one experienced by Peter, John and James. …

Every … single … one of them.

They all have one thing in common. … And I think Peter’s dismay probably sums it up for all of us.

“Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” -- not knowing what he said. 

You see, Faith Family … I think Peter’s reaction was a human one. … Being in God’s presence is comforting. Really really comforting. … That moment when you feel Jesus standing right next to you … When you experience that, I’m telling you … you’re never, ever going to replace that feeling with anything else ever again. 

That moment … that morning … in the Luther Seminary chapel … when God … told me that I was home and I could stop running … yeah, I could relive that over and over and over again. … I want to feel that every single day of my life.

We all do, don't we? … I’m certain each of you has your own version of a mountaintop story. … A time when you kissed God’s glory … Caught a fleeting glimpse of Jesus!

And like Peter … we just want to pitch a tent right there and never come back down that mountain. … Am I right, Faith Family? We could live in that moment forever, couldn’t we? …

Peter wanted to stay there. Jesus, how about we just make three tents right here!

But the trouble is, that’s not this earthly life is it. … Unfortunately, as Jesus reminds us in this gospel text today. … While once in a great while we are fortunate enough to ascend the mountain and witness his transfiguration … the price we pay is that we need to come back down … and get back to work in his earthly kingdom.

“On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. Just then a man from the crowd shouted, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son; he is my only child. Suddenly a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks. It convulses him until he foams at the mouth; it mauls him and will scarcely leave him.”

What I love about this gospel today, Family Faith, is that Jesus’ ascension into his full glory didn’t take place in secret … because God surely could have arranged for that. …. But rather God wanted man to witness Jesus’ transfiguration. 

God deemed it important for us to see that Jesus’ symbolically replaced the law and prophets from the Old Testament and became the new covenant with God’s people in the New Testament. … Right there in front of Peter and John and James.

But just so that those disciples didn’t get so full of themselves, he then marched them right down the mountain and said, “Ok, back to work. There’s still a whole lot left to do here on earth. No, let’s cast out this boy’s demons.”

Faith Family … I believe in the very fibers of my heart that if we are attentive enough that God provides us mountaintop moments in our lives during which we can watch Jesus’ transfiguration. … Moments in which we witness the parting between this world and the divine kingdom.

But just as important to remember is what Peter learned that day on the mountain: We don’t get to remain there. We must come back down and continue to walk in Jesus’ footsteps … continue to be his hands and feet.

And that is the Good News for this Transfiguration Sunday, March 2, 2025. Amen.