Transfiguration Sunday

Summary

Too often when I read the Bible I can get all caught up in the theological implications of what is being said or done, that I forget that the people of whom I am reading were real people.  I forget to look at what their emotions or thoughts might have been in the midst of the incident or story that I am reading.  For Jesus did not come to simply hand over theological dogmas or doctrines, but rather he came to impact and change the lives of those with whom he lived and shared life.

I have found that if I can stop and take the time to imagine an incident, or a life by standing in the shoes of a Biblical person, it makes their story so much more powerful. So, this morning I am going to share with you an imagined last journal writing of the Apostle Peter, written in Rome the night before, as tradition tells us, he was executed, like his Rabbi Jesus upon the cross.  So now, listen to Peter as I imagine him, in his own voice.

“I am growing older now and I do not remember everything as clearly as I once did.  There are names that I do not remember and faces which I can no longer see, yet as I look back upon my life there are events, days even that are crystal clear.

For instance the day I first met him.  That morning upon the beach, when my brother Andrew and I, and our fishing partners James and John had come off of the lake after a night of fruitless fishing he appeared on the beach. A large crowd was following him wanting to hear him teach and to be honest, most of them were probably hoping to see him perform some miraculous healing.  And when he stopped in front of our boats the crowd became so boisterous that they almost pushed him into Sea of Galilee.

Anyway to escape the press of the crowd he jumped into my boat and asked if I would anchor him out in the shallows so that he could speak and be heard by all, but not crushed while doing so. It was then I heard him for the first time and I was in wonder, which later turned to amazement when he guided us to the greatest catch of our lives that morning in the deep water off shore.  Our nets were so full of fish we couldn’t pull them in!

I remember that morning so clearly, because it was the morning that started it all.  The rest of my life has grown, or better yet, flowed from the happenings of that morning.

The long road which I have traveled that has now at the last brought me to Rome, and to my impending death tomorrow, like my Savior’s upon a Roman cross, is a road that branched off that morning, from the road I had walked all the years before.

Prior to that morning I had known that I would spend the rest of my days casting, setting and drawing in the nets of the Galilean fisherman, like my father before me.  My future had been set…or so I thought, until I heard his call to follow him as his disciple.  It was then that everything changed, nay, was transfigured.  Before I was Simon, the fisherman of Capernaum, now, I am Peter the apostle of Jesus.  Then I knew the currents of the sea, the reefs around which the shoals of fish might gather, and had experienced the power of the sky and winds.  Now I know the emotions of the human heart, the faith around which gather the beliefs of humanity, and I have heard the Lord God and his mighty voice.

That day I understood in the deepness of my soul that I was meeting someone who was more, who was deeper, who was wider, who was, was…greater.  And that understanding simply grew as I walked behind him, sat at his feet, consumed his words, and chewed upon his teachings.  It slowly dawned upon me as I grew in my friendship with him, and love of him, that he was, that he could only be…HIM.

And like the morning I met him, the day that this reality crystalized within me is one I will never forget.  That day we were all gathered together, trying to find rest away from the crowds that dogged his every step.  That day after we had eaten and he was either resting or praying, I do not remember which, he suddenly sat up and asked us, “Who do the people say that I am?”

Someone blurted out, “John the Baptist.”

Then someone else, I think it was John, said “Many say that you’re Elijah returned.”  And some of the others named off other prophets whose names had been heard uttered by the crowds.  It was as the discussion was starting to become heated, as it so often did that Jesus interrupted and startled us with his next question, “But who do you say I am?”

It was at that moment, without hardly a conscious thought, that I found myself declaring aloud my newly understood belief that Jesus was the Messiah of God.

I don’t understand how I consciously came to that realization, but at that moment I believed without a doubt that Jesus was HIM.  Jesus was the one for whom we had been waiting throughout the long years.  He was the Christ!

Yet though I was startled by my own declaration of faith, I, we, were even more startled by what Jesus said next.  He told us to not say anything to anyone about my or our belief that he was the Christ sent by God.

My instant thought was that he didn’t want us to be arrested or even worse stoned for what others might believe was blasphemy against God, but then even more strangely, for the first time he foretold of the very suffering that I later saw him endure on the night in which he was betrayed by that coward Judas.  He even told us of his death and resurrection.

Of course we couldn’t really make heads nor tails of those scary words at that time, we didn’t know what was going to happen, though he did.

One other moment is emblazoned in my memory, and I say, ‘moment’ for I do not know how long it lasted.  It was upon a hill when I saw my Lord for who he really was. I was so exhausted at the time that I did not realize what was happening.  It was the dazzling, clear light shining from Jesus’ own body that caused me to come fully awake, and then I saw that he was different, or perhaps should I say I saw him for the first time as he truly is, God’s Son.  Jesus’ shining glory was almost overpowering.  And I am not sure how, but I knew that it was Moses and Elijah to whom he was talking.  Moses and Elijah, can you believe it?  I couldn’t.  I even mumbled something about making brush huts for them to sit in, when a fast moving cloud enveloped the entire top of the hill.  Oh was I scared by this odd occurrence, and then astonished for Yahweh spoke from the cloud.  His voice declared Jesus to be his Son, and commanded us to listen to him.  After what we had just experienced we had no other option, my confession had been confirmed, Jesus was the Christ!

Over the years I have often pondered and meditated upon a phrase that Jesus spoke after my first confession of faith, and other times later. He said, “If you want to follow me, you’ve got to deny yourselves and carry your cross each day and follow me.”

To tell you the truth we didn’t understand these words when he spoke them, but after his death upon the cross they very quickly made sense.

If I wanted to live a life that had real purpose and true meaning I needed to look to Jesus and his teaching and his leading in my life every day.  If I wanted to make an impact upon this world beyond my own meager attempts only he could show me how.  Over the years I have come to understand that only by letting go of my own ambitions and desires for what I crave, and learning to listen to what ambitions and desires Jesus has for me, can I be the person I am created to be.

I mean, think about it.  God created me.  God made me to be who I am.  God is the one who created me with the gifts and talents I have.  And so it is God, it is Jesus who knows all that I can be, and all that I can do for his sake here on earth.

Think about it, if I had followed my path, I would still be fishing the Sea of Galilee.  I would probably be a prosperous man, and perhaps well thought of in my village of Capernaum.  But that would be about it.

Yet, because I denied myself when Jesus called me from my life of fishing, I sit here in Rome, at the end of my life, having met so many people.  Having been blessed to teach and preach to so many more and grow in friendship with many precious friends I have been able to be a part of this amazing experience of creating churches of believers whose faith is grounded in the love that I knew, that I know so well, that of my friend and Savior Jesus of Nazareth.

Like I saw Jesus transfigured before my eyes from a dirty, rough wandering teacher into the glory filled son of God, I have seen tax-collectors and prostitutes become disciples and preachers of Jesus grace and love.  Before my very eyes I have seen the least of society be transfigured because of Jesus forgiveness running rampant through their lives.  I have seen them turn from being hated cast-outs of society to become who they were meant to be, beloved children of God!

And that is why Jesus came, to show us, to let us truly experience love, love that flows out of God’s forgiveness and acceptance.  My friend Jesus, my Lord and Savior the Christ loved me and still loves me, though I was and am flawed.  And I loved, and still love him and I believe that he will love me forever.

Now, I must close off my thoughts and this my last letter, for I must prepare tomorrow to pick up my cross and walk in the footsteps of my Jesus to my earthly death upon the cross, believing that I will then be able to be reunited with my friend and Lord for the first time in over thirty years.  Come Lord Jesus!”

Amen.

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