[Propertalk] Sermon tidbits for Mt. 17:1-9, Part 6

[Joe Parrish]

The text then adds, by way of explanation, Peter did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Well, yeah, that is understandable - it could be a very frightening situation - but if you're scared and you don't know what to say, keep your mouth shut. No one was really expecting Peter to have really anything to add to a conversation between Elijah, Moses and Jesus.
But, Peter's like, "Uh excuse me, uh Jesus." - Peter is like the George Costanza of first century Palestine...

http://thehardestquestion.org/yeara/transfigurationgospel/

Russell Rathbun, 2011
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As I am fond of saying, when reading the Bible do NOT get distracted by the special effects. Do not try to explain them - or explain them away. Do not diminish the reality of what happened / what the disciples experienced by saying, "Oh well, that was then, and now we have modern science and don't believe in such things." We have modern science and yet here we are in church still talking about God - a reality that classic modern science totally rejects.
Like special effects in movies, the special effects in the Bible testify to a simple truth:
There is more to be known about what is really real than the eye can see.
If you don't believe that try telling someone you love what is lovely about them by only telling them what your eyes can see.

http://www.holytextures.com/2011/02/matthew-17-1-9-year-a-epiphany-last-transfiguration-sunday-sermon.html

David Ewart, 2011
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Mountain top experiences are also to be left behind.  Notice how in the story Peter misses the point.  He wants to build a shrine to catch the moment.  Of course that is a natural response because don't we want to capture the moment of our changed reality - take a picture and put it in a scrap book - bottle it.  But to cast them in stone, to protect them from growing is the surest way of killing the dream. The story reminds us that there are many transformational moments and the importance of them is to take us back down from the mountain and live the inspiration.

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Martin Luther King Jr. in his last speech, given the night before he was killed, said this:
Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

http://www.georgehermanson.com/2008/02/mountain-top-ex.html

George Hermanson, 2008
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The challenges are many as we too witness once again the transformation of Jesus and the response of the disciples. The dazzling reign of Jesus is one we can not afford to leave in residence on the mountaintop or be placed in a booth on display. The moment of transformation is one that invites us to new and meaningful encounters with God. How can Jesus be revealed in our time? When we have been to the mountaintop, how do we come down to ministry in the valleys as Jesus did, healing and teaching beyond the moment of change?

Karen Georgia Thompson, 2011
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Allison's reflection seems to bring the "otherness" of the Jesus of the Transfiguration onto our radar screen. When asked, we say who we believe Jesus is, but we really couldn't bear such a bright light if it were always there before us. And yet, when our own experience of suffering and loss is brought under the shelter of Jesus' own life lived here, as a man who also suffered and died, who was tempted and betrayed, then we can go on, even "to Jerusalem" and everything that awaits us, everything we have to face in our lives. We know, just as surely as we know that Jesus experienced pain and loss, and rose again, that we too will share in that new life. 

Kate Huey, 2011

http://www.ucc.org/worship/samuel/march-6-2011-last-sunday-1-1-1.html
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It's just so hard to conjure up wonder. As a parent, one of the parental goals I have for myself is to raise two girls with a sense of wonder. So, I take them to museums and cathedrals, and point out the intricacies and nuances of what they're seeing. When I speak of God to them, I not only tell them that Jesus is their friend and with them all the time (which is good), but also that he made the sun, the moon and the stars. And manatee. And flamingos. 

http://www.rmcmorley.com/a-garden-path/2011/02/last-epiphany-a-shining-like-fire.html

Rick Moley, 2011
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